by D L Potter
Ms. Henrietta looked with wide eyes at first Dick and then the bag and Santa suit he held. “Mr. King, I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Chuckling, Dick laid the suit over the back of a chair then emptied the contents of the bag onto the kitchen island. “I will be putting together my first Christmas ornament and I might need your guidance, along with a snack if you have something. Maybe some of those delicious gingersnaps you make? Oh, and coffee. I think I’m going to need lots of coffee.”
Morning dawned and Dick woke to the light of a clear blue morning shining upon him, its brightness offending his bleary eyes. He looked around, his thoughts still clouded by sleep, not quite able to recall why he was in the kitchen. A fresh cup of coffee was plunked down in front of him, along with a porcelain, hand painted ornament, still radiating heat.
Dick looked up into the smiling face of Ms. Henrietta, his confusion vanishing at the sight of the ornament. “I just pulled it out of the oven a minute ago, so it still needs to cool. But I think it turned out perfect, Mr. King.”
ImmediatelyDick reached out, stroking a finger lightly over the hot surface, ignoring the burn it left behind. Smiling proudly, he met Ms. Henrietta’s fond gaze. “It is perfect. Thank you so much for your help, Ms. Henrietta.”
Chuckling, she pointed behind him. “I think Marcus and the others have another surprise for you.”
Turning, he was stunned at the sight he beheld. There, in the corner was a pile of wrapped packages, each with a tag tied on by a bow. “What’s all this, Marcus?”
His chauffeur beamed with excitement. “I asked the staff to help me with all the gifts you bought, Mr. King. We got them all wrapped but since we didn’t know who would be getting them, we just put boy or girl on the tag to help tell them apart.”
Dick was speechless, his eyes taking in all the neatly wrapped gifts. “You all are truly amazing and I’m a fool for not having noticed or said so before. Thank you for this truly wonderful gesture in helping make Christmas a bit more special for these kids.”
Ms. Henrietta came to stand beside him, pride filling her soft blue eyes. “We’d like to help you make this more special for them by coming with you when you go to the orphanage. We want to help them decorate and I’d like to prepare Christmas dinner for them, if you wouldn’t mind, Mr. King?”
Dick’s heart swelled with happiness at their offer. “I think that would be wonderful. All of you, I can't thank you enough.” The room filled with talk as the staff began preparations to head to the orphanage. Taking his cue, Dick headed up to his room to shower and change.
5
Merriment Under the Mistletoe
Noel woke with a slight headache and the sound of Hailey singing off-tune nearby. “Gods, what time is it?” Grabbing her cellphone, she croaked when she saw how late it was. “Shit, I was supposed to be at the orphanage already!”
Hailey popped her head over the back of the couch, holding out a cup of coffee and grinning down at her. “Good, you’re awake. I called Paige at the orphanage and let her know you’d be a little late. I was just about to wake you up so you could get ready. Oh, and I’m going with you today to help the kids decorate.”
Noel looked at Hailey as if she’d grown a second and third head. “Who are you and what did you do with my grinchy cousin?” Hailey’s laugh left Noel even more confused.
“Come on Noel, you’re the one that said I needed to embrace my Christmas spirit! Considering I’ve been engulfed in your power of it since you showed up, I think this is pretty tame for me. Now, get a move on, we need to load up all these decorations and get going.”
It had taken almost an hour, but Noel and Hailey had finally made it to the orphanage. Paige hugged them both in welcome. Instead of coming inside though, Noel pointed back to the Jeep. “Can some of the staff give us a hand unloading? We have several boxes to bring in.”
Without hesitation, Paige started giving directions and soon everything was inside. The kids were just finishing up breakfast, so the timing couldn’t have been better. When they were all gathered together, Noel stepped into the center of the room.
“Ok you guys, I know we usually make our own decorations to hang, but this year, my cousin, Hailey wanted to help us by giving us a bunch of decorations. So, we have five boxes to unpack.”
