CHAPTER ONE:TO SNOWFALL RIDGE
Amelia Clarke tightened her coat against the biting winter wind as she stepped out of the cab, her heart pounding in her chest. Snowfall Ridge hadn't changed in the years she had been away—the same snow-draped pine trees, the same twinkling holiday lights strung across Main Street. But she had changed.
She wasn’t the same girl who once believed in fairy-tale endings. Not after the brutal divorce that had left her with nothing but a broken heart and her four-year-old daughter, Isla.
"Mommy, it's so pretty!" Isla squealed as she clapped her mitten-covered hands together, her breath coming out in tiny puffs of white.Amelia forced a smile, brushing a strand of golden-brown hair from her daughter's face. "It is, sweetheart. Just like I told you."But coming back here wasn’t about nostalgia—it was about survival. With no job, no money, and no place to go, moving back in with her parents was her only option. And maybe, just maybe, she could piece her life back together in the very town where it all began.
Before she could grab their suitcases, the front door of the Clarke family home swung open. Her mother, Evelyn, stood on the porch, bundled up in a thick sweater, her eyes misty with emotion.“Oh, my baby girl,” Evelyn whispered before rushing down the steps and enveloping Amelia in a tight embrace. "You're home."For a split second, Amelia let herself sink into the warmth of her mother’s arms, inhaling the familiar scent of cinnamon and vanilla.
But then a deep, masculine voice cut through the moment like a blade.
Amelia stiffened. She knew that voice.
Slowly, she turned—and there he was.
Logan Black.
Her brother’s best friend. Her teenage crush. The man she had spent countless nights dreaming about when she was younger.And now, standing before her, Logan was no longer the boy she remembered. He was taller, broader, with rugged stubble on his chiseled jaw and piercing blue eyes that had only grown more intense with age. Dressed in a leather jacket and dark jeans, he looked like a sin wrapped in danger.Amelia swallowed hard. The last thing she needed was Logan Black stirring up feelings she had buried long ago.
"Logan," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. "Still lurking around Snowfall Ridge, I see."
Logan smirked, stepping closer. "And you're still as stubborn as ever." His gaze flickered to Isla, who clung to Amelia's leg. His expression softened. "And who’s this little snowflake?"
Isla peeked up at him with wide blue eyes. "I'm Isla."
Logan crouched to her level, his smirk turning into something warmer. "Well, Isla, you must be the bravest little girl to come all the way here in this cold."
Isla giggled. "I'm not scared of the cold!"
"Good," Logan said, ruffling her hat. "Because Snowfall Ridge has the best hot chocolate in the world. Maybe your mom will let me take you to get some."
Amelia's stomach tightened. She didn't want Logan getting close—not to her, not to Isla.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.Because the moment she stepped inside the house, her brother, Nick, was grinning at her from the kitchen doorway.
"Welcome home, sis," Nick said. Then he clapped Logan on the back. "By the way, Logan’s staying here for Christmas too. Isn’t that great?"
Amelia’s heart sank.
Logan Black, under the same roof?
This holiday just got a lot more complicated.
Later That Night
Amelia stood in front of the bathroom mirror, gripping the edges of the sink as she took a deep breath.
She could do this. She could survive a few weeks of Logan’s presence without losing her mind.
Right?
A knock on the door made her jump.
"Amelia?"
Her mother’s voice.
She exhaled and opened the door.
Evelyn smiled, holding out a small velvet box. "I thought you should have this back."
Amelia's breath hitched as she took the box, her fingers trembling.
She knew what it was before she even opened it.
The amethyst ring.
The one Logan had given her all those years ago.
The one she had left behind when she ran.
Her mother patted her cheek. "Goodnight, sweetheart."
As Evelyn disappeared down the hall, Amelia turned back into the bathroom, flicking open the box.
The deep violet stone shimmered under the light, just as beautiful as the night Logan had slipped it onto her finger in the snow.
A promise. A forever that never happened.
And now, here it was again.
A ghost from the past, reminding her that some loves never truly fade.
Even when you want them to.
