He took a bite of the cookie and everyone else did as well.
Then he turned to Laverne. “Got a busy night ahead of me.”
She nodded.
“Thank you for the hospitality,” Nick said, looking back at everyone. And then he laughed. “And the cookie. You know how many of these things I’m going to eat tonight?”
With that he put the rest of the cookie into his mouth and vanished.
Laverne moved over and dropped into an open chair beside K.J., putting her feet up on a stool in front of the big armchair.
“I hear you make a mean bit of the egg,” she said to K.J.
An instant later he was standing in front of her handing her a glass.
After K.J. took his seat, Laverne smiled at everyone. “Thanks also from me. You saved me an ugly alternative I did not want to have to contemplate.
Belle understood as everyone nodded back to Laverne.
Then Laverne took another sip of the eggnog and looked at K. J. “I hear you and Madge are meeting up later in your hot tub.”
“She told you about that?” K.J. asked.
Laverne just smiled. “No, but turns out it was a good guess.”
K.J.’s face turned as red as his jacket.
Everyone laughed.
Belle looked around at the wonderful people in the room, and the wonderful partner beside her, and realized that maybe, just maybe, for the first time in a very long time, she was going to enjoy the holiday season.
How could she not, with friends like these?
Tasty Morsel
A mother and daughter came
into the restaurant where I was
eating.
You couldn’t tell they were related.
I taste my soup
falling in love with the daughter.
She reminds me of Snow White.
Things always taste better
when you’re in love.
They sit directly in front.
She’s facing me,
smiling.
I ravish my steak, tasting her.
Tender, succulent, medium rare.
My mouth waters at the thought.
The skewer is still hot.
I paused when leaving.
Desert came topped with a cherry.
Things do taste better
when you are in love.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith published more than a hundred novels in thirty years and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres.
He wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.
He now writes his own original fiction under just the one name, Dean Wesley Smith. In addition to his upcoming novel releases, his monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly premiered October 1, 2013, filled entirely with his original novels and stories.
Dean also worked as an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. He now plays a role as an executive editor for the original anthology series Fiction River.
For more information go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Jukebox Gifts
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
The Old Girlfriend of Doom
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
The Life and Times of Buffalo Jimmy
What Came Before…
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ambassador to the Promised Land
Ambassador to the Promised Land
Santa’s Snack
One
Two
Three
Existence
Sprinkle on a Memory
One
Two
Three
Heaven Painted as a Christmas Gift
Heaven Painted as a Christmas Gift
Dedication
Section One
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Section Two
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Section Three
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Section Four
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Section Five
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Section Six
Thirty-nine
Tasty Morsel
Subcription Information
About the Author
Copyright Information