Janet Dailey - To Santa with Love

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Table of Contents

Also Available by Janet Dailey

LETS BE JOLLY
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS
SCROOGE WORE SPURS
EVES CHRISTMAS
SEARCHING FOR SANTA
MISTLETOE AND MOLLY
AMERICAN DREAMS
AMERICAN DESTINY
SANTA IN A STETSON
MASQUERADE
TANGLED VINES
SOMETHING MORE
HEIRESS
RIVALS
BANNON BROTHERS: TRUST

From the Calder Family series

SANTA IN MONTANA
CALDER STORM
LONE CALDER STAR
CALDER PROMISE
SHIFTING CALDER WIND
GREEN CALDER GRASS

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

Chapter 1

After traveling westward from Dallas for what seemed like forever, the unending desert scenery had begun to bore Jacqueline Grey. The cloudless sky was bleached of blue, arching over a vast landscape of jumbled rocks and arid soil. The gnarled shrubs that survived here were more gray than green beneath the late November sun.

Jacquie raised a hand and let her gold bracelets jangle away from her wristwatch. It was almost noon. Shed gotten a late start out of Bisbee, Arizona, but considering that she hadnt gone to bed until after midnight, she figured she deserved credit for being behind the wheel and well on her way.

A wry smile curved her full lips. No one using a computer program to map out a trip from Dallas to Los Angeles would ever be routed through Bisbee, Arizona. The detour had been her idea. Her girlfriend Tammy had recently moved there with her husband. The old mining town definitely had charm, bustling with visitors admiring its Victorian houses and climbing its hilly streets. But something about it had unsettled Jacquie. Maybe it was seeing Christmas decorations going up in the shops and boutiqueseverything from strings of chili-pepper lights to a cowboy Santa with eight tiny coyotes pulling his sleigh. It just seemed too early for the seasonal displays, no matter what the calendar said. All the same, shed been grateful for Tammys hospitality, though she had been eager to get going again. Until shed hit this unvarying stretch of road.

The sun glared on the asphalt ahead. A dull pain throbbed at Jacquies temples, an unpleasant reminder of too many margaritas last night. With one hand on the steering wheel, she fumbled through her leather purse for sunglasses.

Once in place on the bridge of her nose, the lightly tinted lenses shaded her eyes, hiding their unusual turquoise-green color without concealing the curling length of her thick lashes. A raking movement of her long fingernails flipped the hair that had fallen across her cheek back over her shoulder. Sleek as cornsilk, her hair was a mix of pale gold and fine silver, an unusual but completely natural hue.

She glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror without really seeing it, feeling the headache begin to fade away.

Jacquie was aware of her looks without being conceited about themsince shed hit her teens, she got noticed a lot and she didnt mind. As a child she was told often enough that she was going to grow up to be a beautiful young woman, and she still got more than her fair share of compliments, which she didnt dismiss. But she had her parents to thank for good genes, healthy habits, and an excellent dentist.

As for faults, Jacquie would readily admit to having her share of those too. For starters, she was too much her fathers daughterheadstrong, independent, and proud. Secondly, she was spoiled. As an only child of relatively well-off parents, shed been, to a certain extent, pampered and indulged. Naturally, she had a temper, a very human trait. And a few other shortcomings, just like everyone else.

Miles and miles of driving down lonely roads were making her cranky and self-absorbed, Jacquie thought irritably. The radio wasnt pulling in any stations and shed switched it off. Shed tried singing to herself but the songs she could remember only echoed the restless mood that had bugged her for the last several monthsand brought her here to southern Arizona en route to California.

When shed finally made it to Tammys house, shed tried to make her road trip sound like a fabulous adventure. Shed struck out on her own for the first time, stopping only occasionally on the fifteen-hour drive from Dallas to Bisbee. The argument shed had with her dad, Cameron Grey, before shed left home had been laughingly related for Tammys benefit.

But in reality it hadnt been funny at all. Remembering it, Jacquie wished she could take back some of the bitter words shed hurled. Since she hadnt understood the reason for her restlessness, she hadnt been able to explain it to her father or, later, her mother.

Looking to the horizon for oncoming trucks on the roadthere were none and no cars eithershe mentally replayed the fight. Round One: her announcement that she hadnt taken her midterm exams. Without telling her parents in advance, Jacquie had filed to withdraw from all her courses, essentially putting her university education on hold. She wasnt sure she wanted to continue. She hadnt known why. But maybe, in retrospect, shed waited a little too long to fess up to what shed done.

What do you mean? her father had demanded, an incredulous frown wrinkling his forehead. You only have two years before you get your degree.

My degree in what, Dad? Jacquie had replied somewhat cynically. Im a liberal arts major, which means Im just getting an education in a little bit of everything because I dont know what I want.

College is your best chance to figure that out, hed retorted. At least youre getting an education.

He just didnt want to understand. I told youits not as if Im flunking everything, shed said heatedly. Students in good standing are allowed to withdraw if they file in time. Theres no penalty.

Maybe so. But there are a lot of people in this world whod love to trade places with you.

Youre so right. Jacquie had seized on her fathers attempt to remind her of her good fortune. And one of them can take my place. The university admits less than one-tenth of applicants. Im making room for someone out there on the waiting list.

My, my. How magnanimous of you, her father had mocked. And just what do you plan to do instead of attending college?

The very same thing I would do after I graduate. Shed been on shaky ground and shed known it, but she was unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Get a job.

Frustrated, her father ran a hand through his silvergray hair. Really. Good luck. Without an education, what kind of job do you think youll get? In this economy

I dont even know what kind of job I want, she interrupted him, adding quickly, and sitting in a classroom isnt going to tell me. Shed steered clear of the subject of the economy, not wanting her dad, a devotee of financial news and online money blogs, to go off on a tangent.

A degree is worth more than you seem to think. A lot more. Let me give you an idea of jobs that dont require one. Waitress. Sales associate. Hairdresser. Office go-fer. Housekeeper.

Excuse me? Jacquie hadnt liked the condescending tone of his voice. Those happen to be honest jobs.

I never said they werent, he answered defensively. But is it wrong to want something more for my daughter?

Like what?

A career, he retorted. Do I have to spell it out? He didnt wait for an answer, forging on. Dont you want to find challenging work that you love? Would it be so bad if it paid well? And someday, he added, going for broke, how about you find yourself a husband with smarts and ambition? I dont see you marrying a truck driver, if you really want to know.

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