Fallon set a gift wrapped video game for David under the tree. She’d have David over bright and early on Christmas morning, where he’d find that Santa had already arrived.
Jack wheeled a ten speed bicycle into the room and stood it near the tree. “And that’s the last one. I think.”
“You really shouldn’t have. We’re spoiling him.”
“He needed a new bike. I’ve patched the tire on his old one three times this year. Besides, he should spend more time outside.”
She didn’t disagree. The past year had brought along a few surprises, not the least of which was that she and Jack had similar views on everything that mattered. Convenient. They loved the outdoors and thought it was important to spend time there, had similar taste in music, appreciated the same kind of pizza and ice cream sundae toppings, loved to read mysteries and enjoyed making fun of the same reality TV stars. They both wanted another child. A girl. In the year they’d spent getting to know each other there had been one fight, but she still couldn’t remember what it had been about. More than likely, it had something to do with the spare key she kept outside under a rock since she constantly locked herself out of their home. Jack maintained it wasn’t safe but that was the cop in him. Fallon did remember that the argument had ended in the best make-up sex of her entire life.
Another surprise had been the way Ted had quickly fallen into line when he’d discovered that Fallon and Jack were a ‘thing’ that wasn’t going to be going away anytime soon. She had a feeling Jack and Ted had had a conversation at some point, but she hadn’t pressed for details.
“Come here.” Jack plopped down on the couch and crooked a finger at her.
She didn’t need to be asked twice, going into his arms with the kind of ease she’d felt for a year. Never in her entire life had she been so sure, so certain about anything or anyone. Jack had her heart and soul, her mind, and her body. She imagined that was the way it always worked when it came down to true love. This was one hundred percent real. Always would be.
“I’m about ready to give up.” He stroked her back. “Where is it?”
“Nice try. You have to wait until tomorrow morning.” She’d already learned her lesson the hard way.
She couldn’t hide anything from Jack. He always found his gifts like a bloodhound on the scent of a single bread crumb. He was worse than David, too, when it came to being patient.
“Babe, you ought to know better than to hide anything from me,” he teased, then tugged on her earlobe. “We still have a few hours left. I won’t give up.”
“I know,” she said with a deep sigh. “That’s why your gifts are not in our house.”
He froze. “What?”
“They’re at Kailey and Joe’s and they’re dropping them off in the morning on their way to Genevieve’s.” She giggled a little at that, having finally outsmarted her in-house detective.
“Cheating. Damn.” He threw his head back. “You realize what this means.”
“Uh-huh. I won.”
“It means I have some free time and nothing to do.”
“Oh gee, I wonder what you could do with all this free time.” She licked and kissed his neck since he’d just given her such great access.
He moaned. “It’s time for your surprise.”
“Unless it’s making love under the Christmas tree I don’t want my surprise yet. I’ll wait until morning like a big girl.”
“Aw dammit, you guessed. It was the tree thing.”
“No.” Sue her if she loved the idea even if it meant she might be brushing pine needles out of...interesting places for a while. “Really?”
“Get off.”
“Right now? Me?”
“Do you see anyone else on my lap?”
No, she actually didn’t, and that was kind of the idea. But she rose, walked to the tree and smiled. “I’m ready.”
“First close your eyes.”
“I kind of like this game.”
“This is a different one.” He dragged his teeth over his lower lip, studying her.
She eyed him and pretended to be annoyed when she loved the way he kept her guessing. And when he flashed his boyish smile again, she’d do anything he asked.
She always did. “Okay, they’re closed.”
“Hold out your hand,” he said.
She held out her right hand, but he bumped it down and raised her left one instead.
He closed her hand around something suspiciously…small.
“You can open your eyes.”
Fallon slowly opened one eye and then the other one to find Jack on his knees in front of her.
“Jack!” She opened her fisted hand to find a beautiful solitaire diamond ring.
“That’s your surprise. Though I guess it isn’t much of one considering I’ve probably told you a thousand times how much I love you. How happy you make me every day. It’s because of you that I’m a cop again and doing what I love. It’s because of you that I believe in second, and yeah, even fourth chances. Would you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes!”
He stood to slip the ring on her finger. “Look at that. It fits.”
Everything fit. Jack. Her. This house. Her new salon. His job with the Starlight Hill PD.
“We fit.” She reached up to kiss him, big sloppy tears clouding her view. “Forever.”
“I like the way you think.” He pressed his forehead to hers and his hand dropped to the small of her back. “I love you, Fallon.”
“I love you more.”
“Hope so, because we’re going to have to do this all over again tomorrow when the Cooper clan arrives. Try to look surprised. My mother will probably sink to her knees and clutch her rosary beads but don’t let it alarm you.”
She laughed. “I could have waited until tomorrow, silly.”
“I know. The point is I couldn’t.” He tugged on a lock of her hair. “Now about the tree thing.”
She kicked off her red pumps, and he unzipped the back of her red dress with the white faux fur piping on the hem. The dress she’d worn the night she met the right man under the least likely of circumstances.
Jack pulled off his Santa jacket and off came the fake belly.
