In Winterland, by Brenda Williamson

Crystal's life almost ends on a snowy mountain road the night she goes home to actually get her life in order. But the love she thought she lost, still waits In Winterland.

Excerpt

Winterland was like saying home.

Crystal had mixed emotions about her return. She’d left behind unfinished business, some of which she hoped to clear up so she could be free from the place.

With less than five miles to go, her thoughts should have stayed on the driving conditions. The snow had stopped, but the roads had patches of ice that she should have watched for. When a deer leapt across her path, she hit the brakes and the icy surface made her car act more like a sled. Losing control, she had a horrible feeling she faced death when her vehicle took a new route.

Crystal screamed beyond a deafening sound. It had to be, since she couldn’t hear herself. She didn’t think the roads were bad. Sand and salt coated the pavement, yet her car went skidding into the opposite lane.

Jingle Bells played on the radio. It had come to the appropriate dashing through the snow as she cut the wheel into and against the sideways slide of her car. She couldn’t remember the rules of what to do if you were skidding on ice, and it didn’t matter. The wheels weren’t helping to stop her from the careening glide.

The tree would.

The crunch of fiberglass and metal made an awful sound. She jerked forward hard upon impact. The seatbelt prevented her from hitting anything, but it didn’t lessen the pain from the pressure of the strap knocking the wind out of her lungs.

The windshield shattered and tossed chips of glass at her. The cold night air swept the fresh scent of pine into the car. Things didn’t appear bad. She consciously smelled the evergreens as well as heard the song continue on the radio. It was a morose moment when laughing all the way came through the speakers while she groaned with pain.

Crystal shivered. It amazed her at how fast the heat in the car dissipated with the draft coming at her from all sides. She kept her eyes shut and wondered if the wetness on her cheeks was blood.

Her teeth chattered in sync with ...up on the rooftop, click, click, click.

“Hey, are you all right?” a voice asked, during the radio songs ...down came ol’ Saint Nick.

“M-man or a-angel?” she stuttered.

“What?”

“N-never m-mind.” The bits of glass sticking to her lips fell into her mouth and she spit them out.

“Don’t move.” The voice instructed. “You have glass on your face.”

Too shaken to think clearly, she sat motionless as cool fingers swept over her lips.

“Better?” he asked.

She didn’t answer. Her mind clung to the sound of his voice and whirred with fragmented thoughts and pictures.

“Let’s do this carefully, all right?” His hand slid behind her head. “Lean forward slightly, but only if it doesn’t hurt.”

She tipped her head down.

“That’s good.” He brushed at her forehead, nose, and eyelashes.

Another Christmas tune intruded on her thoughts ...‘tis the season to be jolly. It almost made her laugh, but she forced herself to listen for the man’s voice again. Anticipation rose within the confines of her blind position. She wanted to talk, yet with the way pieces of glass bounced off her face as he flicked a finger at them, she decided to keep her lips pinched together.

“There, I think I got it all.” He held her jaw. “Open your eyes slowly.”

Evan. The name popped in her head and she couldn’t believe she didn’t recognize his voice. Evan Montgomery was both the love of her life and the biggest heartbreak.

The scent of a spicy musk captured her attention and she sniffed.

“What’s wrong?” He stroked over her hair. “Did you get glass in your eyes?”

“No. You smell.”

“Oh?” His tone sounded shocked.

Crystal realized how the statement sounded. “No, I don’t mean you stink, you smell...” she inhaled again, “very nice.”

With her head tilted down, she decided to give lifting her lashes a try. Staring at the glass in her lap, she thought how much they resembled tiny doll-sized ice cubes.

“Look up here so I can check you better with the moonlight.” Evan’s fingers pulled her face around toward him at the side window.

She saw the glass there too had shattered. Snowflakes fluttered in the halo of moonlight over Evan’s head. Heaven appeared very inviting.

“Crystal?”

She blinked a couple times with an inward sigh at the memorable intonation making her insides quiver. She hadn’t forgotten Evan’s voice at all.