But she also saw the mill. And she saw it in a different light than Teddy did.
“Before I say yes…” Which was a foregone conclusion. “I have an idea for the mill.”
“Maybe you could say yes to marrying me first.” Teddy brushed his lips over hers.
“Teddy.” Her mind was spinning and a vision of the mill came to life. Words tumbled out like apples from an upturned barrel. “You can’t process products at the mill. Between updating the utilities and strengthening the structure to hold all that weight, the equipment will be too expensive. And you shouldn’t open a gift shop there because you won’t have as much traffic as you would in town.”
The shoppers on the corner got tired of waiting and moved on.
He drew back, but he was smiling. “Tell me.”
Chloe rested her hands on his cheeks. In their rush to leave, she'd forgotten her gloves. “There’s a small, abandoned cannery in town. I saw large equipment through the window the other day. It has a shop in the front, and it's just two blocks from the town square.”
Teddy kissed her nose, grinning. “And your idea for the mill?”
“I’ve reconsidered. I’m not selling you the mill.”
His grin fell between them and he tried to step away.
But she grabbed his hands and held on. She held on tight, because she was never letting him go again. “I didn’t say I wasn’t selling you the land for your orchard. I’ll sell you that for sixty thousand.” Enough to pay off her debt and pay back her sisters. What she had left was the mill and Teddy’s love. It would be more than enough to start a new life. “The mill was never meant to be a business. It’s set too far back from the road.”
A wrinkle formed between his brows. “You want to tear it down?”
“No.” Chloe rushed to reassure him. “It’s a connection to my Dad. And…it’s important to me. To us.” She stepped close until their bodies were almost touching, and whispered. “It’s a house. It’s our house…Our home.” The idea surprised and pleased her. She hoped he’d feel the same way. “No wonder I couldn’t see its business potential before. All I could see was you and me together inside.”
“The mill. Our home.” His grin spread. “You bring the mill to our marriage and I’ll bring my skills with a hammer.”
“You’ll need skills with more than a hammer.” A sliver of worry pierced the bubble of happiness.
But not for long. Teddy’s arms came around her once more. “We’ll work it out.”
He had a heart and business sense. She loved him so very, very much.
“So you’ll marry me, Chloe?” Teddy’s voice dropped an octave, as if he wasn’t sure of her answer.
Every cell in her body sung the Glory Hallelujah chorus. She loved him. Oh, how she loved him. But that didn’t mean she had to make it easy on him. “You’re messing with Christmas Town tradition. You can’t ask me to marry you under the gazebo. It’s not Christmas Eve.”
“I don’t want to waste another minute apart.” He drew her closer. “I’ll ask again on the twenty-fourth. I’ll ask you every year on Christmas Eve until we’re too old to come out here and kiss beneath the mistletoe.”
“We’ll never be that old.” She grinned.
He cocked a brow.
“Because we have magic apples,” she whispered, snuggling closer. “Now, kiss me.”
A Note from the Author
Thank you for reading The Comeback Christmas, a sweet romance set in Christmas Town, which I initially created with my friends Anna Adams and Anna J. Stewart in the Harlequin release: Christmas, Actually. If you enjoyed the Wright sisters, the Annas have written their stories, too. You can discover them in A Heartwarming Christmas anthology or as individual stories: Bells Are Ringing, and A Home by Christmas. And if you love Christmas Town as much as we do, you’ll enjoy the other nine stories with connected characters in A Heartwarming Christmas.
Would you like to know when my next book is coming out? Follow me on Twitter at @MelcurtisAuthor, or like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MelindaCurtisAuthor. If you sign up for my book release email list at www.MelindaCurtis.com you’ll receive a free short story, plus information on book release prize packs.
Reviews help readers find books. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.
If you enjoy sweet romantic comedy, you might also enjoy my Bridesmaid Series. There are three novellas out in this series: The Wedding Promise, Always a Bridesmaid, and Rescued by a Bridesmaid.
