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| Christmas is in the Air! |
Twelve years ago Jim Rustle packed up and left his home in
Idaho and hasn’t looked back. He gets
quite an awakening when Lisa Parker, whom he hadn’t seen in all those years,
breaks into a business meeting and uses some colorful adjectives to tell him just
what she thinks of him.
Sparks fly between the two when he decides to follow Lisa
home and sees what has happened in his absence.
Is the anger stemming from the present, or from the past?
It’s Christmas time.
Can an ornament from years past help heal betrayals that have festered
for years?
Excerpt
The elevator pinged and the door opened to the sixteenth
floor of the Manchester building in Las Vegas, Nevada. If she wasn’t hell bent on choking the life
out of him, she would have noticed the massive wall of glass that showcased the
famous Las Vegas Strip. All heads did a
double take as she marched down the hall.
An open black, mid-calf duster
swung from side to side giving viewers a peek at long shapely legs in black
Levis and black boots that seemed to shimmer with every step.
A black cowboy hat sat low on her
head, shadowing her face. Light brown
straight hair with white blonde streaks throughout swayed almost to her waist.
The sign, Wagner, INC, was in large
block letters above a double door that was opened. The receptionist at the
desk, Dani according to the name plate, was on the phone, taking a
message. Her hair was black and cut in a
perfect short bob. Dani looked up to see the woman standing in front of
her. She sat back in her chair, staring
at the visitor, and finished the call with “I’ll have Jim call you as soon as
he is done with his meeting, John.” The
receptionist’s eyes never left the face of the woman standing in front of her.
Dani took her time hanging up the
phone and finishing writing the message.
“May I help you?”
“Jim Rustle,” was all the woman
said.
The corner of Dani’s mouth
rose. “I’m afraid he is in a meeting and
will be busy most of the afternoon. I
can take your name and ask him to call.”
The woman was looking behind Dani
at the closed door that said James Rustle on it. “No need.” She walked past Dani and headed to
the door.
“Wait! You can’t go in there!” The composed Dani was anything but.
The woman threw the door open. The
office had a large desk made of rich cherry wood. Opposite it stood two small
padded chairs of deep brown leather. On
the other side of the room stood a small conference table with blue prints
spread out all over it.
The woman, once again, saw none of
it. Her eyes were trained on the man
sitting behind the desk. For a split
second, the words caught in her throat.
She hadn’t seen Jim Rustle for twelve years. His dark brown hair was clipped short. His smoky gray eyes were as hypnotic as she
remembered. He wore a pair of navy suit
trousers, a navy vest, and a white long sleeved shirt, with the top two buttons
undone. The suit jacket was draped over
his chair. The man was more handsome
than when he walked out of her life, if that was possible.
“Jim, I’m sorry but this…this woman
just went right by me when I told her you were busy and couldn’t be
disturbed.” Dani was clearly distraught.
Before he had a chance to answer,
the woman walked to the desk and leaned her hands on it. “You selfish, arrogant, self-absorbed,
SOB. Are you so important you can’t find
time, yet again, to spend Christmas with the one person in this world that
thinks the sun rises and sets in you, no matter how many times you have chosen
to put everything and everybody else above her?
Not to mention the woman who raised you and made it possible for you to
go to college so you could sit in this office and be the overblown ass that you
have become?”
Fire was shooting out of her hazel
eyes and her chest was heaving with anger.
The two men that were sitting in the meeting and Dani, standing at the
door, were watching with their mouths hanging open. They had never seen someone talk to their
boss like that and walk away without limping.
Something flickered in his eyes –
anger, guilt, or maybe appreciation in what he was seeing. “Men,” he said, never taking his eyes off the
woman, “we’ll finish this meeting later.
Dani –“
“Don’t bother. I know how important
your time is.” Sarcasm dripped with
every word. She turned to leave.
“Lisa,” he said stopping her. “I see you still aren’t married.”
Lisa closed her eyes as if praying
for restraint. Her words didn’t have the
disdain in them when she said, tiredly, “Annie doesn’t have much time,
Jim. Give her a break.”
Hey Everybody! I write for all ages, from
the early reader to adults. My books
range from pictures books for the little ones, to fantasy and time-travel
adventures for ages 9 to 13. Under P. A. Estelle, I write adult
stories including a family drama and contemporary, paranormal and historical
westerns romances.
I was a school secretary for 21 years. My husband and I moved to our retirement
home in Kingman, AZ, on very rural 54 acres, living on solar
and wind only.
I'd love to give a digital copy of The Ornament to a commenter. Be sure to leave your email address! Thanks for stopping by!
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