“Merry Christmas, Santa.”
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Claus.”
To read any of the other books in the Starlight Hill 8-book series of standalone books, go here.
You may also like the Wilder Sisters, another small town romance series with two standalone books, Country Gold and She’s Country Strong.
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Only You
A Starlight Hill novella
Dear Reader,
Only You was originally a novella in the St. Helena Vineyards Kindle World and titled Forever my Girl. It’s now been completely revised to fit in with the world of Starlight Hill. In this short novella, we have a heroine who’s longing to start her troubled life over again, paired with the hero, the cousin of a prominent local family. He’s only come to town for some much-needed rest and relaxation and hadn’t planned on the matchmaking attempts of his family.
You’ll see familiar characters make their reappearance as these two make their way to their own happily ever after.
I hope you enjoy!
Deep regards,
Heatherly
Dedication
For Heatherly’s True Blue Belles, with special thanks to Jen Williams, Laura Watson, Lisa Biondolillo, and Kristie Jae Maynard. Thank you for the use of your names.
1
“Thank you for your purchase and please come again!”
Before handing over the Tatas and More shopping bag, Mallory “Baby” Gilham stuck in a couple of the Come Again condoms that the shop’s owner, Eileen Turlock-Abella, passed out for swag.
Mrs. Garcia winked. “Those are my favorites.”
Mrs. Garcia was eighty if she
was a day, but she was a regular at Tatas: lingerie for the full-figured woman. A widow, she was one of the senior citizens who took pole-dancing lessons from Mallory on Tuesday evenings.
Mallory winked back. “Mine, too.”
“I’ll see you Tuesday, Baby.”
Mallory smiled and wished for the eleventh millionth time that the residents of Starlight Hill would stop calling her “Baby.” It was getting ancient.
But hey, give a guy a private lingerie show after hours and all of a sudden everyone’s talking about you. This time, Mallory had learned her lesson. A few months ago, she’d given her date a private lingerie show during off hours and been caught in the act by Sophia Jacobs, Eileen’s stepdaughter. So stupid. But Mallory had been lonely and Stan, who worked construction with Wallace Turlock’s company, had been so kind. Safe. He didn’t make any sudden movements around a girl. Stan had nicknamed her “Baby” and it stuck.
She’d had no idea that Stan was dating Angie, the cook at Sophia’s restaurant. Funny, but he hadn’t mentioned it.
After that slip-up, Angie had broken up with Stan, Stan had left town for a job, and Mallory had been summarily fired from her closing manager position at Tatas by Sophia, who’d been helping Eileen manage the store. Then Eileen had immediately found Mallory another job, this time teaching dance to the senior citizens at the Break a Leg School of Dance.
When she’d landed in Starlight Hill six months ago, she’d been running hard from a past that she wanted to see in her rear-view mirror. It wasn’t supposed to be permanent. Just a temporary stop on the way to her new life. But then Sophia and Eileen had taken her in, had forgiven her for a bad choice. No one had ever done that for her before. The residents of Starlight Hill, most of them, were good-hearted people that had taken this Texan in. Most of them.
But after the fiasco with The Lingerie Incident, too many other residents had definite ‘opinions’ about Mallory for that slip-up. After all, Mallory was…well, Baby. A co-ed from Dallas with a double major in dance and microbrewing. She figured she had a long road ahead, but eventually she would convince the people of Starlight Hill that she wasn’t a homewrecker and she had absolutely zero interest in hooking up with any more men. She was taking a much-needed break until she could, if ever, find someone trust-worthy.
Now Mallory was finally back at Tatas and taking full advantage of her employee discount. Eileen needed the extra help because Sophia was pregnant with her second child. And Sophia didn’t just help manage the Tatas. She also owned the local Italian bistro, Giancarlo’s.
The shop was empty, so Mallory busied herself with organizing the Fanny Wrappers display and folding some cheeky boy-shorts. Tonight, her Friday plans involved a date with Netflix. She’d cuddle up with Sugar, the white cockapoo pup she’d adopted last month, and binge watch The Crown. Sugar loved all the bling, and she yipped every single time Winston Churchill appeared on screen. Sugar had excellent taste in bling and British Prime Ministers. Mallory had made a good decision when she’d adopted her. Because she, Mallory Gilham, was the “forever home” for Sugar. When she’d adopted her, it gave her hope that if she could give a pet a forever home, maybe someday there would be a forever home for her, too.
The doorbell chimed that a new customer had walked in, so Mallory looked up from her folding and pasted on a smile. “Welcome to Tatas and More!”
“Shhhh!”
Oh, hell no, he did not just shush her!
The customer was a man, which was rare enough at the shop. Occasionally, Police Chief Riley Jacobs came in to surprise Sophia with some of her favorite Parisian Peek A Boos. But she’d never had a man come in here, of all places, to hide. The current gentleman, and she used the term loosely, had his rather tall body shoved behind a rack of the banana hammocks. He kept staring at the entrance to the storefront, and after a few minutes crouched lower, practically in full-on recon mode.