I also write sweet romances with a lighthearted twist for Harlequin Heartwarming. The small town Harmony Valley series launched with Dandelion Wishes, and was followed by Summer Kisses, Season of Change, One Perfect Year, Time for Love and A Memory Away. More books in the series are coming in 2016.
Also from Harlequin Heartwarming are a holiday anthology (Christmas, Actually) and a Valentine’s anthology (Make Me a Match, releasing 2/2015).
This holiday season, I’m proud to be in two other sweet romance anthologies, also for 99 cents. Christmas Pets and Kisses contains 16 connected, never-before published sweet romances featuring pets. And Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 contains 19 never-before published sweet holiday romances. And don’t forget that Sweet Christmas Kisses from 2015 contains 14 sweet holiday romances.
If you like my writing style and enjoy more traditional romances, Amber Rules, a full-length novel launched the Hollywood Rules series, followed by Blue Rules, Cora Rules, Gemma Rules, and Breaking the Rules. Look for more fun in the NBA and Hollywood in 2016!
Bells Are Ringing
Anna J Stewart
Copyright © 2015 by:
Anna J Stewart
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
This book was built at IndieWrites.com. Visit us on Facebook.
150921.175515
Acknowledgments
For the fans of Christmas, Actually
and my amazing Harlequin Heartwarming sisters
Praise and Awards
USA Today Bestselling Author
Kindle Top 100 Bestselling Author
2012 Golden Heart Finalist
"True to life characters, palpable emotion, and spine-tingling romance. The talented Anna J Stewart delivers every time!"
~ NYTimes Bestselling Author Brenda Novak
"[Anna J Stewart writes] refreshingly unique, quietly humorous, and profoundly moving romance."
~ RT Book Reviews
Chapter 1
Marnie Wright stared out into pristine, shimmering result of Christmas Town, Maine's latest snowstorm and wondered how she could even think of leaving.
“I did it, Dad.” Marnie stared down at the provisional acceptance letter she’d read at least a hundred times since its arrival last week. Her voice carried along the snow-caked early morning air and echoed against the brass bell in the Bells are Ringing wedding chapel tower. “We did it.”
Filling out the online design school application had been one of the last things she and her father had done together. Harold Wright may have been dying from bone cancer, but he wasn’t about to bid this world good-bye without making sure his adoptive daughters—all three of his daughters—had a plan for their future in Christmas Town, where the holiday season was celebrated year round. Chloe had her venturous spirit and as of last night, a brand new husband. Noelle had Frosty’s Donut Shop in town and Marnie had…
Marnie sighed. Marnie had Bells are Ringing, the family’s run-down, out of date wedding chapel whose heyday had come and gone along with hair bands and jet-black eyeliner. But now… Marnie clutched the letter against her chest even as tears burned hot in her eyes. Today marked three months since their father’s passing. More than anything she wanted to race into his office and push the letter into his gentle, supportive hands. Finally, after all these years she was going to design school; a dream that had been deferred first by fear, b
y finances, her mother’s illness and then… obligation.
But Marnie’s father wasn’t sitting behind his desk. She couldn’t share her good news or catch him smoking those cigars that had driven their mother crazy. Instead, Marnie was up in the bell tower at the crack of dawn where the two of them used to sip Harold’s special brew of morning coffee (special meaning a healthy dose of cocoa) while he polished the brass bell his grandfather had installed decades before. It was as close as she could get to him these days. Her chest tightened. Her fingers clenched the letter, crumpling the paper.
“Marnie?” Sam Collins’ familiar voice brought her usual morning smile to the surface. Good old reliable Sam. Somehow her best friend always managed to show up right when she needed him and right now, she couldn’t think of anyone else she wanted to be around. “You polish that bell any brighter and your hands may just freeze to it.”
