contemporary romance ebook
Snow in the Desert
by Felicity Heaton
Summary
Chasing a dream, Katie moved from New York State to California, but her hope of becoming an actress seems as achievable as seeing snow in the desert. A year since she left her home behind, her only acting roles are extras parts her friend and neighbour Billy gets her in movies he’s working as part of the production team for, and the more time that passes, the more she begins to think about home, especially when Christmas comes around again.
But when she dozes off on Christmas Eve after a long hard shift at her waitress job, she wakes to find that someone is determined to make her realise that home is where her heart is.
A snow machine, a sprig of mistletoe and a kiss that melts her makes Katie realise that her dreams can come true and that anything is possible.
Even snow in the desert.
genre: contemporary romance
length: 5800 / short
rating: simmering
publisher:
released: December 2007
WARNING
Some of the books on this site contain material of a sexual nature or graphic violence and are only suitable for adults. By reading the excerpt below you release me as the author of any responsibility.
Excerpt
Katie let her eyes close for longer and longer periods as the length of her day at work began to take its toll on her and before she knew what was happening, she was fast asleep with a smile on her face.
When she awoke, the television was playing a different movie, one a lot less festive and a lot more violent. She frowned at it, waiting for her brain to become more alert and less sleep fogged as she tried to figure out what was going on. Glancing at the clock as she stifled a yawn with the back of her hand, Katie blinked repeatedly when she saw it was telling her that it was gone ten o'clock, as though she couldn't bring herself to believe it.
A persistent scratching noise roused her further and she let out a small moan as she remembered that she'd been holding her cats captive during their favoured evening hunting hours.
Drowsily standing, she ran her hands over her face and then smoothed down her clothes as she weaved through the furniture towards the back door.
She frowned as she rounded the corner into the kitchen and found the cats weren't there. Turning around, she looked down the hallway and saw they were scratching at the front door, both of them clearly desperate to get out into the night.
“Okay…okay…” she mumbled as she walked toward them, trying to wake herself up as she did so.
Fumbling with the locks and latches, she groggily opened the door and watched the cats slink out onto the porch. She suppressed another sigh as she raised her head and then froze to the spot as she saw something that had her wondering if she was still asleep and dreaming.
Snow.
It was snowing.
Stepping out onto the porch, she frowned and inclined her head to one side as she regarded the strange scene in front of her.
It was snowing in California.
Looking up the street, she realised that the fact it was snowing wasn't the only strange thing that was happening.
Her next-door neighbours garden was still as green as it had been when she'd arrived home that afternoon, no sign of snow on it like her lawn had. She blinked sleepily as she looked at the inch of white powder that blanketed her front garden and then looked over the road at the houses there.
No sign of snow.
Starting to feel as though she was either going insane or she really was dreaming, Katie slipped into her house and put her trainers on before heading back outside to investigate—intent on finding the reason behind the localised snowstorm.
All thought of discovering the reason this was happening rapidly left her as she stepped onto the fresh snow, hearing the familiar sound of it compacting underfoot—something akin to cotton wool being rubbed against itself.
She took hesitant steps out to the centre of her garden and then smiled as she raised her face to the falling snow and felt it settle on her skin, melting against her as it was unable to resist the warmth. Raising her hands by her sides, her smile turned into a wide grin as she closed her eyes and revelled in the feeling of being out in the snow once more.
Slowly opening her eyes, she frowned curiously at the snow falling from above and let her gaze gradually follow it, noticing that it was like a fountain. She looked incredulous as her eyes followed the jet and came to rest on a machine parked in Billy's front garden where his car should have been.
Her eyes met his as he stood on the machine, holding something in his hand that was attached by a wire to it.
“You!” she started and saw him smile as she giggled over what was going on.
“You weren't supposed to see this until after midnight,” he stated flatly, not bothering to explain what he was doing as he gave her a slightly reprimanding look.
Unable to think of anything else to say, Katie went with what was at the forefront of her mind.
“Why?”
Billy chuckled slightly, his full lips curving into a smile that looked both amused and embarrassed at the same time. Katie took a step towards him and waited for his explanation, smiling all the while.
