by Tonya Kappes
A SuperstitiousChristmas
By
Tonya
Kappes
This book of short stories is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the permission in writing from the author or publisher.
Edition: December 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Tonya Kappes
All rights reserved
What others are saying about
Tonya Kappes:
“Carpe Bead'em is fun with a capital F. It's sad, funny, inspiring, quirky, and great chick lit! It shows that you never know what's round the corner, and anything's possible if you just take a chance on life! Perfect summer reading.” Bestselling author, Sibel Hodge
“I loved how Tonya Kappes was able to bring her characters to life.” Coffee Table Reviews
“I loved this book. Grandberry Falls is my kind of town and I for one would love to live there and get to know all the local folks. I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read the next book about Grandberry Falls by Tonya Kappes. I have added Tonya Kappes as one of my new favorite authors.” Jean Segal
“I love it when I pick up a book because of its cover and the story to follow is just as great or better. That's what happened here.” Stephanie Overton
“I read this in a day and loved it! You felt that you were part of Grandberry Falls. The small town folks who know everyone and know everything about someone in a matter of hours.” Avid Reader
“This book was fun, entertaining and good to the last page. Who knew reading auras could get Olivia in so much trouble? Sit back, smile and cozy up to Splitsville.com, where Olivia does the dumping for you. There's heap loads of humor, a dose of magical realism, sprinkles of romance, and mystery when someone ends up dead!” Author Lisa Lim
“I was looking for something different and easy to read...meaning nothing too involved, something that if I put down could come back to and remember all the characters and where I left off at...well I didn't put it down I finished it in a day... what a great read !!” Cimarron
A Superstitious Christmas
By
Tonya Kappes
A Superstitious Christmas is dedicated to all believers. May all your dreams come true.
Chapter One
Maggie had to pick out the perfect ornament for Granny.
Her future depended on it. That is, if Grady Cohen was going to be in her future and the five carat sparkler on her ring finger was screaming that he was.
She had no clue how she was going to top last year’s grape and apple ornament. Although it had been ugly, it did stand for happiness and love. After all, the message of the ornament was all that mattered in the annual Greenlee family ornament exchange.
“It has to be here somewhere,” she said, thumbing through all the dangling gems, being careful not to damage any of them.
“If you would just tell me what you’re looking for, I might be able to help you find one.” Grady said.
She had to wonder if he meant it. His thumb was busy rolling the ball on his Blackberry, not thumbing through the aisles and aisles of ornaments at The Gingerbread House Shop, just north of downtown Manhattan on Christopher Street.
“I don’t know what I’m looking for.” There was despair in her voice. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Just like last year, she walked into The Gingerbread House the day she was leaving for Grandberry Falls.
“Why does your family do this?” Grady sighed and continued to click around on his phone.
She wasn’t sure how to answer him.
She couldn’t remember how she, Belle, and Granny Hazel started the annual ornament exchange, but she could remember that there was one rule and one rule only. The ornament had to have a significant meaning behind it. That way they had to search for the perfect gift months, not hours, before Christmas.
Maggie smiled.
Even though it was a pain in the neck at that moment, she did love the exchange and she looked forward to it every year.
It has to be perfect, she thought, looking back at Grady.
Maggie was already nervous about bringing him home to Grandberry Falls to meet her family and the rest of the town. Yes, the town.
Everyone in Grandberry Falls knew everyone’s business, and just because she left when she graduated from high school didn’t make her exempt from the gossip of the small community. Plus Grady didn’t embrace the Greenlees’ superstitious ways, which made Maggie anxious about bringing him home.
Especially this time of the year, when Hazel Greenlee was known to use everything in her bag of granny tricks.
“It has to be perfect.” She held a star ornament up to the light before putting it back. “I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute.”
She was surprised that there were so many ornaments left with just a couple days until Christmas.
All the glitter, glass and gold was beginning to blur together.
“Found it!” Grady held up a red pitch fork that you’d expect to see a devil holding.
Maggie rolled her eyes.
“What?” Grady laughed. She was well aware of his opinion on her family’s superstitious natures. “Isn’t it strange your family celebrates Christmas, yet you live your lives based around superstition?”
Maggie ignored him as usual. He might be right, but Granny had taught her all about karma and being a little superstitious in order to ward off the bad karma couldn’t hurt. If visiting the family with Grady meant he had to pretend to understand for a weekend, he should be willing to do that for her.
“Can’t you just humor my family for a few nights?” She momentarily panicked as her mind raced through everything that could go wrong.
If Grady didn’t go along with the superstition or keep his mouth shut, Granny definitely wouldn’t welcome him into the family.
Besides, Maggie was well aware that Granny Hazel already had her married off to Mitch Dozier.
The problem with that was, Maggie thought of Mitch as a brother.
“That was one thing you said you found endearing about me when we met.”She reminded him about the time she hitched a ride with him back to the city from the Hamptons.
