A Season of Miracles

A Season of Miracles
Heather Graham

Centuries ago, in another lifetime, the man Jillian Llewellyn loved tried but failed to save her. Now, in this season of miracles, two lost souls are being given a second chance. Since her husband's death, jewelry designer Jillian Llewellyn has withdrawn, focusing only on her work. But something unimaginable is going to shatter her safe world, drawing her into a web of danger and desire.At the center of the storm is a handsome stranger, Robert Marston. The new silent partner at Llewellyn Enterprises, Marston is as formidable as he is intimidating…as mysterious as he is familiar. The connection she feels is bone deep–as if they've known each other before. When several bizzare accidents strike Jillian, a chilling fear that someone wants to harm her begins to grow.But who would want her dead? A co-worker? A member of her own close-knit family? Against her will she is drawn to Robert, unsure whether he is her salvation…or her damnation. Now, as the ghosts of the past are resurrected, Jillian and Robert must forge a new destiny as they unlock the timeless secrets of passion and betrayal…

A Season of Miracles

Heather Graham

Contents

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

PROLOGUE

The Burning

He had never ridden harder in his life. Desperate as he was, he became aware of each slight sound and scent, every sensation. The day was cold, crisp. The sky was blue. His horse’s hooves made thunder, striking again and again upon the ground. Distant thunder, muffled by the thickness of the snow. The cold seeped into him, though he was sweating as he rode.

His horse’s hooves seem to beat out words. We will not make it. We will not make it.

But they had to try. He had sworn that he would allow no evil to happen. He had sworn to love, to honor, to protect. He had done so in secret. What had seemed logic had been cowardice. And now…

Now they would pay.

“Hey-yah!” he shouted, heels digging into the sides of a fine animal already doing its best to travel the slick, snow-covered roads.

“Sweet Jesu, Michael, you’ll be the death of us all,” Justin called, riding hard behind him with the others.

“There is no time!” he roared. “No time!”

“We’ll be no good to the lass with broken necks,” Justin said.

“Worry about your own, then, because I will trust my neck to God.”

“Aye, God be with us.”

The snow flew. The ground trembled.

They rode. Harder, harder.

God was with them.

How had he underestimated the evil of his enemies? Michael wondered bleakly. It was incredible, chilling beyond death, the lengths to which men would go out of jealousy, bitterness and greed.

“Faster,” he insisted, fear bringing out the sharp command in his voice.

Again he felt the sweat that trickled down his chest despite the whipping wind and the harsh chill. The air was fresh, as fresh as the scent of her, clean, enticing, invigorating. How her scent seemed to haunt him now, despite the mad rush of their reckless ride, the whistle and groan of the wind whipping in a tempest around them. Snow flew, great chunks of it, filthy with dirt and grass, as their horses tore up clods of it under their racing hooves. His heart hammered in time, thudded, thundered, and still the words rang in his head. We will not make it, we will not make it, we must make it, at all costs, for if we don’t…

If we don’t…

The fear that seized him was unbearable.

“We’re nearly upon the valley,” Raynor, another of his men, riding at Justin’s side, called out. “It’s over that hill. We’ve nearly made it.”

Nearly. They were so close.

The sun.

How glorious, she thought, feeling it on her cheeks.

The day was cold and she so barely clad that she shivered, yet still she felt the kiss of the sun on her cheeks. What a wondrous feeling. Something that heated, warmed, giving her the illusion, if only for precious moments, of a deep, encompassing warmth of bliss and well-being; the illusion of being cherished, secure…

As she had felt with him.

But it was but an illusion, for the day was cold, bitterly cold.

And she would feel real warmth soon enough.