Christmas On Snowbird Mountain

Christmas On Snowbird Mountain
Fay Robinson

Susannah Pelton is a woman alone, a woman who's lost everyone she loves and has become wary of entanglements. Ryan Whitepath is a Cherokee, member of a close family and a vibrant community, a man who cares about his little girl, Nia, above all else.Because of her mother's death, Nia is emotionally ill, but Ryan's grandmother tells him a redbird with a broken wing will heal his daughter. Ryan dismisses her vision–until redheaded Susannah shows up on their North Carolina mountain with her wrist in a cast.Nia seems to connect with Susannah, who agrees to stay until Christmas. But Ryan wants to change that to forever–for his own reasons as well as Nia's!

A young girl with huge brown eyes was staring up at her

“Hi,” Susannah said.

The girl pointed to the cast that protruded from the left sleeve of Susannah’s sweater. “Did you hurt your arm?”

“I broke my wrist.”

“Does it hurt?” the child asked.

“Not so much now, but it did in the beginning. The doctor put this on to make it better.” The girl kept staring at it, seemingly fascinated. “Would you like to see?”

She nodded, and Susannah pushed up her sweater. The cast covered her hand, except for her fingers and thumb, and went up to just below her elbow.

“How come you don’t got any of your friends’ names on it?”

“Well, that’s a very good question. Do you think you could do it for me?”

Her eyes lit up. “Uh-huh. I even got a marker.” Hastily she took off her backpack and rummaged around until she came up with two. She slowly and carefully wrote the name Nia in black. Instead of dotting the i she drew a red heart.

“How beautiful,” Sussannah said. “Thank you.”

Nia looked quickly over her shoulder, as if realizing she’d strayed too far from the person who’d brought her. “I got to go.”

“Are you here with your mother?”

“My daddy. My mama’s dead.”

Dear Reader,

I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday. I’m so pleased this month to bring you my first Christmas book. I had great fun researching, particularly the customs and history of the Cherokee in western North Carolina. The mountains are spectacular, the people warm and generous.

My story is about Ryan Whitepath, a Cherokee and talented artist…and Susannah Pelton, a woman who has lost everyone she loves. I hope you’ll enjoy the Cherokee legends in this book, the language and the love story. I think Ryan’s “Nana” will tickle you, and his little daughter, Nia, will steal your heart.

Happy reading—and Merry Christmas!

Fay Robinson

P.S. Write me at fayrobinson@mindspring.com. To learn more about the research behind this book, please visit my Web site at www.fayrobinson.com. Or come chat with me at www.eHarlequin.com.

Christmas on Snowbird Mountain

Fay Robinson

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For my mother…who was fearless.

And for Sherry, Brenda, Jackie and all the other good sons and daughters taking care of elderly parents.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to send my appreciation to the people of Graham County, North Carolina, the city of Robbinsville and the community of Snowbird for their hospitality and willingness to answer my questions. I also found the following works valuable in my research: Snowbird Cherokees: People of Persistence by Sharlotte Neely, The University of Georgia Press; Meditations with the Cherokee: Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony by J. T. Garrett of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, Bear and Company; Medicine of the Cherokee: The Way of Right Relationship by J. T. Garrett and Michael Tlanusta Garrett of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, Bear and Company; Another Country: Journeying Toward the Cherokee Mountains by Christopher Camuto, The University of Georgia Press; Aunt Mary Told Me a Story: A Collection of Cherokee Legends and Tales as told by Mary Ulmer Chiltoskey, edited and compiled by Mary Regina Ulmer Galloway, North Carolina Publications; Cherokee Plants: Their Uses—A 400 Year History by Paul B. Hamel and Mary U. Chiltoskey, Cherokee Publications; Cherokee Cooklore by Mary and Goingback Chiltoskey, Cherokee Publications; Walk in My Soul by Lucia St. Clair Robson, Ballantine Books; Beginning Cherokee by Ruth Bradley Holmes and Betty Sharp Smith, University of Oklahoma Press; Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth’s Seasonal Rhythms Through Festival and Ceremony by Richard Heinberg, Quest Books; The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas by John Matthews, Quest Books; The Encyclopedia of Mosaic Techniques by Emma Biggs, Running Press; Mosaics by Kaffe Fassett and Candace Bahouth, The Taunton Press; Working with Tile by Jim Barrett, Creative Homeowner; Decorating with Tile by Margaret Sabo Wills, Creative Homeowner and Setting Tile by Michael Byrne, The Taunton Press.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

Fayetteville, West Virginia

Late October

SUSANNAH LOOKED DOWN into New River Gorge at the rapids nearly nine hundred feet below. Understanding why Native Americans had once called this the River of Death was easy. Even if you miraculously survived a fall here, you’d die on the boulders that dotted the banks, or face the possibility of being swept away in the cold, rushing water.

In the past twenty-three years, two men had drowned after jumps from the steel-spanned bridge where Susannah stood waiting to leap. A third had died when his pilot chute failed to open properly.