She turned to him. “So the night we were married, we forgot something.”
“Really.” He smiled. “And what would that be?”
“We forgot to consummate our marriage.”
Instantly he grew serious. “Are you ready for that?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, looking innocent. “My mother gave me the-swans-and-the-bees talk a long time ago.”
“She did, did she?” He caressed her cheek with his large hand.
She nodded. “She told me it was the most wonderful thing I’d ever experience.”
Ty leaned in to kiss her, but pulled back. “You wanted me to show you my treasure room.”
She smiled. “Yes.”
He took her hand and led her down the hall. To her bedroom. “This is where I’ve kept my most valued treasure.”
“Me?”
“You.”
And then Ty kissed her again — and she gave herself up to the wonder of being mated to a dragon. Of being his Flame.
Of being in love.
Two Months Later
Swan or Dragon?
TY CAME UP BEHIND HER and wrapped his strong arms around her. He sniffed and said, “You smell like swan.”
Because he said it while imitating Stanley’s voice, she laughed. “Do you suppose Stanley has forgiven me for marrying you yet?”
“I doubt it. Especially since he lost you as a bartender, too.”
“Yeah. I think he’ll survive. Audrey’s enjoying her promotion.”
Ty had kept his word and taken her to Europe for their honeymoon. After a week, they’d gone to Sweden to visit her wedge of swans, her family, and had a renewal of the vows ceremony so they could include her family. Everyone had been there except her trapped sister. They’d returned a week later.
Six weeks after that, Mara was pointing at an incubator. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Ty leaned over to look. “It’s kind of hard to tell. Maybe he’s beautiful.”
She sighed. She hadn’t known what to expect, but all of her family hatched babies from eggs. And dragon babies hatched from eggs.
The egg before them — their cherished egg — was larger than a normal swan egg and brighter in color, with an opalescent sheen. It was, Walter assured them, smaller than a dragon egg. Swan eggs took six weeks to hatch. Walter said he’d read that dragon eggs could take twice that time. It was only a week old, so there was no way to tell yet.
“We not only have to wonder about girl or boy,” she said. “There’s also the question of swan or dragon.”
“As long as he or she is healthy. That’s all that matters.” He squeezed her. “I hope it’s a beautiful swan princess.”
She turned in his arms and kissed him. When she pulled back, she said, “I hope it’s a dragon and then you won’t be the last one any more.”
His eyes widened, as if he’d just realized the implications of that fact.
“In fact,” she continued, “I suspect we’ll need to have a big party for the whole town when this egg hatches.”
He smiled and she could see the joy in his eyes. “I’d be glad to throw a big party.”
She kissed him again, then took his hand and led him from the nursery and the large incubator Walter had configured for them.
“What did you decide about the SOC?”
He laughed. “I talked Walter into doing it. I like being a firefighter.”
He led her to the balcony off their bedroom and cuddled her again.
“I was thinking,” he said. “We’re pretty good at finding swan coats.”
“Yes, we are.” She looked at him, wondering where he was going with this.
“And Walter knows how to take care of the egg because he set up the hatchery with all the scientific requirements of humidity and warmth and turning.”
“Yes.”
“We have at least another five weeks before the hatching.”
She laughed. “Ty, what are you trying to say?”
“I think we should right another wrong.”
She smiled up at him. “If I wait long enough, you’ll get to the point. I just know it.”
He nodded. “I think we ought to go find your sister’s coat.”
Swanbumps rose on her arms. “Do you mean it?”
He nodded, and he’d never looked more beautiful to her. “I do. Let’s go reunited her with her coat.”
~ The Happy Ending ~
Thank you!
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my book, The Fireman Finds His Flame, the fourth book in the Moonchuckle Bay series. I love to write these light-hearted, humorous stories to allow people to curl up with a good book for an afternoon. I hope you were entertained.
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Happy tales, Heather Horrocks
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
Book Club Questions
1. What would be your favorite activity if you could go to a real unicorn ranch? Riding? Petting zoo? Watching the kids receive therapy?
2. Is there any circumstance that you can imagine where you would marry for reasons other than love?
3. Have you ever lost something — something tangible or some part of yourself — where you felt like you were no longer whole? Did you ever get it back? Was that something a person?
