Once Upon a Texas Christmas
A Whiskey River Christmas Romance
Katherine Garbera
Once Upon a Texas Christmas
Copyright © 2017 Katherine Garbera
EPUB Edition
The Tule Publishing Group, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-947636-76-7
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Author’s Note
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Bonus Recipe
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Whiskey River Christmas Romances
About the Author
Dear Readers;
I know it’s almost a cliché to say it but Christmas is my favorite time of year. I always wish it would last longer than just the month of December and I do leave all of my decorations up until Epiphany which is in January to extend the festiveness in my house.
I’m so excited to be returning to Whiskey River, Texas for Christmas. The idea for this story came from my fellow authors (Eve Gaddy, Julia Justiss, and Nancy Robards Thompson) all wanting to work together and deciding it would be fun to do a riff on Dicken’s classic A Christmas Carol. And for us the fun started there.
My contribution Once Upon A Texas Christmas is a twist on one of my favorite tropes of the romance genre – boss/secretary. I say boss/secretary but we all know those terms are outdated and what I really mean is office romance.
My heroine Avery works in Whiskey River for Hollywood hottie Logan Calloway. Logan might be one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Of The Year, but to Avery he’s just her boss. Sure he’s cute and everything but since he rarely comes to Whiskey River, she’s never met him in person and when he does show up she’s…well I want to use the word flummoxed! She just never expected him to be so hot in person. Didn’t they airbrush celebrities for magazines? Logan is definitely 100-percent-sexy-Texan.
With the help of Felicity Blanchard – a matchmaking ghost who was cheated out of her own happy ending so she tries to create ones for deserving couples—and the magic of Christmas both Logan and Avery find themselves drawn to each other and both have to overcome the scars of their pasts to trust in happily-ever-after.
Happy Holidays!
Katherine
Dedication
This might seem odd to you but I have to say a big thank you to the universe for leading me to writing as a career, when I was younger and heard about being called to do something, I didn’t really get it. But writing has given me so much more than a job, it’s given me a world that lets me flourish and friends that I treasure. I can’t think of a part of my life that writing hasn’t enriched so this book is dedicated to everyone who is part of that world, my family, my writing friends and especially you my fabulous readers!
Acknowledgments
It would have been impossible to write these books without the support and friendship of Eve Gaddy, Nancy Robards Thompson and Julia Justiss. Thank you.
Bonus Recipe
At Felicity’s Ball the charity gala held by the Women of Whiskey River there is a signature cocktail called a flat white martini. Here is the recipe in case you want to try it at home and see if you can stir up some holiday magic!
Flat White Martini
Using a jigger, measure 50ml Baileys Original Irish Cream and 25ml espresso and 25ml Smirnoff No.21 into the cocktail shaker. Shake the mixture vigorously until the surface of the cocktail shaker feels chilled. Use a cocktail strainer to strain the mixture into a Martini glass.
Prologue
Harwood House should have been her home in life and instead had been her sanctuary in the afterlife. Felicity Blanchard loved the Victorian mansion and was very much looking forward to December and the ball that was held annually in her honor.
Every Christmas season she was drawn back to Harwood House and she couldn’t resist working her matchmaking magic on couples who came to stay at the restored B&B run by Audra and Drew’s descendants. Her fiancé had found love after her death and Felicity had found so much joy in seeing him find his happy ending that she hadn’t been able to resist doing it again.
She often heard the couples she’d brought together mentioning the scent of lavender, her signature fragrance, and it made her heart feel lighter each time she was able to help a man and woman find strength in each other.
In this new century, she had thought that courting would be easier but couples still had trouble getting out of their own way…just like Avery Burton and Logan Calloway.
She returned to Harwood House at Christmas but she had heard the stories many years ago when Danny Calloway had been in a drunken temper and plowed his car into the car being driven by Ted Zimmerman, who with his young wife Mary and their daughters Trina and Lori, had been returning home from selecting their Christmas tree. Danny had killed himself and the entire Zimmerman family and the Calloway boys had borne the brunt of public scrutiny ever since.
Avery was very good at organizing everything and keeping everyone at arm’s length but Felicity wondered how long she’d be able to resist once she was trapped with Logan…
Chapter One
November 27, Monday
Avery Burton was a little surprised that her boss was here in Whiskey River. Paparazzi had caught him coming out of pop star Sunny Hemmings’s Las Vegas penthouse in the very early hours of Sunday morning. Given that Sunny was engaged to legendary music producer Tommy Eno it was safe to say that Logan Calloway’s reputation as a bad boy from the Barrels was intact.
