Christmas Eve A.J. Pike grimaced at the ridiculous costume laying across the bed in the guest room he’d been staying in for the last several days. He was supposed to be in Pinetop assisting on a case, not stuffing himself inside a rectangle-shaped playing card vest to...

Twelve days until Christmas Please hurry! Lucy Lee paced the small waiting room at Pinetop Auto, hoping like crazy that the repairs to her truck wouldn’t take too long or cost too much. She’d already blown through most of her savings by splurging on a new-ish horse...

Nash & Noelle’s Wedding: Retold from Lucy Lee’s point-of-view Lucy flipped a handful of hair over her shoulder, anxiously watching for her older sister to make her appearance in the back of the church. Laura was serving as a bridesmaid in Nash Carson and Noelle...

Chad Hofstetter had been keeping a secret from his wife — his very pregnant, very exhausted wife, who was nearing the end of her second trimester. He hoped that telling her his secret this afternoon would cheer her up a little. Actually, he was hoping it would cheer...

Ruby Hart lit a trio of orange pillar candles on the glossy white mantle over the fireplace. Sadly, it wasn’t a real fireplace. It was an electrical one with a remote control to turn on the faux fire. The tiny flames flickering from her candles were real, though. She...

Weddings were supposed to be joyous occasions. This particular wedding, however, was one that Dean Isaacson had been dreading for twenty-three years, four months, two weeks, and five days. He paused to glance at the digital calendar on his smart watch in order to...

Dan Evermore’s phone had been blowing up all morning with text messages. Mom: Rescheduled your appt to get fitted for your tux. PLEASE SHOW UP THIS TIME! Dad: Need you on a stakeout this weekend. READ MY EMAIL. Benjie: If you’re not coming to my wedding, just say so....

Jorge Ortega hated driving a borrowed truck. He especially hated the fact that it belonged to the one guy whose sister he wanted to date. He was trying to impress her, not come across as some hopeless charity case. He gritted his teeth as he revved the motor of her...

February It had been a miserable week of gray skies, scattered sleet storms, and high winds. But that wasn’t why Tess Cardwell was so miserable. And lonely. And hopeless about the future. She scrubbed furiously at a nonexistent spot on one of the tables at the diner,...