A Perfect Holiday Fling (13 page)

Epilogue

Callie tucked one leg underneath her as she settled into the comfortable recliner in Stefanie Sutherland’s home office. Stefan and Jacob had carted the wrapped packages from under the Christmas tree, and one-by-one, were dragging them in front of the computer monitor. In addition to the many gifts his mother had wrapped and hidden in the closet before she left for Afghanistan, Jacob also had a boatload of presents to open this Christmas morning from his uncle, including a new fishing rod.

“Uncle Stefan said that we’re going fishing tomorrow,” Jacob said, holding the rod up for his mother to see. “I’m gonna look for worms in the backyard.”

“He’ll probably come back with a colicky squirrel or a poodle with a broken leg,” Stefan said as he picked up a flat, amateurishly-wrapped gift and set it on the desk in front of the computer. “Time for the special gift,” he said to Jacob.

“Mommy, this one is for you,” Jacob said. “I made it myself. It’s a picture frame.”

“Way to keep up the suspense, Little Man.” Stefan shook his head.

With a huge smile, Jacob tore the packaging off the gift. It was a picture frame made from painted popsicle sticks. The photo inside was a smaller version of the family portrait that hung in the dining room.

Stefan’s twin sister, who looked so much like him it was downright eerie, had given up her valiant attempt to hold back her tears. Callie fought to contain her own tears, swallowing the lump of emotion that lodged in her throat as she watched Jacob kiss the computer screen.

“I love you, Mommy,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”

After another few minutes, Stefanie was forced to give the computer up to another soldier wanting to speak to his family on this Christmas morning. She made a promise to be home soon so that she could see the frame Jacob had made for her first-hand. They all blew kisses as they said their goodbyes.

After logging out of the video chatting program, Stefan came around the recliner and reached for Sandy.

“I think this one needs to hang out in her new condo,” he said, placing Sandy at the base of the multi-level cat tree that was still sporting a big red bow. It was more than obvious that the cat had Stefan wrapped around her paw.

“Now,” he said, coming back to the recliner. He scooped Callie up and slid underneath her, settling her in his lap. “This is more like it.”

Callie nestled more firmly against his solid chest, savoring the feel of his strength surrounding her. She pulled his arms more securely around her as they watched Jacob work on constructing the Lego fighter jet that Stefan had bought him.

“It looks to me like you’re trying to influence your nephew’s career choice at an early age,” Callie said.

“Just showing him his options,” Stefan murmured against her ear. “I’m predicting he’ll know the entire control system for an MH-60R ‘copter by the time he’s eight.”

Callie just shook her head.

“Hey, did you get a chance to talk to your friend Lacey?” Stefan asked.

She nodded. “You wouldn’t believe how excited she was with the idea of the North Shore Animal Practice.”

The idea of starting a multi-area, multi-doctor veterinary practice, like the one John Gaines had invited her to join in Baton Rouge, had occurred to Callie shortly after she’d turned down the other man’s offer. She realized it was something that she and Lacey were already doing, in a roundabout way. It just made sense to make it official.

“I told you it was a good idea. You’ll get more doctors to join in the practice in no time.”

“Lacey has a couple of colleagues in mind; a few who were also unhappy at the animal hospital where she works in Slidell. Who knows, we may be as big as Capital City Veterinary Partnership in a few years.”

But even if they were not, Callie knew she’d made the only decision that could truly make her happy. Stefan was right when he told her that she belonged in Maplesville. This town was as much a part of her as she was a part of it.

She nudged his arm. “What about you? What’s the timetable for getting everything squared away with your commander?”

“The discharge papers should be ready in a few weeks. Trina agreed to watch Jacob while I go up to Virginia and take care of the last of it. I live pretty lean, so I actually won’t have much to pack up from my apartment.”

She looked up at him over her shoulder. “And then you’ll be back in Maplesville permanently.”

“Permanently,” he said, giving her a squeeze. “Dustin has already faxed all of my paperwork for the new job. I’m ready to make Maplesville home.”

Callie stared at the colorful maple leaves blowing in the wind outside the office window, and a sense of peace stole over her.

She tilted her face toward Stefan and planted a kiss on his soft lips. “You won’t regret it,” she said. “It’s the perfect place to call home.”

Thank you so much for purchasing and reading
A Perfect Holiday Fling
. If you enjoyed this story, please consider checking out the other romances in the
Moments in Maplesville
novella series, and my Bayou Dreams series from Harlequin Kimani, set in the fictional town of Gauthier, Louisiana.

