Page 1 of Christmas Ever After
Chapter 1
Christmas in Kismet Bay… It should be a wonderful time of the year, but Ivy Strange wasn’t feeling very…jolly. Yes, she wasn’t good ole St. Nick and thank goodness for that, but she usually felt a little joy during Christmas. The annual cocoa crawl was one of her favorite activities. She carefully planned it every year and gathered all the ingredients for Serendipity Lane’s contribution to the fundraising event. Last year the cocoa crawl had led her sister Holly to her one true love.
That wasn’t going to happen for Ivy. She’d met her true love years ago and he abandoned her when she needed him the most. Their love hadn’t been enough for him. Since he’d left her she’d been bitter regarding anything romantic. There were other things in her life she could count on for happiness. Her family never let her down and she found some bit of contentment in her work.
“Have you purchased all the ingredients for the cocoa?” Holly asked.
Ivy glanced up at her sister and frowned. “I thought you were going to do that.”
Holly shook her head and sighed. “You’ve been a little out of it lately. What is up with you?” She lifted a brow. “We discussed this two days ago. I organized the decorations and you were going to take care of the cocoa. I don’t even know everything you put in it. You guard that recipe as if it is gold.”
Holly wasn’t wrong… “I’m sorry. I don’t know what is wrong with me lately.” Perhaps it was seeing all of her family members find happiness. Even Ophelia found her own slice of love over Thanksgiving. Ivy was the only one alone. She was fated to always be that way too. Nothing would change and she had to accept it. No wonder she was out of it most days. Loneliness wasn’t an easy pill to swallow for anyone, and she’d been feeling empty for years now.
“It’s all right,” Holly said. She came over and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Will you be able to make it through the cocoa crawl this year or would you like me to handle everything?”
Ivy shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I’ll do my part.” She swallowed hard. Somehow she’d find a way to shake the doldrums away. “Besides I am the only one that knows the recipe for our special cocoa.”
Holly’s lips quirked upward. “Then you better go shopping or we won’t have any cocoa to distribute tomorrow.”
Ivy chuckled and stuck her tongue out. “I trust you can handle the store while I’m gone.”
“Of course,” Holly said nonchalantly. “I have done so in the past. Why would that change now?”
That was her sister, cheeky as ever. “I won’t be long, but I doubt I’ll be back before it is time to close for the evening. Feel free to lock up and I’ll let myself back in.”
“Will do, sister dear,” Holly said. “Now go before the store closes and you cannot get the items we need.”
Ivy grinned as she walked out of Serendipity Lane. The store would be fine without her there. She had only been kidding around with her sister. They both had put a lot into making the store successful and they would do there best to keep it going strong. Holly was right about one thing. The local grocery store would close soon and she had to hustle to get there. Luckily it was a quick walk to the store from Serendipity Lane.
She walked fast until she reached the little grocery store and went inside. Ivy picked up one of the small shopping baskets by the front and carried it to the first aisle. She grabbed cocoa, sugar, and cinnamon. She moved her way through all the aisles until she had all the items she needed for the hot cocoa. When she had them all gathered she headed toward the check out.
“Hello, Ivy,” Megan, the clerk, said greeting her. “Getting ready for the cocoa crawl I see.”
“Indeed,” she said and smiled. “Are you going to participate this year?”
“I wish,” Megan replied. “I’ll be here working.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’d love to have some of your cocoa. I assume these are all the ingredients, but I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“I’m sorry you cannot participate.” Ivy frowned. “Perhaps I’ll bring you a cup after I make the cocoa or send my sister. It isn’t fair that everyone working that day is denied a good cup of cocoa.”
“And Ivy is nothing if not fair,” a man said from behind her. Ivy froze at the sound of that familiar voice. She had hoped he would not return to Kismet Bay. Gabriel Reed had only returned shortly last Christmas and then left again. He hadn’t even returned for his friend, Nicholas’s wedding to Ivy’s sister, Holly. Gabriel was famous for running away when things got difficult. He hadn’t even been told the biggest secret of all and he still had left her.
“No one needs your input,” Ivy said coldly. “It doesn’t mean much anyway.”
She slid her card through the reader to pay for her items. The sooner they were paid for the quicker she could leave and put some distance between her and Gabriel. There was just too much pain having him near. She couldn’t forget about what she’d lost with him so close.
“There’s no reason to be so harsh,” Gabriel said. “We used to be…”
“We were nothing,” she interrupted him. “You proved that when you left me alone and never once looked back.”
Finally the machine beeped. She breathed a sigh of relief. Megan handed her the receipt. “I’ll make sure you get some of that cocoa.” Megan nodded and wisely remained silent. Ivy grabbed her bags and practically ran from the store. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as memories flooded through her mind. Gabriel leaving, never telling him she was pregnant, losing the baby, and crying for days. She wasn’t sure she could forgive him, and at the same time she had never stopped loving him. Her heart had been broken, still was a tattered mess, but Gabriel remained the one man she had always loved. Damn him for returning again…
Chapter 2
Gabriel cursed under his breath. He was always sticking his foot in his mouth concerning Ivy. There was no reasoning with her, and honestly, he didn’t blame her. No one falls in love in high school and stays with their first love. No one. Sure, it happened but that wasn’t the rule. It was an anomaly that happened in Kismet Bay. He’d thought she’d forgive him some day. Clearly he’d been wrong. He’d been wrong about a lot of things. He wished he could change some of the decisions he had made, but there was no going back. All he could do was move forward and hope for the best. So far even that was failing him…
He’d had so many dreams. When he’d won that college scholarship to play football he’d believed it to be the answer to every single one of them. He’d even graduated with a bachelor degree in business. He should be able to do…something with his life. Sadly, he had no idea what that something would be. His professional football career had crashed and burned at the beginning of his second season. His knee was shot. No doctor would touch it or make any guarantees, and he’d seen them all. Even a few questionable foreign doctors…
Gabriel brushed a hand through his blond locks and sighed. Since Ivy bolted he’d been even more lost. She was one of the reasons he’d decided to return to Kismet Bay. His friends and family were there. She was there. It seemed like the place for him to retire, and figure out his life. He picked up a pack of gum and tossed it on the counter. “How much?” He asked Megan. There was no real reason for him to be in the grocery store. He had only gone inside to see Ivy. That hadn’t gone well and he needed to buy something so he didn’t look even more stupid than he already did.
