A Rockport Christmas

Faye Hastings thought she had left Rockport behind for good.

After losing her father and severing ties with her family, she built a successful life in the city. But when her estranged brother reaches out about their mother's health scare, Faye is pulled back to the town that once felt like home.

As Christmas approaches, nostalgia floods in—especially with her former love, Sam Cooper, back in the picture. Faye must confront painful memories and long-buried secrets while navigating her family's fractured relationships. Can she mend old wounds and find joy in a place that holds so much hurt?

In this heartwarming fifth installment of the series, join Faye on a journey of reconciliation, love, and the magic of the holidays. Will she rebuild her family ties in time for Christmas? Or will the past keep her from the future she truly desires?

Discover the spirit of Rockport, where hope and heart collide, and every return is a chance for new beginnings.

Chapter 1

“He looks like a piece of work,” Faye commented under her breath before shifting from one foot to the other.
She held the folder tighter against her chest and continued to peer through the conference room’s glass enclosure at the ash blond-haired lawyer in the custom Hugo Boss suit leaning against the window, a furrow between his brows.
Harvey Ross was one of the most cutthroat lawyers in town.
She hated having to go up against him, especially when it always felt like he was circling the waters, waiting for the slightest hint of blood.
When Harvey pushed himself off the wall and selected a chair on the far side of the rectangular table, Faye breathed a sigh of relief and glanced over at their company lawyer, Charlotte Montgomery.
In her five-inch heels, red, slicked-back hair, and expensive Gucci suit that screamed money, she looked every inch the corporate lawyer.
Faye knew she liked to eat lawyers like Harvey for breakfast.
But it didn’t ease the knots in her stomach or rid her of the bile that had been building in the back of her throat for days, ever since she was told her presence at the meeting was required. Faye had been working as a talent and mergers acquisition analyst for the past two decades, and she had seen it all in her line of work, from reluctant CEOs to crashing market interests. Still, she preferred the quiet of her cubicle in an empty corner of the second floor, knowing it provided her the space she needed to get her job done.
Drafting up a proposal for both parties was the easy part.
Studying how the market was going to respond and preparing a budget accordingly was what she liked the least.
Charlotte’s fingers moved steadily over the screen, her bright eyes lit up by the glow of her phone. Slowly, she looked up, tucked the phone into her purse, and offered Faye a smile. She gave her a quick pat on the back and drew herself up to her full height, making Faye feel infinitely better.
“Harvey is all bark and no bite,” Charlotte said under her breath as she led her into the spacious and toasty conference room, with a single small Christmas tree set up in the back. “Whenever you feel like you can’t handle him, just look over at me.”
In silence, Faye selected a seat in the middle, pausing to set her folder and tablet on each other. “Yeah, if I live that long.”
Charlotte gave her another pat on the back, and her lips lifted into the barest hint of a smile. “Don’t worry. Just stick to the numbers and the research, and you’ll be fine.”
Faye swallowed and gave the lawyer a weak smile.
It was easy for Charlotte to pull up a chair and sit down like she belonged at that table.
For all intents and purposes, she did.
Faye, on the other hand, had never felt like she belonged in that world, not with several pairs of eyes focused on her every move, analyzing each word that fell from her lips.
A small trickle of sweat formed on the back of her neck, but she ignored it and rifled through her papers. Someone dimmed the lights, and Charlotte handed her the remote to the projector. After securing the cable to her laptop, Faye took another deep breath and squared her shoulders.
“As per our last meeting, we did another analysis of the market opportunities, and the results were the same,” Faye began, heart thumping erratically inside her chest. “There’s a niche for the kind of service we’d be providing once the two companies merge, and it’s wide open.”
Harvey leaned back in his chair and brought one leg up over the other. “I see the numbers haven’t changed.”
Without missing a beat, Faye pressed a button, and a graph lit up the screen across from her. “Unfortunately, it’s going to cost a tidy sum of money to budget for something like this, but as you can see, the research suggests we’ll be able to make back that money within the first year.”
Harvey lowered his leg and pushed his chair closer to the table, the low screeching sound reverberating in Faye’s skull. “Was any technology used to support this research?”

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