Marnie swiped gloved fingers under her eyes and watched as Sam climbed the last step into the tower to take his usual spot against the metal railing. Days like this she remembered the geeky little boy she’d met in first grade. Sam Collins, with his thick rimmed glasses magnifying mocha brown eyes and a head full of mussed brown curls, had become her forever friend the first day they’d met. He’d brushed through that gawky teen stage and straight into the genetic jackpot, settling into a fine state of a man who, despite being kicked around by life and tragedy, was the most dependable person she’d ever met in her life.
A man who, on more than one occasion over the years, had set her body to tingling. She pushed that aside—again—and kept her feet firmly planted in the friendship arena. No sense looking for unexpected trouble.
“Is one of those for me?” She angled a look at the paper cups in his hands and wondered yet again how he avoided frostbitten fingers given his aversion to gloves. “Or are you using them as hand warmers?”
He grinned. “Maybe I’m saving one for later.”
“Gimmie.” Marnie held out her hands and waggled her fingers, accepting the warm cup with a sigh. “I wasn’t sure you’d be by. Storm last night sure worked its holiday magic on Christmas Town.” The way the snow had landed glistening and feather soft flakes along the length of Chapel Way and down the long road to town left her with the picture perfect image she needed seared into her memory.
“Takes more than a little snow to keep me from checking up on you and your sisters. How was the wedding?”
“Nice. Quiet,” Marnie said. Chloe had looked so happy marrying her “Teddy.” About time, too, given the two of them had been crazy about each other for about as long as they’d both been alive. “They’re moving into Noelle’s place and Noelle is coming back home.”
“Makes sense seeing as your dad left her the house. She need any help?” Sam sipped his coffee and plunged his free hand into his jacket pocket.
“She’s already at the store, but I can check with her later if you want. What about you? I heard Captain Remington hired you to do some improvements around the firehouse.”
Sam shrugged, as if going back to the fire station was anything other than a handyman’s job. “It’s just painting and a kitchen cabinet upgrade and it’s not until next year. It was nice of Cap to think of me.”
“You’ve made a name for yourself as a reliable handyman.” Sam also had a way of not giving himself enough credit, but that was probably because he’d missed whatever day they’d been handing out egos. That and his ability to push beyond the past was something she’d always admired about him. Even when that past robbed him of his dreams.
After his mother’s tragic death, all he’d talked about was being a firefighter and on his eighteenth birthday he’d gone straight down to volunteer; a stint that ended mid-way through their senior year of high school when he’d ignored warnings and run into a burning barn to rescue two horses—a mother and foal. Never once had he complained about the ensuing hospital stay or the surgeries that followed; not even the possibility he wouldn’t graduate with his class fazed him. All he’d cared about was that the horses were okay.
Which was why Marnie had taken it upon herself to tutor him those final months. She wasn’t about to graduate without her best friend. And she didn’t. He was right beside her, clad in his cap and gown, his appreciative and proud smile obscuring any hint of still raw scars on his face and neck. Once Marnie put her mind to something, she got it done. End of story.
“I heard Callie Banning is getting married in the chapel in January. You all ready for that?” Sam asked.
Marnie shrugged. “I’m meeting with Callie and her soon-to-be step-daughter Eliza later today. From what I hear Eliza has some special requests to make when it comes to the décor. Something about magic elves.”
Sam’s lips tugged into a smile. “She’s a cute kid. Headstrong, confident, bit of a wild card. Can’t think of who she reminds me of.”
Marnie narrowed her eyes. “Careful, or I won’t send you any post cards from New York.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Like you’d go to New York at this time of year. You’ve always said it’s insane any time, but during the holidays? You'd never miss all the town activities, pageants, caroling and...” He grinned into his coffee, then, when Marnie didn’t respond, the humor faded from his eyes. “Marnie?”
“Remember I told you I applied to that design school? I got in!” If she couldn’t share the news with her father, Sam was the second best thing. She shoved the paper into his reddened hand. “Well, not in, in, but I got through the initial application process.”