4. Have you ever stolen something? A candy bar from a store ... or something more? What did you do to make it right?
5. Have you heard about Secret Restaurants like Private inside Incognito? Apparently, they’re a thing in many cities. Just search for “secret restaurants” and you can read about them. Would you want to go to one?
6. What did you think of Ty’s decision to keep the coat hidden for just a couple of days? It certainly backfired on him.
7. Do you feel there is truth in the old saying, “If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don’t, they never were.”? And did you realize that it’s a quote by Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer of the book of philosophical essays titled The Prophet?
8. Would you have made the same decision the warlock did and hidden the coat for five years? If not, what would you have done?
9. If you were a supernatural, what power would you want? Would you use it for good or evil?
10. Were you surprised at the egg? Are you hoping for a swan or a dragon?
About the Author
Heather Horrocks is the USA Today bestselling author of numerous books (Moonchuckle Bay paranormal romances, Chick Flick Clique and Christm
as Street romantic comedies, a novel in the unprecedented American Mail-Order Bride series, Who-Dun-Him Inn and Bad Mothers Club cozy mysteries, and Women Who Knew inspirational books) plus an upcoming series for writers, sharing her unique character interview and amazing book-in-a-day system developed by plotting over eighty books with Diane Darcy, each in one day. She is also the founder of Word Garden Press, a niche publisher of PG-rated fiction and non-fiction.
Raised overseas for her first seventeen years, she hid under the bed with her mother during a South American coup, waterskied through an oil slick in the Persian Gulf, partied with a Kuwaiti princess classmate, flew in and out of the blacked-out Cairo airport mere moments before it was bombed during the Six Day War, rode a camel (and ate a camel steak), crossed the finish line first at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park—and walked on hot coals—without getting burned!—at a firewalk workshop!
She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which explains why she adores her witty husband, her funny friends and sisters, Anne George mysteries and Molly Harper romances, and her cute little dog Gus. She loves to cook for friends, siblings, and especially her children and their families. She and her husband reside in Utah. You can find her online at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.
Books by Heather Horrocks
MOONCHUCKLE BAY Paranormal Romances:
Jingle Belle (free here), The Artist Cries Wolf, The Bridesmaid Earns Her Wings, The Director Gets a Grip, The Fireman Finds His Flame , Elvis Gets His Groove Back (Mar 2017)
CHRISTMAS STREET Romantic Comedies:
Bah, Humbug!, Kissing Santa, The Naughty List, Love on Christmas Street (#1, 2, & 3), Deck the Malls
CHICK FLICK CLIQUE Romantic Comedies:
Pride and Precipitation, A Hound Dog Named Elvis, Regally Blonde, A Pink Dog Named Fluffy (formerly titled Puppy Love), My Spare Lady, Movie Night at Candy’s Cafe (#1, 2, & 3), A Bulldog Named Desire, Fifty Shades of Greystoke, While You Were Stranded, Romancing the Clone (2016), Davidson and Goliath
WHO-DUN-HIM INN Cozy Mysteries:
Snowed Inn, Inn the Doghouse, Inn the Family Way, Laugh Yourself to Death at the Who-Dun-Him Inn (#1, 2, & 3), The Czech’s Inn the Mail #4 (2016)
BAD MOTHERS CLUB Cozy Mystery Series:
Murder is Misunderstood #1
INSPIRATIONAL:
Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah, Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah, Women and Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah, Women Who Knew the Great Jehovah (2016)
AMERICAN MAIL-ORDER BRIDE:
Violet: Bride of North Dakota
OTHERS:
How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini, Old Maid of Honor, Baby Mine
Receive a FREE STORY for signing up for Heather’s New Release Newsletter at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
Acknowledgments
As always, thanks to USA Today bestselling author DIANE DARCY. I love our plotting days and the cute books we make appear out of thin air!
My amazing editors — ANISSA WALL of AnissaEdits.com and THERESA CROUSE of Magical Words Editing. You ladies rock!
My fantastic beta readers — Heidi Nielsen, Lois Sturdivant, Lori Hocker Carson, Marsha Sensel, Pamela Shofner Rowe, and Shauna Leigh Best. Thanks for loving my books!
And thanks to all my wonderful readers! I write these books to make you smile. I hope it works!
