Mistletoe Match-Up (Romancing Wisconsin #3) (13 page)

Epilogue

From across the room with Eric and Mark, Derek watched the woman he loved get ready to announce the fundraising totals with Janelle and Marissa. Lisa had driven him crazy in high school; she drove him crazy now.

He wholeheartedly preferred now.

For the second evening in a row, events had transpired that he never expected. This morning he thought she’d decided she didn’t want to be with him after all. Now he knew she loved him. If he wasn’t careful, his cheeks would cramp from the permanent smile on his face. Mark had already ribbed him about it, but Derek decided he didn’t care.

Reese and Heather emerged from the crowd to stand in front of Eric. Derek noticed Reese cast him a cautious look.

“When is it midnight?” Heather asked.

Eric smiled at his daughters. “Are you two getting tired?”

“No!” they both exclaimed. Reese added, “We’re having fun.”

Derek bent down to address the dark haired little girl who he imagined looked just like Lisa at age seven. “Reese…I apologize for being such a jerk earlier.”

She regarded him with a slight frown and a familiar defiant tilt of her chin. “Are you still mad at Aunt Lisa?”

Mark and Eric chuckled. Derek smiled and shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”

Her small hands fisted on her hips, elbows all akimbo. “Then next time you’ll follow the Mistletoe Rules?”

“Definitely yes.”

Reese nodded, then looked at Eric. “Does that mean he’ll still have bad luck, Dad?”

Derek straightened and cocked an eyebrow at his future brothers-in-law. “Yeah, exactly what are the Riley family rules on that one, guys?”

“I don’t know.” Eric turned to Mark. “I don’t believe I’ve ever refused a kiss under the mistletoe—have you?”

Mark snorted. “Hell no. I’m a hell of a lot smarter than that.”

The two of them shared a laugh at Derek’s expense. Reese frowned at all of them and then turned to her stepsister. “Come on, Heather, we’d better go check with Grandpa R.”

All three men laughed as the girls moved out on their mission. Derek grinned at Eric. “You’d better hide the mistletoe when they’re old enough to bring boys home.”

Eric’s humor sobered real fast. Derek clapped him on the shoulder and threaded through the throng of people in the warm room. He glanced at his watch the moment Janelle called for everyone’s attention. Fifteen minutes until the countdown.

Listening with half an ear, he wondered if he’d be able to locate Lisa’s coat so they could sneak outside again for their New Year’s Eve kiss. Or better yet, he’d take her home—

“And that leads us to the final announcement before I let you enjoy what’s left of this year…the grand totals of a friendly competition between a pair of former rivals.”

Derek tuned back in. His gaze sought Lisa’s, but she’d disappeared.

“My dear cousin Derek Walsh came in with a respectable amount of nine thousand, three hundred and forty dollars. Thank you, Derek!”

He smiled, nodding self-consciously with the round of applause.
 

“However...” Janelle offered him an apologetic smile across the room. “Lisa Riley pretty much buried him with a whopping twenty-five thousand, five hundred dollars, bringing our grand total to over sixty-eight thousand dollars! Let’s hear it for Lisa!”

Wow.
Derek’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. The faint sweet scent of cotton candy teased his senses. He turned to find Lisa behind him, a wide, Cheshire cat grin on her face. “Told you I’d kick your butt.”

“That you did,” he agreed. Lisa’s gaze shifted seconds before an elbow jabbed Derek in the ribs. “
Ow
—” Derek stared at his grandpa in confusion and rubbed his side. “Geez, Grandpa.”

“Told you this was yer year.”

“She beat me—how do you figure?”

Clear as a church bell on Sunday morning, a memory flashed in Derek’s mind. He and Grandpa sitting on the snowmobiles in the woods after creating Mark and Janelle’s perfect Christmas Eve last year. He’d been feeling sorry for his lonely ol’ self.

“
Cheer up, son. There’s always next year.
”

Derek’s jaw went slack for the second time in a few minutes.
No way
. Butch glanced up, then winked at him. “I’ve a feelin’ this next year’s gonna be even better. Happy New Year you two.”

Derek turned back to Lisa as his grandpa sauntered away, whistling a merry tune. Above her head hung a bright green spray of leaves and berries that Derek would swear hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Lisa linked her hands behind Derek’s neck. “What was that about?”

“Ah…” Aligning his body with hers, he positioned her beneath the leaves. “This might sound crazy, but I think my grandpa’s been anticipating this particular mistletoe match-up since last year.”

A hint of disbelief touched Lisa’s smile. “Santa Butch?”

“Emphasis on
Santa
.”

“Hmm…well, it’s not like I’m going to complain.” The love in her eyes matched the emotion in his heart. Derek gave thanks for Santa Claus, the Riley Mistletoe Rules, and the wonderful promise of a brand new year.

