Amber Affairs

by Patricia Rice

  Ernest shrugged. “Just use Josh’s people, unless you want to get back in the business. I’m hiring Mariah to run background checks on anyone I employ so we’ll run a tight ship. Unlike Willa, I’m hiring people we can trust, not ones we can blackmail.”

  “Like yourself?” she asked, because she knew Ernest needed to say this.

  She was trusting her prescience a little more these days.

  He shot her a narrow-eyed look, then shrugged. “It’s not easy being poor and gay in this town. I got into drugs and took a wrong turn. Willa may have hired me because she thought she could hold my conviction over my head, but I proved useful even though I refused to do anything that would put me back in jail. If there’s anything worse than being poor and gay in this town, it’s being poor and gay in prison.”

  “Good thing, since Josh now has a whole spooky town of psychics and empaths to tell him if there’s trouble,” Amber complacently replied. “If you have any problems, you just drag the culprit to Hillvale, and we’ll take care of it.”

  Ernest chuckled. “Then take my advice and don’t be a stranger to Josh’s business. He may throw away all Willa’s money, if he likes, but his talent will make more. If he uses you for voice-overs, others will come calling. You’ll need a secretary and a manager.”

  She watched the beautiful people milling in the theatrical dome of the funeral home. She gathered from the hand-shaking and whispering that this was mostly a peculiar cocktail party for meeting, greeting, and gossiping.

  “I enjoy acting,” she acknowledged. “I am not temperamentally suited to do what it takes to move up the ladder. I’ll accept any decent offers that float my way and set the money aside for Zeke’s education, but I will not actively pursue it. Zeke and I will be happier in Hillvale. So will Josh, I think, but he also needs an outlet for his creativity.”

  “That’s why we now have Gabriel Productions. Josh is in the process of selling Willa’s company back to her father. I want nothing to do with Ivan anymore,” he said with a shudder. “We’d already removed Josh’s project from the line-up and started our own list of sponsors. I’ll run the business. He can produce his scripts and sell his damned books, if that’s what he wants to do. And if he insists on looking into wineries, he has a lawyer prepared to set up a division of the corporation for that.”

  Amber admired Josh’s smile as he sought her out across the crowded room. He hadn’t forgotten her back here. He was just paving a path for her in the way he knew best. She would return the favor by offering the safety of her home.

  “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown,” she told Ernest as Josh pushed his way back to her. “You handle the circus. I’ll handle our clown.”

  Ernest snickered and sidled off to talk to his latest favorite reporter about Willa’s confrontation with Dell before her death. Stone thought he had a national story in Dell’s child pornography ring and no longer needed Amber’s input, thank all that was holy.

  Putting an end to Dell’s depredations may have been Willa’s only good deed in life, but it was a significant one. Amber hoped that had sent Willa’s spirit to a good place.

  Josh caught Amber’s arm and steered her toward the exit. “The marble urn at the cemetery isn’t ready yet. She’ll be interred quietly, without this spectacle. Our day is done here. I have better plans for you.”

  “Dinner overlooking the beach and sunset?” she suggested.

  “From my toy box, yes. I haven’t decided to sell it yet. I need you to tell me if it’s a place you might want to hang out occasionally.” He led her to the waiting limo.

  “We had limos growing up,” she reminded him. “We had suites overlooking LA. I don’t need any of this.”

  “I know. You need Hillvale and friends. But you’re talented and talent needs an outlet. You may be happy starring in local productions and raising money for the town, but every once in a while, you might want a mini-vacation. Or a place to stay the night if we come into town on business. And if you don’t, it’s okay. But I have a surprise for you, so we may as well make this a night.”

  As the car rolled through the streets, he scooped her onto his lap and covered her in kisses, so Amber didn’t really care about the fate of his toy box. Zeke might enjoy visiting LA. Maybe Val would come out of her shell and decide to do theater again. They all had choices now that Josh planned to pour his new wealth into Hillvale.

  The future lay before them in glittering promises and excitement.

  Once the limo deposited them at Josh’s beach house, she could see it was little more than a cottage of wooden shingles and nearly-flat pebble roof. Josh led her through the small, tropical yard, unlocked the front door, and gestured her in. He flipped on bright overhead lights that illuminated the front room, otherwise shadowed by overgrown birds of paradise covering the window.

  The framed photographs crowding the walls distracted her from the tropical jungle outside the door. The effect should be creepy—but it wasn’t. Josh had talent.

  They were photos of her—dancing as Ginger, laughing at the television camera, smeared with ice cream. And then there were the more recent ones, all the fat photos she’d dreaded seeing on TV news, the ones she’d feared would make a laughingstock of her. She gaped, then holding her breath, studied the effect.

