by Anne Hagan
Hannah’s face fell.
Sandy didn’t seem to notice. She just rattled on, “She said she got her and her little girl a nice little apartment in Philo.”
“Really? That’s really close to here.” Hannah was shocked.
“Um hmmm.” Sandy nodded, rocking her whole torso back and forth.
“Did she say...Just her and Espy...Esperanza; that’s her daughter.”
“Just them.”
Hannah smiled broadly.
“I told her about the cakes, baby. Told her we three, at least - I don’t think John will be interested but I can check, if you like?” At Hannah’s nod, she went on, “We three need to decide how we want to approach these cake requests...who wants to be involved, who wants to do what and whatnot.”
“What did she say?”
“She said absolutely. She gave me her number and told me to get in touch with her after Christmas.”
“Anything else?”
“That’s it baby girl.”
Later Christmas Eve, December 24th
Morelville, Ohio
HANNAH DIDN’T HAVE time to think about anything else once she got home. Kris showed up on her doorstep with Beth and Cole in tow, begging for help.
“I really appreciate this,” Kris said to her as she put a hem into an angel’s gown Beth was wearing as she stood on a kitchen chair in front of her. “Mom usually does this stuff but she’s on the decorating committee and they had to be there early.”
“It’s no problem,” Hannah told her.
“Nothing like waiting till the last minute, missy!” Kris chided her daughter.
The teenager rolled her eyes. “They got all new costumes this year, mom. They wanted to make sure everything would fit.”
When Beth’s hem was done, Cole put on his shepherd costume and replaced his sister on the chair.
“WHERE’S YOUR BABY?” Hannah asked the Anderson's.
Celia Anderson looked around the little Sunday School classroom the kids were getting ready in. “I don’t see Jef. Did you bring him?”
“Yes, he’s upstairs in the sanctuary with the Cranes. I came down here to help with the costuming. Why?”
“Our son has a little bit of a fever and a slight cough,” David Anderson explained. “We thought it was best not to bring him out tonight so he’s at home with my sister.”
“Yes,” Celia said nodding, “so we really need a favor. Do you think Jef would play the part of Jesus?”
Hannah’s skepticism must have shown on her face. David added quickly, “But I’m pretty sure there’s a doll they can use if you don’t think he’d do it.”
“It’s not that. He’d do it,” Hannah told them. “It’s just that...well, he’s such a little ham. They really need a much younger baby.”
The youth minister walked over to them. “Did I hear right? Little Carson is sick?”
Both of the Andersons’ nodded.
“That’s too bad,” the minister said. “I hope he gets to feeling better quickly.”
Hannah nodded her agreement. “Me too.” She turned to face the pastor. “They were asking if Jef could take Carson’s place. I said he’d probably do it but...”
“I think that’s a great idea,” he said, cutting in.
“I’m just worried he won’t stay still during the play,” Hannah told the man.
“Don’t even concern yourself Hannah. Why, we’ve had babies cry, soil their pants and gas the whole set...you name it. The kids will take it in stride and drive on. You’ll see.”
“Okay, I guess.” Hannah wasn’t so sure but she wasn’t about to say no to the pastor.
Chapter 24
Late Christmas Eve, December 24th
Morelville, Ohio
“You did such a great job, Jef,” Dana said as she looked back from the front seat at the toddler.
Hannah looked over at her son proudly then laughed when he puffed out his little chest at Dana’s praise.
Driving, Mel glanced up into the review mirror to see the toddler but only for a moment. The drive from the church to the house was a short one. She turned right, onto the State Route and began down the street. She slowed as she drew close to the store to her left for her driveway just a little further up on the right. She glanced left as she passed the store and stopped.
Dana yelped. “Whoa there, what’s the problem?”
“There’s a car parked in front of the bakery.” Everyone looked to the left. Mel turned down the street and pulled in right behind the car, blocking it in.
“That looks like Morgan’s,” Hannah said.
Mel looked back at the younger woman as she started to get out of the car. “You’re sure?”
Hannah nodded.
“Where are your keys?” Mel asked her.
Hannah picked up her purse, unzipped the large compartment and reached inside. She felt all around. A look of panic crossed her face. “They’re not here.”
Mel glanced back, over her shoulder then turned back to Hannah. “It looks like there’s a light coming from the kitchen. I’m going to check it out.”
“Babe, be careful,” Dana cautioned her. “We don’t know for sure who’s in there.”
“I really do think it’s Morgan’s car,” Hannah said as she opened her own door and started to get out.
Mel shot her a look.
Hannah ignored her. She got the rest of the way out and joined Mel on the pavement. Together, the two of them moved toward the front door. Mel reached out to try it. It was locked.
“We’ll go around to the back,” Mel said. “You stay behind me...just in case.”
Hannah fell in line behind the taller woman as they walked to the back of the store and bakery building. They stopped at the back, exit door they’d had to put in when they converted the behind the store space to a bakery. Light shone through the little glass window set high in the door.
