One Charmed Christmas Read online

  An enchanting new Christmas novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Sheila Roberts, brimming with hope, love and humor.

  Catherine Pine is hoping her Christmas is a bit more jolly than last year’s. That one was her first without her husband, and with her kids and their families absent this year, she’s worried. But things change when her good friend invites her on a Christmas cruise to lift her spirits. Suddenly every day is an adventure and she’s making a bunch of new friends, including the lovable Sophie Miles.

  It’s like a gift from Santa when Sophie and Catherine meet the charming Dr. Rudy Nichols, a perfect match for hypochondriac Sophie. But he comes with a two-legged lump of coal, his guard-dog daughter. And then there’s chocolatier Trevor March, who’s also interested in the scrumptious Sophie. Can he convince her that chocolate is the perfect cure for what ails her? Who knows what Santa has in store for these holiday travelers? Anything could happen this charmed Christmas!

  Praise for the novels of Sheila Roberts

  “No one is better at expertly fusing small-town charm and holiday cheer than Roberts, and her latest...is the literary equivalent of watching It’s a Wonderful Life with a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies.”

  —Booklist Reader on Christmas from the Heart

  “A deftly crafted and delightfully entertaining novel from the pen of an author with a genuine flair for originality and the creation of memorable characters.”

  —Midwest Book Review on Christmas from the Heart

  “A lovely blend of romance and women’s fiction, this insightful holiday treat hits all the right notes.”

  —Library Journal on Christmas in Icicle Falls

  “Roberts engages readers from the first page with her colorfully distinctive characters and her amusing storytelling. She expresses the pitfalls that occur through the holiday season with flair and fun. A delightful read.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Christmas on Candy Cane Lane

  “The ultimate in feel-good family drama and heart-melting romance. Plus there’s the added bonus of getting to celebrate the season with a community that couldn’t be more devoted to Christmas.”

  —USA TODAY on The Lodge on Holly Road

  “This amusing holiday tale about love lost and found again is heartwarming. Quirky characters, snappy dialogue and sexy chemistry all combine to keep you laughing, as well as shedding

  a few tears, as you turn the pages.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Merry Ex-Mas

  “Roberts’ charming holiday-themed contemporary story set in the Seattle area offers hope, comfort, and a second chance for those who believe, and a nudge to change the minds of those who don’t.”

  —Booklist on The Snow Globe

  “Witty characterizations, slapstick mishaps, and plenty of holiday cheer.”

  —Publishers Weekly on The Nine Lives of Christmas

  Also by Sheila Roberts

  CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART

  Moonlight Harbor

  WINTER AT THE BEACH

  WELCOME TO MOONLIGHT HARBOR

  THE SUMMER RETREAT

  BEACHSIDE BEGINNINGS

  Icicle Falls

  CHRISTMAS IN ICICLE FALLS

  STARTING OVER ON BLACKBERRY LANE

  THREE CHRISTMAS WISHES

  HOME ON APPLE BLOSSOM ROAD

  CHRISTMAS ON CANDY CANE LANE

  A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET

  THE LODGE ON HOLLY ROAD

  THE TEA SHOP ON LAVENDER LANE

  THE COTTAGE ON JUNIPER RIDGE

  WHAT SHE WANTS (also published as

  ROMANCE ON MOUNTAIN VIEW ROAD)

  MERRY EX-MAS

  BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE (also published as

  SWEET DREAMS ON CENTER STREET)

  Look for Sheila Roberts’s next Moonlight Harbor novel

  available soon from MIRA.

  One Charmed Christmas

  SHEILA ROBERTS

  Sheila Roberts lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her novels have been published in several languages. Her book Angel Lane was an Amazon Top Ten Romance pick for 2009. Her holiday perennial On Strike for Christmas was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network and her novel The Nine Lives of Christmas was made into a movie for Hallmark Channel. You can visit Sheila on Twitter and Facebook or at her website.

  For Jana,

  let’s take another

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  New Beginnings

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from Christmas from the Heart by Sheila Roberts

  1

  “Your kids are twits,” Catherine Pine’s friend Denise informed her. “They shouldn’t be leaving you at Christmas, not after what you’ve been through.”

  “It’s been a rough year,” Catherine admitted.

  Coping with widowhood and then, right after her sixtieth birthday, getting hit with uterine cancer. Not the best year of Catherine’s life, for sure. And chemo and radiation awaited her in the new year.

  “All the more reason they should be with you,” Denise said.

  “They have lives of their own,” Catherine said in her children’s defense.

  Denise gave a snort and took a gulp from her latte. “Which they’re happy to make you a part of when it suits them.”

  Catherine frowned. Denise was her best friend and best friends were like sisters. Not that Catherine had a sister—only a brother who’d never bothered to marry—but that was what she’d always thought. Still, there were times when best friends and probably even sisters needed to keep their mouths shut. Morning lattes together at Starbucks and diet accountability didn’t give a woman the right to diss her friend’s children. Even if they were twits sometimes. Denise’s daughter wasn’t so perfect. She’d gone through two husbands in twelve years.

