âDarcy has this crazy idea,â Jake said.
Mariabella froze at the words. Darcy. That woman who had almost recognized her. Did she know? Had she figured it out? Impossible. Wasnât it?
âOhâ¦yeah?â She fiddled with the flowers.
âShe thinks you might be a princess.â
Mariabella swallowed hard. She plucked out a daisy from the center and shoved it into a space on the side, then moved a rose from the right to the left. âHuh? Really?â
âAre you?â
The two words hung in her kitchenâheavy, fat with anticipation. Destructive.
Are you her?
It was over. Her life here. Her fantasy that she could be loved by a man like him as an ordinary woman. Once she told him who she was he would never look at her the same way again.
Dear Reader
If youâre reading this, chances are Iâve already got my lights and tree out at my houseâand if theyâre not up, they will be soon. I have a hard time waiting until after Thanksgiving before I start Christmas preparations. Iâm worse than a little kid! Thatâs what makes writing these Christmas books so much fun for me. Every minute I spend in my charactersâ Christmas world gives me another dose of the holiday, complete with the decorations, the food and the warm memories.
Someone asked me once in an interview to name my favourite element of Christmas. For me, itâs the music of the holiday. I start playing those songs as soon as they come on the radio, and I donât turn them off until the day after Christmas. Every time I listen to a song like âFrosty the Snowmanâ I remember watching the Claymation movie with my kids (truth be told, they still havenât outgrown that movie classic). Singing along with âHark the Herald Angels Singâ or âSilent Nightâ reminds me what the holiday is truly about, and keeps me grounded in all the shopping madness.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and a memorable Christmas this year. Please visit my website at www.shirleyjump.com, my blog at www.shirleyjump.blogspot.com, or write to me at PO Box 5126, Fort Wayne, IN 46895, USA. Merry Christmasâand may your stocking be filled with lots of books!
Best wishes
Shirley
New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump didnât have the will-power to diet, nor the talent to master under-eye concealer, so she bowed out of a career in television and opted instead for a career where she could be paid to eat at her deskâwriting. At first, seeking revenge on her children for their grocery store tantrums, she sold embarrassing essays about them to anthologies. However, it wasnât enough to feed her growing addiction to writing funny. So she turned to the world of romance novels, where messes are (usually) cleaned up before The End. In the worlds Shirley gets to create and control, the children listen to their parents, the husbands always remember holidays, and the housework is magically done by elves. Though sheâs thrilled to see her books in stores around the world, Shirley mostly writes because it gives her an excuse to avoid cleaning the toilets and helps feed her shoe habit. To learn more, visit her website at www.shirleyjump.com
Praise for Shirley Jump:
âShirley Jumpâs
MIRACLE ON CHRISTMAS EVE has a solid plot and involving conflict, and the characters are wonderful.ââRomanticTimes BOOKreviews
About SWEETHEART LOST AND FOUND
âThis tale of rekindled love is right on target; a delightful start to this uplifting, marriage-oriented series [The Wedding Planners].ââLibraryJournal.com
About New York Times bestselling anthology Sugar and Spice âJumpâs office romance gives the collection a kick, with fiery writing.ââPublishersWeekly.com
First to my readersâthere
is no more special gift than your letters, support and warm words. You make writing an extra wonderful joy. Second, to my family. Every day with you is a treasured present.
THE woman in the painting whispered to Mariabella. Her deep green eyes, slightly hooded by heavy lashes, seemed to hold a quiet secret. One she kept close to her heart, one perhaps she hadnât even shared with the man whoâd held the paintbrush.
Mariabella reached out, traced the air around the painted womanâs eyes. Secrets. This woman had one.
And so, too, did Mariabella Romano.
âYou like that painting, huh?â
Mariabella started, jerked out of her reverie. She turned at the sound of Carmenâs voice. More friend than employee, Carmen Edelman had worked for Mariabella ever since sheâd opened the Harborside Art Gallery in the little coastal Massachusetts town almost a year ago. The quirky college graduate had walked in one day, her arms loaded with paintings, each one a gem. Ever since, Carmen had been unearthing wonderful finds, including the artist whoâd painted the portrait of the mysterious woman, titled simply, She Who Knows.
Mariabellaâs twenty-five-year-old assistant had an uncanny eye for quality work, and had been instrumental in helping Mariabella choose the paintings for the galleryâs upcoming Christmas show. Carmenâs bohemian personality gave the galleryâand Mariabellaâa little something unexpected every day.