“I’m surprised to see you,” Avery said without looking up. They’d talked on the phone numerous times and she’d had a Skype interview before he’d hired her, but those devices had muted the effect of being the in the same room as one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive.
He wore a pair of faded denim jeans that hugged his lean hips and thighs. Like any son of Whiskey River he wore a pair of hand-tooled Kelly boots. His were made of blood-red leather and had a series of stars sewn onto them.
She skimmed her gaze up his body noticing the demure leather belt, sans large buckle. Logan wasn’t a cowboy and never pretended to be. He had on a designer blazer and a Sunny Hemmings concert T-shirt that clung to his lean abdomen and pecs like it had been tailor-made for him.
She finally glanced at his face. He had a strong jaw with a bit of stubble as was fashionable thes
e days but Avery was willing to bet that Logan’s was more due to his lifestyle than a nod to fashion. Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses covered his eyes but she knew they were electric blue and his thick dark hair was mussed as if he’d just crawled out of bed.
He oozed sex appeal and he was standing in her office waiting for something from her. She arched one eyebrow at him. She was known for being a bit of a smartass so she really had to bite her tongue. Logan might be a celebrity and he might be the gossip sites’ favorite person to chronicle, but he was also her boss.
“Figured I’d lay low for a little while and you did sign me up to be co-chair of this Felicity’s Ball on Saturday,” he said. His voice was a low gravelly sound that sent a shiver down her spine.
“Good idea on the laying low. I have a meeting with the WOWR charitable society this morning and I believe that Eli and Harlan are expecting you later in the week about the winery.”
“Thanks for your approval on my actions,” he said sardonically, stepping into the room and removing his glasses. As he leaned one hip on the edge of her desk, she noticed that his cologne was spicy, woodsy and very understated.
Honestly, the man was one big ball of sexual attraction, rolling into her office on Monday morning. How was a girl to cope when she hadn’t even had her peppermint mocha?
“I believe in giving credit where it’s due,” she said.
“What else do you believe?” he asked. “I haven’t had a chance to get to know the real Avery.”
“I’m pretty much as promised on the label,” she said. She’d heard that on a British TV show and thought it made her sound more sophisticated than she was.
He threw his head back and laughed. “I think you are anything but, Avery Burton. Do we have a coffee machine?”
Avery realized he’d never been to the office. She’d worked for him for three years and he’d never once come back to Whiskey River. “We do. Would you like the office tour?”
“Nah. Just point me to the coffee machine,” he said.
She gestured to the hallway. “Second door on the right. The first one is the bathroom.”
Even though she was the assistant/manager of the Logan Calloway Foundation she wasn’t sure what he expected of her now that he was here. She had a few appointments for the day but most of her time this week was focused on the ball. She had been using Logan’s celebrity status and connections to get items for the silent auction.
So far she had a round of golf with the PGA’s player of the year Murray Tomlinson, box seats at the Dallas Cowboys game for next Thanksgiving, and of course a date with Logan. She had also used his connections to reach out to all of the products he endorsed and had high-end gift baskets from most of them. And a twenty-four-hour loan of a Lincoln MKC.
The ball would raise money for the Whiskey River Children’s Home. She’d taken on the head of the committee role because she knew that she had resources that the other women didn’t have and she liked organizing parties.
“Uh, do you need me to do anything for you?” she asked following him down the hall. He was standing in front of the Nespresso machine and staring at it.
“Embarrassingly I need you to show me how to use this thing,” he said. “What happened to the Mr. Coffee machine?”
“You did that commercial for Nespresso and they sent this, so I thought you’d prefer it. I believe you said you like a dark, spicy roast.” She walked into the room and went to the cabinet where the pods were stored and took down the sampler pack that they had sent. She had no idea which one was dark and spicy, since she stopped at Riva’s Java every morning on her way to the office and got whatever seasonal latte she had on special.
“Are you going to spout back every ad I’ve ever done?” he asked.
“Maybe. Are you going to pretend you like every product you’ve ever hawked?” she asked.
“Nope. Where’s my automatic drip pot?” he asked.
“Sorry we donated it. But Riva’s Java makes a really nice latte if you don’t want this,” she said.
He shook his head. “Just show me how to use this.”
She showed him, making a cup of coffee for him and handing it to him.
“Will that be all?”
“For now,” he said, sauntering out of the break room and down the hall to his office where he closed the door.
What did that mean?