  Denise pointed an acrylic-nail-tipped finger at Catherine. “They were barely there for you after your surgery.”

  “They both had to work.”

  This inspired an eye roll. “And now they’re both abandoning you at Christmas? They should be buried up to their necks in lumps of coal.”

  Catherine had so hoped to have her children with her. “Mom, last year was torture,” her daughter, Lila, had informed her when Catherine brought up the subject of the family gathering for Christmas. As if Catherine were planning to give them a repeat performance.

  No, their celebration the year before hadn’t exactly been a happy gathering. Not a “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” moment anywhere in sight. It had been their first one without Bill, and Catherine had cried through everything, starting with the opening of presents and going clear through Christmas dinner. Her misery had infected her daughter, making Lila cry, as well. William’s wife had teared up, too, and poor William had looked miserable and at a loss for what to say or do. Even the grandkids had been miserable. Catherine’s youngest grandchild, Mariette, had sat under the tree and sobbed, and Aaron, the oldest grandboy, had muttered, “This sucks.”

  Yes, it had sucked. Catherine had tried not to turn on the waterworks agai
n when the kids and grandkids gathered their presents and put on their coats to go home, but she’d failed. Ho, ho, ho. They’d all left like people anxious to leave a funeral.

  But this year Catherine was in a better place, and she’d wanted to make new memories. Still regaining her energy from her hysterectomy, she hadn’t felt up to preparing a big meal at Thanksgiving. But now, with the year coming to a close, she’d been feeling more energetic and ready to ring in the holidays. She’d never imagined doing that by herself.

  “We’re going to Park City with James’s parents for Christmas,” Lila had said when Catherine called her. Where there would be skiing and spoiling aplenty. James lacked for nothing and, after marrying him, neither did Lila.

  Not that she’d lacked for much of anything growing up. Catherine had done her best to make sure of that.

  “You’ll be fine for a few days, won’t you?” Her daughter’s tone of voice added, Of course you will.

  “Yes, but what about your presents?” Presents were always a good lure. Maybe they could get together beforehand.

  Sadly, no. Lila had sooo much to do. “You can send them along with us,” she’d offered.

  William had beaten Catherine to the punch for Christmas plans as well, mentioning when she’d checked in on him that he and Gabrielle were taking the kids to Cabo for the holidays. “We need to get away,” he’d said.

  So did Catherine. Nobody had offered her the opportunity to get away with them. But then, who liked a tagalong, anyway?

  “You spoil the kids,” Bill used to say. He’d especially said it whenever Catherine went over to their daughter’s house to help with the babies or unpleasant cleaning chores. “Lila can clean her own house. Hell, she can afford to hire someone to clean her house. And she sure can afford to pay a babysitter. It doesn’t always have to be you.”

  Yes, but Catherine had wanted to help her daughter. Wasn’t that what you were supposed to do when you got older, help the younger generation? And besides, she liked spending time with the grandkids.

  If Bill had been alive to witness her loaning their son that chunk of money for the bathroom remodel six months earlier he’d have had a fit. William now had a new position in his company and was making a boatload of money. So far there had been no mention of paying her back. He would, though. Eventually. Hopefully.

  “Why don’t you come with me on my cruise?” Denise suggested.

  “Oh, I don’t know...” Catherine hesitated.

  “Come on,” Denise urged. “This Christmas cruise is going to be fabulous. We’ll hit all those European Christmas markets, drink Glühwein, eat gingerbread...”

  “Blow our diets.”

  Not that Denise needed to worry about that. She never went more than five pounds over svelte. Catherine, on the other hand, rarely made it within twenty pounds over her ideal weight. If only she didn’t like to bake...and eat what she baked.

  “We can get back on them in the new year.” Denise pointed out the coffee shop window at the gray Seattle sky. “Don’t you want to get away?”

  Catherine did, indeed, want to get away, not just from the Seattle rain but from her life. But you were stuck in the skin you were in, and no matter where she went she’d still be going through what she was going through.

  “I don’t know,” she said with a sigh, and shoved away her to-go cup and the last half of her muffin.

  “I really don’t want to be in a stateroom all by myself. That darned Janelle, backing out at the last minute.” Denise shook her head. “It won’t be half as much fun if I have to go by myself.”

  She wouldn’t be by herself for long. Unlike Catherine, Denise instantly made friends wherever she went.

  “And who’s going to keep me from eating too much kuchen?”

  “Kuchen?”

  “Cake. German pastries are the best, trust me. Just think, Amsterdam, Heidelberg, men in lederhosen.”

  Catherine raised an eyebrow. “In December?”

  “Okay, maybe not. But who knows who we might meet?”

  Denise the merry widow. She’d been on her own for ten years. Carlisle, her dead husband, had been her one true love, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying a string of boyfriends or traveling with girlfriends. Denise had adapted well to being on her own. Catherine wasn’t sure she ever would.

  Denise brought out her brochure with pictures of the towns and cities where the ship would stop. “Isn’t it magical?”

