A Legendary Christmas
Page 30
Ummm...no.
Tsk tsk. Geraldine Wisemueller. Obviously on her way home from her daycare job as she had baby spit and some sort of green goo on her shoulder. Geraldine sidled up beside her. “Now, tomorrow evening you are to come over for dinner and we’ll have meatloaf and pie and lemonade. You’ll forget all about the terrible man who left you and that little...um, and your sister.”
Best meatloaf in town. At least she thinks so. Suzie begged to differ.
Sympathy run amok.
She didn’t need any more sympathy run amok, thank you very much. Or any more hand patting. Or clucking after her ex-husband. Or tsk-tsking her sister. Or meatloaf.
She didn’t need any of that.
Or a man.
No.
Definitely didn’t need a man.
She needed milk.
Dammit. Just milk.
And she wasn’t going to get it today, that was for certain.
Besides, it had been over a year since her husband of fourteen years up and ran off with her baby sister, Chelly. She was over it. She was! When would they—meaning the entire town of Legend, Tennessee—give it up, too?
Talk of the town. Yep. Little Suzie Schul.
But she was tired of the whole sordid affair. Seemed like she and Cliff stirred up more gossip around these parts since, well… Since Pammy Gruber ran off to Nashville in ‘43 with the preacher from the Church of Christ.
Times like these she wished she didn’t live in a small town. Everybody knows your business. Everybody wants in on your business.
Arghh!
There were days she just wanted to run away.
But wait, she’d tried that once, right? And it hadn’t quite turned out so well.
She shook off the shiver that accompanied the thought.
Truth be known, she could never leave. Legendarians stayed put. It was sort of like a rule. Legend was her hometown. She was as homegrown and homespun as they came around these parts. Couldn’t imagine herself living anywhere else, especially in a big city. No, Legend was where she belonged and Legend was where she’d stay.
And she’d fight to keep this small town the way it was, had always been, no matter what its quirks or characters.
She picked up the dozen eggs and headed for the refrigerator, putting all that out of her mind. Hell’s bells. She’d have to endure the quirks and go out and get the darn milk. Shouldn’t take long. A guest was coming later this evening and she’d need the milk for morning breakfast. After all, she had her reputation to stand on, right? Well, Legend Landing’s Bed and Breakfast’s reputation at the very least. Hers might still be questionable.
Because the other half of the “talk of the town” was that she must have done something to make poor Cliff go and do what he did. Cliff had always been such a good guy (albeit a tad boring). What in the world was it, many speculated, that little Suzie Schul had gone and done? And just why had she moved to Gatlinburg, anyway, for those months?
Like she’d give them fuel for that discussion.
No way.
The groceries. Put away the groceries, Suzie.
On the way to the refrigerator, she glanced at the red blinking light on her answering machine and punched at the button.
A voice crackled. Bad connection. “Um...Suzette?”
She froze. Only one person in the world called her Suzette. No, it couldn’t be. She smashed the stop button. Panic raced through her. He couldn’t have found her.
Could he?
Carefully, she pushed the button again then turned to put away the eggs. Like, if she didn’t pay too much attention to the message it wouldn’t have too much importance.
Yeah, right.
“Um...Suzette? It’s...Brad. I’m...” Crackle, crackle, crackle. “...in...for a... Here’s my number. I, uh...proposition...you.”
And without further ado, Suzie missed the shelf of her refrigerator entirely and dropped the full dozen eggs, splat on her kitchen floor.
Damn.
Milk and eggs.
Pammy Gruber had nothing on Suzie Schul. Especially if Brad Matthews was coming to town.
ABOUT MADDIE JAMES
Multi-published and bestselling romance novelist, Maddie James, trips between contemporary, historical, and paranormal worlds, as she pens stories within, and frequently crossing, a variety of romantic genres. With over three dozen published titles, written under two (and soon three) pen names, she feels fortunate to work with some of the quirkiest characters around—those in her head, and in her life. She lives with her muses—who most days manifest themselves as four-legged furry creatures—and often laments that her animals have become her children, while she has become her mother. Que sera, sera. Life goes on…
Learn more about her work at www.mjnovelist.com
Books by Maddie James
Crazy for You
The Heartbreaker
Falling for Grace
Rawhide and Roses
A Perfect Escape
Red: A Seduction Tale
Blue
Freshly Dead
Broken
Convincing Nora
“A Witcherly Challenge” in Something Spooky This Way Comes
Family Stories, Family Recipes Cookbook
The Matchmaking Chef Series
Hard Candy Kisses
Better Than Chocolate
Romancing The Scone
Mate to Order
Side Dish
Dates Du Jour
Hot Crossed Buns
Perfectly Matched
Ladies of Legend Series
Finding Home
(with Jan Scarbrough, Janet Eaves, and Magdalena Scott)
Bed, Breakfast and You
Home for the Holidays
Murder on the Mountain
Watch for these future titles from Maddie James
Trust Me
Home to Wind Ridge
Prey Tale
The Dead Guys Still Want It Series
Seriously Dead
Gratefully Dead
The Montana McKenna’s Series (with Jan Scarbrough)
The Long Road Home: Callie
The Long Road Home: Parker
If you liked this anthology collection of novellas about the homespun but quirky characters of Legend, Tennessee, you might also like this original novel by the same authors:
Finding Home
by Jan Scarbrough, Magdalena Scott, Janet Eaves and Maddie James
Learn more about all of the Ladies of Legend books at www.legendtennessee.com.
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Table of Contents
Santa’s Kiss by Jan Scarbrough
An except from The Reunion Game
About Jan Scarbrough
Christmas Collision by Magdalena Scott
An excerpt from Midnight in Legend, TN
About Magdalena Scott
The Christmas Gift by Janet Eaves
An excerpt from Claiming The Legend
About Janet Eaves
Home for the Holidays by Maddie James
An excerpt from Bed, Breakfast & You
About Maddie James
COUPON!
Turquoise Morning Press
Santa’s Kiss
.