Thirty-six years ago, he left Candlewick Mill and the girl he loved behind. This Christmas, one unanswered invitation could change everything.
At fifty-seven, Sharon Gauthier has spent years turning an abandoned Vermont mill into a thriving little community filled with artists, craftspeople, cozy shops, and cherished Christmas traditions. She's proud of what she's built, even if keeping everyone happy means she rarely has a moment to herself.
Every Christmas, she sends a card to Glenn Tremblay, the young man she loved before the Mill closed in 1994. Every year, she hopes he might answer.
This year, he finally does.
Glenn has spent decades building a good life in Maine, repairing theater equipment and keeping his distance from the Vermont town he left behind. But when Sharon invites him to Candlewick for the Mill's anniversary Christmas, he decides it's time to come home. He arrives with a suitcase, a lifetime of memories, and an old key he's kept hidden for thirty-six years.
The key opens a room in the Mill's north wing, locked since the final shift walked out on Christmas Eve in 1994. Behind that door are pieces of Candlewick's past that even Sharon doesn't know about.
But first, there's the matter of two people who haven't seen each other in decades.
Between snowy sleigh rides, Christmas shopping, long walks beside the river, and cozy suppers where someone else does the cooking, Sharon and Glenn discover that the affection they once shared has grown into something deeper. He's still thoughtful, quietly funny, and far too good at making her forget the work waiting upstairs. She's still the woman he remembers, although she's built a life neither of them could have imagined when they were young.
Yet Christmas is coming quickly, and Glenn has a home and a career waiting in Maine. Sharon has an entire community depending on her. If they want a future together, they'll need more than fond memories and a few stolen kisses beneath the Christmas lights.
And when the old north-wing door finally opens, Candlewick may discover that some of its most treasured Christmas gifts have been waiting in the same place for more than thirty years.
Bells & Beginnings is a heartwarming, later-in-life second-chance Christmas romance filled with small-town friendship, found family, snowy Vermont traditions, long-lost memories, gentle humor, and the beautiful possibility that the love you left behind might still be waiting when you come home.
Genre: Romance
At fifty-seven, Sharon Gauthier has spent years turning an abandoned Vermont mill into a thriving little community filled with artists, craftspeople, cozy shops, and cherished Christmas traditions. She's proud of what she's built, even if keeping everyone happy means she rarely has a moment to herself.
Every Christmas, she sends a card to Glenn Tremblay, the young man she loved before the Mill closed in 1994. Every year, she hopes he might answer.
This year, he finally does.
Glenn has spent decades building a good life in Maine, repairing theater equipment and keeping his distance from the Vermont town he left behind. But when Sharon invites him to Candlewick for the Mill's anniversary Christmas, he decides it's time to come home. He arrives with a suitcase, a lifetime of memories, and an old key he's kept hidden for thirty-six years.
The key opens a room in the Mill's north wing, locked since the final shift walked out on Christmas Eve in 1994. Behind that door are pieces of Candlewick's past that even Sharon doesn't know about.
But first, there's the matter of two people who haven't seen each other in decades.
Between snowy sleigh rides, Christmas shopping, long walks beside the river, and cozy suppers where someone else does the cooking, Sharon and Glenn discover that the affection they once shared has grown into something deeper. He's still thoughtful, quietly funny, and far too good at making her forget the work waiting upstairs. She's still the woman he remembers, although she's built a life neither of them could have imagined when they were young.
Yet Christmas is coming quickly, and Glenn has a home and a career waiting in Maine. Sharon has an entire community depending on her. If they want a future together, they'll need more than fond memories and a few stolen kisses beneath the Christmas lights.
And when the old north-wing door finally opens, Candlewick may discover that some of its most treasured Christmas gifts have been waiting in the same place for more than thirty years.
Bells & Beginnings is a heartwarming, later-in-life second-chance Christmas romance filled with small-town friendship, found family, snowy Vermont traditions, long-lost memories, gentle humor, and the beautiful possibility that the love you left behind might still be waiting when you come home.
Genre: Romance