Free Christmas with a Soldier (Soldier Series Romance Novellas) by Makenna Jameison

Chapter 1
     
    I sighed as I saw the black Jeep blocking the narrow road in front of me.  Its hazard lights were flashing, blinking a warm yellow, but it was hard to see much else with the snow quickly falling.  The sudden storm had come out of nowhere, and I hoped it would quickly pass so that I could make it home in time for dinner.  My five-year-old daughter Hannah was staying at my parents’ house this afternoon while I finished my Christmas shopping, and I’d promised her a special evening.  We had plans to bake Christmas cookies, decorate our tree, and watch some of our favorite holiday movies.  I’d planned to pick her up by 4:00, and it was already 3:30 now.  The sudden snowfall, plus whatever was causing the delay in front of me, was already throwing a wrench in my plans.
    I turned down the Christmas music playing on my stereo, trying to concentrate as I navigated the slippery road.  Should I drive around the Jeep?  Pull up behind it and find out what was going on?  If the bridge up ahead was icy, I wouldn’t have much chance of getting by either.  If there was an accident blocking access, then I really would be in trouble.  It would take a couple of hours to navigate the winding country roads back out to the freeway and approach town from another direction.  I could always abandon my car and trek through the woods, finding a spot where the creek was narrow enough to cross, and make my way back to the road leading into town.  I’d have to call someone to pick me up though, and I didn’t really want my parents driving out with Hannah to come get me in this weather.
    Finally deciding that it would be better just to stop and see what was going on, I gently applied the brakes.  My car slid even as it slowed down, and I felt the anti-lock brakes pumping beneath my foot.  The noise and motion of it startled me, and I let my foot up ever so slightly, causing my car to slide right into the Jeep.
    “Damn it,” I muttered to myself.  My car’s bumper had barely grazed the Jeep’s, and I doubted there was any damage, but now I was going to have to get out in the cold to look at it with the other driver.   I pulled the key from the ignition and wrapped my red scarf around my neck.  Glancing in the rearview mirror, I ran a hand through my long blonde hair, which hung just past my shoulders.  My cheeks were flushed from the heat I had cranked up in the car, and my blue eyes were wide and alert.
    The brisk air bit into me as I stepped outside, and despite the snow still falling, I could tell that it was starting to slightly let up.  A few snowflakes landed in my hair, and I brushed them off.  I stomped my brown leather boots on the ground, looking at the imprint the sole left on the thin layer of snow, and zipped up my black down jacket as I walked toward the Jeep.
    As I approached the vehicle, I saw that despite the hazard lights being left on, no one was actually inside.  That’s strange , I thought.  Maybe they had car trouble and had started walking on foot when no other cars came by.  I looked up into the distance, and my heart fell as I saw the reason they hadn’t been able to continue: a large tree had fallen across the bridge, blocking access in both directions.  I really would have to walk through the woods if I wanted to get home to Hannah at a reasonable hour.
    I was just getting ready to head back to my car to grab my cell phone when I noticed a man walking toward me from the bridge.  He was pushing through some of the branches of the fallen tree, apparently on his way back after attempting in vain to get by.  I assumed he was the missing owner of the Jeep and stood there watching as he approached.  He was wearing fatigues and black combat boots and looked to be at least six feet tall.  With broad shoulders and an athletic frame, I could tell that he was in excellent shape.  His dark hair was cropped in the standard military fashion, and his chiseled face was set in hard lines as