Claire pulled her blue beanie lower over her ears as she walked through the pre-dawn darkness toward the lake. The only sound was the crunch of her boots in the snow and the gentle clinking of her skates slung over her shoulder. This was her time – when the world was still sleeping and the […]
Sugar didn’t look like much when they found him at the rescue farm. His white coat was dull and matted, his spirit broken from years of neglect. But there was something in his gentle brown eyes that made Anna believe in second chances. “He’s too skittish for trail rides,” the rescue owner had warned. “And […]
The first time Maya saw him was at the hospital’s staff holiday party. She was adjusting a string of lights that had fallen, and he was reaching for a cookie from the dessert table. They both looked up at the same time, noticed the mistletoe, and froze. Before either could speak, an emergency code blared […]
Sarah’s hands trembled as she opened the worn recipe box. The cardboard was soft at the corners. The lid had a coffee stain that looked like a butterfly. Inside, written in her grandmother’s looping handwriting on a yellowed index card, was the gingerbread recipe she’d been afraid to try for five years. The kitchen filled […]