Copyright © 2017 Heather Horrocks
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
Word Garden Press
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Cover Art Copyrights
Retro Theater Marquee - Copyright © 2017 KeithBishop (istockphoto.com)
Couple in love (with gift) - Copyright © 2017 andrewshka (istockphoto.com)
Dragons - Copyright © 2017 ly86 (istockphoto.com)
Fire background - Copyright © 2017 moorsky (istockphoto.com)
Feathers - Copyright © 2017 Allevinatis / (istockphoto.com)
Inside Graphics Copyrights
Halloween © luplupme (istockphoto.com)
Monster At The Window © Dean Murray (istockphoto.com)
All Rights Reserved
This includes the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions.
Work of Fiction
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Receive a free novella and updates on new books released by Heather Horrocks at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
Excerpt:
Jingle Belle
Moonchuckle Bay Prequel #0.5
Get this book free here.
Jingle has a bounty hunter on her trail!
When her controlling uncle plans snow pixie Jingle Belle’s unwanted marriage to a much older man, she flees Snowville. Determined to marry only for love, she boards the Blizzard Express to create a new life for herself. Nicholas is hired to deliver her to her groom — but when he comes face to face with the beautiful faedy, he wants to keep her for his own. Can he keep her safe? And will she forgive him if she learns what he’s done?
Chapter One ~ A Surprise Party
THE MAGIC WORKED! FINALLY!
Jingle Belle’s heart sang with jubilation as she watched the flash of light that signaled she’d gotten it right.
After three years of work in her mother’s laboratory, Jingle had perfected her snow magic!
She held the cone high as she spun around the room. Little sparkles of blue light flashed off the snow — a flavor that would fix a person’s blue mood and make them feel happier.
She took another bite. It was delicious — and her own mood shifted even higher.
Now she could help people feel better the way her mother had encouraged her to do before her death. Her mother had been gifted in pixie magic, and Jingle had finally accomplished something her mother would be proud of. If only she could show her what she’d done.
At a knock on the laboratory door, she froze. She exchanged a glance with her pure white Arctic fox, Snowball, and then said, “Yes?”
Her uncle’s voice called out, his tone pleasant for a change, “Jingle, I’ve come to escort you to the dinner table.”
He couldn’t come into the room unless she allowed it, because her mother had warded the door against everyone except the two of them. This was a snow pixie’s magical lab. Not all pixies had magic. Her uncle didn’t. He had arrogance and control issues. He may have moved into her parents’ home after her mother died, claiming the home and duchy as his own now that he was Jingle’s guardian, but he still couldn’t come into this room. And that infuriated him.
Which made Jingle wish she could just stay inside forever — but he could make her life miserable if she didn’t obey him. “All right. Let me set my things down, and I’ll be right out.”
“Hurry, dear.” His voice had a quality of barely controlled patience.
She set the cone down in the special holder that could corral five cones at once. This special magical snow melted at a much slower rate than normal shaved ice — this one wouldn’t start to drip until late tomorrow evening.
She wiped her fingers on a damp towel and blew out a breath. Shaking her arms and lifting her shoulders, she prepared herself to talk with her uncle, the Duke of Snowville, control freak of the century.
Snowball sent a thought to her: Be careful. He is not to be trusted.
I know it, and I will, Jingle sent back. Will you wait here for me? Otherwise he might see you.
I will wait.
She unlocked the door and opened it.
/> Her uncle smiled down at her, but she didn’t trust that smile. Usually that meant he was planning something she wouldn’t like.
She didn’t normally go into people’s heads, even though she could, but when others were feeling strong emotions, sometimes she found herself sucked into their minds before she realized it. That happened now. He was definitely happy about something, but she couldn’t make out what it was.
Oh well, perhaps later. Happy was good, right?
He held out his arm, she put her hand on it, and he walked her toward the formal dining room — a room that could seat fifty guests.
Cook had prepared a feast, undoubtably keeping her five assistants busy all afternoon. There was enough food here for twenty, and yet it was just Jingle and her uncle here.
The butler pulled out a seat for her. She smiled at him and said, “Thank you, Arnold.”
He smiled back. “You’re very welcome, Miss Jingle.”
Then Arnold pulled out a chair for the Duke, who ignored him entirely. The butler went to stand alongside the wall and await the next order.
She hated how the household staff had grown so stiff and fearful. Not at all like the happy people they’d been when her mother was still here.
The serving girls brought out platters filled with breads and cheeses, and then her favorite soup, a sweet, chilled strawberry soup.
The Fireman Finds His Flame Page 11