A racket at the front doors caught not only Noel’s attention but everyone else in the room as well. All eyes turned just in time to see a beautiful, huge Christmas tree being carried in. Followed by other people Noel didn’t recognize, whose arms were full of wrapped gifts.
Noel looked to Paige in confusion. Paige in return, gave her warm smile. That was when she heard the distinct voice of Dick King boom out, “Merry Christmas Eve to all!”
Pandemonium broke out when the kids jumped up. Cheering and laughing, they rushed over to the people carrying gifts, all talking a mile a minute.
Noel focused on the one man walking over to her, unable to believe what she was seeing. Dick stopped right in front of her, smiling one of the biggest smiles she’d ever seen.
“Noel, I’m glad you’re here. I need to clear up a problem that came up concerning our deal. Rather, I need to beg your forgiveness for the unintended eviction notice.”
Noel remained silent, staring at him like he was the oddest-looking bug under a microscope.
“Noel, I’m sure you’re hurt and angry, but I swear to you that it was a mistake. I had signed several notices the morning of the party and hadn’t realized one had been for your place. If I had, I would have warned you that it might come, but to ignore it. I’ve already spoken with Bob Cravatt and he is going to make things right with the rental company. What I’m trying to say, Noel is that you don’t have to leave.”
Noel wasn’t sure she was hearing Dick right. “A misunderstanding? About the eviction notice?” He nodded but Noel just shook her head. “Dick, you may have made a mistake where my eviction notice was concerned, but you still sent others out. I appreciate that you explained, but that doesn’t negate the fact that it happened, not only to me but others.” Dick smiled, but it seemed sad in some way to her.
“You’re right. It took meeting you for me to realize that what I grew up seeing and believing was wrong in so many ways. I watched my father blow money we didn’t have on my mother, thinking that buying her things would make her happy. We often had to move out in the middle of the night, taking what we could carry because he’d spent the rent money on something we ended up leaving behind.”
He reached out, tentatively taking Noel’s hand. When she didn’t pull it away, he kept explaining.
“I watched my mother get unhappier with my father day after day. I vowed that I’d never waste money like he did and never use it to try and buy someone’s love and happiness. In the end, it’s made me a penny-pinching scrooge of a man who has no one to love. Until last night that is.”
Reaching into his pocket, Dick pulled out the handmade mistletoe ornament and held it over their heads. “Noel Marney, you’ve shown me what it means to love someone with their heart and soul. I can’t begin to thank you but I’m asking for each and every day from this day forward to try. I love you.”
Dick leaned in, kissing her parted lips lightly. Pulling back, he lowered the ornament and held it out to her before going down on one knee. Noel gaped, giving her hand he still held a small tug. “Noel, will you accept this handmade gift as a piece of my heart and soul, given willingly and with all my love and be my mate, eternally more?”
The room had gone silent and Noel felt all eyes upon them. Looking at the ornament he held, she reached for it, her hand shaking slightly. Her fingers traced lightly over the glossy green leaves. Turning it over, she read the inscription, tears of happiness filling her eyes. Thank you for showing me the kind of love numbers will never give me. Always, Dick.
All her anger and fear washed away, leaving nothing but the love she felt for this man before her. Kneeling, she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him madly. “YES
! Yes, yes, yes. I’ll be your mate Dick King!”
Dick lost his balance, sending them both to the floor. Noel lay spread atop him, her heart bursting with love and laughter and her ears ringing with the sound of the others clapping, laughing and shouting out their congratulations.
Sitting up, she cupped his cheek, loving the feel of his goatee when she stroked her thumb over it. “I get the feeling we’re going to be making spectacles of ourselves a lot, Dick.”
He laughed, kissing her again, hard and fast before they were both offered helping hands up.
Dick hadn't wanted to let her go, but there were still things to be done. “All right, my future Mrs. King, come and help us set up. We have more than a tree to square away!”
“How did you, I mean, when did you do all this? And how did you know which orphanage to come to?”
