Getting In the Spirit: a Sapphire Falls novella Read Free

sundown, keeping up with them as they put things in the microwave that didn’t belong in the microwave and brought animals and bugs and reptiles into her house as pets.
    Then he thought about Phoebe’s other close friend. The four women were kind of an unlikely bunch. They’d been brought together by various, strange circumstances for sure. But the friendship had evolved through the three romances—Adrianne’s, Phoebe’s and Lauren’s—and they never missed their weekly margarita meeting.
    Hailey Conner was the only one who was still single. And Hailey could most definitely handle Levi. Hailey was the Mayor of Sapphire Falls. A hometown girl who had always been popular, sort-of liked and sort-of feared as gorgeous, confident, mean girls always were. Hailey had gotten progressively less mean over the years. To hear Phoebe tell stories from high school, Hailey had never met a person or a situation she couldn’t manipulate to her own purposes. Still, Joe knew his wife actually liked Hailey now. As much as that surprised her.
    Hailey was actually very much Levi’s type. She was one of maybe half a dozen women in town who could tell the difference between Prada and a knock-off. She always looked amazing. She had a confident sensuality that had many men enamored. But she was still a country girl at heart. She’d spent her life in Sapphire Falls and loved her hometown more than anything. She was, actually, a very good mayor.
    Hailey was the perfect woman to set Levi up with. She could introduce him to small-town life, she would demand he treat her well, would keep him in line, but she wouldn’t fall for all of his charming bullshit.
    “You know what?” Joe said. “I think I have the perfect woman for you.”
    “Yeah? Great. I’ll be there day after tomorrow.”
    Joe nodded. “I’ll set it up for you two to meet that night.” Probably the sooner someone was keeping track of Levi, the better.
    “Great.” Levi actually looked happy. That was really nice to see.
    Joe smiled. Then he remembered a not-so-tiny detail. “Shit. Phoebe and I won’t be here.”
    “When?”
    “In two days. We’re heading to DC for some holiday get-togethers. But with travel and everything we’ll be gone about four days.”
    “That’s okay. If it’s okay with you, I’ll come anyway and get settled,” Levi said. “I’ll use the guest room through the holidays, but then I’ll look for something to buy.”
    Levi definitely had the money to simply plunk a wad of cash down on a house in Sapphire Falls that he intended to use for his year of rehab . “Yes, that’s fine, of course. I’ll be sure the fridge has something in it.”
    “Don’t worry about anything,” Levi said. “I’m a big boy with a massive credit limit. And I need to get to know my new neighbors, right? I’ll get some groceries, check out the local eating establishments. It will be fine.”
    Joe laughed. “Checking out the local eating establishments won’t take long. You can get a sandwich at Scott’s Sweets, a burger or wings at the Come Again, or breakfast, lunch and dinner at Dottie’s, the diner downtown.”
    Levi grinned. “Can’t wait.”
    Joe wondered for a moment if leaving and having Levi come to town and be on his own for a few days was a good idea.
    But really, what could happen?
    Besides, he’d fill Hailey in and be sure she was keeping an eye on him.

    “I am boycotting all things peppermint, red, green and joyful.”
    Phoebe Spencer laughed. “You don’t mean that.”
    “Oh, but I do. I’m going to get Chinese takeout and do a Netflix marathon of Marvel comic movies.”
    Phoebe was almost afraid to ask. “Why Marvel comic movies?”
    “I can’t watch TV without running into Christmas movies and specials, so I have to stick with Netflix where I can control what’s on. Marvel because there are no Christmas themes and they are full of hot guys doing the right thing for the greater good. Unlike real-life human men.”
    Phoebe