Welcome Margo Hoornstra and Jake Holbrook!

Good morning. The snow has finally stopped but the frigid temps continue. Perfect reason to curl up with a snuggly fleece throw, a cup of your fave hot drink and a handsome man--and the woman who created him.

Jake Holbrook is a hard driving hospital CEO with a definite sensitive side. Or any side, bottom or top having to do with Doctor Bethany Thomas. Jake and Bethany’s holiday story, Glad Tidings by multi-published author Margo Hoornstra, is part of the Last Rose of Summer Class of ’85 series, and is now available from The Wild Rose Press: www.thewildrosepress.com

We’ll let Jake fill you in on some of the details:

Summerville, New York is a decent sized burg. Part tourist resort by virtue of its location on the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario; part college town, part industrial hub and something I’m particularly proud of, home to a center of excellence health care system. The city is protected by a self-involved and, some would say, corrupt police chief who is thankfully offset by a number of good guy officers on the Summerville police force and an expertly run Bison County Sheriff’s Department.

I grew up in Summerville, graduated from Summerville High School in 1985, left for college shortly after, and spent the next few years serving my fellow man in the United States Peace Corps. While I was away, Bethany Andrews, my best friend since third grade and the long time love of my life married another man. And so went my dream to have a family of my own.

Last summer, I even took the time, trouble and expense to attend our Class of ’85 twenty-five year high school reunion in the hopes she’d somehow show up. She didn’t.

Despite that, somehow Bethy and I managed to keep in touch. I was pleased to learn even being apart, her life and mine traveled the same relative path. She became a doctor who cared for patients wherever she went, from those in her plush Palm Springs private practice to those she encountered on medical mission trips to the most hellish places on Earth. I took over as CEO of Mynderse Memorial, Summerville’s state of the art, multi-specialty hospital, once I realized I could just as easily save the world from my own backyard as away from it.

Who knew a recently widowed Bethany would tumble back into said backyard—and my arms—shortly after? Sure, sleeping with her the night of her husband’s funeral wasn’t my most honorable moment. But, what can I say? Twenty-five years was a long time to wait. And, don’t get me wrong, the passion and pleasure we enjoyed in my hotel room was driven more by my love for Bethy than lust for her body. I could only hope she felt the same. Though I was more than satisfied that one fantastic night, I was also left wanting so much more.

Thinking fast, I figured what better way to keep her in my life, permanently, than to offer her a job running the Family Health Care Clinic I’d recently put my heart and soul into creating. She was lured back to Summerville with relative ease. I had no idea how hard it would be to convince her to stay and become my wife.

Well aware her penchant to serve humanity rivaled mine—one of the many traits I’ve always loved about her—what I didn’t know was that her compassionate actions would unintentionally put my job on the line. Her first instinct was to sacrifice herself by offering her resignation in order to preserve my reputation and my career. And though I tried with all my heart, I couldn’t get her to see my love for her ran so deep, I’d gladly give up everything if she just please wouldn’t leave me again.

Note from Mallory: For more about Margo and her stories, please visit www.margohoornstra.com.