Snow Place Like Home

Prologue

Jason

Yolanda Graham was in bed, coughing and struggling to breathe. She reached out a shaky hand, which Jason Locklear took, tucking the cold, thin mitt between his giant ones.

"I need you to do something for me," she said weakly.

"Anything, Yo."

"Open the drawer."

He did as she said and pulled out two envelopes from the bedside table, one addressed to Jason and the other to Shonna, her granddaughter.

"On the first of December, mail this letter to Shonna. Please wait until I'm gone to read yours."

After months of battling a bad bout of pneumonia, a few days ago, the doctor told them there was nothing more to be done except to make her as comfortable as possible until she passed. Yolanda, or YoYo, as she was fondly called by all who knew her, had gotten sick when she competed in the Iditarod, a grueling long-distance dogsled race across Alaska, which takes place annually. For the first time in thirty years, a woman, and a non-Alaskan one at that, had brought home first place. Although she had won the race, it came at a price.

"Why December first?" Jason asked.

YoYo ignored his inquiry. Before he could press her further, she began coughing uncontrollably. He helped her sip some water. When her fit settled, she rolled over, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

It was excruciating to watch her wither away like this. Ever since Jason moved to Blackstone, a small town fifty miles outside Anchorage, his hometown, seven years ago, she had become like a surrogate grandmother to him.

As he watched YoYo's frail body curled up in bed, wheezing in her sleep, he wished he hadn't listened to her insane request not to tell her family.

The next morning, she was gone. Despite December being weeks away, Jason did as YoYo requested and waited until the first of the month to mail the letter. There was a brief memorial service, which the entire town attended.

When Jason got home that evening, he opened the letter from YoYo, dreading reading her last words. He wasn't ready to say goodbye to the woman who had such an impact on his life. Their friendship had been an unlikely one. On the surface, they had nothing in common. She was an older black woman from Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jason was a young, native Alaskan man from Anchorage. Yet, they were kindred spirits and could talk about anything, everything, and nothing for hours. She gave him advice about his business and his non-existent love life, and he would help her around the house, drive her to Anchorage when she needed it, and handle any repairs to her home free of charge.

His hands were shaking as he read over the handwritten note his YoYo had left him.

My dearest Jason,

I am so blessed to have had you in my life. You are like the grandson I never had. You had no reason to help an old woman like me, a stranger, all these years. But you did, expecting nothing in return.

Your heart is as big as this great state I've been blessed to call home for the last decade. You weathered a broken heart but still have the capacity for so much love. It's why I feel you are the perfect man for my granddaughter. She needs someone like you. She hasn't had a lot of love in her life and has never opened herself up to a man that way. But you can change that.

I know you're wondering why I'm pushing you to be with a woman you've never met. Call it grandmother's intuition. Despite the odds, I know you two will find each other, and destiny will see to the rest.

I love you, Jason. Thank you for loving me. And I know you will love my granddaughter for the rest of your lives.

With you always, my child,