One chance at her big break. One charming cameraman standing in her way.
Jackie Strauss is drowning in nautical-themed Christmas decorations. When her holiday-obsessed neighborhood is selected for a documentary, the DIY expert realizes she’s in over her head as the cameras start rolling and she starts fumbling. But the variable most likely to result in her total failure falls solely on the broad, muscular shoulders of the charismatic cameraman who’s documenting her every move. The man she once had a fiery hot one-night stand with.
Scott Davis uses work to avoid anything beyond a fling. Unfortunately, his strategy of quickly moving from one filming location to another leads him straight back to the one woman he never got over: Jackie Strauss. But he’s only in town temporarily and getting involved with anyone in the documentary is strictly forbidden, so he keeps his camera up as a barrier and somehow resists the achingly strong desire to ravage Jackie under one of her perfectly placed mistletoes.
With Scott’s next flight out already booked, can Jackie convince him their love is worth the risk of losing everything?
*This spicy holiday rom-com has it all: an ornery cat, quirky neighbors who are like family, small-town holiday festivities, a ride-or-die bestie, multiple Richard Simmons mentions (because why not), and an HEA that’s sure to melt hearts. It’s a second in series but can be read as a stand-alone.
Read or listen now by clicking on your favorite book retailer, or keep scrolling down for a sample.
Chapter 1:
“We’re going to lose all our money at the penny slots while we get sloshed on dirty martinis,” Aunt Olive had promised a then sixteen-year-old Jackie Strauss. Inappropriate? Absolutely. But that was part of what made Aunt Olive such a force to be reckoned with. They never did make it out to Atlantic City, though. Poor Aunt Olive had had to cut back on the booze after a few health scares, and then just when they’d finally purchased their bus passes up to the casino, she’d passed away unexpectedly.
Just as unexpectedly, Jackie found herself the new owner of Aunt Olive’s house on Christmas Lights Lane – nationally renowned for its massive display of Christmas decorations. Every house on the street put on an impressive, meticulously curated collage of holiday décor with the extravagance of a big city and the backdrop of a tiny town on the Eastern Shores of Maryland.
For Jackie, a woman who dreamed of finding a career that made use of her artistic abilities, being part of Christmas Lights Lane was the opportunity of a lifetime. Especially since that year, the event was being filmed for a documentary. Ever the optimist, Jackie was sure she was approximately one year away from her big television debut as the next big do-it-yourself personality.
Even though the display wouldn’t officially open until the day after Thanksgiving, the first committee meeting was held in late August at the Holy Church of Milton on the corner of her street and Main Street. Jackie said a little prayer to Aunt Olive, took a deep breath, and headed for the basement stairs towards the meeting. As soon as she reached the landing, she could hear the pause in conversation and see the eyes of a few dozen people on her.
“The new Ollie’s here,” someone said. Their voice was a bit more accusing than Jackie would have expected from someone she was meeting for the first time.
“Am I late?” Jackie asked as she pulled her phone from her back pocket.
There was a man about the same age as Jackie standing on a small, elevated platform that served as a modest stage in the basement. He stepped down and began to walk towards Jackie with his arms outstretched for a hug as if they were old friends. Unsure how to react, she accepted his embrace. She didn’t want to come off in the documentary as too frigid or unapproachable. Besides, it was a pleasant contrast to the comment from her neighbor and he seemed nice enough.
“Jackie, it is so nice to finally meet you. My deepest sympathies about your aunt. She was one hell of a woman,” he said before he turned back to the group with his one arm still around her shoulders.
“Everyone, this is Jackie. As most of you already know, she inherited Ollie’s place a few months ago.”
“And you’re Tiny Tim?” Jackie guessed. She’d received multiple flyers dropped in her mailbox about the upcoming holiday season. Mostly it was tentative, minor changes from last year along with a detailed calendar for the upcoming year. All of them were signed, Tiny Tim.
“Excuse my manners. Yes, I’m Tim. And no, you’re not late. We just like to get started a little early around here sometimes. Eager to get another season going I suppose.”
Why didn’t she think to show up early? She allowed herself a few seconds of self-loathing before she put it off to the side to focus on putting her best foot forward going forward. There was plenty of time to for her deep self-hatred over the seemingly minor error that night when she was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The memory of showing up “late” to the meeting would nestle in between the memory of that time she accidentally cut off the sweet old lady in traffic a few years back, and that time as a child when she accepted five dollars in change when she was only due back one. It was a miracle she found any sleep with the string of regrets she agonized over each evening in bed.
