Secrets to My Success
The Mountain Monroe: Prequel
Welcome back to Christmas Town!
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.
Excerpt:
Second Chance, Idaho, looked like a snow-covered Christmas card – old buildings and log cabins edging a winding, mostly iced-over river that overlooked a snow-blanketed valley leading to the towering Sawtooth Mountains.
Located at the intersection of two ribbons of mountain highway, in the summer it was probably nothing much to stop for – a diner, repair garage and general store, a huge inn made of long round pines, most likely Lodgepole pines given the name of the place was the Lodgepole Inn.
Daniel parked in front of the inn as the sky was growing dark and peered at the Christmas tree in the window, the big wreath on the door, and then the empty parking spaces.
His father used to say, “Never stop at a motel with a vacant parking lot.” Dad ought to know. He’d been a cross-country truck driver. But he’d also had a sleeper behind his seat.
Lacking such a luxury, Daniel grabbed his duffle and laptop bag, and traipsed through the snow to the inn.
Inside, the log walls were just as round as they were outside. A fire roared in a stone fireplace big enough to cook in. A television was mounted on the wall above it, currently tuned to an ice skating competition. A couch and an assortment of mismatched chairs were scattered about the room but were as empty as the parking spaces out front.
“Can I help you?” A sprite with long, reddish-blond hair and braces sat behind the narrow check in counter.
Daniel glanced around, looking for an adult. The only thing taller than the girl in front of him was the Christmas tree. “Reservation for Cross.”
“Got it. I’m Gabby.” The pre-teen handed him a registration sheet to fill out. “Dad said to put you in the Sawtooth room at the top of the stairs.” She pointed toward the steep staircase. “There’s a kitchenette at the bottom here where you can find granola bars, coffee, water, and a microwave. The general store and diner are open from seven to seven.” She delivered the information in a rote tone, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. “If you choose the Bent Nickel Diner, I recommend you stay away from the house special. Just don’t tell Ivy I warned you off her cooking.”
Gabby was proving aptly named. Daniel filled out the form and handed over his credit card.
“We’ve got you for two nights.” The kid processed his plastic efficiently. “Are you visiting or…” She stared at him with an intelligent gaze and kept his credit card hostage while she waited for his answer.
“I’m Harlan Monroe’s lawyer.” Well, one of many.
“Oh.” She blinked, and then processed him with this new information, glancing at his credit card and then back to him. “It’s time to renew our lease again.”
“Yes.” He supposed it was. “January first.”
Against the firm’s advice, Harlan Monroe had purchased Second Chance a decade before for reasons he’d kept to himself. However, the residents had been granted one year leases for the reasonable price of one dollar a year.
“I think my dad already signed our paperwork.” She fiddled with a wooden key ring. “He’ll be back soon. Dad, Mackenzie and Doc went to the summit where a school bus skidded off the road.” She didn’t miss a beat as she changed the subject. “Is everything all right with our lease?” Gabby bit her lip as if she regretted asking.
“As far as I know, all is good.” He shouldn’t say anything. The leases were handled by a different set of attorneys in his firm. But he wanted to ease the girl’s obvious distress.
“Whew.” Gabby handed Daniel his room key. “That’s a relief. Give me a shout if you need anything.”
The desk phone jangled.
“That’s probably Dad now.” She answered the land line and hunched over the counter, dismissing Daniel.
He dropped off his things in his spartan room, ate at the diner (avoiding the house special), and was returning to the inn when three SUVs pulled up in front. Out tumbled a bevy of high school kids, clutching instruments and cell phones. They noisily streamed into the inn ahead of Daniel, followed by what looked like a band director (clutching a clipboard), a handful of relieved looking parents, and a straggler shouldering a backpack as if it was stuffed with the weight of the world.
A redheaded straggler who watched where she put her feet.
A redheaded straggler wearing a thick blue jacket that had seen better days five years ago.
Samantha Parker.
Daniel stopped in the snow, the cold nipping at his toes no competition for the chill icing his heart.
Sam Parker.
The woman he’d met while trapped on an elevator before Christmas five years ago. The woman he’d proposed to five days later – on Christmas Eve. He should have known true love didn’t blossom in five days. Sam Parker had used him, capitalizing on her brief connection to Daniel to meet Harlan Monroe, which had nearly cost Daniel his partnership.
Dad always warned me about strangers and strays.
At the porch stairs, Sam paused, as if sensing she was being watched. She turned his way.
Their eyes met. Hers a soft blue reminiscent of Tiffany ribbons and velvet boxes.
Any question Daniel might have had about why she was here – Was she somehow a part of the stranded high school band? – disappeared when he realized she wasn’t surprised to see him.
His frozen heart cracked like thin ice on a deep lake, the pieces floating in opposite directions. He wasn’t interested in pulling them back together again.
Sam Parker had toyed with his heart five years ago.
He wasn’t going to let her use him again.
The Story Behind the Story
I loved the idea behind The Mountain Monroe series - 12 siblings and cousins inherit a small town in remote Idaho. But I didn’t love that I had no more Monroe family members to create a prequel. LOL! So I used Harlan Monroe’s lawyer. Writers need to be creative.
Amazon (now in Kindle Unlimited)
Barnes & Noble (print only)
Learn about Book 1 in the series HERE.