  There she was in her usual Gypsy dress, looking up and laughing, with her hair catching the glint of sun from her window—just like the one of her as a dancing Ginger. The child could have been any child, sturdy and happy and thoughtless. The adult—the adult had the shadowed eyes of knowledge and the lush lips of a woman who knew what she wanted. The size difference was irrelevant—here was the goddess Josh saw when he looked at her.

  He’d taken a shot of her stepping out of the pool, with her sopping wet sunset-pink suit clinging to every curve.

  That was her as the detective in the bulky pink blazer, looking stern and judgmental.

  The one of her in the teal silk, laughing, sitting at a table adorned with linen and crystal brought her to tears.

  She was beautiful. She really was beautiful.

  Josh held her from behind, pressing his chin into her hair. “I don’t lie, kid. And I’m not blind. See for yourself. This is who I see when I look at you—so much beauty, so much character, and the smile. . . That smile would smite armies. I want to see that goddess in creamy white and rose, approaching me down Hillvale’s rocky aisle. I want to see her outshining the sun while holding my baby in her arms. Tell me you share my vision.”

  Amber could hardly swallow, much less speak. She turned in his arms and hugged him close, resting her head against his shoulder. “No wonder you’re a great director,” she finally choked out. “You make even the worst of us look good. And if that was your idea of a proposal, then the answer is yes. Only an idiot would let you go, and I’m no idiot.”

  Josh laughed and covered her face in joyous kisses. Then catching her hand, he led her to the back of the house. “Then come enjoy the sunset over the Pacific with me and we’ll plan our escape from reality.”

  Amber took off her concealing suit jacket, revealing her flabby bare arms in the silk shell for all the world to see as she took her place on Josh’s battered porch. Maybe tomorrow she’d buy another bathing suit and swim in the surf.

  Josh popped a bottle of champagne and they settled in to enjoy the happiness they’d been denied too long.

  Character List

  Hillvale residents:

  Aaron Townsend—owner of antique store; practices psychometry

  Amber Abercrombie—tarot reader, former actress

  Brenda—retired nurse practitioner

  Carmel Kennedy—mother of Kurt and Monty; emotional vampire

  Cassandra—family once owned all of Hillvale; Sam’s great-aunt on paternal side

  Chen Ling Walker—Hillvale’s new police chief and owner of corporate investigative agency

  Dinah—cook and owner of café

  Fiona Malcolm McDonald—café cook; engaged to Monty Kennedy


  Harvey (aka Isaac Harvey Berkovich) Menendez—itinerant musician, friend of Monty’s, related to Menendez family

  Keegan Ives—mineralogist

  Kurtis Dominic Kennedy—architect; part owner and manager of Redwood Resort

  Lance Brooks—Carmel’s brother; artist who lives at resort;

  Mariah (Zoe Ascension de Cervantes) computer engineer; creates ghost-catchers

  Montgomery (Monty) Kennedy—Hillvale’s mayor, part-owner of Redwood Resort

  Orval Bledsetter—retired vet

  Pasquale—Italian grocer

  Samantha Moon—environmental scientist

  Theodosia (Teddy) Devine-Baker—empathic jeweler, married to Kurt Kennedy

  Tullah—owner of thrift store; psychic medium

  Valerie Ingersson (Valdis)—goddess of death, former actress

  Wan Hai—feng shui expert, very small

  Amber Affair characters:

  Josh Gabriel (aka Jackson)—Hollywood director; Amber’s former boyfriend

  Zeke Abercrombie—Amber’s nephew, son of her late sister, Amethyst

  Crystal Abercrombie—Amber’s mother, Zeke’s grandmother

  Willa Powell—daughter of Ivan; Josh’s fiancée

  Ivan Powell—Willa’s father; Hollywood producer

  Ernest—Willa’s assistant

  Sarah—Willa’s live-in secretary

  Brad Jones—Willa’s hired cameraman

  Alicia—Amber’s lawyer

  Oscar—bodyguard

  Nell—security guard

  Stone—reporter

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  And again, thank you so much for taking the time to read this book. Please stop by my website or Facebook page to let me know if you enjoyed it.

  I am an independent author, so getting the word out about my book is vital to its success. If you liked this book, please consider telling your friends, and writing a review at the store where you purchased it. Reviews help other readers find books. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative!

  And be sure to check out my mystery series Tales of Love and Mystery as well as my Crystal Magic series

  Amber Affair

  Patricia Rice

  Copyright © 2019 Patricia Rice

  Book View Cafe, May 14, 2019

  First Publication: 2019

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portion thereof, in any form.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Rice Enterprises, Dana Point, CA, an affiliate of Book View Café Publishing Cooperative

  Cover design by Kim Killion

  Book View Café Publishing Cooperative

  P.O. Box 1624, Cedar Crest, NM 87008-1624

  http://bookviewcafe.com

  ISBN 978-1-61138-784-1

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Thank You.