Mel stood on her toes and tried to look in. “Can’t see anyone.” She tried the handle. “It’s locked too.”
“What do we do?” Hannah asked from behind her.
“We knock.” Mel did just that; hard. “Police!”
Within seconds, the sounds of scurrying feet approached the door. Mel stood more to the side and pushed Hannah behind her but she craned her neck to look through the window. Her posture relaxed within seconds. “It’s Morgan.”
Mel stepped back in front of the door and Hannah moved up beside her. They waited as Morgan released the deadbolt and the heavy, steel door swung open.
“Hi,” she said. “Bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here?”
Mel smiled. “The thought had crossed my mind, along with, how you got in here in first place.”
The young woman shifted aside the long white apron she was wearing, reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a set of keys. She held them out to Hannah. “They’re yours.”
“How...how did you...Sandy,” Hannah said.
Morgan simply nodded.
“Sandy was here earlier today when I was locking up,” Hannah explained to Mel. “We left through the store so she could say hello to the Rossi’s. She must have grabbed them.”
“Are you okay?” Mel eyed Hannah.
The strawberry blond glanced at Morgan then nodded. “I’m fine.”
“Can we talk? Just for a few minutes,” Morgan asked.
“Yes,” Hannah whispered back.
“I’m, uh, working on something in here; for the family.” Morgan jerked her thumb over her shoulder.
The two younger woman started to walk into the kitchen. Mel stopped them. “I’ll run Dana and Jeff over to the house.”
“I won’t be long,” Hannah said. “I want to read to Jeff before I put him to bed.”
Mel left.
In the kitchen, one of the butcher block tables was filled with bowls of dried fruits and nuts. The convection oven was on. Something inside was starting to rise. On the other side of the table, in her stroller, Esperanza played quietly with a little pile of p
owdered sugar on her tray.
“I’m making Christmas stollen for you and your family,” Morgan said. “It’s my grandmother’s recipe. The first thing I ever baked...one of the only things I can bake well. I’ve been here a little while.”
“Sandy called you?” Hannah asked.
“Called. Came over...gave me your keys.”
Hannah raised an eyebrow.
“Please don’t get mad at her. She...she was just trying to help.”
“I’m not mad at her. She told me...told me you moved. With Frank?”
“No, not with Frank. Just me and Espy.”
The oven dinged. Morgan went to it, opened it up and carefully lifted out the baking pan as Hannah watched.
“The Amish follow German traditions, right?” Morgan asked.
“Some of them.”
“Did you make stollen?”
“No,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “It’s sort of like fruit cake, isn’t it?”
“Sort of. Fruitcake usually has rum in it. There’s no alcohol in this and it’s formed. I tried to make this one look like the buildings along this street; the store, your bakery, that church looking building down the street...”
Hannah smiled. “The opera house.” At Morgan’s odd look, she told her, “That’s what it is. Mama Rossi and Faye led the committee to restore it here, not to long ago.”
“It has to cool for a little bit,” Morgan said. “We can talk while we wait.”
“Just for a few minutes, okay? I really want to be there with Jef. It’s the first Christmas Eve he’ll remember...I hope. You can...you can come over though; you and Espy.”
“I’d like that but, I guess I owe you an apology first. Hannah, I know I made a mistake even considering taking up with Frank.”
“So you moved out on your own? How are you...are you okay? Can you make it by yourself?”
Morgan leaned back against the work table and looked down at the floor. “Yeah. I was already paying most of the bills anyway. I’ll pick up some more hours or something. We’ll be able to do it.”
“What made you decide to leave?”
“That night, after the dinner, I...I went home. Mom was there with some man. They were smoking and drinking.”
“Oh,” Hannah said.
“It was bad,” the other woman said, looking up and meeting Hannah’s eyes. “Espy was in her pack and play, her diaper soaked, crying. They didn’t even look her way. My mother told the man, right in front of me, that I was the no good mother.”
A tear rolled down Hannah’s cheek.
“I got Espy cleaned up then packed up as much stuff as I could. I filled the car up and we left. I haven’t talked to her since. She hasn’t even tried to call me.”
“What about Espy?” Hannah asked. “Who watches her while you’re at work?”
“This past week, a neighbor lady in my building; Charmaine. She seems really nice. She doesn’t charge me a whole lot and Espy really likes her.”
“That’s good,” Hannah said.
“It’s decent - partially furnished - and not too far from here,” Morgan said. “It took less than 20 minutes to get here.”
“So you could come visit me and Jef?”
The brunette nodded. “And you and Jef could come and visit me and Espy.”
Hannah glanced at the toddler and back at her mother. “We’d like that.”
“It’s going to be a little rough until I finish school, what with school and work and all,” Morgan said. “But maybe I could make you two dinner or something, some night.”