A soldier. Mallory would bet her life on it. Not only was his hair cut military short, but he was built like a running back. Broad shoulders, long legs, and um…a very great backside. Mallory joined him by the banana hammocks. She picked one up, a green camouflage pattern he might appreciate, and held it up for him.
“No need to be shy. We here at Tatas do not judge. Is this what you want?”
“Looks like I lost her. Didn’t think anyone would come looking for me in here.” Then he turned and his chocolate brown eyes took her in. As if he’d just noticed her.
“Are you in trouble? Or are you seriously too shy to buy the banana hammock?”
His eyes narrowed. “The banana what?”
“This. Ladies love them. A chance to display your…um, wares.” And by the looks of him, he had nothing to be ashamed of when it came to his wares.
He recoiled. “Are you out of your mind?”
She set them back on the rack. “Well, they’re not radioactive.”
“You mean to tell me men actually wear that shit? And the women…like it?”
“Some women.” She tilted her chin up. And up, just to try and meet his eyes.
He was large and a little bit intimidating, which made her take a step back. And then another one. Upon closer inspection, that military cut showed signs of growing out, and his dark brown hair curled slightly around his ears. He was scruffy, too, with that day’s worth of stubble that drove most women batshit crazy. He stared at the rack of banana hammocks like they might bite him. She wasn’t all that crazy about them herself, but Eileen wouldn’t carry them here if they weren’t selling.
“You don’t want the banana hammock. What do you want?”
“Nothing. You’ve been a great help. Thanks for letting me hide in here.” He turned, and he and that great ass made their way to the front door.
“Uh-uh,” Mallory said, twitching her finger. “I know you do not think you can come in here, hide among the panties, and then just expect to walk right out of here. At the least I deserve an explanation. But it would also be nice if you bought something.”
“Seriously? It’s a free country, and I don’t have to rent space to stop in here for two minutes.”
She went hands on hips. “Then an explanation! How do I know you didn’t just rob a bank or something? What if I’ve been harboring a fugitive?”
At this, his lips tipped up in a smile, and holy beejebuz what a smile. Mallory went a little limp inside. She’d always had a thing for Tall, Dark, and Difficult.
“I was hiding from my cousin’s wife.”
“Okay. Why?”
“She thinks I want a phone number.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to tell her you don’t need the phone number?”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you?”
“So…why don’t you just tell her that?”
“Because if I do tell her I don’t want the phone number of the woman she wants to fix me up with, then she’ll tell my aunt. Who will call my mother. They’ll get together and conspire as to how to ruin my life…or in other words, marry me off. Then my mother would call me and ask whether I enjoy having her picture me dying alone. Oh, and don’t forget childless. I’d calm my mother down, and then have to go kill a Turlock. And that wouldn’t be good.”
“A Turlock?”
“I’m Liam,” he said with a slow smile. “Liam Turlock.”
Of course he would have to be a Turlock. They seemed to be multiplying. They were everywhere in Starlight Hill, falling from the vines like low hanging fruit.
“And you are?”
“Ba—Mallory. Mallory Gilham.”
Liam Turlock.
Yes, she’d heard of him. Who in Starlight Hill hadn’t? Liam Turlock, according to Eileen, his aunt, was in Starlight Hill for a little much needed R&R. He was one of the Colorado Turlocks and would be staying at Billy and Brooke Turlock’s estate. Liam was one of four boys, each one wilder than the previous one. He was an Army Ranger and the youngest. No surprise there. She had before her yet another Turlock. This one devastatingly handsome, sexy, and annoy
ing. This was unfortunately her very favorite combination.
But he was complaining about a family who cared for him so much that they’d sent for him and treated him to an all-expense paid two-week vacation in paradise. She should have such problems. Giving up, Mallory went behind the register. She would not be making a sale today. Instead of leaving, Liam followed her to the counter, stuck hands in his pockets, and rocked back on his heels.
“That’s it, Bamallory? You’re just going to let me go without buying something?”
“No, just…Mallory.” With a hand, she shooed him out. “You can go now.”
“Getting rid of me?” He picked up a Come Again condom from the basket, quirked a brow, then met her gaze and gave her a slow, easy smile. “Ribbed for the lady’s pleasure. Yeah.”
She slapped it out of his hand. “You can’t have that. It’s swag for the paying customers.”
His gaze swept the store. “Do you have extra large?”
“Of course we do. This wouldn’t be a vintage shop for the curvy woman if we didn’t have extra-large.”
“I meant in the condoms.” He met her eyes.
Oh, snap.
“Of c-course we do.” She sifted through the basket and tried to pretend she talked to men every day about their condom size. “You’re buying something?”
“You didn’t say a condom was part of the deal. Don’t bury the lead, my big brother always says.”
Sexy and Annoying was quickly becoming just plain annoying. He was trying to embarrass her. Tease her.
“What are you going to buy? A banana hammock? We don’t have any other underwear here for men at the moment. Unless there’s a special lady, but you made it sound like there isn’t.”
“She doesn’t have to be special. Give me something you like.”
“That won’t work. I have to know her size.”
“What about your size? You look about right.” He cocked his head slightly and his gaze swept up her body.
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