Christmas Kisses Read online

  Christmas Kisses

  Romance on the Ranch Series

  By

  Verna Clay

  This book is dedicated to the possessors of shattered dreams.

  Christmas Kisses

  Romance on the Ranch Series

  Copyright © 2013 by Verna Clay

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information contact:

  [email protected]

  Website: www.VernaClay.com

  Published by:

  M.O.I. Publishing

  "Mirrors of Imagination"

  Cover Designer: Elaina Lee (For the Muse)

  Pictures: fotolia (woman by Subotina, Anna);

  Canstock (lights by xbrchx)

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Dear Readers,

  The heroine of this story made her first appearance in book three, Baby Kisses. She is Cecelia Brightman, the sister of Miles Brightman and sister-in-law of Tooty, the stars of Baby Kisses. It was fun bringing her character to life.

  Although born into wealth and privilege, she has never found the forever-after kind of happiness she seeks. She has devoted her life to helping others through charity work, but now at the age of forty-two, she can no longer continue along the same path. Much to the chagrin of her parents, she leaves the trappings of wealth and follows her heart to the small town of Paxtonville in Colorado to be near her brother and his large family.

  As for the hero of Christmas Kisses, he is new to the series and carrying baggage from a previous sorrow that almost destroyed him. However, I have a feeling Cecelia may be the perfect answer for Connor MacKenzie.

  This story has been written specifically with Christmas in mind, so, of course, there are children involved. Some of the youngsters are new to the series; others are rejoining the ongoing saga. There is also a set-up for a possible romance between certain of the children when they are grown. Part of the fun of writing is that you can grow characters to the age you want them in a short period of time.

  For a series I once thought was over, I suddenly have all kinds of ideas for future books.

  Merry Christmas,

  Verna Clay

  Sequence of books in the Romance on the Ranch Series:

  Dream Kisses

  Honey Kisses

  Baby Kisses

  Candy Kisses

  Christmas Kisses

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Third Person

  Chapter 2: Career Change

  Chapter 3: Recluse

  Chapter 4: Learning the Ropes

  Chapter 5: Delivery Gone Awry

  Chapter 6: Sealed Lips

  Chapter 7: Doctor's Advice

  Chapter 8: Over-the-Top Exceptional

  Chapter 9: It's a Deal

  Chapter 10: Change of Address

  Chapter 11: Frankly Speaking

  Chapter 12: Santa's Workshop

  Chapter 13: Cell Phone Surprise

  Chapter 14: Fifteen Years Too Late

  Chapter 15: Cowboyanese

  Chapter 16: Deck the Coffee Shop

  Chapter 17: Wrecking Ball

  Chapter 18: No Protests

  Chapter 19: Bless the Bird

  Chapter 20: Sean and Preston

  Chapter 21: Happy Birthday, Tessa!

  Chapter 22: Christmas Kisses #1 and #2

  Chapter 23: Christmas Kiss #3

  Chapter 24: Let's Talk

  Chapter 25: The Only Way

  Epilogue

  Author's Note

  Candy Kisses (Excerpt)

  Chapter One: Speak of the Devil

  Abby: Mail Order Bride (Excerpt)

  Chapter One: Finding Courage

  Chapter 1: Third Person

  Cecelia Brightman sighed and glanced out the window of her high-rise office in one of the choicest locations in Manhattan. As coordinator for Charity Disbursements, Inc., she had the fortunate, and sometimes unfortunate, job of deciding which charities making application for fund raising events would be accepted for review by the board of directors, and which would be gently refused.

  Shuffling the papers on her desk, she lifted another application, but her mind was elsewhere. In one week she would be in Colorado visiting her brother and sister-in-law for a much needed vacation. Sometimes her workdays ran as long as ten hours. Of course, that was by her own choice. She had no husband or children to care for and the older she became, the less she looked forward to nights spent alone in her penthouse. Since the age of twenty-five, after graduating from exclusive, Barnard College, she had devoted her life to helping others through charity work. Now, at the age of forty-two, she was beginning to wonder if she had made a big mistake in not actively seeking a husband and having children in her twenties and early thirties. The more she was around her brother and sister-in-law, Miles and Tooty, and their five children: Harris, Eli, Morgan, Austin, and nineteen month old Sunny Beatrice; the more melancholy she became.

  Whenever she'd had doubts about the direction of her life before, she'd just worked harder, and soon new projects consumed her every waking minute.

  That strategy wasn't working now.

  And that was the reason for her visit to Colorado. She needed to be with family, not charities. Of course, her mother and father lived nearby in their own posh penthouse and she visited them often, but she'd always felt somewhat estranged from them. They were well known amongst their elite community and interested in their country club and the rich-and-famous lifestyle. Although born into wealth, much of their prestige came from being the parents of author Maxwell Henry, the pen name of their famous son. They loved Miles dearly and had agonized after a car accident rendered him a paraplegic as a teenager, but after the publication of his first best seller, they'd capitalized on his fame and used it as a social stepping-stone. Cecelia knew that spending time with her parents was not the answer to her increasing loneliness.