  Acknowledgments

  This is the page where writers admit they cannot write books in a bubble. I’ve survived in this business for going on forty years because of all the wonderful, talented people who helped me along the way. It would take a book to name them all.

  Rather than pretend I’m an Oscar winner thanking my husband and numerous editors and agents for believing in me, I’ll just say thank you to the people who made this book possible—and fun—and that includes you, the reader.

  As always, I am tremendously grateful for all the talented members of Book View Café Publishing Co-op. Without your support, I wouldn’t have the stamina to do everything necessary to produce a book.

  In particular, I’d like to thank Julianne Lee for teaching me “director speak” so Josh doesn’t sound like a total space cadet. And Mindy Klasky, editor par none, who keeps my flights of fancy and laziness under control, and Phyllis Irene Radford who forces me to really look at my characters. Then there’s Kim Killion, graphic artist extraordinaire, without whom there would be no books because only she understands when I tell her the cover needs “people with magic crystals.”

  There are so many more, always ready to answer my stupid questions—you know who you are. Hugs and kisses!

  Crystal Magic Series

  An exciting new series from the author of Unexpected Magic and Tales of Love and Mystery

  Sapphire Nights

  Book 1 of the Crystal Magic Series

  A lawman haunted by his past . . . a scientist haunted by her future.

  * * *

  Samantha Moon arrives in Hillvale bereft of friends and family, money and memory. All she has to her name is a stray cat . . . but that's apparently enough for the people of Hillvale to take her in. Except for L.A. investigator Walker, who sees how Sam's arrival disturbs the deceptive peace of the small California town.

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  Topaz Dreams

  Book 2 of the Crystal Magic Series

  An empathic woman searching for safety. . . An architect yearning for dreams. . . And the haunted house that endangers them both

  * * *

  Teddy Devine-Baker arrives in her childhood home of Hillvale with a box of crystals and enough trouble to fill her VW van. With Teddy’s life in pieces, her parents’ old house is her last refuge, but Kurt Kennedy—the aloof architect whose sword-wielding heroics once tickled her childish fancies—claims it belongs to him.

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  Crystal Vision

  Book 3 of the Crystal Magic Series

  He is Earth, she is Air, together they catch Fire....

  * * *

  Mariah lives off the grid by waitressing, weaving ghostcatchers to send Hillvale’s ghosts across the veil, and keeping clear of electronics that haunt her—until the day her friend and mentor, Crazy Daisy, is murdered, and Mariah goes on the hunt for a killer.

  Her prime suspect is geologist Keegan Ives. Following clues left by Daisy and Hillvale’s past, Keegan and Mariah are caught in a whirlwind of crystals, power, and cyber-fraud. If they survive, will their world be changed for better—or worse?

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  Wedding Gems

  A Crystal Magic Collection

  Book 4 of the Crystal Magic Series

  Succumb to temptation and follow the call to Hillvale - population 325 - a cozy little mountain town filled with love, mystery, and ghosts...

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  Award-winning author Patricia Rice presents three romantic novellas from her celebrated Crystal Magic series—together for the first time in one collection.

  The Wedding Gift

  Having overcome the obstacles of their past, Samantha Moon and Chen Ling Walker are ready to walk down Hillvale’s eccentric version of a wedding aisle. Can they also conquer the complications of the present—a mysterious doll that won’t stay in one place and the dubious assistance of a feng shui master who moves in with them?

  The Wedding Question

  While juggling the demands of their busy lives, Theodosia Devine-Baker and Kurt Kennedy find that love and living together
require just as much work. Halloween always brings out Hillvale’s spooks, but when Teddy declares a ceramic dragon is sending smoke signals, Kurt wonders if it’s time for him to flee the eccentric community to look for a more normal life.

  The Wedding Surprise

  With Christmas excitement raising Hillvale’s spirits—both literal and figurative—Keegan Ives and Mariah are setting out on new careers and a new relationship. As the town’s future draws them in different directions, can their love survive an unanticipated bundle of joy?

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  Azure Secrets

  Book 5 of the Crystal Magic Series

  A chef who brews magic challenges a mayor with secrets

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  After a childhood of being tossed from foster homes for claiming she can detect liars by their scent, Fiona Malcolm McDonald does her best to conceal her secret these days. But when she sniffs a wrongdoer and drives him off with jalapeño cheesecake, she loses still another cooking job and is homeless again. She places her last hope on her mentor in Hillvale, a town as weird as she is.

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  About the Author

  With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today's bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice is one of romance's hottest authors. Her emotionally-charged contemporary and historical romances have won numerous awards, including the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards. Her books have been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA® finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories.