Home for Christmas

To all of those who believe in the spirit of Canterwood

Seven years later and it's time to say good-bye to Canterwood Crest Academy and all of the characters who inspired me and gave me endless writing material. *runs away from computer and slinks back* This is the hardest set of acknowledgments that I've ever written.

I wish holiday cheer to each person who touched Canterwood. If I missed you in the acknowledgments, please forgive me!

Diana Peterfreund, you were the first to give me advice and tell me the NYC agent contacting me was not, in fact, a scam.

Thank you, Alyssa Eisner Henkin, for finding me and taking on my project.

Molly McGuire Woods and Rubin Pfeffer, both of you changed my life because you sought a tween horse series.

To the people on Santa's Nice List: Fiona Simpson, Alyson Heller, Bethany Buck, Mara Anastas, Lucille Rettino, Venessa Williams, Jessica Handelman, Russell Gordon, Karin Paprocki, Nicole Russo, Paul Crichton, Courtney Sanks, Valerie Shea, Craig Adams, Katherine Devendorf, Ellen Chan, Bess Braswell, Dawn Ryan,
Carolyn Swerdloff, Stephanie Voros, Deane Norton, Jim Conlin, Christina Peccorale, and Annie Berger.

Tremendous thanks to the teachers, librarians, and booksellers from Barnes & Noble to Powell's, who got Canterwood into the hands of readers.

Thanks to Cathie Morton for providing inspiration behind the racehorses-in-need story line.

To my girls, Lauren Barnholdt and Becca Leach, you've been there from book one.

Sparkles to Carrie Ryan, Aprilynne Pike, Jennifer Rummel, Melissa Walker, Marlene McPherson, Brianna Ahearn, Teri Brown, @KhloDrama, and Natalie K. Reinert.

Monica Stevenson, it's impossible for me
not
to judge my books by their covers! Thank you for shooting such striking photos again and again. Special thanks to Jill S. (aka Sasha), since you'll forever be the face of Miss Silver. Hugs to all of the Canterwood models who worked tirelessly to create gorgeous covers.

Shout-out to my Cali Barn Mafia—Joey, Lex, and Grace. Major hugs to you all!

Kate Angelella, you took over Canterwood with seamless grace. Words will never be enough (Okay, we'll go shopping!) to thank you for everything you have done for these books. They blossomed from a four-book deal
to a twenty-book series thanks to your efforts on all fronts. You've lost many things—tangible and not—while the last few books were being written and published. I hope you're able to see that not an ounce of your talent was ever diminished. I'm beyond proud to call you my best friend. LYSM. <3

Team Canterwood, I wouldn't have made it past
Take the Reins
without you. Your words of encouragement will never be forgotten. This isn't a good-bye—I hope to be writing for you for a long time!

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Lauren

“OH, MON DIEU!”
I SAID,
laughing. “We'll be there in five seconds!” I glanced behind me at my friends. Khloe Kinsella, Clare Bryant, Carina Johansson, and Lexa Reed grinned at me from the two rows of backseats in the Towers's family SUV.

“There” was someplace my friends had never been.

Somewhere I was nervous to take them.

I shot a tight but excited smile to Mom, who was in the driver's seat. I turned my gaze back to the front windshield. Mom flipped on the left blinker, and we made a familiar turn onto my street and started cruising past other houses in my neighborhood.

This is really happening,
I thought.
There's no going back now—you've officially brought Canterwood home for Christmas.

My once-seedling of a dream was now reality. At first I'd thought of only inviting Carina, Canterwood's Swedish foreign exchange student, home with me to Union so she wouldn't be alone for the holiday. But my one-house-guest idea had exploded when I'd stumbled upon the
parfait
opportunity to invite all of my friends to come with me.

My BlackBerry vibrated on my lap. There was a BlackBerry message from Taylor Frost—my ex-boyfriend from home. He was a Canterwood student now too.

Taylor:

The guys & I just got 2 my house. U?

I wrote him back.

Lauren:

2 secs away from mine!

A warm blush crept over my cheeks when I thought about
one
of Taylor's guests—my boyfriend, Drew Adams. He, Zack Reynolds, Garret van Camp, and Cole Harris—all from Canterwood—were en route to Taylor's house.

I was glad that Union wasn't a big town. My guy friends and Drew weren't in walking distance, but I could reach Taylor's house in five minutes via car. It felt so good to have everyone close for the holiday. All of my Canterwood friends had become more like family than I'd ever expected.

I clicked on Brielle Monaco's name. She was one of my other Canterwood friends who lived in Union.

Lauren:

U almost home?

Brielle would have ridden with us, but space was tight, so her mom had picked her up. Bri and my other bestie from Union, Ana, would be joining my friends and me for the holiday. Ana attended my old school in Union—Yates Preparatory.

Brielle:

Couple of mins away! Sooo excited!

Lauren:

Me too! :D

“Lauren?”

“Huh?” I jerked out of my thoughts when I heard Khloe's voice from the backseat.

“Is this your house?” Khloe asked.

I blinked twice and realized Mom had slowed the SUV in front of what was indeed our house. My mouth was dry—I had no idea what to say. Suddenly I was overwhelmed at having all of my friends here. I visualized having a cup of Peppermint Twist tea in front of the fireplace. Just thinking about tea calmed my nerves. I had to keep reminding myself that this Christmas wasn't about
us. We had some serious work to do. My nerves evaporated. I almost wanted to jump out of the Suburban and run up to my house.

“Welcome to my home!” I said.

The girls cheered from the backseat.

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