Under the Mistletoe
Page 8
Since leaving Legend, Eli had made the most of what he had. Take no prisoners was his personal mantra, and it had served him well. To the tune of a very nice bank account, features in national magazines, and important friends pretty much everywhere. Not to mention a long line of beautiful brokenhearted women.
It was no surprise that the school board in Legend had chosen him as this year’s distinguished alumni. He was distinguished. But it had taken him a while to decide whether or not to make the trip to accept the honor. After being gone all these years, he hated to ruin a perfect record by returning to the little burg. Finally the school board had told him he could choose the time the event would occur, and he decided to go for it. Set it at Christmastime when Legend was at its most festive. This timing would gain him some brownie points with his family for being home at the holidays. Should help ensure an even bigger crowd for the event, too. No doubt the powers that be had advertised in Knoxville and maybe even Gatlinburg. Wire services might have picked it up as well. The school board would make a ton of money, and Eli would make an unforgettable impression on the extremely impressionable people of his hometown.
His parents were thrilled about the whole thing—Eli’s time in Legend would be full of family. He was the fifth of six kids, but also had innumerable cousins, aunts, and uncles. Most of them still lived in Legend or the surrounding county and were fine, upstanding, if boring, citizens. Eli figured he would have gone crazy if he’d had to stay in Legend. By the time high school graduation rolled around, he was more than ready to cut and run. In fact, he’d had his shined-up, souped-up car packed and ready to leave as soon as the ceremony was finished. He’d signed up for college classes that summer, and had a couple of jobs lined up so he could pay his own way through school. Nothing could slow him down from making a bee-line out of Legend.
Nothing, that is, except Jeannie Adams. She had been a thorn in his side all through school, but senior year was the worst. Of all the things about Legend that Eli was glad to leave behind, Jeannie was the biggest. It was amazing serendipity that just as Eli was rounding a corner on his final walk through a deserted back hall of Legend High after the commencement ceremony, he’d met Jeannie. Startled, she stared at him momentarily, all wide-eyed. Her face was pink because it had been hot in the gym with those stupid graduation gowns on. She was still zipped into the ugly gown and was wearing the ridiculous mortar board, being too much of a ninny to throw it up in celebration like a lot of the kids had done. Black bobby pins secured the mortar board into her auburn hair. Her National Honor Society cowl was a little askew, probably from hugging her nerdy girlfriends, and the sash that showed she was Magna Cum Laude was hanging crooked. Without a moment’s thought, Eli grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a big wet kiss on the mouth. She melted against him for a minute, then started to struggle. Eli released her and strode away. Before he went out the door he called back to her, “See ya, Jeannie Adams. Have a nice life.”
There had been times over the last few years that he’d replayed that scene in his mind. He had heard someone talk about life’s defining moments being those that you can remember vividly even years later. He wondered why that would be one of his defining moments, but it sure seemed to be. Probably because it was the last thing he remembered prior to leaving town. It was definitely not because it involved Jeannie Adams, whom he had dubbed Obnoxo-Brain when she overcame his GPA due to a lousy chemistry grade. Still, Eli couldn’t help wondering if he might run into Jeannie while he was in town. She was probably fat and had a half dozen kids. It would serve her right, after what she’d done to him years ago.
One of his cousins had started teasing him about being hot for Jeannie, and Eli had gone into a tirade about what a crazy idea it was—then spent a sleepless night thinking about her in an entirely different way. Somehow everything he knew about chemistry went out of his brain—except the kind of chemistry between a guy and a girl. He had flunked the test big time and blamed Jeannie for it. Yeah, she’d always been a problem for him. He hoped she had a big wart on her nose along with being fat. Who would have married her, anyway? Eli felt the hairs on his neck rise.
Shaking his head to get the teenage Jeannie out of his mind, Eli started the powerful engine again. It purred just the way it was supposed to. You could depend on cars. As long as you took good care of them, they’d take care of you. Women, though—women were just the opposite. If you took care of them, they’d expect more and more. Eli had successfully kept women happy in the short-term and was careful never to stay around for the long-term. Worked great. Checking his mirrors, he pulled back onto the winding road and headed toward his parents’ house. Might as well get the first wave of hero worship taken care of.
Please look for The Holly and the Ivy at your favorite ebook vendor.
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Under the Mistletoe!
It was loads of fun to write this prequel and imagine what Legend was like back in 1975. I had fun remembering the songs that played on the jukebox in those days—Convoy played in my head quite a bit while I was writing this novella.
The second prequel is The Holly and the Ivy, as you’ve seen. As of this moment, that’s the only other prequel I’ve written.
But if you haven’t already read the contemporary stories, I think you’ll especially enjoy Midnight in Legend, TN, which is Book 1 of the series. Midnight Shelby buys a big empty building to turn into a store selling locally made arts and crafts. Have you guessed the history of that building? Yep, it had been Jim Bob’s Saloon back in the day. I don’t know about you, but I’m really glad Legendarians don’t tear down old buildings helter skelter. It would have made Midnight’s story more difficult to write if she hadn’t found the perfect building.
And it would have made Chloe and Greg’s story, Building a Dream, quite impossible.
As you can see, sometimes Legend seems very real to me.
I hope you enjoyed your excursion to the imaginary town of Legend, Tennessee. I feel very blessed to be able to write these stories and share them with you.
If you’re inclined, I would so much appreciate a review of this book. A good review is gold for authors, and can be helpful to prospective readers as well.
Please visit my website to sign up for my newsletter. That’s the best way to keep up to date with new releases. I send a newsletter monthly-ish, so don’t worry about being flooded with email from me. You can also connect with me on social media, read my blog, and browse my books at my website: www.magdalenascott.com
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Each of my Legend, Tennessee romances has a McClain as either the hero or heroine. The McClain family tree is quite lush with characters.
Here is a list of my Legend stories:
Legend Contemporary Romance
Midnight in Legend, TN
Christmas Collision
Where Her Heart Is
Building a Dream
Second Chances
Legend Prequels
Under the Mistletoe
The Holly and the Ivy
I hope you’ll visit Legend again soon. Thank you for reading!
MORE BOOKS BY MAGDALENA SCOTT
Serendipity, Indiana series
Small Town Christmas
Emily’s Dreams
Christmas Wedding
The Blank Book (2016)
The Road Not Taken (2016)
The Ring (2016)
A Piece of Her Soul (2016)
Please sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date on Serendipity and other book releases.
http://www.magdalenascott.com/
ABOUT MAGDALENA SCOTT
Magdalena Scott lives in her own fantasy world of Magdalenaville, Indiana, and spends her time writing stories with small town settings.
As a lifelong citizen of small town America, Magdalena knows that life in a “burg” is seldom dull—if you’re paying attention. There is mystery, romance, scandal, and the occasional unexplained occurrence.
Step into Magdalena’s world and find out what’s hidden just below the surface of those tiny dots you can barely see on the map.
Website: http://www.magdalenascott.com/