A California Christmas of Shadows and Light
A heartwarming holiday tale of family, hope, redemption, and magic—set across California
By J. A. Jackson
Cast
Lavender Ann Landry • Flint Deville • Kadira La Cour-Egan • Mateo Deville • Nicholas La Cour • Maëlle • Thor • Grand-mère Catherine • Lacey La Cour Egan • Kienan Egan • Queen Calafia • The White Witch of Antioch • Lady Eidothea
Chapter 1 — The First Light of December
The first snow touched California like a secret.
Up north, Truckee and Lake Tahoe glittered under a fresh white blanket. Pines bowed in quiet surrender, and the air smelled like cold cedar and clean beginnings. Down south, the Central Valley held its winter hush—frost on the fields, early sunsets, and roads that ran like dark ribbons through orchards stripped bare.
In Silicon Valley, the La Cour home was glowing.
String lights wrapped around railings and hedges. A wreath hung like a promise on the front door. Inside, cinnamon and orange peel curled through the rooms, mixing with the buttery scent of warm pastries Grand-mère Catherine swore could heal a broken heart.
Lavender Ann Landry stood near the window, watching the last sun slide behind the hills. The glass reflected her face and—if she stared long enough—something else too. A shimmer. A ripple. Like a memory trying to become real.
She pressed two fingers to the charm at her throat—Aunt Joan’s pendant, still faintly warm, still holding secrets.
“You’ve been spacing out all day,” Maëlle teased, passing by with a tray of hot cocoa. “You’re thinking about your dream again, aren’t you?”
Lavender didn’t deny it.
“How could I not?” Lavender murmured. “The lake. The throne rising from the water. Queen Calafia putting that hamsa around my neck…”
She lowered her voice, like saying it too loudly might summon it again.
Maëlle’s laughter softened. “In our family, dreams aren’t always just dreams.”
Across the room, Nicholas wrestled with a box of ornaments while Flint hung lights with the patient focus of someone who could build a life with his hands. Kadira sat on the rug with Thor, helping him untangle a string of gold beads as their new puppy tried to chew the ends.
Mateo leaned in the doorway, quietly watching Kadira like she was the best thing in the world.
Lavender caught that look. The way Mateo’s gaze steadied Kadira. Like love could be an anchor. Like love could keep a person from drifting into storms.
Lavender looked down at the charm again.
And wondered what kind of storm was drifting toward her.
Grand-mère Catherine called from the kitchen. “Lavender, bébé, come taste this!”
Lavender entered the kitchen and found Grand-mère at the stove with a pot that smelled like sweet cream and spices.
“It’s my Christmas custard,” Grand-mère declared. “A little Louisiana in California. Taste.”
Lavender tasted. Warmth spread through her chest like soft music.
“Perfect,” Lavender said.
Grand-mère Catherine studied her a moment longer than necessary. “You feel things. You see things,” she said gently. “Don’t fight it. But don’t go chasing shadows either.”
Lavender swallowed. “What if the shadows chase me?”
Grand-mère’s smile held no fear. Only knowing. “Then we meet them with light.”
Just then, thunder rolled faintly somewhere beyond the hills—an odd sound for a dry California evening.
Lavender turned toward the window. For half a second, she thought she saw water ripple across the sky.
And then it was gone.
J.A. Jackson is the pseudonym for an author, who loves to write deliciously sultry adult romantic, suspenseful, entertaining novels with a unique twist. She lives in an enchanted little house she calls home in the Northern California foothills.
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