Season's Greetings : Christmas Box Set

The end

‘Tis The Season

Dedication

To everyone chasing your dream, it’s okay to rest, but never stop.

Prologue

Faye

I do my best to ignore my aching back and pulsing heels. Night shift can be a breeze or brutal. The E.R. hadn’t slowed down from the moment I signed in at eleven. Some days are like that. I can’t wait to get out of my filthy scrubs. This job has its disgusting moments, but someone has to do it. It’s not my usual rotation, but I swapped with Simone, who needed the night off to attend her sister’s wedding. Part of me missed nights in the E.R., but the other, saner portion of my brain enjoys the ability to live a normal life. Working nights makes you feel like a zombie.

Turning the corner, I smile at the sight that greets me. Preston hasn’t seen me yet. It’s not often our paths cross purposefully. We don’t want people to think he’s playing favorites because he’s the attending doctor with me, his fiancée working as a nurse beneath him. My heart picks up a tick as I take him in. He’s a Viking, all long, golden mane, broad shoulders, and icy blue eyes.

“Does she know about this promotion?” Dr. Stevenson asks.

I pause. They haven’t noticed me. It sounds like the news he’s holding onto is a secret. Not wanting to ruin anything, I slip into a side corridor.

“No. Faye knows who makes the big money in our relationship. Nurses are important, but their role is supportive. As my wife, her first job is me.”

My jaw drops. I’ve never heard Preston speak like this before. He always seemed so open-minded and considerate of my needs and desires.

“Does she know you feel that way? Faye doesn’t seem the type to go for that.”

Preston scoffs. “Our wedding is in three months. What’s she going to do, refuse to move to California? The money is three times better. She can be a nurse anywhere, and soon enough, we’ll have kids, so she’ll stay at home.”

My heart pounds in my chest. Nursing is my purpose in life. I never had any plans of being a stay-at-home mother. My gut clenches. Suddenly, our entire courtship becomes a lie. He’d put up a front for over a year and a half. The blood rushes to my head. Slumping against the wall, I close my eyes. My breathing increases. A life I hate stretches before me—glittering and gold from the outside, and hell on the inside.

He wants to take me away from a job I love, isolate me from my family and friends, and force me into a mold he thinks is perfect. Not only did he neglect to tell me he was applying for this, he didn’t even ask my opinion on a move. How long has he hidden this? When does he need to report to his new job? A million questions rise up in my head.

“No.” My hands ball into fists as indignation fuels me. I push off the wall, abandoning my habit of being non-confrontational. Damn the money we’ll lose. This is my life.

I march out toward him, furious. Anger has my eyes filling with tears as my chest tightens painfully. Breathing heavily, I know I must look like an extra from a horror movie.

Dr. Stevenson’s eyes widen.

Preston turns and peers at me. “Sweetheart.”

“How dare you?”

“We should really take this somewhere else.” He grabs my wrist, and I pull away, not about to be silenced to keep his reputation intact.

“You had your time to talk about this in private. Now you get to listen. We are done.” I remove the two-karat, princess cut diamond from my ring finger.

“What are you doing?”

“Escaping while I can.” I shove the ring into his pocket and stalk toward the nurses’ locker room.

“What? That’s ridiculous! The wedding is in three months. You can’t just call it off.”

Ignoring him, I quicken my steps. He grabs my wrist, and I spin around. Desperate to flee, I grab the only non-lethal weapon I have. I remove the packaged square from my lab coat and fling the sanitary napkin in his face. He releases my hand to bat it away, and I throw two more like ninja stars before I run. My rubber soles slap the linoleum as the tears fall, splattering onto my work clothes as my dreams for the future shatter.

Chapter One

Faye

I nurse the one mug of coffee I’m allowed every day as my daughter swims happily inside of my belly. The faint flutters have turned to something more substantial as I move toward my sixth month.