*
Drinking whiskey and partying in Vegas hadn’t been his best idea but the thought of coming back to Whiskey River always made his skin feel too tight, as guilt wrapped him in that familiar embrace. He’d left a long time ago, running from the stain on his family name and from his own demons. Luck had favored him when he’d taken a job as a stunt driver for a low-budget action flick and the lead actor hadn’t shown up for work. The director had asked him if he could act and Logan, knowing he had nothing to lose and that acting paid more than stunt work, had said yes.
That movie had struck a chord with viewers and launched his career. Unbelievably his face—which he’d always looked at in the mirror and seen as a reflection of his old man—was considered attractive and Logan had made more money than Midas simply standing still and letting people photograph him. Between acting and modeling he’d made enough money to take care of his maternal great-aunt Jane, who’d been named guardian of his younger brothers, and he’d ensured that Sully and Finn had been able to go to college. Sully of course was a fighter like their old man and had dropped out of high school two weeks before he graduated and gone to Mexico to fight in the lucha libre league, which he’d segued into a career in the UFC when he’d come back to the US. Finn was scary smart and worked for a think-tank back east.
Aunt Jane had passed away three years ago—that had been the last time Logan had been here.
And to be honest he wished he wasn’t here now.
Except Avery had asked him to co-chair this charity ball and then the women’s league or whatever they called themselves had the hot idea that he and Avery should lead off the ball with a dance together. So he’d had to come back. But he’d planned to land on Saturday morning and then leave on Sunday afternoon. Before Sunny had meddled in his life—all because she’d wanted to make her fiancé jealous.
To be fair they’d necked a bit but sleeping with another man’s woman wasn’t his way. And while he had nothing against a one-night stand, they were starting to lose their charm.
He looked around the office, which had a framed poster from his first movie on one wall with two leather chairs underneath it. There was a credenza on one side of the room that held a silver tray with two bottles of whiskey on it and some highball glasses. There were framed letters of thanks for the charity work he’d done as well.
He looked at the desk. What the hell was he doing here? He should have just gone into town to the bar and tried to rustle up a game of pool but the truth was Whiskey River was his hair shirt. He couldn’t walk through the square without feeling the eyes of the good citizens on him. Without wondering if they were seeing Logan the movie star or Logan the son of Danny Calloway, the town drunk who’d killed four of their own while taking his own life.
There was a knock on his door and Logan set the coffee mug on his desk to go and answer it.
Avery was right there as he opened the door and he noticed she flushed a little before taking a step back from him. She had on a black dress that ended at her knee and a pair of riding boots that came up to the top of her calf. The dress was fitted at the top and she’d worn a belt around her waist. She had on a thick cardigan that was really a little too much for late November Texas weather.
Her long blonde hair looked silky as it fell in straight strands to her shoulders. She reached up and tucked a strand behind her ear and then tipped her head to the side.
“Um…I have to go to a committee meeting. As co-chair it might be a good idea if you attend,” she said. “I’m sure the ladies of the WOWR will have a lot of questions for you. They were pretty much salivating when I mentioned you were the co-chai
r.”
“How did that happen?” he asked. “I remember saying I’d help out but not that I’d be co-chair.”
“Seemed like you could use a little good PR. Of course, this was before the whole award buzz that’s surrounding you now.”
“I’ll go with you. I was just looking at my desk and realizing I had no idea what to do in here.”
She smiled in that way he noticed people did when they weren’t sure what to say to him.
“You don’t have to hold your tongue,” he said.
“Yes, I do,” she retorted. “I’ve been told that it’s not good manners to just blurt out whatever comes into my head.”
“Who told you that?” he asked, following her down the hall and out of the office. “I’ll drive.”
“Rachel. Rachel Wood,” she said. She locked the office door behind them and then shifted the strap of her shoulder bag before looking at him. “I was going to walk—it’s not that far from here.”
“I can’t walk through town,” he said. “If you want to walk I’ll meet you over there.”
“Afraid you’ll be mobbed by fans or paparazzi?” she asked. “I think you might be flattering yourself a bit.”
“I thought you weren’t going to just say whatever popped into your head,” he teased. “We can walk but if I am mobbed I expect you to take the heat for me.”
She shook her head. “I will protect you if it comes down to it. I’ll walk in front of you like a bodyguard.”
“That means so much to me,” he said.
“Stop it or your fake praise will go to my head and then how will I be able to enter the community center?”
He followed her as she led the way toward town center and he realized that he liked Avery. She was feisty and funny. Just the kind of woman who could distract him from the ghosts of the past and the ennui that Christmas always seemed to bring with it.
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