Tidings Creek: Merri & Bright: an LGBT Christmas romance by Mara Cross

Author:Mara Cross [Cross, Mara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Ivy thought of those first two weeks as a snow globe. They were perfect- crisp to cold December days; twinkle-light-lit nights. Merri stayed at her place more than she went back home to her sister and nephew. The two of them talked about Ivy meeting Shae and Finn, and Ivy held her breath and tried not to seem too eager.

Merri made it harder than it should have been. Ivy had thought she’d fallen fast for Clara, finding herself in love and wanting to commit in a matter of months. With Merri-

She wouldn’t let herself finish the thought, but everything was perfect. Ivy even found herself enjoying the magic of Christmas everyone around her seemed to experience.

And then the snow globe shattered.

It happened in a heartbeat, between one breath and the next. They were sitting together in the park, cuddled on a bench and looking at Main Street in the glow of sunset while they sipped coffee Merri had spiked with something from a flask she slipped out of her purse with a wink. Ivy had to go back to work in a few minutes, so she shouldn’t have let her, but Merri was like that. Merri, she’d discovered, loosened Ivy up. And Ivy thought she brought Merri down to earth a bit, too.

But tonight, they were celebrating, which was why Ivy had only shaken her head when Merri produced the flask with her heart-stopping elfish grin. Merri had finally, finally been offered a position with Creekside Gallery & More. Kenneth had come to his senses after several of the Creek’s wealthy arts patrons had informed him that if he did not hire her, they would be going to her for private lessons anyway.

That wasn’t entirely true- Merri had no intentions of trying to branch out on her own like that, despite Ivy’s attempts to convince her to do so- but Ivy had placed a few words in a few ears and things had spread like wildfire throughout the Creek. It worked that way here, and Merri’s talent and talk of the tips she’d given to little Hannah Dustfield had done the rest. Especially since Hannah had taken first place in the school art show at the end of last week.

“I can’t believe it. I thought I’d be working that awful hostess gig far longer, if I ever got out of there at all,” Merri said with a sigh. She leaned her head on Ivy’s shoulder, and Ivy focused on enjoying having her close, not on her discomfort with being cuddled like this in public. Merri needed hugs and physical affection far more than Ivy did, and this was Merri’s moment.

“Kenneth would be a fool not to have you,” Ivy said for what must have been the thousandth time. “But I still think you could do it without him.”

“It’s so much better with the protection of an established business,” Merri countered. In just two weeks, it had become a familiar debate between them, the idea of Merri opening her own private art school.

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