Table of Contents
Title Page
License Notes
Dedication
BLUE CHRISTMAS
Holidays are Not a Time for Blind Dates
Holiday Traditions Can Be Awkward
How to Lose the Holiday Spirit in Five Seconds Flat
Holiday Surprise
Holiday Adventure For One
A Holiday Wish Comes True
A Very Romantic Holiday
Holiday Hangover
A Holiday to Forget
About Lorraine Bartlett
INVITATION TO LOVE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
About Shirley Hailstock
THE TWELFTH NIGHT BRIDE
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
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
About Kelly McClymer
About Storytellers Unlimited
A VERY ROMANTIC CHRISTMAS
A Special Holiday Anthology
Lorraine Bartlett
Shirley Hailstock
Kelly McClymer
Copyright © 2015 Storytellers Unlimited
All rights reserved.
Christmas has the power to bring people together...families, friends, and especially lovers. The vision of three special authors, including a NY Times Bestseller, A Very Romantic Christmas reaches across time and space to remind us that the holidays are about love and connection. Settle in with a plate of Christmas cookies and some hot tea, tune to a carol-only radio station, and indulge in this holiday treat. No matter what the weather, this collection will transport you into the very heart of the season.
Contains two full-length books and one novella.
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Blue Christmas. Copyright © 2013, Lorraine Bartlett. All rights reserved.
An Invitation to Love. Copyright © 2000, Shirley Hailstock. All rights reserved.
The Twelfth Night Bride, Copyright 2000, 2011 © Kelly McClymer. All rights reserved.
Dedication
To all those who believe in the magic of Christmas to bring healing and love to aching hearts.
Blue Christmas
by Lorraine Bartlett
Christmas seems to have lost all its magic for Judi Straub. She′s facing another Blue Christmas. Her boss takes her for granted, her parents have passed away, her siblings are so busy with their exciting lives that they ignore their lonely sister. Friends were usually too caught up in their own holiday madness to see her. Then, late one December, rather magically, she wins an almost-all-expenses-paid trip to Puerto Rico. Sun, fun...romance? To add to the wondrous time of year, she meets Harry Powell, the kind of passionate man she′s dreamed of. He sweeps her off her feet but, all too soon, the holiday season has passed and it′s back to her old, dreary life. But perhaps Christmas will offer one more moment of magic in the New Year?
Blue Christmas
Holidays are Not a Time for Blind Dates
“Hey, Judi, got any plans for the holiday?”
Judi Straub closed her eyes and silently counted to ten. If there was one question she absolutely loathed it was about her holiday plans, and yet, it seemed as if everyone in her office had asked her that question in the days preceding Thanksgiving. They all knew she was single, with no prospects, and not much in the way of immediate family, either.
“Nothing special. Just going to watch the Macy’s parade on TV, and then sit down and read a good book.”
“Alone?” Carol asked.
Judi nodded.
“Oh, but you can’t do that. We’ve got plenty of room at my house. Why don’t you bring a dish to pass and join us? I know Larry would love it, and so would the kids.”
That was laying it on a bit thick. While Judi had met Carol’s husband at work affairs, she’d never met their kids. The ones Carol complained about on a regular basis. The hooligans, she called them, since it always seemed like they were in trouble at school or at home.
“That’s very sweet, but I don’t want to impose.”
“It’s not an imposition. Larry already invited one of his pals from work. Maybe the two of you could get together.”
Oh, no! First a dinner invitation, now Carol was trying to fix her up with yet another dud. No, thanks. But Carol had been right, she absolutely refused to take no for an answer.
And so on Thanksgiving day, Judi found herself standing in Carol’s kitchen, chopping vegetables, sautéing onions for the stuffing, and washing far too many pots and pans.
If that wasn’t bad enough, when Larry’s newly divorced friend, Ed, showed up, he was just a little drunk. Carol immediately pushed Judi on him and all the man could talk about was his ex-wife, their children, whom she’d turned against him, and how worried he was about getting fired because—surprise!—he’d been drinking too much.
When they all sat down for dinner, Judi found she was stuck in front of a table leg with no elbowroom. For some reason Carol’s parents weren’t speaking to each other, but glared at each other across the table, and the hooligans did nothing but bicker. The dishes weren’t anything like Judi was used to eating, either. Canned corn, green bean casserole, and turkey so dry the taste and texture resembled cardboard. And the ultimate sacrilege: the gravy came straight out of a jar.
Of course, Carol worked a full time job. She didn’t have time to prepare an elaborate meal from scratch, but the only dish Judi found even halfway palatable was the homemade cranberry sauce she’d made herself. However, no one else at the table touched it, preferring the jellied kind that not only came from a can, but retained that shape until it was attacked by the hungry mob.