  A tap on her door interrupted her musings and through the glass she saw Charles Wilson, her assistant, waiting for her response to his knock. She motioned him in. Usually reserved, Charles fairly oozed excitement and Cecelia thought she knew why. "Is it here?"

  Charles placed a finger on the side of his chin and grinned so big that his perfectly capped teeth took center stage in his perfectly tanned, perfectly handsome face. Years ago, he'd hinted that maybe there could be something romantic between them, but Cecelia had never viewed him in that light. After a few more hints, she'd made it clear with her own hints, that she wasn't interested. He'd grinned, said, "I hear you loud and clear," and never broached the subject again. About a year later, he'd met a barista that he claimed made Café Mochas to die for and married her six months later. They now had three children and couldn't have been more opposite than a cat and dog. Charles was gorgeous; his wife, Betty Sue, looked like a throwback from the hippie heydays of the sixties. He wore Armani suits; she wore swirling linen skirts and peasant tops. He worked out in the gym faithfully; she refused to set foot in one and insisted she got all the exercise she needed chasing their three children, ages five, six, and seven. He loved caviar; she loved burritos. He came from Boston wealth; she came from Shreveport poverty. However, the two of them had been going strong for years and their antics laughed at by coworkers. Someone was always saying, "Wait 'til you hear what Betty Sue has Charles doing now;" the latest being spending time at a retreat that didn't allow talking. When Charles returned, he'd had the office in stitches recalling his vacation that left him speechless, literally.


  Cecelia held her breath waiting for Charles' reply.

  "It is. And, my God, I've never seen anything like it."

  She jumped to her feet. "I can't wait." She followed Charles to the Donations Art Room, and marveled that the famous artist, Connor MacKenzie, had actually responded to the letter she'd sent three months previous and agreed to donate a painting for their annual Christmas charity auction, the proceeds of which were going to an organization selected by vote of the board of trustees. Even though it was only June, the auction required months of planning. The charity receiving the proceeds had yet to be made public, but Cecelia, in her letter, had revealed that it was a small non-profit organization named Loving Arms Adoption Agency, and that they found homes for children who had unexpectedly lost their parents—orphans who had once had a family—but now, either had no relatives to take them in, or relatives that couldn't or wouldn't raise them. Rather than send them through the foster care system, they housed the children until suitable adoptive families were found. They had a ninety-eight percent success rate and Cecelia had been pitching them to the board of trustees for years. Finally, they had been selected.

  Charles walked to a large picture on a tripod he'd draped. Dramatically, he threw up his hands and said, "Come no closer."

  Cecelia halted and her heart hammered. She loved the paintings by the reclusive artist, and, in fact, had recently snagged two of them at a local gallery because she'd been invited to a pre-showing. She now owned five originals and several prints by this genius of light, shadow, and color.

  With a flourish, Charles swept the drape away.

  Cecelia gasped and covered her mouth with her palm. She was speechless. Never had she seen a more beautiful painting. The artist, renowned for mystical renderings, had created a scene straight out of a magical forest. Known for his muted colors and lighting, the gray mist blended so perfectly with the green pines that the viewer could not distinguish where one ended and the other began. Filtered light penetrated the mist to barely reveal several deer beside a stream. The canvas was about four feet high and five feet in length and the pines stretched all the way to the top while the stream ran the width.

  Such was the beauty of the artistry that Cecelia felt tears welling up. She stepped closer and looked for the painter's trademark. She scanned for a long time.

  Charles said, "It took me awhile, but I finally located them."

  Moving until she was close enough to touch the painting, she eyed it inch by inch. Her eyes lit and she lifted her gaze to Charles.

  He grinned. "Ah-hah, you've found them. Tell me what you see?"

  "I see the man and the woman in the far left corner. Hmm, something seems odd." She gave Charles a startled look.

  He responded, "Exactly. This painting is going to sell for tens of thousands. As far as I know, it's the first one he's done with a third person painted."

  With wonder, Cecelia said, "And it's a child. There's a child between the man and woman holding their hands. How perfect for the charity it's going to benefit." The tears Cecelia had been sniffing back, now dripped down her cheeks.

  Charles said, "Aw, honey. I think you need to come to dinner with me and Betty Sue and my gang tonight. You've been way too sad lately. My wife and kids will have you rolling on the floor laughing."

  Before responding to his invitation, Cecelia said, "If it wasn't against the rules, I'd bid whatever the cost for this painting."

  Chapter 2: Career Change

  Cecelia bounced Sunny Beatrice on her knees and listened to Tooty and Miles try to persuade their children to go to bed. Each one had an excuse. Harris had homework, Eli wanted to finish the last chapter of his book, Morgan was afraid of the dark, and Austin just didn't want to.

  Finally, Miles said in his no-nonsense tone, "Boys, either you say goodnight to our guests and head to bed, or we don't go to the movies on Saturday. It's up to you."

  Immediately, Miles' children said a hasty goodnight before scurrying to their rooms. Obviously, they knew their father stood by his word.

  Tooty grinned at her guests. "I love it when he talks like that. It works every time."

