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CHAPTER ONE

PEACE AT LAST

Serena Winston paused along the snowy path Out here in the beauty of the Alps, it was so quiet She lifted her face up to the warmth of the sun just seconds before it disappeared behind a dark cloud Shadows quickly spread over the ion of Austria

She sighed The sunshine had been so nice while it lasted, but the snoas starting to fall again But she had to admit that the snowflakes had their own charround It was so different from her home in sunny Hollywood

“Arff! Arff!”

“Okay, Gizlanced down at her recently adopted puppy “You’re right We better keep ”

There was already plenty of snow on the ground Serena’s fondest wish had always been to learn to ski, but for one reason or another, she’d kept putting it off First, it was due to the worry of injuring herself before fil an actress did have its drawbacks And then, there just wasn’t ti—especially now that she’d inherited her legendary father’s vast estate Selling off sos was more complicated than she had anticipated

Realizing the direction of her thoughts, she halted the breath This holiday excursion washer Hollywood career There was yet another reason for this spur-of-the-moment trip, but she didn’t want to think about it, either There’d be ti later

When she glanced back down at her teddy bear dog, she found he’d wrapped his lead around a bush The easiest way to fix the situation was to release Giz deal Gizmo was not one to wander off

Serena unhooked the lead “Stay,” she said firmly

Giz what she’d said He didn’t move a paw

“Good boy”

Serena set to work untangling the leash from the prickly shrubbery It wasn’t an easy task What had Giz?

At last, she freed the leash She’d have to be th of the lead in the areas with rougher terrain

“Arff! Arff!”

She watched as her little dog took off in hot pursuit after a brown-haired creature “Gizmo! Stop!”

Serena ran after the dog She continued calling his nas, Gizht now, he was very motivated

Serena wasn’t familiar with the terrain, as this was her first visit to the se nestled in the Austrian Alps This area had been on her bucket list to visit right after Fiji and right before Tasmania With her rush to leave Hollywood, it seeht time to scratch another adventure off her list

The sno heavier Between the snowflakes and trees, she spotted a road ahead And though it appeared to be a quiet road, the thought of little Gizs harder and faster

“Gizmo—”

Serena’s foot struck a tree root Down she went Oomph!

The collision of her chest with the hard, frozen ground knocked the air froroup before she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle With each heartbeat, the sound was growing closer

Ignoring her discomfort, Serena scrambled to her feet “Gizmo! Here, boy”

She continued after the little furbaby who’d captured her heart a fewa dog Gizy and in need of lots of love