A Novel Christmas

by Lynsey M. Stewart

  The crowd started cheering when I finished reading, wolf whistles and the sound of clapping filled the space. I blew my hair away from my face, grimaced jokingly and started to smile. Drew was sitting with my mum after Gerry introduced them, leaning into her as she whispered into his ear, nodding in agreement, still clapping. I loved him. I knew in that moment as I watched his face, the proud smile, the way he was attentive to my mum, his ability to make me feel important and loved in a room full of people just as much as if we were in a room on our own.

  Like an editor polishes a manuscript, he made me shine too.

  Drew mouthed, You’re amazing, as Gerry got up and made his way towards the podium.

  ‘Isn’t she fantastic, ladies and gentleman?’ Gerry said, glancing at me and smiling. ‘I’ve just heard an exclusive. Cal will soon be working on the second part of the duet so we’ll know…hopefully, by the summer…how this story ends. Will Kari and Dean get their happily ever after?’ The crowd started cheering again, a chorus of, Yes! followed by laughter. ‘I think they will,’ he replied, turning to me. ‘I’m pretty sure they will.’

  I grabbed a piece of paper off the podium, folded it in half and took out a small pencil I’d tucked into my bra. I wrote, Second Book across the top and underlined it twice. I looked at Drew, smiled as he winked at me and wrote, Favourite trope. Second-chance love. Make it epic.

  I knew my writing would change. The touch of experience, of real love inspiring my words. I was the kind of romance writer that loved to get lost in the worlds I created, almost feeling the same flutters of butterflies as I fell in love alongside my characters. But I didn’t believe in writing stereotypical phrases and setting unrealistic goals for love. Human behaviour was wide-ranging and unique. I wanted my words to reflect that. Writing ‘I didn’t feel love until I met you,’ seemed unfair now. We all experience love in some form. Many of us may fall in love more than once. That’s fine. That’s life. There’s a huge difference between who we may love for a short period of time and who we were meant for. Drew loved Meghan and I would never take that away from him. But he wasn’t meant for her. He was meant for me. Written down on pages. Planned, outlined and plotted. A story full of stray plot holes until it all came together like a completed manuscript to end the duet.

  A masterpiece.

  A love story.

  A book about real life lessons in love.

  Epilogue

  Fifteen months later.

  Drew

  ‘Come for me.’

  Cal laughed. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘That’s what they say in your books, isn’t it? Mr Grey tells Ana to come,’ I replied, thrusting myself into her, changing the angle slightly until she whimpered.

  ‘I can’t do it on demand, Drew. You have to put in the work,’ she said with a smile that broke into laughter. God, this woman. How did I get so lucky? She met my thrusts, my hips working faster, hitting the right spot, lifting her leg over my shoulder to get as deep as I could. I pressed my finger against her clit, circling, opening, pushing her apart and making everything highly sensitive.

  ‘Jesus, I know that was cheesy, but I want nothing more than to make you come.’

  ‘You do. You always do,’ she gasped. Then I felt it. Her pussy contracting against my cock. The detonator button of my own release. She spread her legs further allowing me to get closer and as I kissed her neck, enjoyed the feeling of her wrapped around me…I fucking came like a hurricane. Blackout. Short of breath. Lack of oxygen. Momentous.

  I rolled onto my back and pulled her into me, she sighed against my chest and that noise made me sink into the mattress. Life had a habit of taking you by surprise. Sometimes you go through expecting nothing in return and instead, you get a big slice of heaven. Those are the best days. The life changers. The dream makers. The day I met Cal.

  She rubbed her wedding ring against my nipple. It set my nerve endings on fire. I groaned and she giggled. ‘You know I’m going to do that forever, Mr Insatiable.’

  ‘Do it,’ I gasped, throwing my arms back as she licked the peak.

  My insecurities were still there at times. I loved her more than anything, knew pretty quickly that I needed her in my life forever, but I was always a thought away from wondering how she was coping. Did she love island life as much as me? Was she craving the city? The bright lights? The noise? When I found her early one morning sitting on the top field, crying as she watched the waves of the sea and mumbling about never being able to capture the beauty of the world in a few short sentences, I finally understood that this was her place too. My insecurities started to fade away. We still took it one day at a time. Cal gave me space when I needed it, which wasn’t often and became less and less, until I finally asked her to stay with me forever.

