Jillian Chantal

I finished my Christmas story this weekend and this will be the last peek at it for Tuesday Tales. Don’t fret, though as I there will be three stories coming in an anthology this fall and this is one of them.

The word of the week for Tuesday Tales is puzzle. If I was writing a mystery, I’d have my heroine puzzling out a clue, but this isn’t that. 🙂

Be sure to check out the other tales here.

Panicked by the expression on his face and not knowing how to respond, she stared down at her pajamas. “Here I am. Two visitors already today and I’m still in my PJs. Do you mind if I go change?”

“First, I’m kind of digging the snowman theme going on.” He waved his hand to indicate her clothing. “And second, don’t ever change. I like you just as you are.”

“You think you’re so clever. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Embarrassed but hopeful because of the things he was saying and mostly due to the way he was looking at her, Candace darted into her bedroom.

As she shut the door, he called out, “May I use your computer for a second?”

“Sure. Just don’t log on to my banking and see how little I have on deposit.”

Mortified by what she’d said since he’d lost his fortune, she prayed he’d forget that part of the conversation by the time she came back. What a dumb thing to say.

Candace took a quick shower once she saw how wild her hair was. It was a wonder Hank hadn’t cracked up when he talked to her. She looked like one of the scarecrows she’d used to decorate the door to the shop in the fall.

Dressed in a red sweater, black leggings and thick socks, she returned to the living room. Hank was still sitting holding her lap top. He closed it when he saw her. “Thanks. I needed to check on an email I was expecting.”

“No problem.” She sat in the chair facing him. “You don’t have email access on your phone?”

“Nope. I turned it off as I was obsessed with checking it too often. I’ve found when I don’t have access all the time, I tend to live more than I did when I had the phone to my face all the time.”

“Good idea. I like that.”

He leaned forward, making the leather couch squeal a little in protest. “I couldn’t help but notice you had the Oxford site open. You thinking about going?”

“I am. I’ve decided to take your advice and leave town. Getting away from my mother’s reach is the best thing for me.”

“Can’t say I’m not glad about that, but I thought you couldn’t afford to go back when we graduated from high school, so how do you plan to pay for it now with having the shop?”

“I’m selling the shop. Even if I have to take a loss.”

Hank had a puzzled frown on his face. “It’s as bad as all that?”

“Yeah.” Candace nodded. “I learned something disturbing about my mother and Angela yesterday.”