“That’s great, Marnie.” Sam cleared his throat and stared down at the letter. “I figured it wasn’t great news since you hadn’t heard.”
“Me, too.” Marnie couldn’t remember the last time she’d bounced on her toes like a kid waiting for Santa. “Maybe Dad worked some special magic up there.” She pointed toward the sky. “I still have to submit a portfolio and figure out something spectacular to design. I was thinking maybe you could help me come up with some ideas?”
“Me?” Sam blinked as his hand dropped to his side. “Marnie, I don’t know anything about design.”
“Sure you do.” Marnie reached out and snatched her letter back. She wasn’t letting that sucker out of her sight for a second. “You help Nick do upgrades and remodels all the time. You have a good eye for placement and color.”
“I’m a regular Martha Stewart,” Sam grumbled into his coffee, but she saw the hint of a grin on his lips.
“Yeah, well, Ms. Stewart, put your thinking cap on because I have a whole ten days for the submission deadline.”
Sam choked, spitting out coffee as he coughed and leaned over. Marnie walked over and pounded her hand against his back. “What is wrong with you?”
“N-nothing. I’m fine.” He waved her off and took a deep breath. “Ten days?” He blinked tears out of his eyes. “You do know that’s barely enough time to build a dollhouse let alone redesign something of any significance.”
Marnie’s enthusiasm popped as if he’d stuck her with a pin. “That’s why I need your help.”
“Marnie, think this through. You’re a country girl. You can’t stand the city, let alone New York. Where are you going to live? How are you going to live?”
“I’ll figure something out.” She locked her arms across her chest, not liking the uneasy sensation rolling through her. Of all people, she figured Sam would be the one to understand, the one to encourage. To be excited for her. She didn’t need him fertilizing the doubts that threatened to take root.
“What about your sisters? And the chapel? It’s been in your father’s family for generations. He left it to you. I’m sure he hoped—”
“Dad understood. Why else would he have helped me fill out the application?” Guilt edged in and tamped out what was left of her euphoria.
“So what? You’re going to sell?”
“I need the money,” Marnie said and for the first time heard a sharpness in her voice when addressing him. “And my friends’ and family’s sup
port.”
“You have it,” Sam said, but she didn’t quite believe him. “You always have my support. I just don’t want you getting disappointed again, like when you tried to update the chapel before Betty Johnson’s wedding.”
“That was fifteen years ago.” The memory whipped at her like a slap. So maybe she didn’t have an eye for color at that age and maybe curtains in a wedding chapel made it look more like a funeral parlor; sure the bows she’d tied looked more like tangles of over-stressed string than full-fabric perfection. But her mom had been encouraging. Neither of them expected the soon-to-be bride would lose her mind and rip the pink lace down with her bare hands.
Her mom might not have agreed with Marnie’s choice, but she’d encouraged Marnie to try something different and dip her toe in the hobby she’d been dabbling at for months. It didn’t matter that it cost her parents a small fortune to cancel the event; her mother had booted the couple out of the chapel with directions to the even smaller one in Conroy County. Nobody, Doris Wright had stated with a glimmer of rage in her eyes as she escorted the bride out of Bells are Ringing, messed with her girls.
Marnie had never been so humiliated in her life, but her mother had told her life wasn’t worth living without risks. Taking a chance, even one that didn’t work out, was always worth the gamble. It had taken Marnie a good long while to absorb that. Even longer to even think about doing any more décor updates. Marnie’s stomach dipped like that first drop on a roller coaster. Risks were just so…scary. But not taking them—
“It may feel like fifteen years to you,” Sam said, “But a guy doesn’t forget the day his best friend gave up on her dreams. You hauled all those design scrapbooks of yours to the dumpster behind The Yuletide Movie Theater. I just don’t want you getting hurt again.”
A Heartwarming Christmas: A Boxed Set of Twelve Sweet Holiday Romances Page 9
