Under the mooseltoe, p.1
Under the Mooseltoe, page 1
Under the Mooseltoe
Finding Love in Alaska Book 5
Jacqueline Winters
Under the Mooseltoe is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline Winters
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without express written permission from the author/publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Copy Editor: Write Girl Editing Services
Cover Design: Alt 19 Creative
Proofreading: FictionEdit.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Next in Series
About the Author
Sneak Peak of MOOSELY OVER YOU
Chapter One
Ava
“Ed, step away from the Christmas wreath. Those aren’t even real berries.” Ava Monroe didn’t have time to be detained by a decoration-eating moose. Especially not Sunset Ridge’s local celebrity.
She bit her lip and glanced at her watch. Anyone who’d lived in the Alaskan tourist town for any length of time had at least one Ed story to tell. The moose had a definite habit of getting in the way when it was the least convenient.
His timing was part of his charm.
The bull moose didn’t seem impressed by Ava’s demands and continued sniffing the wreath hanging off her duplex neighbor’s railing. She would leave the animal to his criminal mischief, if only her car wasn’t parked on the other side of him.
“Please move?” she asked nicely.
Ed didn’t budge.
With a groan, she shoved a hand into her overstuffed purse and wiggled her fingers through the contents. It was almost like one of the Halloween blind boxes Mrs. Baker used to make for her third-grade class, except without the peeled grapes filling in for eyeballs.
Ava froze, fingers now curled around a buzzing phone instead of the car keys she needed. Wait. Could I make Christmas-themed blind boxes that parents might be interested in buying? She’d have to think about it. Time might be against her.
Excited with her new idea, Ava pulled her still-buzzing phone out of her purse and glanced at the caller ID. Mom? Again! “Just great,” she mumbled, energy deflating. Ava sent her mother to voicemail for the second time that morning.
Ed, now pawing at the air as if he could knock the wreath down, shifted his wide hips a little farther in Ava’s direction. Dropping her useless phone back into the abyss, she glanced at Brayden’s bay window. Elsie, her neighbor’s golden retriever, watched the scene eagerly, pacing along the slightly jutted window.
Elsie’s anxious presence wasn’t doing anything to deter Ed. The moose hardly seemed affected by the whining dog.
“Come on, Brayden,” she muttered under her breath. “Maybe investigate why your dog is going nuts.” Even though she’d been avoiding him these past couple of weeks, she longed to see the blue of his eyes right about now. Maybe Ed would move then.
Or maybe Brayden wasn’t even here and she was on her own.
Scanning the area for a secondary escape route, Ava spotted Brayden’s open garage door. His truck filled most of the narrow space, but there was no sign of him. Okay. So he was here and just didn’t care if Elsie threw a fit.
Ed yanked a plastic berry from the wreath and spit it on the ground. Ava wanted to cheer. Yes! Yucky plastic. Now go away. But Ed, if nothing else, was a tenacious moose. One bite of plastic was never going to be enough. Ed widened his stance, settling in for the full demolition.
“I don’t have time for this,” Ava said to Ed, her words a plea. Her ridiculously long to-do list raced through her mind as she fumbled for her keys with thickly gloved hands. Pick up the ribbon order. Get sugar cookie lattes for Glenda and Becca. Review the schedule.
Her only hope was to skirt around Ed. Interview Rilee. Check the website for online orders. “Just need to make a run for it,” she told herself even as the list continued in the back of her mind. Assemble as many baskets as possible.
Ava glanced down at her short boots, contemplating how they’d stand up against the deep snow surrounding the plowed drive. Most days she loved this duplex for its privacy in the middle of town. Right now, however, the lack of close neighbors was downright annoying. “Thank goodness for auto start,” she mumbled, her breath frosting in the chilly air.
Her buzzing phone drew her attention to the purse again. “Mom, I swear . . .” Ava wanted to ignore it, but there was always a chance it was the store. Or her brother. Or her best friend, Kinley.
Nope, Mom again.
Freeing her fingertips from her mittens, she snapped a photo of Ed, since he didn’t seem in a hurry, and sent it to Mom with one word. Detained. If Ed had to make her late for everything else today, at least she could use the situation to her advantage.
Mom had been blowing up Ava’s phone for weeks now.
It was partially Ava’s fault. She’d been avoiding most of the calls, sending her mom straight to voicemail. But Mom had a way of drawing the truth out of her, and this was one time Ava couldn’t admit what was really wrong.
The family store, one passed down to generation after generation of women in her family, was nearing foreclosure. A business that shouldn’t even have a mortgage. She had ten days to come up with the delinquent balance or the bank was taking it. On Christmas Eve, no less.
“But I’ve got a plan,” Ava promised the phone in her hand. A huge, all-in gamble that had as great a chance of failing as it had of succeeding. Christmas gift baskets. The sudden idea caused Ava to max out her credit cards, empty her savings, and take her biggest risk yet. And she hadn’t shared it with Mom. Ava planned to brag about it after she sold a few dozen baskets.
