Hallmarked, p.8
Hallmarked, page 8
Before I can reply, Mildred seems to appear out of thin air. “Talking about me?”
“Mildred!” I jump. “Were you listening in on our conversation?”
“Of course,” she says sweetly, as if butter wouldn’t melt. “It’s my town. I listen to everything.”
My sister gives me a look like this is normal.
Mildred pats my arm with a gloved hand. “Sleepy Hollow knows who its hearts belong to, Nell. It reveals things when the time is right. And…” she winks, “it seems your time is coming.”
Mildred grabs Holly’s hands. “And you have the first three dances to do.”
Andy finds me by the window overlooking the lake. He looks… hopeful, almost nervous.
“I’ve been thinking,” he begins.
My heart flutters. “About what?”
He takes a deep breath, chest rising. “About staying. In Sleepy Hollow, with you, and the others.” He steps closes. “I want to open a bakery, Nell. Use my grandmother’s recipes. Make a life somewhere that doesn’t feel like I’m packed in like a sardine.” His hand engulfs mine as he takes it. “I think this place might be home.”
Before I can reply, Mildred appears again. This time holding a folded piece of paper that looks ancient tied with a red ribbon. She pushes it into my hands. “To the next innkeeper,” she announces, loud enough for everyone to hear. “The deed to the inn is yours. Sleepy Hollow has chosen you.”
My jaw drops. “Mildred! I—”
But she’s already stepping backward, smile knowing, eyes sparkling. “Innkeepers don’t choose Sleepy Hollow, Nell. The Hollow chooses them, just like it helps you find the men you love.”
Then she seems to just disappear into the crowd, and snow blows through the open doorway.
The soft jingle of sleigh bells rings again as I stare down at the deed to the inn in my hand. “Looks like we’re staying.”
EPILOGUE
The Sleepy Hollow Inn feels like mine now.
The front hall smells like cinnamon and Andy’s fresh cranberry-walnut bread. A fire crackles in the stone hearth. Twinkle lights line the banister year-round now—Kennedy’s doing, because he said they “felt right.”
Outside, Marco is repairing a porch lantern, humming off-key. Kennedy is out back chopping wood, muscles flexing under a cream sweater that is entirely too distracting while I’m trying to work.
The men I love are here, and my heart feels full in a way I never expected.
The sleigh bells have been quiet lately.
Until the front door opens.
A young woman steps inside—late twenties, bundled in a pale blue coat dusted with fresh snow, cheeks flushed from the cold. She pulls her suitcase behind her, wide-eyed as she takes in the lobby.
“Hi,” she says breathlessly. “Sorry—um—I’ve been driving for hours. Do you have a room?”
Before I can answer—
Jingle.
Right outside.
The woman startles. “What was that?”
I smile. “Oh,” I say lightly, stepping behind the counter and pulling out the guest book. “You’ll get used to it.”
The End…
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It’s taking me a whole year to write this Novella. I had plans to release it last year, but I just could not get the words to flow right, so I abandoned it to write Bound by Threads, and a part of me is glad I did because I came back to Hallmarked and improved it so much, and then the words just flew out of me.
It was the perfect cosy write, and I love the characters so much. There’s a small inside joke with the characters’ names that they are apparently the names of my ‘other’ boyfriends, and I couldn’t help but write them into this.
Thank you to Brooke, who convinced me to wind up my fiancé.
To my betas for reading this, even when I know how much you love dark romance.
To my readers, because I wouldn’t be doing this without you.
SOCIAL MEDIA
You can find me on the following social media platforms, where I’m constantly posting updates and sharing the journey with everyone. I also have really cute pets that I am always posting photos of.
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If you find any mistakes, please highlight and send to my email.
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ALSO BY N.E. STEVENSON
If you like this book, check out my others…
Whispers of Salvation
Letters to the Lost
Fighting Shadows
DNF Series
Juicy
Eden Institute Duet
Madness
Novella’s
Fatal Temptation
To Die For
Hallmarked - Preorder Now
Bound and Broken Duet
Bound by Threads
Bound by Silence
N. E. Stevenson, Hallmarked
