Prequel: The Mountain Monroes
The Secrets to My Success
She turned him down.
Five years ago, Philadelphia attorney Daniel Cross was stuck in an elevator with Samantha Parker and fell in love. Five days after their rescue, Daniel asked Sam to marry him.
Sometimes a girl has to choose. And sometimes she can’t choose love.
Five years ago, reporter Samantha Parker was taking on the burden of caring for her sister, who’d been in a horrific car accident. She needed to move to New York to care for her and was in desperate need of a once-in-a-lifetime scoop to land a job once she arrived. She didn’t plan on asking Daniel’s wealthy, reclusive client Harlan Monroe for an interview. She didn’t plan on falling for Daniel either.
Can they learn to love again?
Now Harlan Monroe is dying and his lawyers are wrapping up all his loose ends. Sam’s editor smells a story. But in order to chase that lead down, Sam will need to rely on the initial secret to her success – Daniel.
Tropes: second chance romance, holiday romance, snowed in
Excerpt:
Some people had perfect timing – right place, right time, the fickle blessing of luck.
Sam was just the opposite. Life came at her hard and just kept on kicking.
Heart pounding, she stared across the parking lot at Daniel. At the callous brown eyes of a corporate attorney who’d learned the hard way not to trust. At a man who’d offered her the world at the exact moment she couldn’t accept. He was bundled up as thickly as if he was going to a football game in the middle of a snowstorm – jacket, scarf, hat, gloves – off-limits to the cold and a former love.
Daniel didn’t smile or call a greeting, didn’t pretend there wasn’t water under the bridge or leave her an opening for apologies and forgiveness. On the other hand, he didn’t stomp toward her spouting accusations like, “You heartless hussy!”
In the scheme of things, that had to be a win, right?
Sam took that small victory and ascended the stairs, entering the Lodgepole Inn and soaking up its quaint downstairs bed-and-breakfast vibe.
Immediately, she wanted to head back out into the snow.
It sounded like an orchestra was tuning up to play. Woodwinds. Horns. Drums. Except this wasn’t the New York Symphony Orchestra. This band was off-beat, off-key and off-putting.
Teens scurried up and down the stairs, laughed in front of the fire, clung to a few adult chaperones and their band director as room keys were handed out quicker than free movie passes at a radio station appearance.
“Really?” Daniel materialized at her side, anger coming off of him as readily as the dusting of snow that fell to the floor from his coat. “You showed up here? What a coincidence.”
“I’m sorry, I… Can we not do this now?” Sam cast him a sideways glance and shoved her shaking hands in her jacket pockets. “I just drove under a bus.” There’d been white out conditions near the top of the summit, and she’d crashed into the school bus a minute or so after they’d slid halfway off the road into a ditch. “And then I waited at the top of the mountain for someone else to crash into me.” To be pancaked. Crushed. Rendered a shell of her physical self as Amy had been, as Amy still was despite numerous surgeries and years of rehab.
She couldn’t tell if her hands were shaking because of the accident or because Daniel was standing next to her.
He fell silent, which for Daniel meant he was using the considerable restraint he was so well known for in legal circles and in court.
Yes, she’d asked around after they parted. That’s what reporters did. They asked questions, even after personal break-ups. They stayed friends with their ex’s co-workers, his assistant, his doorman. They kept tabs like a cop did his confidential informants.
The band was either playing Here Comes Santa Claus or Walking in a Winter Wonderland.
She hoped the rooms had sound-proofing. She hoped Daniel didn’t notice her trembling.
“Cut to the chase. What are you doing here?” Daniel demanded, unrestrained. His brown eyes flashed. His stubbled jaw clenched. And his mouth formed a firm line, as if he was trying to X-out the memory of those five wonderful days they’d spent together.
Sam didn’t want to be erased from his heart. She remembered the feel of those whiskers beneath her palm. The way his eyes used to darken when he looked at her. How his smile softened right before they kissed. She remembered the way love lightened her steps and her burdens.
“Sam,” Daniel said impatiently.
“I was just passing through,” Sam replied. Hardly. She’d snuck on his flight and tipped the rental car agent to divulge his destination.
A clarinet squawked. Her shoulders spasmed. It sounded too much like metal cringing against metal.
Daniel seemed immune to the noise or her nerves. “Passing through on your way to…”
“The north pole. One wrong turn and oops. Here I am.” Sam mustered a smile. “What are you doing here?”
He pressed his lips together once more. Shutting her out. Making her ache with loneliness.
The Story Behind the Story
When I imagined Harlan Monroe, I imagined him as a kind-hearted meddler, an old man who had experienced hardship in his youth and wanted to give back. This prequel shows Harlan’s impact on two people who aren’t related to him. And I love Harlan for his influence. Hope you do, too!
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