Love at First Laugh: Eight Romantic Novellas Filled with Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever After

by Krista Phillips

  “Mom—”

  Sadie sat up and clasped her hands in front of her. “I don’t know what went on, honey. But I do know you, and I’m not convinced it was Natalie who put a halt to things.”

  Mari buried her hands in her face, the guilt that had weighed on her for the last four weeks pressing in hard and painful. “I was scared, Mom.”

  “Of what?”

  Lifting her head, she dashed away her tears with her fist. “Everything. Of giving my heart to him then having him break it. Of abandoning all my plans and then it blowing up in my face.”

  Her mom shrugged. “All valid fears.”

  “Well, that helps a whole lot, Mom.”

  “Just because they’re valid doesn’t mean we should listen to them, honey. Giving your heart to someone always comes with risk. It’s part of life. And your plans—oh sweetie. They are just that. Yours. And so far, they’ve been good, solid plans. But God’s plans are rarely the same as our own. I could quote you a few Bible verses in Proverbs on the subject, but I’m sure you know them by heart already. I don’t know this Brandon guy, and I don’t know if he’s the one for you, but I don’t want you throwing out the possibility of a future with any guy just so you can cling to your very human-made plans for the future, just like I wouldn’t want you throwing all your goals in life out the window just for the sake of some guy. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”

  Which was exactly what Mari had assumed. That she had to pick one or the other.

  And the part that had nagged at her for all these weeks was—

  She was passionate about the idea of praying over decisions before making them—to the point that she tended to be judgmental of others—like Brandon—who did things on a whim.

  But what had she done?

  Turned him away without giving God and what He thought about the matter consideration.

  Sighing, she picked up the white envelope. “So what’s this?”

  “Natalie’s peace offering. She said to tell you to feel free to use it or not, but that you have her full support and blessing.”

  Opening the flap, Mari took out the packet of papers.

  She frowned. Airline tickets to Dallas? “I don’t understand.”

  “Look at the next sheet.”

  Shuffling the papers, Mari scanned the second sheet, her jaw dropping. “Front row tickets to see Andrew Davies?”

  “There are backstage passes there, too. They play tomorrow evening in Dallas. The plane ticket is for tomorrow morning and returns Sunday, and she even reserved a hotel room for you and Danielle tomorrow night. It’s all set and paid for.”

  “Wait—Danielle?”

  “She’s on standby to go with you if you accept. I’d asked her opinion, and she seemed to think it was a very good idea.”

  Mari stared at the tickets.

  Could she really be thinking about doing something so crazy?

  What would Brandon say?

  Her mouth tipped into a smile. The Brandon she knew would be insanely proud of her for doing anything on a whim, and this?

  Lord, do you think—

  Even as she prayed it, peace overwhelmed her. She’d been begging God to help her figure out this mess that her heart was in for the last month, and now he’d provided her a very clear answer.

  Look out, Dallas, here she came.

  Chapter 21

  “Surprise!”

  Brandon looked up from his phone and gasped. “Olivia! What are you doing here?” He stood and sprinted to the door of the bus where his sister stood, arms spread wide in a Ta-Da type motion.

  He hugged her tight, her laughter a sweet, familiar melody. “You don’t come home to Texas very often, and there was no way you were going to be only an hour away and not get a visit from your best big sister.”

  “Of course not. But we’ll keep the best part between us, okay?”

  She squeezed him, then set him back. “My, you’re growing up, little brother.”

  “I’m twenty-seven and have been taller than you for a good twelve years, Liv.”

  Her long, jet black hair bounced around her shoulders as she shrugged. “Whatever. You’ll always be my little brother. Now, how long do you have until you’re on?”

  He checked the time. “I need to be out there soon, but I can spare a few minutes. Come, sit down. Did you bring Darrell or the kids?”

  “Nope. Janna had softball practice tonight, and Sean had a birthday party to go to, so Darrell’s on taxi duty. Thanks for getting me out of it, by the way.”

  He laughed as they sat down on the small bus couch. “Well, I’m glad you could get away. I’ve missed you.”

  “Right back at ya. So, what’s happening with you, little bro? Nat said something about a girl awhile back—”

  Brandon rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. It was just—a casual dating thing. You know. Nothing serious.”

  “Those red cheeks say otherwise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush over a girl before.”

  Mari wasn’t just a girl—and the color was probably more from frustration than embarrassment. “It—just didn’t work out. I’ve told you both a hundred times. I’m not ready to settle down.”

  “This isn’t about Becky still, is it? It’s been years since you’ve seen her, hasn’t it?”

  “It was never about her, Liv. I mean, it was at first. But she was right. I need to be able to put time and energy into a relationship, and being gone on the road so much makes that impossible.” He’d been devastated when Becky broke up with him. She’d been his first love, and he’d fallen fast and hard their junior year of high school.

  But then they’d graduated, and he’d moved from his small Texas hometown to Nashville to go to college and follow his dream of being a musician. They’d tried the long-distance thing, but after a few months, Becky broke it off. Said it was too hard—that he needed time and room to follow his dreams. She would never be okay being second to his music career, and he didn’t need a needy girlfriend making unfair demands.