Read on for an excerpt from
A Little Bit Naughty
, book two in the
Moments in Maplesville
series, and be sure to read book three,
Just A Little Taste
.

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A LITTLE BIT NAUGHTY

A Moments in Maplesville Novella

Chapter One

“What exactly is
this
supposed to do?”

Jada Dangerfield flipped over the box that held a red and black vibrator with three weirdly-spaced appendages. Her eyes and mouth both formed perfect O’s as she studied the exceptionally descriptive pictures displaying exactly where the appendages were to be placed.

“Uh, okay. So this one may be a bit too advanced for me.” She tossed the vibrator onto her coffee table with the others, and continued emptying the nondescript cardboard box that had been delivered a short time ago.

Bobbing her head to her Beyoncé Pandora station, Jada separated the bottles of flavored massage oils, warming lubricants and her current best-seller, the satisfaction enhancement gels, and checked each against the invoice that had been included with the shipment. Once everything was accounted for, she walked over to the tiny closet just inside the entrance to her equally tiny, one-bedroom apartment, and retrieved the hot pink polka dot rolling travel bag she used to cart around supplies for her Naughty Nights parties.

Recalling how skeptical she’d been when she first considered whether or not to embark on this venture, now all Jada could do was laugh at those previous doubts. She’d assumed the women of Maplesville were too prudish to attend a party that was essentially a thinly-disguised sales pitch for sex toys.

Wrong
.

In the last six weeks, she’d learned that this sleepy little town was filled with ladies all too eager to get their freak on.

And thank goodness for that! The kinky little parties provided a welcomed boost to her income. In fact, her new gig as a Naughty Nights Consultant was the only thing keeping her head above water while she searched for a full-time job.

Jada stacked the packages of Ben Wa balls and bullet massagers—always top sellers—and zipped up the travel bag. She grabbed her cell phone from where she’d tossed it on the sofa, punching the speed dial for one of her two best friends, Kiera Coleman, as she rolled the bag to the door.

Kiera answered on the first ring. “I’m busy. What’s up?”

“Well, hello to you, too,” Jada returned, infusing much affront in her reply.

“Sorry. Hello,” Kiera said with an apologetic sigh. “I’m busy. Can it wait?”

“I was just calling to let you know I got the shipment for your party. I wanted to bring it over. You know I don’t have much room here.” Jada looked around her tiny apartment, which was a fraction of the six-thousand square foot home she once shared with her ex-husband, Eric. The bastard.

“Meet me at Mason’s in an hour. I’m staying at his place tonight.”

Jada scrunched up her nose. “Why?”

Kiera’s older brother, Mason, was not her favorite person. She doubted Mason was even Mason’s favorite person.

“Chinese drywall,” Kiera answered. “I’ll explain later. Look, I’m expecting a call—” As if on cue, a short beep came through the line. “I have to go, Jada. I’ll see you in a bit.” And then there was silence.

Jada stared at the phone for a minute, a bit mystified by the edginess she’d heard in Kiera’s voice. She texted her, asking her to text Mason’s new address again, then she went over to the folding card table she’d set up in a corner of her living room. It served as her dinner table, laundry-folding table, and computer desk.

She woke her laptop up from sleep-mode and logged into one of four job search engines she regularly used in her now eight-month search to find meaningful employment. The Naughty Nights parties provided much needed funds for her everyday living expenses, but it was not sustainable income.

There were several new job postings since she’d last looked earlier this morning. She emailed her résumé, tweaking her cover letter to fit the descriptions of each job. If she received even one call back from the ten résumés she’d submitted today, she’d count it a success. If that call back happened to be for the public relations position she’d applied for at a non-profit in downtown New Orleans, she would do cartwheels in the middle of the Maplesville Town Square.

Her phone chimed with an incoming text message from Kiera, who was apparently done with her all-important phone call. Jada plugged the address Kiera texted into the map app on her phone. Mason had recently built a house in a newer part of town that she’d never visited before.

She closed the window on the job search engine and checked the email account she’d set up specifically for her job search. After deleting the spam that had managed to circumvent her junk mail folder, she switched to her primary email account.

Her eyes landed on the first email and her stomach dropped.

“Shit!”

She forgot she’d set up an automatic renewal of her yearly American Marketing Association membership dues. Jada knew the small cushion she kept in her account wasn’t enough to cover the two hundred-plus dollar renewal fee.