  It did look magical. The brochure showed her town centers with fountains and cobbled streets, stately ancient churches with their spires piercing the sky, pictures of the Christmas markets all lit up and thronged with happy shoppers. And there was a picture of the boat, all decked out in lights.

  It was indeed. And tempting.

  “We can split the cost of the room,” Denise continued, “and I’m sure my travel agent can work things out with the cruise company to get you on the plane since Janelle only pooped out on me yesterday. Your passport’s up-to-date, right?”

  “It is.” Catherine had been looking forward to using it after Bill retired. She’d never gotten the chance.

  “Then dust it off and let’s go. After we get back you can have Christmas with me and Carrie and the girls.”

  A trip down the Rhine River, checking out scenic towns and bustling Christmas markets or sitting home alone, yearning for the past, being miserable in the present and worrying about the future—decisions, decisions.

  “All right,” said Catherine. Why not? “You talked me into it.” Suddenly, the month of December was looking much brighter. Almost merry.

  “Should you be traveling?” asked her daughter when she mentioned it during a phone conversation later that night.

  Lila had called to see if Mom could come stay with the kids the night of James’s office Christmas party and had been shocked to hear her mother wouldn’t be around.

  “I think I’ll be fine. I’m feeling pretty good.”

  “It’s only been three weeks since your surgery.”

  “I know. But my energy’s starting to come back. I’m fine. Anyway, it will have been over a month by the time we go.”

  “You shouldn’t be traveling halfway across the world all by yourself,” Lila said firmly.

  “I won’t be by myself. I’ll be with Denise. Anyway, I want to do something fun this December.”

  There was a long moment of silence. Did Lila think Catherine was guilting her? Hmm. Maybe she was, just a little.

  “I still think it’s a bad idea, but it’s your decision.”

  No kidding. “Yes, it is.”

  Lila heaved a sigh. “I’d better start calling around for a babysitter.”

  “Yes, you had.” Because Catherine was going to have a life.

  * * *

  Fifty branded Christmas ornaments successfully ordered online and shipped to the office of Tilly’s Timeless Treasures for their annual Christmas party; holiday chocolate sampler boxes found for a wedding planner who needed them for an upcoming wedding; twelve special gifts bought for Harry Davis, Realtor, for his upcoming office party...and a partridge in a pear tree.

  Sophie Miles set aside her laptop and stretched. All in a day’s work for a professional shopper. She sneezed. Was she coming down with something? This would not be a good time to catch a cold, with the holidays right around the corner. Not that she had any big plans other than hanging out at her parents’ house for Christmas.

  Of course, hanging out at her parents’ was a good thing. Hanging out by herself, well, at this point in her life it wasn’t exactly what she’d planned. She’d figured she’d at least have a boyfriend in tow.

  Being thirty and single at Christmas, with no hub, no kids, sucked. Being thirty and single sucked, period. She was pretty, she knew that. Blonde, blue-eyed, nice butt. She didn’t have the biggest boobs in the world, but they were okay.
She had good teeth. She was kind. She liked kids and football and wasn’t too bad in the kitchen. Or the bedroom. Yet here she was, still single. Just because she had some health concerns sometimes.

  “Sometimes?” her last boyfriend had echoed. “Everything’s an emergency with you, Sophie. You’ve always got something. Or you think you’re getting something. Or you’re worried you’re gonna get something.”

  That was an exaggeration. And it was only natural to worry. New viruses popped up all the time and people needed to take their health seriously.

  “He does have a point,” her sister, Sierra, had said when Sophie tried to cry on her shoulder. “You can get a little squirrelly. That’s scary to some guys. I mean, I get it, but—”

  “I am not a squirrel,” Sophie had insisted. “I’m just in touch with my body.”

  “Right. That’s why you thought you had throat cancer last year when all you had was acid reflux. Then there was the time we all stayed at that cabin in the mountains and you were sure you’d been bit by a tick and had Lyme disease, and the time you swallowed that corn nut and—”

  “Never mind,” Sophie had said, cutting off her sister before the list could grow any longer.

  Just because a woman was vigilant about her health, it didn’t make her squirrelly or a hypochondriac. Cuts could get infected. So could insect bites. Colds could turn into bronchitis and bronchitis into pneumonia. You could pick up the flu virus simply by touching an elevator button. (Which was why Sophie always pushed those buttons with her knuckle. Or better yet, her elbow.) It was important to be aware of your environment, especially after what people had gone through when COVID-19 hit. That wasn’t squirrelly. That was preventive medicine.

  Speaking of, she went to the shelf in her kitchen cupboard dedicated to her many bottles of vitamins, minerals and herbs, and took out her chewable vitamin C. Sneezes turned into colds in a heartbeat.

  Her work was done for the day and her immune system was now boosted, which meant there was no putting it off any longer. She had to go to Costco and purchase those food supplies for her friend Camilla, the caterer. Camilla almost always did her own shopping but she was swamped and one of her employees was out sick, so she’d begged Sophie to help her out. The big warehouse store would be a zoo, full of people carrying all kinds of germs. This time of year people were walking petri dishes. No one stayed home when they were sick anymore. She’d take more vitamin C before bed.