Hannah stepped toward Morgan. “We have nothing but time.” She looped an arm around the taller girls waist and another around her neck and pulled her up, away from the work table.
Morgan put a hand on either of Hannah’s hips and pulled her into her.
Their lips met in a kiss that seemed to last forever.
Hannah, remembering her son, waiting for her at home, finally pulled away. She smiled up at Morgan and told her, “You taste like cherries.”
About the Author
Anne Hagan is an East Central Ohio based government employee by day and author by night. She and her wife live in a tiny town that's even smaller than the Morelville of her Mystery fiction novels and they wouldn't have it any other way. Anne's wife grew up there and has always considered it home. Though it's an ultra-conservative rural community, they're surrounded there by family, longtime friends and many other wonderful people with open hearts and minds. They enjoy spending time with Anne's son, with their nieces and nephews and doing many of the things you've read about in her books or that will be 'fictitiously' incorporated into future Morelville Mysteries and Cozies series books. If you've read about a hobby or a sport in either series, they probably enjoy doing it themselves or someone very close to them does.
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For the latest information about upcoming releases, other projects, sample chapters and everything personal, check out Anne’s blog at https://AnneHaganAuthor.com/ or like Anne on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAnneHagan. You can also connect with Anne on Twitter @AuthorAnneHagan.
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Also Written by the Author
BROKEN WOMEN – The stand alone prequel to Healing Embrace
Can two women, unlucky in love, find solace in each other?
Where do you go when you lose everything? Who do you turn to next when nobody seems to want you for more than a causal fling?
When death unexpectedly takes the love of your life, the best you can do is to try to cope and to hold on to the good memories. When your beloved’s family takes everything else you have, hope is all that’s left...if you can hang on to that.
You’ve been smitten more than once. You’ve even been in love a time or two. The trouble is, your feelings are always only yours. Cupid’s arrow always fails to land.
Can two love weary people, from different worlds, find strength together? Can they find more and even a happily ever after?
HEALING EMBRACE – The stand alone sequel to Broken Women
Barb and Janet were a couple...and then they weren’t. What now?
They started a tentative relationship that led to sex a little too soon. Both shied away but their friends knew the two women belonged together. They conspired to put them together in a neutral place where they could talk it out and it worked.
They talked. They started slow, with actually dating the second time around...but now what? They’ve both been shattered by love lost. They’re both wary of getting deeply involved again. It doesn’t help matters any when Barb’s focus gets drawn away from her own happiness to tend to the needs of others.
Janet tries to be understanding of Barb’s need to be there for her family. She knows she loves the fiercely independent blonde but she’s not so sure they belong together in a committed, long term sort of way, especially when her attempts to lend a hand from time to time seem to bring out more ire than gratefulness.
Barb’s dad and his health problems have her feeling years older than she already is. When she looks at the only slightly younger Janet, she sees the exuberance and inexperience of youth. She loves the curvy cop with her heart on her sleeve but she’s afraid the younger woman too often leaps before she considers all of the consequences.
What will it take to convince the two women that their personalities complement each other and that they’re a good match?
LOVING BLUE IN RED States – A lesfic romance short story series that kicks off with a visit to the little town of Sweetwater, Texas.
THE BOOKS OF THE MORELVILLE Mysteries series; Anne’s lesfic themed mystery/romance series.
Relic:
The Morelville Mysteries – Book 1 – The first Dana and Sheriff Mel mystery and the first book in the Morelville saga. Please click the link above which will take you to Anne’s site where you can obtain links to get this book.
Cases collide for two star crossed ladies of law enforcement...
Customs Special Agent Dana Rossi was forced to start her life anew after a bad breakup with her former girlfriend and the loss of a job that she loved. These days, she spends life on the road, moving from one case to another until one day when runs run right into the path of Sheriff Mel Crane. The feisty, sexy butch cop is as determined to uncover a counterfeiting ring in her county as Agent Rossi becomes to stop a stalker obsessed with Mel and hot for her company. Dana is under the added pressure of conducting an undercover investigation of her own with a tight deadline: finding and then stopping a ring of smugglers bringing high end designer knock-offs into the states.
Could their cases be related? When repeated vicious attacks on Mel and on her home accelerate the danger for her and also their attraction to each other, they become desperate to find the truth and solve the two mysteries. Can they find a way to work together to resolve both cases while coming to terms with their growing feelings for one another? Can Dana move beyond her jilted lover past and find true happiness with a small-town Sheriff?
BUSY BEES: THE MORELVILLE Mysteries – Book 2
Romance and Murder Mix in the Latest Story Featuring Sheriff Mel Crane and Special Agent Dana Rossi!
Customs Special Agent Dana Rossi is down but not out after being shot and seriously injured during her previous assignment. Will romance blossom or will sparks fly when she agrees to shack up in Morelville with the beautiful butch Sheriff Melissa ‘Mel’ Crane and her extended family while she recovers?
