by Jo Grafford
Unlike Willa, who had neither of those things. Instead, she laid her head on the pillow of professional success each night.
During the first few years of her acting career, coming home had been like attending a non-ending parade. There were special dinners in her honor, small speeches and long autograph lines at the local library, and even a tiny collection of memorabilia in her honor sold at one of the side booths in the General Store. Coming home with her twenty-eighth birthday looming and her acting career in its twilight hours was a different story. She would have preferred to slink through some sort of private, back entrance gate. One that led straight to her parents’ home, safe from the inquisitive townspeople who couldn’t wait for the latest tidbit of news about their local celebrity.
Then again, perhaps wearing her newest navy and purple travel gown and one-of-a-kind hats wasn’t the best way to achieve anonymity. The moment Willa stepped off the train, she was thronged.
“Lord ‘ave mercy, you’re a sight for sore eyes!” Flash Billings, the local postman, made a wobbly dash in her direction. He smelled of cigar smoke and eggnog and didn’t look a day older than a hundred and two with his nearly knee-length white beard. “I jes’ delivered a letter to your Mum. She didn’t say nothin’ about you comin’ home for th’ holidays.”
A pang of guilt rattled its way across Willa’s conscience. She hadn’t written home in awhile.
“They don’t know,” she admitted, hugging him back. “It was…” A bit last minute, even for her. “Supposed to be a surprise,” she finished a trifle lamely, adoring the old familiar grain of his work jacket against her cheek. It smelled like the tobacco he stuffed into his nightly pipe. He was closer to seventy-two than a hundred and two, but he liked to keep his age a secret since he posed as the town’s Santa every year, preferring the children to believe he was much older.
“Willa Murray!” Bea Ashburn squealed, edging her way in front of a pair of shop keepers who were waiting to greet her. “How dare you show up looking like a queen and catching me in my old shopping togs. That’s rather unfair of you!” The moment Flash finished hugging her, Bea leaned in to press a cool, November kiss on her cheek. Her arms were too full of packages for a proper embrace.
“My apologies, love.” Willa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Bea, one of her closest childhood friends, didn’t own anything old or anything that even minimally qualified as a “tog.” Every item of clothing in her extensive wardrobe was tailor made by the best seamstresses in the state. Her goldenrod silk walking gown and oversized lacy bonnet were no exceptions. Not a stitch, ribbon, or strand of hair was out of place. Even in the light breeze, her glossy blonde ringlets seemed to bounce against her high cheekbones in perfect unison.
A distance had sprung between them over the years, the kind born of spending months apart in lives traveling in opposite directions. Willa had chosen a career over having a family, while Bea had chosen a family over a career…in a manner of speaking. A live-in nanny was helping raise her twin six-year-old daughters, while she reined as the town princess in the highest social circles.
A position Willa used to hold. Back when she was a citizen of Pinetop. An insider. Which she no longer was.
The excited babble of her impromptu welcoming party dimmed as a tall, broad-shouldered man standing across the crowded train platform caught her eye. She didn’t recognize him, which was odd since she knew almost everyone in town. His sun-kissed bronze features and black unbuttoned sack coat, which revealed a daring red and black plaid waistcoat, seemed a little out of place among the more sedately dressed townsfolk. However, no one was giving him any undue attention. He lounged against an extinguished light pole, arms folded, nodding and greeting an occasional passerby. They tipped their hats in return as they hurried past.
Like the cluster of people gathered around her, it appeared he’d paused to witness her arrival, though he obviously preferred doing it from a distance.
She didn’t realize she was staring until he turned his head to ensnare her gaze. It was a slow, lazy movement that her instincts screamed was deliberate and calculated. Not a big surprise. She was accustomed to being flirted with by handsome and mysterious men. However, she wasn’t prepared for the glint of taunting humor when his dark gaze clashed with hers. It reminded her way too much of a certain cocky, eight-year-old braggart from grammar school who’d been the bane of her existence once upon a time.
Angel Castellano.
He’d sworn to her entire circle of classy, well-dressed friends that he was going to marry her someday. To her distress, they’d laughed the proud little urchin to scorn.
She squinted at the man in the sunlight, but her brain simply couldn’t connect the undernourished, poorly dressed son of a migrant worker she used to know with the much older, impeccably dressed, and highly polished gentleman smirking at her now.
No, it wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be him. It just couldn’t!
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of
Ornamental Match Maker Series:
Angel Cookie Christmas.
This story and the next three books in this mini-series within a series
Star Studded Christmas
Stolen Heart Valentine
Miracle for Christmas in July
are all available now on Amazon + FREE in Kindle Unlimited members!
Much love,
Jo
Read More Jo
I write — a lot! And I’m currently writing these series:
Mail Order Bride Rescue Series — a mad dash of gallant rescuers in a sweet series to fetch all the mail order brides from the mayhem that befalls them on their journey West!
Her Billionaire Series — a sweet contemporary romantic rivalry between two mega corporate dynasties in the Alaskan Gulf!
Lost Colony Series — a pre-colonial epic saga about the Lost Colonists of Roanoke Island. In the first book, a working class girl poses as a male clerk to gain passage on a ship bound for the New World. She encounters a deadly conspiracy, pirates, and a dreamy Native chief who offers his protection for a price. This title is free, by the way, on most online retailers!
Ornamental Match Maker Series — a fun and cozy, super sweet holiday multi-author series!
Other Multi-Author Series — Whispers In Wyoming, Sailors and Saints, Silverpines, The Lawkeepers, The Bride Herder, Brides of Pelican Rapids, Belles of Wyoming, and Holliday Islands Resort. More new titles coming every month!
You can find out more about each series by visiting my Amazon Author Page:
amazon.com/author/jografford
Or by liking me on Bookbub:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jo-grafford
Or by joining us to chat books, celebrate new releases, participate in games and giveaways, plan meet-ups at book-lover conferences, and more at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CuppaJoReaders
Much love! — Jo
