Page 1 of Stepbrother For Christmas

CHAPTER 1

Chase

I would rather be any other place but here. Coming home for the holidays is something most families cherish, but I’m not most people.

There are just too many memories here. And, far too many reasons to rethink how different things could have been.

Yet here I am back in Colorado and freezing! Instead of sitting in my cozy townhouse in Silicon Valley, where I work on designing apps and live in coding bliss.

With a sigh, I start the car and turn on the heat.

Just a few minutes ago, my dad asked me to pick up my new stepsister, Emma, from the bus station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He and his wife, Carol, just got married two weeks ago. They’re both widowers.

I don’t know much about my new stepsister, except that she’s twenty-two years old and in her final year of college. Oh, and I was told that she’s extremely superstitious.

When I asked my dad, “What does that mean?” he responded, “Well, for example, Carol said that Emma is a little shaken up today because she lost one glove on the way to the bus, and then, to her shock, her bus hit a bird while driving on the highway near Aspen.”

I blink, confused. “And—”

“And for Emma, both of those things portend death and bad luck,” he explained. “This means that she might be a little anxious when you first meet her. But once she feels comfortable around you, she’ll be your best bud.”

I didn’t say it, but my first thought was that my new stepsister sounds nuttier than squirrel shit. But fuck it, here we go…family time!

Gathering my thoughts, I turn down the road that leads to the bus station. There’s just so much to wrap my head around. Long story short, my dad moved Carol into our old family home in Glenwood Springs and this will be my first time under one roof with her. Up until this point, there’s only ever been him and me. So to say that things are going to be different this Christmas is an understatement. But because I know that blending new families can be very difficult, I will try my best to be supportive and understanding.

Several minutes later, I pull into a small bus station with three bus stands. Then I glance around, frustrated, looking for my new stepsister.

Where is she?

Muttering a curse under my breath, I turn the car around to loop around the parking lot a few times.

But then I see her. Emma Marie Wiley. She’s sitting in the heated bus shelter.

Lord have mercy.

Just one look at her and my whole world stops.

I’m totally consumed by the sight of her.

She looks like an Eskimo princess, wrapped up in a scarf and a winter coat. Untamed honey brown strands of hair pool around her shoulders as she glances around the empty bus station.

That’s when it dawns on me: this angel has been sitting here all alone, and just about anyone could have snatched her up.

Ah fuck, if I knew the bus station was deserted, I would have run every red light to get here in under twenty minutes.

I suddenly feel a surge of protectiveness toward my new stepsister.

I need to get her home right away!

With that thought in mind, I honk my car horn and wave at her. Then we make eye contact.

Christ, she’s beautiful.

She smiles and waves back. Then I park the car and walk over to her.

“Chase? Is that you? Chase Maddox Montgomery?” she asks, looking over at me.

“Yeah. It’s me,” I answer with a grin.

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