Ed continued to drink during the meal, and when dessert was served, he brought down the house by vomiting all over the chocolate cream pie. The hooligans laughed with delight, while Carol’s parents got up from the table and left the house in a hurry.
With bad grace, Carol cleaned up that mess, and then asked Larry to drive his friend home. Judi would have liked to have taken off, too, but got roped into helping Carol with the dishes and washing yet more pots.
Never again, she vowed.
Holiday Traditions Can Be Awkward
Of course, in years past, Thanksgiving had been a lot of fun, before Judi’s parents’ health declined. Her mother would host the dinner with chestnut stuffing, a turkey so big it barely fit the oven, yams, whipped potatoes, luscious homemade gravy, at least
three pies, as well as cookies, and a cake. There was always too much food and everyone waddled as they’d left the table. Judi, her sister Pam and her family, made it every year, and her brother Bill and his family would alternate the holidays with his wife’s family.
At forty, and the youngest, Judi had never married, although she’d been engaged twice. She lived with her parents, and took on more and more responsibility for the house as their health declined. It hurt when she found out either Pam or Bill would throw a holiday party and not invite her. “You know Mom and Dad couldn’t navigate to come to our house—not with all those stairs,” Pam explained. “They’d be hurt if I invited you and not them.” Apparently, it hadn’t occurred to Pam that Judi’s feelings might be hurt to be excluded from the festivities.
Still, what would the holidays be if they weren’t spent with her parents? So even though her mother hadn’t been able to do much of the work anymore, Judi worked hard to provide the kind of Thanksgiving her family had always known, even taking days of vacation leading up to the holiday to complete the cleaning and cooking. Somehow, at the end of the meal she was up to her elbows in dishwater scrubbing the pots and pans while everyone else gathered around the TV to watch football.
But even that tradition changed when some three years later after their mother died from a massive heart attack. Their father never recovered from the loss and followed her in death from a stroke less than a year later.
Pam made a huge production of hosting Christmas that first year without their parents, but then Bill’s wife started a fight over the lack of cloth napkins, and vowed to never darken Pam’s door again. Bill apologized profusely, but he seldom saw his sisters after that disastrous December 25th.
It was a week before Christmas when Judi got a call from Pam. “What are you doing for the holidays?”
Judi cringed but tried to sound ambivalent. “I haven’t decided,” she said, which was true. She hadn’t given it much thought.
“We’re going skiing in Vail. Would you like to join us?”
Judi’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Oh, Pam. That is so sweet of you to include me.”
“Hold on a minute, you can join us—but you’ll have to pay your own way.”
Judi’s joy immediately evaporated. “How much is it liable to cost?”
“It’s a lovely upscale resort. You’d want your own room, of course, and it’s three hundred forty a night. Plus your airfare. At this late date, you’d probably have to pay a grand or more.”
“How long will you be staying?
“Seven days and six nights.”
Where did Pam think she’d come up with that kind of money on such short notice? Yes, she had her full one-third share of her parents’ estate, but she was determined to save it for retirement.
“And what will you and Larry be doing when you’re not on the slopes?”
“Larry’s boss will be there, along with his wife, Jean. Larry will work and I’ll keep Jean from getting lonely.”
“And what about me?”
“I was hoping you could hang out with the kids. Take them skiing and to other lessons. They’ve got an Olympic size skating rink. You used to love to skate.”
Yes, she had—until she’d broken an ankle.
“I’m sorry, Pam. Much as I’d love to go, I don’t think I could get the time off from work on such notice.”
“Oh, damn. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“How long have you been planning this trip?”
“About three months.”
And she’d only just then remembered that she had three children and no one to dump them on?
“I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. But I hate the thought of you sitting alone on Christmas day.”
“It’s okay; I’ve already had a number of invitations from friends and co-workers.” All of which she’d turned down.
“Bill wants us to have lunch with him on Wednesday. Do you think you could make it?”
“Bill called you?”
“Yeah, he said he thought it would be the only time he could squeeze us in.”
“Magnanimous of him,” Judi said, hoping Pam caught the sarcasm in her voice.
“We’re meeting at the Gatekeeper restaurant. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, right next to Bill’s office.” Of course, he couldn’t have chosen a place where Judi wouldn’t have to drive half an hour to get there. She’d have to take a couple of hours off from work to be able to make it.
“Sure,” she answered. “I’d love to see you both. What time?”
“Noon.”
“Okay, I’ll see you there.”
“Great. Bye.”
