A Family for the Holidays (ePub)

Kelly Singer wants a family.  Her mother, Kelly's only surviving relative, has early onset Alzheimer's Disease,  and lives in an assisted living facility in Naples, Florida. Most of the time she doesn't recognize Kelly, and watching her mother slip further and further away not only breaks Kelly's heart but increases her sense of isolation.

She and Sky Ziegfeld, both hired by the new Minor League baseball team on Mimosa Key, now share a condo on that lovely tropical island off the west coast of Florida. They are fast becoming best friends and Kelly envies Sky her large family. When they moved in together, two of Sky's five brothers drove down from Philadelphia with Sky's belongings. That's when the trouble began.

Over the summer, Mike and Jed  visited frequently to watch the Bucks play. Mike, tall, handsome, and sporting a body honed at the fitness center he owns, captured Kelly's attention. She'd like to step up their relationship, but Mike, badly burned by his first love, has kept her firmly in the friend category.

Sky and Kelly urge him to consider Mimosa Key for his next fitness center, and when he visits to check out properties for it, his hard-won resistance to Kelly crumbles.

After a week of intimacy during which he  carefully avoids any mention of a continuing relationship, Mike flies back to Philly leaving Kelly to wonder if there is any chance for a future together. An invitation from Sky's mother to spend Thanksgiving in Philadelphia causes Kelly much anguish. The holiday spent with Sky's family sounds tempting, but she doesn't want to abandon her mother, nor is she ready to face Mike again. But, with a plan hatched by Sky's brothers that allows Kelly to visit her mother and still join them for Thanksgiving dinner, Sky convinces Kelly to accept.

Kelly loves the warm welcome she receives from the Ziegfelds -especially from Mike. He gives her a tour of his fitness center, and she joins Sky and her dad in selecting the family's Christmas tree. It all seems perfect until disaster strikes. Mike's old flame pays a surprise visit, and Kelly's mother escapes the grounds of Harbor House. In her frantic scramble to return to Florida go join in the search, she may wind up leaving Mike behind—along with her heart.