Novella 1: Pastels and Jingle Bells
Trish Ackerly never
expected to cross paths with Ian Rafferty again, but when she spots the former
bully of her childhood years through her bakery window, she thinks she may just
have been given the best Christmas gift ever: the opportunity to finally
give Ian the comeuppance he deserves.
But clearly she does
not have a knack for this whole revenge thing, because before she can make good
on her plans, Trish gets inadvertently drawn into Ian’s life in an unexpected
way that lets her see just how different the man is from the boy he used to
be. In fact, much to her astonishment, she actually starts to like
the guy.
A lot.
Trouble is, Ian
doesn’t know who she really is, and explaining it to him is going to be a
little difficult now—which is bad news, because Trish is starting to realize
that all she really wants for Christmas this year…is Ian.
Excerpt
Pastels and Jingle Bells: Heavenly Bites Novella #1
It was probably
inviting the worst kind of karma to be contemplating murder during the holiday
season of all times, but that didn’t phase Trish Ackerly in the slightest as
she stared through her bakery’s storefront window in shock.
It was him.
Ian Rafferty, bane of her junior high school existence. She’d know that
face anywhere, despite the changes in it. Sure, he was a couple of feet
taller now and certainly broader shouldered, but as he glanced away from the
winter scene she had painted on the window only yesterday and at a passing car
that whizzed by much too fast on the busy city street, the profile he
presented to her confirmed it. Yes, it was him. That same
nose, the odd little scar above his eye, the familiar way he quirked his lips…
Her eyes
narrowed. Ian Rafferty. That miserable, mean-spirited little—
Then he turned his
face back to the window, and Trish gasped and dropped to the floor before he
could spot her staring at him.
“What on earth are
you doing?” came Nadia’s voice from behind the counter.
Trish huddled behind
a tall metal trash can and glanced up through her dark bangs at her startled
friend and business partner only to remember belatedly that they had company in
the shop, namely wizened little Mrs. Beasley, whose startled eyes blinked at
her from behind enormous tortoise-shell spectacles.
Well, there was
little help for it now. “That guy,” Trish hissed, jerking one thumb in
the direction of the window. “I know him!”
Both Nadia and Mrs.
Beasley peered intently through the glass. “Mmm,” said Nadia
appreciatively a moment later. “Lucky you, girlfriend.”
“No, not lucky
me! That guy made my life a living hell in junior high. He’s a
jerk, he’s a bully—“
“He’s coming in
here, dear,” Mrs. Beasley interrupted her, with obvious interest in her voice.
With a squeak of
alarm, Trish shuffled hastily behind the counter on her hands and knees and
hunched into as small and inconspicuous a ball as she could.
Nadia blinked.
“Trish, are you out of your—“
“Sh!”
“Oh, you did not
just shush me—“
“SHH!” Trish
insisted again, knowing full well that she’d pay for it later, and then she
pulled her head down into her shoulders as much as her anatomy would allow.
The bell on the door
jangled cheerfully then, and a gust of cold air heralded Ian Rafferty’s
arrival.
“Hi, there,” Nadia
greeted him brightly, surreptitiously giving Trish’s foot a little dig with one
of her own. “Welcome to Heavenly Bites. What can I get for you?”
“Cup of coffee would
be great for starters,” came a voice that was deep but soft, and far less
reptilian than Trish expected. She cocked her head slightly to better
catch his words and heard the unmistakable sound of him blowing on his hands
and rubbing them together to warm them. “Cream, no sugar.”
“Sure thing, honey.”
“Your window art,”
his voice continued, and Trish straightened ever so slightly at the mention of
her work. “It’s fantastic. Can I ask who painted it?”
“Absolutely,” Nadia
returned, turning her attention to getting the coffee he requested. “My
business partner, Trish.”
“Is she around, by
any chance?”
Nadia glanced down
at where Trish sat scrunched up and did what Trish thought was a very poor job
of suppressing a smirk. “She’s, um, indisposed at the moment. Why
do you ask?”
“I’ve got a couple
of windows that could use a little holiday cheer. Think she might be
interested in the job?”
Nadia gave Trish
another brief sideways glance.
Trish shook her head
frantically.
“Tell you
what. Leave me your number, and we’ll find out.” Nadia stepped out
of reach before Trish could smack her leg.
“Great,
thanks. Here’s my card.”
“I’ll see that she
gets it, Mr.—“ Nadia glanced at the card. “—Rafferty. Here’s
your coffee, and you, sir, have a very nice day.”
The bell on the door
jingled again, and Trish cautiously poked her head up long enough to verify
that Ian was indeed gone. She then ignored the fascinated look Mrs.
Beasley was giving her and fixed an icy stare on Nadia. “I’m going to
kill you. How could you do that?”
Nadia tossed her
dark braids over her shoulder. “Hmph. Shush me in my own shop…”
“I don’t want to
talk to that guy! I don’t want to have anything to do with him.”
“He seemed nice
enough to me,” her friend returned, shrugging unapologetically. “And easy
on the eyes, too.”
“And single,” put in
Mrs. Beasley eagerly, one wrinkled hand fluttering over her heart. “No
wedding ring.”
“Of course there’s
no ring! No woman wants to marry the devil!” Trish sank back down
onto the floor and leaned back heavily against the shelves behind her.
“He used to
be the devil,” Nadia corrected her, examining the business card he had handed
to her. “Now he’s ‘Ian Rafferty, Landscape Architect’. And he’s a
paying customer, Trish. Face it, you could use the money.”
“Forget it.
I’m not so hard up that I’d go crawling to Ian Rafferty for a job.” Trish
scowled and folded her arms across her chest. “I have my dignity, you
know.”
“Yeah? Why
don’t you get up off the floor and tell me all about your dignity.”
“Oh, shut up,” Trish muttered, getting to
her feet and snatching the card from Nadia’s hand. Wadding it up, she
tossed it in the direction of the trashcan and stalked into the bakery’s
kitchen.
Website: http://christinesfeldman.com
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Christine-S.-Feldman/e/B00BT55USM/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1378166877&sr=8-1
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6934883.Christine_S_Feldman
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