A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,3

day to go – then you’ll be free too.”

As Rowan and Garrett sighed and nodded, conceding he was right, Beau couldn’t help but notice that Declan hid his expression behind his coffee cup, raising it to take a sip of the dark liquid.

Whoops.

He supposed talking about mates must have reminded Declan of his own lack of one – and the fact that he probably wouldn’t be heading home to see his family. Unicorns were notoriously insular, even by shifter standards. Beau knew that Declan having chosen to live amongst humans was a bone of contention between them.

“Anyway,” Beau said, “I better get going. I’m driving out there, since unlike some people, I actually take notice of the weather reports. So if they tell me there’s a storm warning, I don’t fly.”

“Hey, I’d say that worked out pretty well for me in the end,” Rowan retorted, though his voice was mild.

They all knew exactly what Beau and Rowan were talking about, if only because it had become something of an office legend: three years ago, Rowan, being the impulsive hot-head he was, had decided to try to out-fly a storm on his way to investigate a case, failed – and as a result had crashed straight through an unsuspecting shed roof.

It’d been lucky for Rowan that the shed had belonged to a beautiful woman – and that the beautiful woman had turned out to be his fated mate.

“Take care, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Rowan said. “Unless I can tempt you with finishing these reports…?”

“Not a chance,” Beau said, laughing as he turned away, waving as the three of them headed dejectedly back to their desks.

As sorry as he felt for them, Beau couldn’t bring himself to be too downhearted. He had trouble smothering his smile until the elevator doors had safely closed behind him – at which point he pulled out his phone.

Hey. Just got out of work. Be there tomorrow. Drive overnight if I have to he texted to the family group chat, something his older sister Darla had thought up to help their close-knit family keep in touch with each other.

Before the elevator doors had opened onto the underground parking lot, he’d already been bombarded with responses.

can’t wait 2 c u. drive safe from his Aunt Betty.

Yaaaaaaaay! from his younger sister Courtney.

lmk what you want for lunch and it’ll be in the warmer from his father, who was king of the kitchen at this time of year.

Beau finally let his smile run free across his face as he texted back his answers while he walked to his car. There was no substitute for this – for the happiness and warmth of family.

He absolutely loved Christmas.

Chapter 2

Ugh.

Annie Shaw absolutely hated Christmas.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t Christmas itself that was the problem. She had no particular opinion about Easter, after all, and that featured many of the same things: a holiday, a lot of food, a smiling, gift-bestowing mascot who everyone loved – and a lot of extra work for her.

Working in a bakery, though, these things were to be expected. The demand for the Dearborn Family Bakery’s pies, pastries, buns and cakes went through the roof every holiday, and if she’d minded that part of it, then she would have quit her job here years ago, despite the fact the owner, George Dearborn, had become almost like a second father to her.

Or a first father, really, Annie thought, swallowing, as she rearranged a sagging garland of tinsel around the bakery doorway. Since I never really had a father to begin with.

The thought made her breath catch in her throat. All right – so maybe it wasn’t that big of a mystery as to why she didn’t like Christmas.

Christmas was just a painful reminder of all the things she’d never had growing up. A father who’d given a damn about her was just one of them.

A stable address had been another. But once her mother had decided having a five-year-old kid around was cramping her style, Annie had gone into the foster system, and been moved around from family to family until she’d finally hit eighteen and could get out and be on her own.

Some of the Christmases she’d spent with one or two of her foster families hadn’t even been so bad – she’d gotten presents, and it’d been clear the family was trying to make her feel like she was one of them.

But no matter how hard they’d tried, Annie had always felt like an outsider