Free Chapter Friday: Holiday Lights Out

She pulls up to the travel agency with butterflies going. Nervous about the trip, or nervous about something else entirely, she has not decided yet.

Holiday Lights Out is a standalone small town cozy mystery. Read it free in Kindle Unlimited.

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Here is the whole first chapter. If it grabs you, the link to keep going is right below it.

Chapter one

I pulled up to the travel agency, butterflies dancing in my stomach. I was nervous about taking this trip. Or maybe it was the copious amount of caffeine I'd had this morning to try and wake myself up after staying up way too late packing. No. It was definitely nervousness. I hadn't taken a trip by myself since maybe never. I'd always traveled with family, and then Frank. I'd never been too adventurous, but I was ready to change that. I was embarking on a new life, and I was determined to be a new, improved me. Next time I wasn't going to wait until the last minute to pack though.

Next time. How wonderful that phrase sounded. It had taken me so long to get to the point in my life where I was able take trips by myself and do whatever I wanted. Frank, my ex-husband, would never let me go alone, and he never cared to go with me. Said it was a waste of money. I still couldn't believe I'd allowed him to dictate what I could and couldn't do. I suppose it was out of some misguided notion that I needed to listen if I was to be a good wife when he didn't care about anything but his precious ESPN.

I shuddered at the memories of all the years I'd wasted thinking I could change him. He wasn't a bad guy; he just didn't want to do anything—and when I said anything, I meant anything. Literally, he was a bump on a log, as my gramma used to say. He put the B in boring and the C in complacency. He hated his job, yet instead of trying to find something he liked that was more fulfilling, he was miserable all day. He came home miserable and stayed that way and I had finally had enough.

The divorce was easy. Logistically speaking. We'd never had kids. Something I'd always wanted, but Frank never felt it was the right time. My friends all joked after the divorce that I could now start a family, but at forty-five, I was pretty sure that wasn't in the cards. I'd made my peace with it, though, and loved being that cool aunt to my sister's kids and my friends' children.

Not to mention my business, Stella's Second Style, which was like a child to me.

But none of that mattered right now. I was so excited to be getting away. Especially at the holidays, as it was my favorite time of year. And without Frank's negative attitude putting a damper on everything, I just knew it was going to be the best holiday I'd had in years. I'd had my Christmas decorations up in the cozy apartment I was currently living in since before Thanksgiving.

Some of my friends thought that was a bit early, but now that it was December, I could be full-fledged Christmas-crazy and no one would accuse me of jumping the gun.

On a whim last month at a holiday craft fair I signed up for a four-day weekend in a cabin about five hours away from St. Paul, Minnesota, where I lived. The small town, called Thief River Falls, had a world-renowned, or at least Minnesota-renowned, Christmas light show I'd wanted to see for years. When I saw the sign up at the craft fair the afternoon after I'd signed my divorce papers, I knew it was meant to be. It was again something Frank never would have done.

I saw other people getting out of their cars and took a deep breath. I admit I was scared to take this trip alone, but I could do this. There was nothing to be nervous about. The trip was limited to twenty people, and my goal was to have a conversation with each of those twenty people and make new friends.

I went around to the back of my Audi Q5 and lifted the hatch. I pulled out my oversized suitcase and tried to keep it from slamming on the ground, breaking open, and spilling clothes all over. No easy feat, as I'd stuffed the suitcase full. And I still had the other suitcase to unload. Once again, I vowed to learn the art of packing light. After I got the second suitcase out of my trunk, I shut the hatch and slung my backpack and purse over my shoulder, then pressed the key fob to lock the doors.

I headed in the direction of the tour bus idling with a bunch of people surrounding it, assuming that was my group. Guess I'd know soon enough.

A few seconds later I'd reached the group of people, thankful I didn't have to go any farther. Just rolling my heavy suitcase was taxing; the exertion was making me hot underneath my sweater. A woman in a Bud's Tours jacket was checking people in, and I looked around. It was an eclectic group of people. I saw a few couples and a group of men standing together so I assumed they were on this trip together. There was also a woman who looked to be in her seventies. Good for her, not being afraid to travel alone. See! I could do this. I bet she could teach me a thing or two.

"Name?" the lady in the jacket asked.

"Stella. Stella Cavanaugh."

The woman ran her eye down the list of names and must have found mine as she made a check on her paper. "My name is Beth. I'll be your guide on this trip, along with my husband Frank over there." She pointed to someone who was helping put luggage in the carrier under the bus, but I couldn't look. Frank. Seriously, the tour guide had to be called Frank? How was I going to forget about my Frank if there was another Frank?

"Just take your luggage to Frank there and get on the bus. We'll be leaving shortly. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks," I smiled, nodded and headed over to Frank, since avoiding him wasn't an option. Thankfully he looked nothing like my ex and hey, it would be good practice to get past the name thing. There are a lot of Franks out in the world.

I passed off my luggage and watched it get tossed under the bus, and went and found my seat. I was ready for an adventure.

Want to keep reading?

Holiday Lights Out is a standalone small town cozy mystery. Get your copy here — free to read in Kindle Unlimited, or listen to the audiobook.

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Holiday Lights Out is complete on its own, no series to catch up on. If you want one that runs longer, Friends and Foes starts the Read Wine Bookstore mysteries. See all my cozy mysteries here.

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Do you travel over the holidays, or is staying put the whole point?