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What would you give up for love? For Carol, it was her passion to sing. But was her sacrifice worth it now that her marriage is crumbling? In this heartwarming novella, two people discover the true essence of Christmas and its power to rekindle the flames of love.
E-Book Content
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a Carol for Christmas
Other Books by Robin Lee Hatcher Loving Libby Catching Katie The Forgiving Hour Whispers from Yesterday The Shepherd’s Voice Ribbon of Years Firstborn Beyond the Shadows The Victory Club The Coming to America Series Dear Lady Patterns of Love In His Arms Promised to Me
a Carol for Christmas
bestselling author of Catching Katie
A Carol for Christmas Copyright © 2006 by RobinSong, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan -American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non -exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan. AER Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-29683-6 Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hatcher, Robin Lee. A Carol for Christmas / Robin Lee Hatcher. p. cm. ISBN-10: 0-310-25776-X ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25776-9 1. Christmas stories. I. Title. PS3558.A73574C36 2006 813'.54 — dc22 2006010195
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechani. cal, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher
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To Michaelyn and Jennifer, for so many treasured Christmas memories. I love you.
CONTENTS
Prologue
9
Chapter 1
15
Chapter 2
25
Chapter 3
35
Chapter 4
43
Chapter 5
53
Chapter 6
65
Chapter 7
71
Chapter 8
83
Chapter 9
91
Chapter 10
99
Chapter 11
109
Epilogue
121
About the Publisher
136
Share Your Thoughts
137
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a Carol for Christmas
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C
arol Burke would never forget the day Jonathan drove over her heart. At least, that’s what it felt
like. It was the first of September, their eight-month wedding anniversary, and Jonathan had taken the afternoon off from work — a rare occurrence — to spend it with Carol. The day was warm, the sky cloudless, perfect weather for a picnic in the park. “Hey, babe.” Jonathan lifted the wicker basket with his left hand and Carol’s guitar case with his right. “Can you get the blanket?” “Sure, Johnny. I’ll get it.” He headed out the door of their small basement apartment, calling over his shoulder, “Better grab the Instamatic too. We might want to take some pictures.” “Okay.” Carol felt happy enough to burst. As much as she loved Jonathan, the past months hadn’t been easy — leaving college halfway through her fr