With any luck, Mom would never know how close the Forget Me Not Boutique had come to closing its doors.
Mom: Call me later. Geraldine Franks’ grandson moved home. You should go out with him!
“Ugh!” If Mom’s inability to let the store go wasn’t overbearing enough, in pursuit of more grandkids, she was also on a mission to find Ava a husband. Ava entertained the urge to text back that her sister Jamie already had the Monroe siblings covered when it came to grandkids. It was the reason her parents retired to Minnesota three years ago.
Before she could free her mitten-clad fingers a second time, Elsie let out a chorus of excited barks from the living room window. Ed had the wreath on the ground and was yanking off plastic berries. Ava cringed, watching Ed destroy the wreath Brayden recently purchased at her store.
“Ed, leave that alone!” A plastic berry sailed her way, bouncing off her leg.
Elsie continued to bark from the window, which only seemed to aggravate the beast. Goofy grin or not, the lovable local favorite was still capable of trampling Ava flat. With the snow flurries now falling in heavy sheets, it might be spring before anyone found her.
“Look, I really have to go.” Hoping to escape, Ava took one cautious step toward the edge of the driveway, but Ed wasn’t having any of it. He began to trot at her. “Crap!” She shuffled backward, praying she could make it to her front door—or any door. She didn’t have time to get run over by a moose today.
With each step, Ed picked up speed.
Desperate, Ava darted into Brayden’s garage. It was only by some miracle he hadn’t realized it was open while she was outside facing the beast. She zipped for the door, palmed the garage door opener, and fell into his kitchen.
Brayden Young held a coffee mug inches from his lips, as if he were about to take a sip. It lingered midair as his gaze fell on her, one eyebrow raising. “Ava?” He set his mug on the counter beside a laptop. The forget-me-not blue on the screen drew her gaze. He pushed off the counter, one hand closing his laptop and the other reclaiming his mug. “Everything okay?”
It was entirely possible—and probable—that Brayden already knew her deepest, darkest secret. She’d steered clear of him ever since he gave her the final notice letter he claimed to have opened on accident. But now, she couldn’t run.
“Ed,” she finally said, pointing to the living room window where Elsie still paced and whined. She wondered what had him so engrossed on his laptop that he remained oblivious to the commotion outside. “Did you really not notice?” Ava asked, still panting to catch her breath.
“Elsie makes the same fuss over squirrels and questionable tree branches,” Brayden said, flashing her a smirk on his way to the window. That smirk, one capable of melting an unsuspecting woman into a puddle of goo, was one of his most dangerous weapons. But Ava was ready for it. Besides, he had his chance months ago and blew it.
Didn’t matter anyway. Ever since the day of Kinley’s engagement party, she’d kept her distance. The guilty look on his face when he shoved a ripped envelope with a foreclosure notice through her car window, promising he hadn’t read it, made her extra cautious of him.
Ava didn’t need anyone, let alone her neighbor, knowing how dire things were for her store.
“Is he gone?” she asked, referring to Ed. Anything to put space between them. Once she saved the Forget Me Not Boutique, they could be friends again. Until then, she’d stick with slipping Elsie treats on their adjoined deck and avoiding Brayden at all costs.
“Nope. Ed’s right outside the garage.” He shook his head, scratching an eager Elsie behind the ears. His gentle fingers seemed to calm the pup. “This town has it all, doesn’t it?”
“Part of its charm.” Ava’s gaze swept over Brayden, jealous of his plaid patterned pajama bottoms. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a day off, much less the freedom to be in pajamas this late in the morning. Though Brayden was still a big mystery to most of Sunset Ridge, she doubted he had a to-do list that grew longer every second he wasn’t working to whittle it down.
No, Brayden worked from his home-based woodworking shed, crafting bookshelves and rocking chairs to order. He could work when it suited him.
With a deep breath, Ava dared to join him at the bay window to assess the situation. The moose was back at the wreath, shredding the poor thing in retribution for its lack of edible bits. Ed was known for his stubbornness, but this was ridiculous. “Not really a chance I can get to my car, is there?”
“I wouldn’t risk it.” Brayden sipped his coffee, not the least unsettled that Ed was tearing apart his wreath. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was fascinated by the beast. “Guess I’ll need another one,” he said about the decoration that was now little more than a pile of pine branches scattered on the ground. “Want some coffee while you wait it out?”
“He’ll move.”
Brayden stretched his neck to get another look. “I know I’m not from Alaska, but I wouldn’t bet on it. He looks pretty determined.” He returned to the small kitchen that was a mirror of her own and fixed her a mug. “Why don’t you park in the garage anymore?”
“It’s full.”
“Of what?”