She didn’t know he was one of the Cohen’s of the New York City Cohen’s.
It was only after she took the prestigious lawyer position that she was successfully using to work toward making partner status at VanMeter and Associates that she found out who her new friend was. She’d seen him around at a few parties in college, but they rarely ran in the same circles.
After all, she was a country girl, not a big city girl. And any social climbing she did was all on her own, or with some help from her best friend and former college roommate Lillian Alexander.
Lillian was one of the socialites of the city. She grew up with the luxury products of Louis Vouitan, Prada, and Gucci at her beck and call. Normally Maggie wasn’t drawn to people like Lillian, but Lillian was different.
She didn’t act any different than Maggie. As a matter of fact, Maggie sometimes found herself wishing she could be as good-hearted as Lillian.
Lillian had chosen to use her hard-earned NYU law degree to be a Goodwill Ambassador overseas, and was going to be spending the next year in a developing country. And Maggie had no idea how she was going to live without Lillian talking her off the OCD wagon.
“Well, I didn’t know what you were doing throwing your legs up in the air every time we went over ra
ilroad tracks.” He retorted in cold sarcasm, bringing her back to how they met. “I thought you were some hill-jack from the back woods.”
Maggie stood with her hands on her hips. The diamond sparkler shone for the entire world to see.
“You love my accent and you know it.” She shook her finger at him. “And you laughed when I told you that you have to hold your feet up and make a wish when you go over train tracks.”
She could still see the surprised look on his face, six months ago when she whipped her feet into the air, her shoes flying up and out of the convertible. It took them two hours on the dark, unlighted road to find her knock off Christian Louboutins.
The next day at work, a real pair of Louboutins showed up on her desk with an invitation to dinner from Grady. They been together ever since
“Fine.” He backed off, letting her look through the rest of the ornaments.
All her dreams were coming true. She left Grandberry Falls to go to college in New York. She never fancied herself a big city gal, but loved it right away. By a stroke of luck, she got her dream job at VanMeters and never looked back.
She was on target to make partner within a year, and nothing was going to stop her now. Especially since she was soon going to be a Cohen from New York, New York instead of a Greenlee from Grandberry Falls, Kentucky.
“Grady!” Maggie’s eyes lit up with excitement.
She cradled a shiny sterling silver bow in her hands.
“This is the one.” A cry of relief passed from her lips.
“And why is that little silver bow the one?” Grady plucked it out of her hand and raised an eyebrow. “We could’ve gotten this at a dollar store.”
She saw his jaw tighten when he looked at the fifty-dollar price tag.
“I don’t care how much it costs.” She took it back. “A bow is a metaphor for a strong bond. And now, more than ever, granny needs to know that even though I’m getting married, we will always be close.”
Maggie tried to calm the feeling of uneasiness erupting inside her, but couldn’t. There was nothing she wanted more than for Grady to fit in like he did in New York, but Grandberry Falls was a far cry from the big city.
Maggie was able to reinvent herself when she left. In New York, she was seen as strong, independent, and successful. In Grandberry Falls, she was known as poor Maggie Greenlee whose parents were killed in car accident, leaving her and her sister Belle orphans for their granny, Hazel Greenlee, to care for.
Without hesitation, Maggie took the ornament up front and paid the clerk. She handed Grady the keys to his convertible and shooed him out before he could protest.
She was slightly irritated that he had questioned the price of the ornament. He purchased many senseless items that were much more expensive, and she had never questioned him.
The clerk handed the ornament back to Maggie, now in a beautifully wrapped package.
Granny is going to love this, Maggie thought, taking the gift. She glanced at the five carat stunner on her left finger.
For a moment, her heart ached for the antique diamond she saw at the jeweler instead of the Cohen heirloom. Although beautiful, it really didn’t fit her personality.
Quickly, she brushed the thought out of her mind and hopped in the car for the all day ride to Grandberry Falls.
Chapter Two
“Stop!” Maggie screamed.
She grabbed the dashboard so she wouldn’t slam into it after Grady slammed on the brakes.
“What?” Grady’s face contorted. “There’s nothing on these godforsaken country roads.”
Maggie looked out the car window, watching the water trickle silently over the frozen icicles of the waterfall in downtown Grandberry Falls.
“No matter what time it is, every time I come back, I stop at the falls and flip a coin in before I go home.” Maggie grabbed a coin from the cup holder before opening the door.
Snow was falling. The carriage lights, that lined the streets, were decorated with Christmas wreaths. All the cozy shops had Christmas lights strung outside.
She sighed.
Grandberry Falls sure was a magical place during the holidays.
Maggie’s train of thought was broken by the honky-tonk music and laughter coming from across the street. The Thirsty Turtle’s jukebox was blasting full force.