  He’d spent the next few years nursing his broken heart by doing way too much partying and drinking and other things he wasn’t proud of, but none of his relationships had gotten deeper than meaningless kisses or the occasional one-night-stand.

  But even after he’d wrestled his way back to God, he held onto his conviction to wait until he was settled to have any real relationship. It seemed the right thing to do.

  Until Mari.

  Maribelle Jenkins had changed everything with the swing of a fireplace poker.

  “So, let’s just say. Hypothetically—you find a woman who could very well be someone you could fall in love with. You’d just—break up with her? Hope she’s still available whenever you decide to dig in roots?”

  That had been the plan. He’d broken his rules with Mari, and she’d broken his heart.

  In her defense, he’d botched up the whole thing by rushing her. It wasn’t fair to her, and he took full blame.

  And now he’d lost any chance he’d had with her.

  A glance at his watch, he stood and tucked his drumsticks into his back pocket. “I need to go find the guys.”

  “Just promise me something.”

  He turned and folded his arms. “I’m not promising anything until I hear what it is.” His sisters had baited him with that line one too many times when he was little to fall for it now.

  She smiled and shrugged. “Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind about the girl.”

  They took the few bus steps down to the pavement, and he wrapped her in a hug. “I promise I’ll keep an open mind. Deal?”

  She squeezed him back. “Deal. Now, go play those drums.”

  He turned to the join the rest of the band in the backstage area of the massive outdoor arena, but his eye caught sight of someone pushing away toward the exit.

  Someone with way too familiar blond hair.

  No way.

  It couldn’t be.

  He blinked a
nd started to walk toward the arena, but a nagging urge couldn’t let him go.

  Mari pushed past the crowd, trying to keep her head down as tears gushed from her eyes.

  She’d been so stupid. So very, very stupid.

  For the last twenty-four hours, she’d held onto this tiny shred of hope that maybe, just maybe, this crazy thing was meant to be.

  That maybe God had different plans than the ones she’d so meticulously written out, and they might include a certain drummer who had captured her heart even when it made no sense at all.

  She’d even made Danielle let her come backstage by herself to find him.

  But she’d watched each band member exit the bus—except for Brandon. And then that woman had gotten on.

  At that moment, she’d been a little nervous, but that was dumb. It was probably someone with wardrobe or makeup or—did musicians even have those?

  She had no clue.

  She’d been about to give up on him appearing when the bus door opened, and he walked out, then swept the woman into his arms.

  Her stomach had threatened to heave as she turned and pushed her way through the crowd.

  She had no right to be angry with him. They hadn’t talked since that night over four weeks ago, and there was certainly never any understanding they wouldn’t date anyone else.

  Still—the pain in her heart almost doubled her over.

  She slipped under the rope and past the security guard and was getting ready to escape into the crowd of people when a hand clasped her arm.

  She found herself spun around, facing a shocked Brandon.

  “You’re—here.”

  She tried to pull her arm away. “I need to go.”

  He held firm, not letting her go. “No. I mean—why are you here? I—”

  Shaking her head, she tugged again, and this time he let her go. “It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come.”

  The crowd pushing toward the stadium seats jostled her, and she fell against him.

  He caught her and, ignoring the curious looks, wrapped an arm around her waist. “I need to know why you came, Mari.”

  She couldn’t tell him. Not now. Not when she’d seen him with that woman.

  But he was here—and his eyes looked just as she remembered them, wild and passionate and dancing with desire and mischief, all at the same time. “I—I think I made a mistake.”

  His eyebrows hiked up an inch. “Really? How so?”

  She put a hand to his chest, drawing courage from the strong thud of his heart beneath her fingertips, then whispered, “I think there’s a good chance that I might be falling in love with you.”

  His forehead wrinkled, not the response she expected. “What? I can’t hear you!”

  She rolled her eyes, then stood on her tippy toes and put her mouth to his ear. “I said—I think I might be falling in love with you.”

  The words had no more than escaped her lips than she found herself crushed to him and carried back toward the roped off backstage area. “Brandon—what are you—”

  “Hold on a minute.” He took her behind a trailer, set her feet down on the pavement, then wasted no time in kissing her.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and savored every taste of him. Oh, how she’d missed him. But—

  Sense broke through the heady desire, and she withdrew. “The woman—who was she?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The woman you kissed in front of the tour bus. I saw you and—”

  “Oh now, wait a second. I didn’t kiss anyone. Are you talking about Olivia?”

  Hearing the other woman’s name brought reality back with a slam. She pushed away and took a step back. “I think I need to—”

  He swooped her back into his arms despite her protests. “Olivia is my sister, and while I fully admit to hugging her before she left, I don’t think I’ve kissed her since I was five and even then I’m sure it was forced by my mother.”

  “She’s your sister? But she looks nothing like—Oh wait. She was the adopted sister.”

  Brandon leaned his forehead to rest on hers. “Yup. She’ll want to meet you.”

