Kathryn Springer - The Holiday Secret

She could make a little girl’s wish come true.

But her secret stands in the way.

Family’s all Ellery Marshall wants for Christmas. To connect with her long-lost brothers, she travels to Castle Fallsand instantly falls for the innkeeper’s five-year-old granddaughter, Bea. Carter Bristow—Bea’s handsome father—has given up on love. But Bea hasn’t given up on him , and Ellery could be the answer to her holiday wish to make Daddy happy again.

KATHRYN SPRINGERis a lifelong Wisconsin resident. Growing up in a “newspaper” family, she spent long hours as a child plunking out stories on her mother’s typewriter and hasn’t stopped writing since. She loves to write inspirational romance because it allows her to combine her faith in God with her love of a happy ending.

Also By Kathryn Springer

Castle Falls

The Bachelor Next Door

The Bachelor’s Twins

The Bachelor’s Perfect Match

The Holiday Secret

Mirror Lake

A Place to Call Home

Love Finds a Home

The Prodigal Comes Home

Longing for Home

The Promise of Home

Making His Way Home

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Holiday Secret

Kathryn Springer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09754-3

THE HOLIDAY SECRET

© 2019 Kathryn Springer

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

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“I want your opinion on something.”

Ellery tried to hide her surprise.

“I did some very last-minute Christmas shopping. This is for Bea.” He withdrew a delicate silver bracelet from a box. A tiny silver horse dangled from one of the links.

“She’s going to love it, Carter.”

“I wanted to get Bea something just from me.”

Ellery felt tears burn the backs of her eyes as Carter opened the other box.

“What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful.” The bracelet was similar to Bea’s except for the tiny silver bell dangling from the chain.

“Anna said you can return it if you’d rather have something else,” Carter said.

It took a moment for the words to register.

“This is for me?”

Carter nodded. “I thought you might like a memory, too.”

“It’s the wishing bell. But...you said you didn’t believe that wishes can come true.”

Carter smiled and slipped the bracelet over Ellery’s wrist.

“I know. But lately I’ve been seeing more and more evidence that suggests otherwise.”

Dear Reader,

At the beginning of the series, I had no idea that Ellery Marshall, the Kanes’ missing sister, would end up with a story of her own. And of course it had to take place during Christmas, my favorite time of the year. And include a handsome, slightly Scrooge-like county deputy and his adorable five-year-old daughter.

Because sometimes it’s the gifts we aren’t expecting that turn out to be the most precious.

It’s my prayer that, like Ellery and Carter, you find peace and joy in knowing that God has already given us the greatest gift of all. The gift of His son, Jesus.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Castle Falls! Please drop by my website at kathrynspringer.comand say hello or check out my Facebook page at Facebook.com/kathrynspringerauthor.

Walk in joy,

Kathryn Springer

Every good gift and every perfect gift

is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

—James 1:17

This book is lovingly dedicated to my family for all the Christmas memories past, present and future!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

A line from one of his daughter’s favorite picture books popped into Carter Bristow’s head when he rounded the corner and spotted a car parked on the side of the road.

There’s something here that looks out of place.

Hmm. Tough call. Especially when Carter had to choose between a red Lexus that stood out like a cluster of winterberry against the snow-covered landscape and the woman standing next to it, pointing her cell phone at the sky.

Even with her back to him, Carter doubted she was a local. Her paper-thin leather coat and spiked-heel boots looked about as suitable for a Michigan winter as the vehicle she drove.

He pulled onto the shoulder and parked a few yards behind her. The only traffic this late in the day tended to be the four-footed kind, but Carter followed protocol and flipped on the light bar before exiting the squad car.

“Ma’am? Is everything all right?”