The countdown began. “Ten…nine…eight…”
 

They didn’t wait for midnight.

~~~

Thank you for reading!

Watch for more Romancing Wisconsin in the future! I started with Christmas, but will be branching out to include other holidays and seasons. Also, if you’re loving this series and want to help support my work, all reviews are greatly appreciated.

And another thing, all authors love hearing from their readers, so please feel free to drop me a note through my website. Or join my newsletter on the sidebar of my blog page and I’ll keep you apprised of any fun news, contests, and new releases.

Copyright © 2012 Stacey Joy Netzel

Mistletoe Match-Up
, 2nd edition

(previous publication: The Wild Rose Press 2009)

Excerpt from
CHASIN’ MASON

Copyright © 2012 Stacey Joy Netzel

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Website and Blog:
 
http://www.StaceyJoyNetzel.com

Facebook:
Facebook.com/StaceyJoyNetzel

Twitter:
 
http://twitter.com/StaceyJoyNetzel

Cover art: Laura Morrigan
lauramorrigan.com

About Stacey Joy Netzel

I fell in love with books at a young age, so for me the graduation to writing them was natural. An avid reader and fan of movies with a happily ever after, I am happy to call myself a full-time writer after 20 years as a travel agent. I write romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and the occasional paranormal short story just for fun.

 I live in my native Wisconsin with my husband and three children, a couple horses and some barn cats. In my limited free time I enjoy gardening, canning, and visiting my parents in Northeastern Wisconsin (Up North) at the family cabin on the lake.

~~~

Follow online:

Website and Blog:
 
http://www.StaceyJoyNetzel.com

Facebook:
Facebook.com/StaceyJoyNetzel

Twitter:
 
http://twitter.com/StaceyJoyNetzel

Thank you for reading!

If you loved
Mistletoe Match-Up
, here’s how you can help support Stacey Joy Netzel’s work:

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~~~

Stacey Joy Netzel's Other Titles:

Welcome to Redemption Series

A Fair to Remember,
book 2

Grounds for Change,
book 4

The Heart of the Matter,
book 6

Hold On To Me,
book 8 (Fall 2012)

~

Romancing Wisconsin Series

Mistletoe Mischief *

Mistletoe Magic *

Mistletoe Match-Up *

*originally published as
Mistletoe Rules
anthology.

2010 WINNER WisRWA's Write Touch Readers' Award

~

More Than A Kiss

~

Stacey Joy Netzel Novella Collection

(available as one book or individually)

Dragonfly Dreams

If Tombstones Could Talk

Ditched Again

~

Romantic Suspense titles

Lost In Italy

2012 WINNER WisRWA’s Write Touch Readers’ Award

~

Colorado Trust Series

Trust In The Lawe

Shattered Trust

Shadowed Trust

In the previous Mistletoe stories, I shared information about my small town romance series WELCOME TO REDEMPTION with Donna Marie Rogers, my other Christmas novella, DRAGONFLY DREAMS, and my contemporary romance MORE THAN A KISS. Now I’d like to share a short excerpt from my contemporary western romance,

CHASIN’ MASON

Catch the stallion ~ win the ranch. A simple competition between bitter enemies until passion flares in the simmering Texas heat.

When his father announced his engagement to a gold-digger with a lying, scheming fourteen-year old daughter, seventeen-year old Tripp Warner left Warner Ridge Ranch and never looked back. Until the day he got the phone call that his father had died unexpectedly.

Reggie Reed lives with her guilt every day but can't quite work up the courage to track down the son of the man who raised her as his own. When Tripp shows up at his father’s funeral eleven years later—and a hell of a man to be reckoned with—he has no interest in her too-late apology. Worse, they’ve inherited half shares of the family ranch—but only if they work together to catch Mason’s Gold, the stallion a young Reggie let escape and made sure Tripp took the blame for.
 

Tripp proposes a secret competition to the beautiful witch who stole his life: whoever catches the stallion first gets the ranch all to themselves. It sounds simple, but once they’re out on the range, tempers and passions flare in the Texas heat and nothing goes as either of them expects.

~

“Stacey Joy Netzel is at the top of her game with CHASIN’ MASON. I was hooked at page one and stayed hooked until the end...you’ll love it!” ~
Becky, Dark Angel Reviews ~
5 Stars

EXCERPT:

Reggie gave the kitchen counter one last swipe before tossing the dishcloth into the sink and dragging her exhausted body up the stairs. She couldn’t wait to crawl into bed and close her burning eyes. Between the funeral, facing Tripp again, and the reading of the will, it’d been one of the longest days of her life.

Her step faltered as she passed Tripp’s closed door. She couldn’t believe he’d agreed to help catch Mason. She couldn’t believe she’d have to spend God only knew how much time alone with him out on the range. Just the two of them, staring at each other across the flickering light of a campfire each night.