I’m thrilled to be taking part in the Christmas by the Fire Blog Hop, organised by the amazing Lori Connelly. A group of Harper Impulse authors are each writing a Christmas story based around one starting paragraph. After launching an exciting competition, Harper Impulse chose Georgia Beyers’ opening paragraph.

There’s also a GIVEAWAY, your chance to win one of 14 titles and the first prize is an Amazon Gift Card – easy to enter competition at the end of this post.

Here is Georgia’s opener:

Charlotte sat at the bus stop wondering whether she would make the ‘naughty or nice’ list this year. Last year she had rescued a stray kitten and therefore considered herself, most definitely, ‘nice’. This year she had broken Daniel’s heart into a million tiny pieces, so ‘naughty’ seemed to be the only answer. There’d be no Santa Claus coming down her chimney anytime soon …

And now for:

Part 1 of ‘Perfect’

Rachel turned off her Kindle and popped it back inside her bag. She looked around at the other passengers on the train, wondering how many of them considered themselves to be naughty. Obviously Charlotte, in the story she’d been reading, felt that breaking someone’s heart was the worst thing anyone could do.

She nestled back against the head rest, smiling at the simplicity of being thought of as either naughty, or nice. What did that imply? That some deeds or actions brought retribution, and others brought rewards? I haven’t broken anyone’s heart, she thought, but then I’ve never rescued a kitten, either.

As the train rumbled along she began to relax and clear her mind. There was so much going on inside her head at the moment—so many new emotions she was experiencing for the first time. A tear formed in the corner of her eye and she turned her head to look out of the window. Trees, houses, open spaces, industrial buildings—the world whizzed by at speed. Out there, under cover of the growing darkness, how many people were looking forward to the Christmas holiday? How many were dreading it? As the wheels rumbled on, the words naughty or nice kept running through her head in quick succession, as if keeping time with the moving train.

I don’t want to go home, she thought, then realised that was simply a knee-jerk reaction. Sometimes it’s easier to run away than it is to face up to things. She was nervous, that’s all, and Lewis would understand that. The single tear doubled in size, sitting like a perfect little pearl in the corner of her eye. If I blink now, she thought, it will begin to trickle down my face. She looked up at the guy sitting opposite and then across at the women next to him, checking for any reaction. The guy was reading a book and the woman was tapping away on her phone. No one knows what goes on inside someone else’s head, she thought. The pain may be real and the emotions raw, but everything remains hidden. As she turned her head once more to look out of the window, the night was closing in and lights were appearing in darkened rooms. Instead of shapes whizzing by, it was now inky black darkness, interspersed with flashes of light.

The train slowed on the approach to the next station and instead of a steady stream of passing blurs, the world outside began to take shape. Houses in total darkness, others with one or two lights shining out, and some lit up like Christmas trees. She laughed softly, despite the inner turmoil she was trying to contain. Real lives, she thought; real emotions being played out one moment at a time; sometimes painful and sometimes uplifting. Naughty or nice, naughty or nice, the wheels of the train seemed to reiterate those words, even as it slowed.

She was conscious that the tear was about to fall. She knew that it would go unnoticed, of course. Even if anyone was watching, no one would say a word. What’s one little tear when people have cried an ocean?

Naughty, or nice—the Christmas buzz was in the air and spirits were high.As the train finally pulled into the station, the lights dimmed for a few seconds and she stared at her reflection in the glass. It was so clear that she was able to watch the tear track down her face. It’s gone, she thought, lifting a hand to wipe the remaining tiny droplet off the side of her cheek. One perfect, little tear for me, that’s my Christmas gift to myself. A line has now been drawn.

Part 2 

Passengers bustled off the train and new people crowded on board. Within minutes it was speeding through the countryside again. Naughty or nice, naughty or nice. The wheels on the track continued to drum out the words. I wasn’t naughty, was I? The question seemed to hang in the air.

The old lady sitting next to her dropped the magazine she’d been reading and Rachel bent to retrieve it, receiving a warm smile in return.

‘Thank you, my dear. There isn’t much room, is there?’

She smiled back. Maybe I’m nice, after all, she reflected. But who knows what goes on inside our heads? It’s easy to say nice things and think mean thoughts. Rachel turned her head back towards the window. The darkness outside was virtually impenetrable, littered with only the occasional flash of light from an isolated cottage, or house, on an unseen landscape. She focused on the repetitive drone of the wheels to relax her, resting her eyes. Naughty or nice, naughty or nice, naughty or … the words were like a lullaby.

After momentarily drifting off into a light sleep, she awoke with a start. The motion of the train had changed its beat. The words echoing through her head were no longer soothing and fun, but cold and hurtful. Damaged or perfect, damaged or perfect, it seemed to chant back at her. She wriggled forward, anything to break the pattern of those scary words and glanced across at her suitcase. It was still neatly stowed away in the luggage rack. She hoped that the presents she so lovingly-wrapped after buying them yesterday, were cushioned safely among her clothes.

Lewis’ trip overseas had been a tough one, for many reasons. Being one of a small team of specialist doctors who flew off to disaster areas at a moment’s notice, his job could never be described as easy. This one had been the very worst emotional roller coaster ride for him. Four long months away from home, but today she would finally see him again. In just two short hours he would be safely back in her arms once more. The wheels seemed to change their chant as her mood brightened. Taking me home, taking me home, ran through her head and it was comforting.

She dreaded their reunion, while at the same time longing to be reunited with him. He’d wanted to fly home early, but she had convinced him to stay. How could she have asked him to turn his back on those poor people who needed his skills so urgently? Mangled bodies had been pulled from collapsed buildings in the aftermath of an earthquake. All those departed souls and yet, in the midst of the horror, some people survived. Following treatment, many were reunited with loved ones even after all hope had initially been lost. Miracles do happen and it made her heart glad.

Lewis was nice and Santa would be paying him a visit, for sure. Rachel would also be adding her own, very special, gift. The wedding band that should already be gracing his finger was waiting for him. The legal ceremony can take place at any time, she told herself, it’s only a formality. In our hearts we are already wed. Their vows were exchanged over the phone six weeks ago; at the exact time it had been due to take place in the UK. Except that Rachel had been in the foyer of her office and Lewis had been standing in the corridor of a make-shift hospital. It had seemed important to them, at the time, to honour the day they had chosen more than a year before …

You can also catch up with intros to the other stories that will be appearing in this ‘free’ anthology by clicking on the links below. I do hope you enjoy them all and we’ll be splashing it on Twitter, and FB, when the anthology is released in December 2014 by Harper Impulse and you will be able to read all of the stories in full!

I hope the first two excerpts from ‘Perfect’ have made you wonder what happens between Rachel and Lewis when he finally returns home. Can you guess how it’s going to end? If you have time, let me know – I hope this one is going to be a real surprise ending … Thank you so much for dropping by!

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