Ava scanned the open living area, surprised to find Christmas decorations scattered throughout—a string of garland along the fireplace mantle, a metal snowman hanging from the wall, and a holiday throw pillow adorned with northern lights on the couch. All things she sold in her store. Maybe he still felt guilty about standing her up for their date. But that was ridiculous. Months had passed.
Yet the more she looked around, the more holiday items she recognized from the Forget Me Not. The only thing missing was a tree, which she didn’t carry. It made her feel ashamed that her own place didn’t have a single decoration yet. She’d been too busy.
“Ava?”
“Supplies,” she finally answered. “The garage is full of supplies.” Every spare inch of her garage was lined with rickety shelves she’d picked up cheap at a store closing in Anchorage. Those shelves were filled with baskets, garland, and a wide assortment of Alaskan-made gifts. Her garage held either her salvation or the final nail in her coffin.
“I know it’s not a spacious garage, but your car isn’t that big.”
Ava studied the mug he slid to her, not eager to meet his assessing eyes on the opposite side of the breakfast bar. She felt too vulnerable. Brayden knew too much, even if he never admitted to it. Before she could find words to swiftly change the subject, her phone buzzed again.
She set the mug down so she could scour her purse for the offending electronic device. Mom, again. “She just doesn’t give up,” Ava mumbled. She jabbed at the ignore button with gusto, sending the call to voicemail. Again. The picture of Ed really should’ve bought her more than three minutes of silence.
“I thought I was the only one with an overbearing mother,” Brayden said with a chuckle, hiding most of his smile behind his cup. A Christmas mug, handcrafted in Kenai. Another item the Forget Me Not housed on its shelves.
“She’s called three times just this morning,” Ava explained before finally taking a sip of coffee, savoring the hint of peppermint.
“Mine’s called four.”
Ava nearly choked on her second sip. “You’re making that up.”
Brayden pushed a couple of buttons then slid his phone across the counter. The call log displayed on the screen.
Ava pulled it a little closer, counting with a quick finger scroll. “Ten times yesterday?”
“That doesn’t include the text messages.”
The tension between them eased the slightest. “Didn’t realize we had that in common. Is your mom also trying to subtly control your life from thousands of miles away?”
“Thousands of miles,” Brayden agreed. “But she’s not subtle at all.”
“Oh, yeah? What is your mom trying to decide for you?”
“You know, the usual. What I do for a living, where I live, who I marry.”
Ava raised an eyebrow at that. “Who you marry?”
“Oh, yeah.” Almost on cue, Brayden’s phone lit up, buzzing across the counter. “Five. I’m winning.”
Ava realized that despite months of being neighbors, she still didn’t know much about him. He had perfected vague answers. She knew he was from Texas, but not why he moved to Alaska. He spoke of his mom, sister, and grandma, but never anything personal. She didn’t even know their names. Brayden was a mystery to most of Sunset Ridge and seemed to prefer it that way. “Who does she want you to marry?”
“Today?”
“Wow, that bad?”
“She’s a determined woman. Luckily, I’m extra stubborn.” Brayden turned to refill his coffee. “Why are you avoiding your mom?”
With Elsie still firmly planted at the window mildly whining, Ava gave up the idea of leaving soon. She settled on a barstool. “She retired from the family store almost four years ago, but you wouldn’t know it by how involved she still wants to be. She stalks my website, tells me I’m pricing everything wrong, and doesn’t approve of most of the changes I’ve made.” Ava’s phone lit with another string of texts about a date with some guy named Pete. She dropped it back in her purse, hoping it’d get lost until New Year’s. “If that’s not enough, she constantly badgers me about grandkids and sets me up on dates.”
Brayden’s eyebrow rose at that.
“My parents moved to Minnesota to be near the only sibling who’s married with a kid—my baby sister, Jamie. But she’s constantly on Chase and me to create more. Never mind that Jamie’s nearly ready to pop with baby number two.”
“Chase, your brother?”
“Yeah.” Ava sipped her coffee, but it was now cold. “But since Chase was actually married once before, she’s on me a lot more.” She sucked in a deep breath, willing the memories of her former best friend Laurel, eloping with her brother behind her back and disappearing six months later, to go away. She had enough on her mind without old wounds festering too. “I wish I could get her to back off. It’s embarrassing having your mom set you up in your hometown, you know? This place isn’t that big. So if I say no, then I’m the bad guy. Even when they stand me up.” She cleared her throat, but didn’t apologize for the jab that Brayden also deserved. “I’m half tempted to invent a fake boyfriend just to make it stop.”
Ava moved to the coffee pot to freshen her cup, an ominous feeling washing over her as Brayden remained silent behind her.
“That’s not a half-bad idea.”
“What?”
“Making up a significant other for some reprieve.”
Ava took a cautious sip. “I wish it’d work, but my mom would want proof.” She let out a laugh. “Knowing her, she’d demand photographic evidence and probably badger my brother and friends for details about how serious it really is.”