It was hard squinting through the falling snow. The patrons in The Turtle were long-time friends and family. She was sure of it. But she didn’t want to take Grady in there just yet. He had to be eased into the Grandberry Falls community, starting with Granny. If he could crack that tough old nut, he’d be just fine in the community.
Quickly, she tied the Chanel scarf around her neck and turned her attention back to the falls. Grady looked impatient. Sitting in the car was definitely not his thing.
She had stood at this very spot on numerous occasions, making the exact same wish every time. This time, the wish was different.
Please, please let Grady fit in. She tossed the coin into the only water that wasn’t frozen at the bottom of the falls.
“Must be a pretty important wish to require such a tight eye squeeze.” A voice behind her startled her. She didn’t need to open her eye to know it wasn’t Grady talking. She knew Mitch Dozier’s voice better than her own.
“Hi, Mitch.” A faint smile kissed her soul.
She turned around to face the shaggy haired new mayor of Grandberry Falls.
“Don’t you think you could use a visit to The Hair Pin, being mayor.” Maggie ruffled Mitch’s hair.
“Naw,” Mitch said, as he put his John Deere cap back on. “They elected me, hair and all.”
Maggie dug her hands in her pockets, hoping he hadn’t seen the ring. She hadn’t told him yet.
“Come on. Hazel’s waiting with her voodoo stick!” Grady yelled. His eyes narrowed as he looked out the window.
Maggie peeped over her past, to see her future staring back at her.
“I guess you better go.” Mitch said as he stepped aside.
There was so much she wanted to say to him, but now wasn’t the time. This was going to be the first Christmas in over twenty-five years she hadn’t spent with him.
“I’m so proud of you,” Maggie whispered keeping her hands in her pockets as she walked back to the car.
***
Mitch tried to get a good look at the guy in the car. He’d already heard about this New Yorker’s good looks, but then again, who was he to judge a guy’s looks?
So that’s who stole your heart? Mitch thought, giving Maggie a slight wave.
He searched his memory from just a few moments ago. He could’ve sworn he had seen a ring on her finger, but he hadn’t dared to look or ask. If she was engaged, she’d have told him or Hazel would be spitting nails.
It would’ve been all over Grandberry Falls.
He took a coin from his pocket and flipped it in the falls. He wondered how many coins he’d wasted over the years on Maggie Greenlee.
He’d been there for her since they were five and had been heartsick the whole time.
“You’d better get in here before you freeze,” someone hollered from the sidewalk in front of The Thirsty Turtle.
Before he looked, he secretly hoped it was Maggie yelling for him like she had so many times before when she was waiting for him to join her for karaoke. But it wasn’t. It was Wendy Owens.
“We don’t need a frozen mayor.” She said, coaxing him over.
He smiled.
She was beautiful, even if her gorgeous blonde hair was covered by a black crochet beret.
Wendy and a few of her girlfriends had taken a class form Clarice Marshall at The Busy Bee Yarn Shop because Wendy said berets were coming back into style. The only style Mitch knew was his Wranglers and John Deere caps from Greenlee’s Hardware, which happened to be run by Maggie’s Aunt, Jenna Greenlee.
He certainly didn’t drive a fancy car like Grady. His old Chevy had served him just fine.
“I’m coming.” Mitch w
atched the tail lights fade into the darkness.
Secretly he hoped a county cop was clocking speeders on the outskirts of town, but he knew better. The sheriff was at The Thirsty Turtle catching up on the days’ gossip along with the rest of the town.
“Are you sure you’re ready to go in there?” There was a soft color in Wendy’s sweet curled lips. “Then the whole town will find out.”
Mitch was pretty good about keeping his secrets, secret. But after seeing Maggie and what might have been an engagement ring was enough to solidly answer Wendy’s question.
Some wisps of golden hair had fallen out from her beret. He brushed them from her face. Two years ago, he’d never have dreamed Wendy Owens would be attracted to him, let alone be his girlfriend. She’d never given him a second glance in high school or college.
Maggie and Wendy had been best friends, and he had always been Maggie’s best guy friend. They use to compete for Maggie’s time and now they spent all their time together.
Maggie’s name never came up. But the idea of Maggie always loomed in the back of their minds.”.
“Of course I’m ready.” Mitch gave her a small kiss on her cheek. “We’re dating, aren’t we?”.”
Wendy grabbed his hand and led him inside. He lagged behind her, noting how confidently she was carrying herself, aware that every eye in the Thirsty Turtle was on them.”
Chapter Three
“What do we have here?” Beth Harrison asked as she slammed her mug down. Foam sloshed over the rim and ran down onto the bar.
Beth was the only one of Wendy’s friends that knew they were a couple. She was the owner of Figure 8 Boutique, which also meant she was Wendy’s boss. Beth had hired Wendy to be the buyer for the shop because Wendy had such a great fashion sense.
Judging by the blank stares they were getting from the rest of the gang, Mitch was sure they were all surprised to see him holding Wendy’s hand.