  “I’m sorry I misjudged. I wasn’t sure—”

  “If I saw you hugging some guy, I would’ve lost my mind. It’s fine. Now, where were we?” He reclaimed her lips, but only for a moment before someone cleared their throat behind them.

  “Stone. I hate to interrupt but—”

  That voice. Was that—

  Mari jumped away from Brandon and turned. There, in flesh and blood in front of her, was her celebrity crush, Andrew Davies.

  The man was insanely tall, and his presence was larger than life, but his face held a friendly smile that made him a little less intimidating. “I take it this is the nanny you talked about?”

  Mari squirmed as Brandon squeezed her to his side. “Mari, I’d like you to meet Andrew Davies. Andrew, this is Mari, my—girlfriend.”

  Girlfriend. Yeah. She could handle that.

  Swallowing her nerves, she accepted the hand Andrew had offered. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Davies.”

  “Please. Call me Andrew. I hate to cut this short, but I’m in need of your boyfriend.” He said the last word with a smile and wink to Brandon, then turned and left them alone.

  Brandon tucked her hair behind her ear, then pressed another quick kiss to her lips. “I need to go. But meet me here after the show, okay?”

  She smiled, reached behind him, and tugged the drumsticks from his back pocket and handed them to him. “There’s no place I’d rather be. Now go break a leg.”

  “I’m not sure that applies to a drummer, baby.”

  She shrugged. “Fine. Then go bang some drums.”

  He planted one last kiss on her, leaving her dizzy and breathless, then jogged off to join the band.

  Mari leaned her back against the trailer as she watched, her heart full and content. This was definitely not in her plan, but—

  She had a feeling it was going to be so much better.

  About Krista Phillips

  Krista Phillips writes contemporary romance sprinkled with two of her favorite things, laughter and Jesus. And sometimes chocolate for kicks and giggles. She lives in Middle Tennessee with her husband and their four beautiful daughters, and is an advocate for congenital heart defect and organ donation awareness. Visit her online at http://www.kristaphillips.com.

  If you liked A (nearly) Normal Nanny, then check out A (kinda) Country Christmas to read Sadie and Nate’s love story.

  A (kinda) Country Christmas http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017L07I0G

  Sadie Jenkins lives and breathes Christmas every, single day of the year. Owner of Bethlehem’s Boutique in the tourist mountain town of Gatlinburg, TN, she has no room for the bad boys of her past and devotes her whole life to the struggling boutique and her teenage daughter, Maribelle. She’s perfectly happy with her country-living life until he walks into her store.

  Nate Myers travels the globe for his job and has the bank account to prove his success. The former “bad” boy is in town for a short visit with his sister and is determined to not get caught up in all the Christmas hype. But then he falls for the beautiful shopkeeper—quite literally.

  Will these two (sorta) opposites find a happily-ever-after together?

  Other Books by Krista Phillips

  The Sandwich Romances

  Sandwich, with a Side of Romance (Abingdon Press)

  A Side of Faith, Hope and Love – a novella collection

  The Romance(ish) Novella Collection

  A (kinda) Country Christmas

  A (sorta) Southern Serenade

  Coming November 2017

  The Engagement Plot (Barbour)

  That’s When I Knew

  Laurie Tomlinson

  Two childhood sweethearts. One failed summer romance. Twelve years later.

  On most days, Chelsea Scott feels like her rapidly growing planner and stationery business should belong to someone else. Ma
ybe if it did, it wouldn’t be hovering near the red due to one costly decision. But the collaboration that will save her company awaits her pitch at the trade show she’s keynoting. When her transportation falls through at the last minute, she accepts help from Nick Pearson, who’s unexpectedly come back into her life.

  The last time Nick saw Chelsea, he told her he loved her, and she ran. Twelve years later, their lives are different, more complex than the summers they spent playing baseball and eating ice cream cones at their dock with their toes in the lake. But as they spend time together on the road, their feelings for each other become clear: all those years couldn’t take away how good they can be together.

  When Chelsea’s past decisions resurface at the convention, her newly rekindled relationship with Nick – and her business – are in jeopardy. Will their love be enough to keep them together or will another summer end with them apart?

  For the One who defines our worth

  by who we are, not how much we hustle

  Chapter 1

  Bless her heart. Chelsea Scott’s sales director had no idea what she was getting them into.

  It seemed harmless on paper when Rhonda Kleinworth suggested it, sponsoring a charity softball game to benefit cystic fibrosis at the local state school, NEOSU. A chance to raise money for an important cause, to network and make business connections, even if talking about her accidentally popular planner and paper brand didn’t come easy.

  But Chelsea didn’t do softball halfway. She was actually incapable of it. The front of her light-blue T-shirt was stained with grass after she dove for a pop fly in the outfield, definitely unworthy of the stylized company Instagram feed.

  Next up to bat, she took a few practice swings with the best bat the alumni association had to offer. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s sister-in-law and operations director Missy was untouched, ink-colored curls intact, her coordinating Lululemon still pristine. Rhonda probably would have preferred for Chelsea to play more like a poised golf spectator than an Olympian gunning for a gold medal. But the blue team might be winning in the last inning instead of tied if those girls had contributed anything to the game.