Hold Me Close: A Heron’s Landing Novella

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.Hold Me Close (A Heron’s Landing Novella)Published by Blue Violet Press LLCSeattle, WashingtonCopyright © 2016, 2017, 2020 by Iris MorlandCover design by Qamber DesignsAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.Published 2020.First edition published 2016 under the title Let It Snow. Second edition published 2017 as Adore Me Ardently (A Heron’s Landing Christmas Novella). Third edition 2020.

When Officer Matthew Haldon saw the flash of orange-red in his rearview mirror, he first thought it was a fox running about in this blizzard. When he peered more closely, he realized it wasn’t a fox: it was a person. A person most decidedly stranded in a ditch on the side of the road.Matt had been on the police force for five years now, four of those here in the tiny Missouri town of Heron’s Landing. At the moment, he wanted to get home safely, put his feet up, and maybe drink some spiked cider. Sighing, he knew that wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. He slowly did a U-turn, the snow falling so hard that you couldn’t see more than foot in front of you. Living in a place like Heron’s Landing made driving in the snow both a blessing and a curse: a blessing, because you were often alone on the road; a curse, because you were often alone on the road.After what seemed like an hour, he finally got to the car and the person trying to dig themselves out. He turned on his lights so

As the night waned on, Matt was aware of two pressing things: one, they were going to be out of firewood soon and the power hadn’t come back on yet; and two, he was becoming more and more unwilling to part with Holly in the morning.He watched as the fire slowly waned down to a mere spark, and he cursed himself for not getting more firewood before tonight. But who would have thought that the power would go out—and be out—this long? It had been close to three hours now, and the house was beginning to get colder, but nothing dire yet. He glanced at Holly, wrapped up in her blankets, and his very stupid mind told him he wouldn’t mind sharing body warmth with her if necessary.Leave her alone, he told himself. She’s been through hell and back again. She doesn’t need you getting handsy.This was what Matt told himself, but it didn’t stop the thoughts from pouring into his mind. He couldn’t sleep now. How could he sleep with her sitting next to him, smelling of flowers, her bright red hai

When Matt drove Holly back to her car, he’d wrestled with what he should do. Should he let her go, never see her again, and hope for the best? He had a feeling that was what she thought she should do. What claim did she have on him, and vice versa?But his honor clawed at him, and he knew that he couldn’t let her go with her ex out there, the ex that could—and very likely would—hurt her given half the chance. Matt was a police officer and had access to things that a normal citizen wouldn’t. What kind of a man would let a woman like Holly leave as he sat back and did nothing?So after he’d changed her tire and they’d driven back to his place, he told her that he wouldn’t let her leave until she was safe to do so. The look of surprise on her face had both amused and frustrated him. It also saddened him that she automatically expected that people wouldn’t help her, at least nothing beyond the essentials.He watched as she went back inside his house. He decided to make some calls, find

Christmastime meant two things to Holly Haldon: decorating the tree, and celebrating the day she and Matt became an official couple.It had been an interesting year, given the trial (Sam was now in jail for at least twenty years), and then the engagement, and then their marriage three months ago. Matt hadn’t wasted anytime in making Holly his wife, although she’d balked a little at the speed at which things had progressed. Shouldn’t they date a while, she’d argued? But Matt, in his calm, Matt kind of way, had asked her why they should wait.Since she couldn’t give an answer, she eventually decided her boyfriend was right.Now she gazed at the Christmas tree, smiling as she sipped her cup of eggnog. Who would’ve thought they’d both end up here after she’d gotten stuck in the snow one year ago?“How are you feeling?” Matt sat down next to her, his arm around her shoulder. He leaned down to touch her abdomen, which had only just started to show the baby growing inside. “Feeling good t