White Christmas: Coming Home For Christmas, #2

By Sylvia McDaniel

An Unforgettable Blizzard of Love -- Second Chances With a Billionaire

In the heart of a raging snowstorm, fate reunites Emma Miller and billionaire Theodore White, two old high school friends. Emma, with no room left in the city and Theodore on his way to Whitefish, Montana, is forced to land at the Missoula airport.

 

Back in school, Emma was Theodore's steadfast protector, standing up to bullies on his behalf. Now, stranded on his private jet for four days, the forced proximity of their unexpected reunion sparks a passionate connection that defies reason—a love that had been simmering for years finally ignites.

 

In this enchanting tale of insta-love and second chances, they discover that the snowstorm that brought them together may just be the miracle needed to heal old wounds and spark a love that was always meant to be. Can they weather the storm and find love amidst the snowflakes, giving their past friendship a chance at a new, heartwarming future?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Virtual Bookseller, LlC
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781959689782

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Emma Miller hated flying. Especially into small regional airports where there were only a few flights a day that connected to where you wanted to go. Sitting in Missoula, Montana, waiting for a flight to Whitefish, she watched the storm clouds rolling in and growing darker.

Not good. Not good at all, and if they didn’t take off soon, she wouldn’t be reaching Whitefish today. Already she could see a line of people at the rental car window and she wondered if they were trying to get out of here.

This Christmas her mother had insisted everyone come home for the holiday. Something about a family announcement. But getting from Denver to Whitefish, Montana, was never easy, especially in the winter.

Glancing at her phone, she checked the local weather station. Blizzard warnings. Five to six feet of snow were expected to fall in the next two to three days. What the hell? What was she doing here?

Sure Denver received snow, but nothing compared to what Whitefish received.

It wasn’t like she enjoyed going home.

Between her sister Olivia who didn’t feel like she belonged, and her twin sister Amelia, the Golden child, she felt invisible. No matter how smart or successful she was, she always seemed to come in dead last as far as her parents or her sisters were concerned.

She was the one who could become President of the United States and they’d just smile and say isn’t that nice dear. What exactly do you do?

Glancing out the window, she watched a Learjet land on the runway. Must be nice to have your own private airplane to fly wherever you wanted.

A voice came over the loudspeaker in the airport. We regret to inform you that all flights out of Missoula have been canceled due to the impending storm. Please check with a gate agent and we’ll return your bag so you can find a hotel nearby.

What the hell? A hotel? For how long? Why couldn’t they just take off now and get out of here before snow Armageddon arrived?

There was a crowd at the gate and she could see the poor agent was overwhelmed with requests and upset passengers.

No planes. What about hotel rooms?

Grabbing her phone, she started calling the local hotels. It wasn’t like Missoula was a huge town with thousands of rooms.

We’re booked up. Everyone is getting off the highway and staying until the storm passes. I’m so sorry. You might try the Gilded Palace on the edge of town.

Oh hell no. She’d seen that place. Not only was it a petri dish of germs, but she might not make it out alive. Or some idiot would think she was looking for a John. Not her kind of place.

With a sigh, she sank down in the chair she’d occupied. She’d never spent the night at a small airport. Did they even allow you to sleep here?

Since the crowd at the car rental counter was down, she’d try to rent a vehicle and drive to Whitefish. Maybe that was crazy, but if she could leave before the snow fell, she might make it.

After getting up from her chair, she approached the rental car counter. I’ll take whatever car you have available, she said, thinking she was crazy to even consider driving in a blizzard, but it was only two and a half hours.

We have a five-year-old Toyota Camry, the clerk said.

I’ll take it, she said, hearing her words echoed from a male voice. A male voice that her memory suddenly sparked at the sound. It had a familiar tone.

I was here first, the male voice behind her said.

Too bad, she replied. I’m in front of you. The car is mine.

Yes, it was the holidays, but in this situation, it was every man or woman for herself. She needed that car to get home.

Sorry, it’s gone, the woman on the other side of the girl behind the counter replied. I just rented it to a seventy-year-old woman. We’re out of cars.

Just fucking great. No hotels, no rental cars. It looked like she’d be spending time at the airport waiting to get out.

Emma is that you? the male voice behind her said.

Turning, she stared into emerald eyes. Eyes that were familiar from a long time ago. The biggest, smartest nerd from high school stood before her, but the man no longer looked like a nerd.

Dear God in heaven, it was Theo. Theodore White, the billionaire gamer she’d gone to high school with. And the nerdy boy was no more. The guy was a gorgeous hunk of man who had all her erogenous zones firing into high alert. What the hell was he doing in the airport in Missoula?

CHAPTER 2

Emma Miller, his high school crush, stood before him trying to rent the last car out of Missoula. The girl of his teenage fantasies was even more beautiful today than when she’d been seventeen trying to protect him from the jocks because he’d been a nerd.

A shy, scrawny way-too-smart-for-football-jocks nerd. Those days had been horrible, but in the time since then, he’d put on some muscle. Enough to keep bullies from bothering him.

Emma, he said. How are you?

Stuck here in this airport just like you, she replied, gazing at him, her mouth open with surprise.

In college, he’d taken up weight training, and no longer could the jocks make fun of his skinny pale body. His muscles were well-trained. His abs looked more like a weight lifter’s and he could bench press two hundred seventy-five pounds.

The rental car companies were shutting down. With despair, he watched as they put up signs on their counters saying out of cars. People were moving away from the counters.

Want to share a cab to a hotel?

They’re all sold out, she said. I called every hotel I could find and all of them were booked.

Shaking his head, he knew this couldn’t be good. We were going to fly straight into Whitefish, but the pilot determined we’d never make it with the dangerous winds ahead of the storm. So we landed here.

Together they walked away from the counter and stood watching people scrambling in the small airport. Families gathered making decisions on what to do. What were their limited choices?

Want to grab a coffee at the café before they close? he asked, wondering if the clerk wanted to get home before the storm became intense. He felt certain this small airport would soon run out of food.

Yes, she said.

The cafe was only a counter offering drinks and a refrigerator with premade sandwiches. They did offer liquor, but that would not be a good idea with people stranded here.

We should probably get a sandwich, she said. Once people realize they’re stuck here, food is going to become scarce.

Thank goodness his private jet had food onboard. But he wasn’t going to make that announcement out loud. It also had a bedroom and a full bathroom with a shower. It was better than an RV because it had wings.

They each took a paper cup and fixed their coffee. When they reached the counter to pay, Theo took out his credit card.

I can pay for my own, she said.

No, this is the first time I’ve seen you since high school, please let me, he said, thinking he’d buy her anything she wanted. She’d been part of his fantasies for years and he was so excited she was here.

How long ago had he given up dreaming about