  Alligator and Dixie, who had been invited to supper, laughed along with Cecelia. Alligator held his newly adopted daughter, Pilar, in the crook of his huge arm and when she started to squirm, he handed her to Dixie. He said, "Honey, I'll let you take over before she cuts loose with that operatic voice."

  Dixie smiled lovingly at her husband and child and accepted their three month old. The baby stopped squirming when Dixie placed her over her shoulder and patted her back.

  A stab of envy and sadness pricked Cecelia's heart as she watched them. To hide her melancholy, she bent her head and kissed her niece, loving the smell of her baby scent.

  Tooty said, "Let's see if Sunny Beatrice goes to bed as easily."

  Reluctantly, Cecelia handed the child to Tooty. Tooty walked to Miles and held his daughter out to him for a goodnight kiss. Cecelia got a lump in her throat watching her brother and Tooty, and Alligator and Dixie, shower love on their babies.

  While Tooty tucked her children in, Miles asked if anyone wanted coffee and everyone agreed. He excused himself and started to roll his wheelchair from the den to the kitchen and Cecelia jumped to her feet. "Here, let me pour for everyone."

  Miles chuckled, "No, baby sis, you stay here and relax. You're on vacation. I've got everything handled."

  Cecelia settled back on the couch hiding her disappointment. Since Miles' accident, she'd always tried to "do" for him. As unreasonable as it was, she was saddened that he no longer needed her for anything—not like when he was a teenager, and later, when he'd gone through deep depression after the ending of a love affair with a younger woman he had been engaged to.

  After meeting Tooty, however, all that had changed. Tooty was his perfect mate and they'd been married for eight years.

  Cecelia turned her attention to Alligator and Dixie. She'd first been introduced to them a few years back while visiting Miles and Tooty. The couple owned the only coffee shop in the small town of Paxtonville with the cute name of Dixie's Cuppa Joe, and ran a thriving coffee, pastry, and candy business. They'd met when Al Kosky or "Alligator," so named because of his gigantic height and breadth, was working for the FBI investigating a local resident. After marriage to Dixie, he'd retired from service and moved to Paxtonville and founded Choco-Drops, a candy company specializing in unique chocolates.

  Cecelia always made it a point to treat Tooty and her friends to the fabulous treats and coffee at Dixie's Cuppa Joe whenever she visited. Over the years, she'd come to know many of Tooty's girlfriends, and usually a group of eight or ten women would show up to relax and chitchat in the homey atmosphere.

  Miles returned with a tray perched on his knees and loaded with a carafe, mugs, and cream and sugar. He set the tray on the coffee table at the same time Tooty came back into the room. She said, "Another bedtime battle won thanks to Miles."

  Miles poured coffee into a mug, added cream, and handed it to Tooty. "Here's some refreshment for my battle weary wife."

  Tooty accepted the cup, laughed, and said, "I have a feeling the battles are going to worsen before they get better."

  Cecelia interjected, "As I recall, mother and father had to combat us to go to bed, too. Isn't that right, Miles?"

  Her brother laughed. "Yep. Guess I can feel my boys' pain and I kind of sympathize with them."

  After joking about the children, Tooty looked at Alligator and said, "Okay. I just tasted your latest Choco-Drops flavor and I'm hooked. I think persimmon is my favorite so far."

  Miles laughed. "Honey, you say that about every new flavor."

  "I know. But each one tops the last." Tooty returned her attention to Alligator. "How do you decide what to try next?"

  He laughed. "I can't take the credit. Dixie's always throwing suggestions out and when she said persimmon, something clicked, and when the lab's kitchen experimented with it, I must confess, it became my second favorite." H
e winked. "My favorite has always been jalapeño."

  Cecelia said, "I have to agree. I've tried them all and loved them, but jalapeño is fabulous. In fact, I plan on ordering a suitcase full of every flavor to bring back as gifts, but I'm going to stock my cupboard with jalapeño."

  Dixie grinned, smoothed her baby's curly black hair, and looked at her husband.

  Tooty said, "Okay, what's up? You two have been fairly bursting at the seams all night. You can't hide anything from me."

  Alligator nodded at Dixie, apparently giving her permission to reveal a secret, and Dixie gushed, "Do you know anyone who might be interested in buying Dixie's Cuppa Joe? Alligator and I are moving to Denver."

  Tooty gasped. "What!"

  Miles asked, "What brought this about?"

  Cecelia leaned forward.

  Dixie said with excitement, "Well, you know the kitchen that develops Alligator's candies is located in Denver and he spends a lot of time there, and, well, Choco-Drops are taking off and we're getting large orders. We want to expand our candy business. But to do so, Alligator needs to spend even more time at the kitchen, and we hate being away from each other."

  Alligator interrupted, "I refuse to be away from Dixie and Pilar for more than a few days."

  Dixie gave him a loving look and continued, "We've given it a lot of thought and decided to sell the coffee shop. We're going to open a candy store in Denver and maybe franchise it. We've already found the mall we want to be in and met with the leasing agent. Everything is falling into place on that end, so now we just need to sell the coffee shop. It's a great business and fun to operate. You're the first to know about this, so if you think of anyone who might be interested, feel free to pass the word on."

  Miles said, "We're going to miss you, but I can see how excited you are. We'll–"