Nine
After their dizzying trip to Washington, Shannon was relieved to embrace the peace of Northstar. She and Ty were arriving just in time to catch a breathtaking winter dusk. The same storm system that had pelted them with rain in Washington had blanketed the quiet ranching valley with almost a foot of fluffy snow. The fresh blue-white provided a lovely contrast to the pink, peach, and lavender of the Belt of Venus coloring the sky above the eastern peaks. Just two days before Christmas, most of the scattered houses glittered with Christmas lights, and Shannon felt like she’d stepped into a painting. In this perfect moment with the excitement of the past three days still burning brightly in her heart, she could very easily imagine coming home to Northstar to this and to Ty after a movie