Dick flashed her a wink, whispering, “Dante.” Then he turned to greet Paige. “You must be Ms. Decklan, I believe we spoke on the phone earlier.”
Paige smiled, slinging an arm around Noel’s waist. “That’s right, Mr. King. I’d like to thank you for all that you’re doing here today. The kids will never forget this.”
Noel still felt as if she were missing a big piece of the puzzle. Even if Dante had told Dick where she’d be, it didn’t explain why he was here. She watched Dick walk over to Marcus and take a garment bag from him before disappearing into the bathroom. Turning to Paige, she glared at her friend. “Paige, what the devil is going on?”
Paige started explaining as Hailey wandered over. “It seems that Mr. King wanted to make Christmas special for you and those you love. He said he knows what today means to you and wanted to help. So, he’s going to play Santa today and pass out presents. And tomorrow, he’s providing Christmas dinner for the kids and the staff.”
Noel was once more left speechless. When she met Hailey’s eyes, her cousin winked. “Told you there had to be a misunderstanding and that he really was your mate.” Laughing, the three of them stepped into the madhouse of decorations to lend a hand.
Six days later, at the stroke of midnight, Dick heard the words that not only scared him to death but thrilled him beyond belief. “You may now kiss the bride.” Taking the Goddess Love at her word, he tipped his head down and captured Noel’s lips with his, deepening the kiss when she parted her lips for him.
Cheering and clapping broke them apart but not before whispered words from the goddess could be heard by both of them. “Always keep love and happiness in your heart and blessed you both shall be.” Dick turned to thank her, but she was already gone. Looking at Hailey, all he got was a shrug and a smile.
Chuckling, he took Noel’s hand and together they turned to greet their friends and family as Mr. and Mrs. King, a son of Greed and daughter of Christmas Spirit, eternally more.
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Dear Reader,
I hope this introduction of For the Love of a Scrooge A Dating for the Gods 101 holiday story was as wonderful for you to read as it was for me to write. Giving Noel and Dick a happy holiday and even happier ever after was a wonderful way for me to get into the holiday spirit!
In Dating for the Gods 101, you’ll learn that each god and goddess are based on feelings and their line is continued through the children of their children. With so many emotions to explore, you can bet there will be many more adventures to come!
I’d love to hear what you think of this sneak peak of For The Love Of A Scrooge A Dating for the Gods 101 Holiday story, so be sure to leave a review and know that I really appreciate you telling other readers what you thought as well.
If you enjoyed For The Love Of A Scrooge, be sure to be on the lookout for The Fall of Love Book 1 in Dating for the Gods 101 series, coming your way very soon!
Be sure to sign up for Strange Musings, a newsletter T.J. Finn and I share. Here you’ll get book release news, exclusive previews and excerpts. As a thank you for signing up, I’ll send you a bonus prologue giving you of Hailey as she checks in on Dick and Noel’s happily ever after.
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About the Author
D.L. Potter is a beer loving, pool playing, star trek and paranormal nut who loves to cook. When she’s not cooking or checking out local breweries, she’s spinning tales with alpha heroes and heroines that have embraced their differences and are stronger for it.
Her heroes and heroines dive head first into action and adventure, love to have fun, are always ready for sexy times. Not afraid of romance, they eventually end up admitting they’re ready for the big L even. That’s right, love doesn’t send her men running, not when they find their fated mates. When all’s said and done, you can bet there’ll be a happily ever after that leaves readers satisfied, yet still craving more.
Break out the beverages and snacks. Settle into a comfy spot and get ready to fall in love with the sinfully sexy alpha males and lusciously delicious and sarcastic females while being transported into their tales within the pages of D.L. Potter’s books.
D.L. Potter is also half of the writing team D.T. Strange. She and co-author T.J. Finn paired up to write Fated Treasures and plan for more books to follow.
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
For The Love Of A Scrooge
First Edition, December 5, 2019
Copyright © 2019 Two Strange Chicks Publishing, All rights reserved.
Cover by EmCat Designs
Editing by Anubis Press GP