  Cal officially moved to Karensa a couple of months after the launch of To Be Continued. It was her most successful book to date. The second part of the duet was going through the final stages of editing. She had finished it a while ago, written another novel and two short stories since, but she wanted to wait until after our wedding, just in case she wanted to add extra lines of romanticism before it was set free to the world.

  I asked her to marry me on our bench at the top of the hill. It was early summer; the business was in full swing with wedding after wedding booked until the autumn. Jenson had done a fantastic job and word of mouth was spreading quickly. It was a busy time, but somehow we pulled it off. We talked to Jenson about our vision, wanting our wedding to be small and beautiful. Unique and us. He planned an open tipi made of branches, vivid greenery and coastal wildflowers. Sheepskin rugs and patterned cushions were set out for the guests. Small lights, threaded through the top of the structure, made it possible to have the ceremony as dusk settled. It was a warm, peaceful day. The waves lapping in the distance. Cal walked along the winding chalk path with her father, a simple bouquet of daisies in her hands, and a matching headpiece. Her blonde hair catching the last of the sun, the breeze playing with it. She looked like an angel. My angel. And now she was my wife.

  Archie was the ring bearer, a collar of daisies around his neck to match Cal. Melissa, Cal’s writer friend from America, came over to be her bridesmaid. My sister and Cal’s mum sat together, offering each other tissues and proud glances. Then there was Brian. We felt he needed to play a unique role in our wedding. He became ordained specially to marry us. It seemed right to have the man who held us together be such a huge part of our day. I’d never seen him cry until the day we asked how he would feel about conducting our ceremony. He said he’d got something in his eye and asked us to stop insinuating that he was emotional, but I knew him better than that.

  Jenson and Sam have become our close friends. Sam has been working on the self-catering side of the business, setting up twelve luxury yurts that have been full since the season started in the spring. We had taken on more staff and Karensa was a busy business with a family feel. Attention to detail was flawless and that had rebuilt our name.

  We had some work done to the barns, adding more rooms to the flat I had shared with Meghan and transforming it into a luxury bridal suite with adjoining rooms for wedding party guests. Cal and I now share the cottage. She wanted to keep the view from her writing window. It’s small with one bedroom and it won’t be big enough for us when we start to grow our family, but after the busy summer, we’re planning on extending and making it our own. Cal will have an office—view of her bench essential. She’s even been involved in the wedding business. It’s quite a draw for future brides to have their vows or reading for the service written by the great romance writer, Cal Dixon.

  ‘We should get up,’ I said sleepily, twisting her wedding ring and kissing it gently.

  ‘It’s our honeymoon; no one will expect to see us yet.’

  ‘I’m surprised your mother isn’t knocking on the door already.’

  ‘She’s precious, but even she likes a lie in.’

  ‘There’s something I want to show you anyway. Unf
ortunately, you’ll need clothes,’ I said, pulling Cal up. Her wedding dress was lying in a pool on the floor where I’d stripped her out of it last night. I picked it up and draped it across the chair, smoothing it out lovingly.

  ‘It such a shame you only get to wear it once,’ she said, pulling on her writer’s uniform of yoga pants and one of my t-shirts.

  ‘You can wear it whenever you like,’ I replied.

  ‘Maybe I should write in it. Draw inspiration.’ She shrieked as I pulled her down the stairs towards the front door. Archie joined us on our walk, the tipi still standing on the hill exactly how we left it the previous day. Getting closer, I saw that Jenson had set out a small table with a breakfast basket waiting for us. ‘Aww, Drew,’ she said, clasping her hands to her mouth. ‘A breakfast basket. It’s been too long!’

  I chuckled, pulled her t-shirt down her shoulder and kissed it. ‘You’re part of the staff now. You’ll be making breakfast baskets not receiving them.’

  ‘You got me here under false pretences.’

  ‘Says the woman who wanted to try out the wheelbarrow position only for me to find you writing it into your novel an hour later.’

  ‘Research. Part of the marriage deal. Get used to it.’ I didn’t mind. Not one bit. In fact, I had made suggestions of trying out various positions that have been featured in many a sex scene since.