Judi replaced her phone and looked around the small cubicle she called her home away from home. She’d decorated it with colored lights, set out a bowl of holiday M&Ms, and had her radio tuned into the local soft rock station that had played holiday music 24/7 since before Thanksgiving.
She was about to turn back to her computer when Carol stuck her head inside the door. “Hey, Judi, are you going to participate in the Secret Santa game this year?”
Judi sighed. The year before, she’d been the lucky recipient of a Chia pet. Why on God’s earth would an adult buy such an item? She’d given it to her neighbor’s daughter, only to hear the girl had broken the ceramic pig before the seeds had had time to germinate.
“Sure, why not,” she said, even managing a faint smile.
“Great, the party is on Thursday afternoon.”
“Which means I’d better go shopping tonight or tomorrow.”
But Carol had already moved onto the next cubicle without listening to Judi’s reply.
How to Lose the Holiday Spirit in Five Seconds Flat
Much as she hated holiday shopping, later that night Judi found herself wandering the local mall. If she wasn’t going to spend the holidays with Pam or Bill, that meant she might be able to get away with just buying each of them a Christmas gift, instead of a separate present for their kids and spouses, too. She found a beautiful cashmere scarf on sale for fifty percent off for Pam, and then visited the liquor store across the street to buy Bill a bottle of expensive single malt scotch, as well as a bottle of red wine for the Secret Santa.
With her shopping complete, Judi headed for home.
Christmas was less than a week away, and though she’d sent her Christmas cards out nearly a week before, she’d yet to receive any. She opened her mailbox to find circulars, credit card applications, and not one Christmas card.
“Bah, humbug,” she groused, and trudged up the stairs to her second floor apartment. She’d tried to make the place cheerful by buying a tabletop artificial tree, and decorating it with some of the ornaments that had gone on her parents’ tree. None of them were favorites; Pam had beaten her to the decorations, along with most of their mother’s other treasures. Instead, Judi bought a few colored balls and lights and figured as no one would see the tree except for herself, it would do. She put a Christmas CD on her stereo and wrapped the three gifts, setting them under her tree. They sure looked lonely.
Bill was terribly fond of homemade Christmas cutout cookies, and with two kids he seldom got to eat more than one or two before they were scarfed up. So she measured the ingredients and made the dough, deciding to let it sit in the fridge overnight. She figured she could bake and frost the cookies the next evening and surprise Bill. But it wouldn’t do to make cookies for Bill and not have any for Pam, so she doubled the recipe.
Wednesday morning Judi awoke to find it had snowed at least six inches overnight. The plow had already visited her apartment’s parking lot, blocking her in. Opening the trunk of her car, she withdrew the shovel she kept for just such an occurrence, and dug her way out. Traffic was as slow as molasses, so of course she showed up almost an hour late for work, which she was allowed to take as vacation time. The Christmas spirit was certainly scarce at Rogers and Meriwether Incorporated.
All too soon it was el
even-thirty and Judi grabbed her coat to make her lunch date, when a voice stopped her.
“Judi, have you got a minute?” her boss, Ted Andrews, asked.
“A minute is all. I’ve got a lunch meeting,” she said.
“We’re expecting the Barnett contract to come in tonight. Can you stay late to help us go over it?
Judi wanted to say no, to scream it, to refuse in no uncertain terms, but instead she said, “I stayed the last two times a contract came in late. Can’t Carol handle it?”
Ted laughed. “Come on, Judi, you know Carol has a family.”
“And what’s that got to do with it?”
“It’s Christmastime.”
“I don’t see your point.”
“Well, you haven’t got anything better to do.”
“How do you know?”
“You’re single. And if office gossip is correct, you haven’t even had a date in over three years.”
Judi felt her cheeks grow hot in embarrassment, but she forced herself not to speak her mind.
“Tell you what. I’ll sweeten the deal. We’re letting everyone go an hour early on Friday. If you work tonight, on Friday you can leave at three instead of four o’clock.”
Big Hairy Deal! Judi wanted to scream, but instead she said. “Okay. I’ve got to go.”
“Have a nice lunch!” Ted called after her.
The roads were in better shape than they’d been during the morning rush hour, but were still slippery in spots. Cleveland looked a whole lot better covered in snow than it did the rest of the time, but it wasn’t beauty she craved at that moment—just some peace and quiet and an uneventful drive across town.
She was ten minutes late when she finally made it to the restaurant carrying her purse, and a large shopping bag containing the scarf, the bottle, and the Tupperware containers filled with cookies. Pam and Bill were already seated at the table and had ordered a round of drinks—for themselves.
“Merry Christmas,” Judi called, and bent down to give each of her siblings a kiss.
“Hey, little sister. Great to see you,” Bill said. “And what have you got there?”
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