  ‘I have something else to show you.’ I took her hand. ‘Turn around.’ Covering her eyes with my hands, I walked her to her bench. Her inspiration place. She laughed and I loved hearing the sound. It always made everything feel right again. ‘Remember Gladys’s plaque?’

  ‘I can recite Gladys’s plaque. My dearest Gladys, this will always be our inspiration spot. Love always, Kenneth.’

  ‘Open your eyes, beautiful.’ I pulled my hands away and watched as her mouth fell open. She didn’t speak, just walked to the bench and sat down.

  ‘Do you like it? I had Sam put it there earlier this morning,’ I said, still waiting for a reaction.

  She stroked her hand across the shiny brass plaque, a stark contrast to the one beside it that had dulled with weather and age. She put her finger to her mouth, tapped it before biting her lip. It was still shaking trapped between her teeth. Finally, she let it go and started to smile through her tears.

  ‘I love it,’ she replied. ‘I love you.’

  ‘I love you too,’ I said, kneeling before her and brushing her tears away. ‘So much.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, smiling as she kissed me.

  ‘I wanted it to be a surprise. I’ve been thinking about putting a plaque there for a while. Our wedding day seemed the right time.’

  ‘I love that,’ she said, laughing as she traced the last few words with her fingers.

  ‘I think you’ll find that Disney is the quote bomb.’

  ‘Absolutely and now it’s here forever.’

  ‘It should be. Karensa is yours now,’ I replied, kissing her wedding ring.

  I joined her on our bench, the one we now shared with Gladys and Kenneth, and rubbed the brass plaque with the hem of my t-shirt, shining it to make her laugh.

  She deserved her plaque, to make her mark on the world and inspire others.

  That’s what she did to me.

  My Dearest Cal, we found inspiration here. Love always, to infinity and beyond, Drew.

  Thank you for reading A Novel Christmas. I’ve written a bonus epilogue that catches up with Drew and Cal six months after their wedding. There may also be a sneak peek of my next book…Just sign up to my newsletter to get your free epilogue!

  If you enjoyed Drew and Cal’s story, you might want to join my spoiler group. There will be threads about THAT window scene…

  Acknowledgments

  To JoAnn Collins at Twin Tweaks Editing. Thank you for pointing out what needed working on that made so much sense, advising me where I needed it and offering praise where you felt compelled to. You’ve made this process a joy. Thank you!

  To Ann. What can I say? You treated this manuscript with ultimate respect because you wanted it to be the best it could be. I couldn’t ask for more than that. Thank you.

  To Jessica. I’ll never forget your first reaction. ‘Girrrlll. That window scene. Woah.’ You helped get this manuscript into a place where I could finally stop obsessing over it! Your continued support means everything.

  To Laura. Thank you for being so honest and for beta comments like this, ‘Them watching each other through the window…JFC, I’m dead.’

  Special thanks to Caroline Feavearyear for naming Drew in my reader group, Lynsey M. Stewart’s Cockateers. Drew and Cal sounded good together…as a token of my appreciation, I named Cal after you.

  To Jessica, Megan, Laura (again) and Karin. You keep the Cockateers fun! Thank you.

  To the Cockateers, the faithful readers and the newbies who may stumble across this Christmas romance. Thank you for making my dream come true.

  To the amazing writers who I’m thankful to call my friends. This book has been inspired by every interaction. From supportive comments, accountability messenger threads, sprinting sessions, and reminders to fill my bucket…Thank you!

  To SJW. Thank you for supporting my crazy decisions. I love you more.

  About Lynsey

  Lynsey M. Stewart enjoys writing stories about characters that experience a few bumps in the road before finding their happily ever after (also known as contemporary romance with plenty of heat). She lives with her husband, her soul mate and muse, along with their gorgeous, precious, ridiculously independent little girl. Lynsey began writing after being inspired by great books, amazing writers and wonderful stories that she couldn’t stop thinking about long after reading the last word. If she’s not writing, you can usually find her with her head in a book or singing along to music. She’s hopeless, but she enjoys pretending to be Adele every once in a while.

  Find Lynsey on:

  www.lynseymstewart.com

  authorlynseymstewart@outlook.com

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  Books by Lynsey

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