She let it go for the time being and instead scanned the group for any familiar faces. The only thing she saw was a group of strangers dressed head to toe in Christmas attire. Crap, she thought. I look like I’m dressed for the beach while everyone else is ready for Christmas in July. Another few seconds were devoted to her berating herself before she mentally added it to the list of nightly regrets. The optimistic part of herself hoped that maybe her fashion faux pas would help her to stand out. That was what she really wanted, after all. To be the stand-out of the group, the one offered the future do-it-yourself television series based off her stellar DIY skills and unbeatable personality.
Tim guided her to the group and pointed to an empty chair sitting front and center. “We reserved this spot just for you. Being new and all we knew you wouldn’t want to miss a thing,” Tim said before leaving her to take the one small step up needed to be back on the stage.
“Now that everyone’s here, let’s address the elephant with a boom mic in the room. Lana, Scott, and Lizzy, can you all come up here please?”
Jackie was caught off-guard at the sight of Scott Davis on the stage with a video camera. Her high school crush, the one that got away, Scott Davis. If he was surprised, or in any way affected by seeing Jackie, he didn’t show it. He gave a quick smile and nod of acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Tim.
Lana, who looked to be somewhere in her forties if Jackie had to guess, looked down at her iPad and then back up at them again before speaking.
“Good evening. It’s a pleasure to be here with you all. I honestly can’t tell you how excited we are,” Lana said as she referenced Scott to her right and Lizzy to her left, “to be here filming this unique and festive community event.” Lana made a point of scanning the crowd and making eye contact with each individual as she spoke. “I know you all have a lot to cover tonight, so I’ll try to be brief.”
The smile from her mouth diminished slightly as she turned solemn. “We’re not looking for staged reality television. We will not be prompting you to say or do anything. If there is a dangerous situation, Lizzy and Scott will get involved. But beyond that, they are merely spectators. In short, ignore Scott and Lizzy.” Scott mocked an expression of hurt and got a few chuckles from the crowd for his efforts.
Jackie’s heart jumped. He was hot in high school, but grown man Scott was almost too perfect. His long brown hair was cut short, his facial hair was trimmed into a neat scruff that gave him the irritatingly sexy look of not caring too much about his looks while still being undeniably attractive. Lugging around cameras all day had been good to him, too, Jackie noticed as she took in what she was sure were clearly defined muscles underneath his t-shirt and jeans. And based on the very brief gesture he’d made to the crowd, he was still incredibly, irresistibly charming. She was supposed to ignore Scott, the Adonis on stage before her, for the next three months?
“The documentary we’re creating works best when the people who are the focus of the documentary merely go about their work as if they aren’t being recorded. Now, as with most things in life there are exceptions. While we don’t want you looking into Scott’s camera or speaking to Scott or Lizzy, we do want to hear from you during pre-determined interviews and during something we call reflection sessions. After today’s meeting we’ll ask you to do a quick, five-minute reflection. I won’t tell you word for word what to discuss; we don’t want to prompt you outside a few general topics. But I will say anything off the topic of the light festival will likely not make it into the documentary.”
“Okay. Thank you, Lana, Lizzy, and Scott,” Tim said as reclaimed his spot center stage. The three took their cue to go back to their stations. Lana set herself up by the stairs and prepared to tap away at her iPad throughout the rest of the meeting. Scott settled into a spot not too far from where Jackie was sitting, and Lizzy was next to him with her boom mic at the ready.
“It’s a little after six now,” Tim said. “We’ll shoot to have the meeting over by seven. Around that time an order of Pete’s pizzas will be arriving so you all can mingle and eat while you’re waiting for your turn in the reflection…box?” he said with a puzzled expression aimed at Lana.
Lana looked up from her iPad and paused her tapping as she said, “Today we’ll be in the room in the back with Scott filming and Lizzy with the boom mic. Going forward, you all will be in a room we’ll set up in your garage, Tim. If that works for you.”
“Whatever you need, Lana. Reflection rooms, then. Sounds good,” Tim said. “So, just act completely natural, everyone. But keep in mind the cameras are there-”
“No,” Lana called out. “The best advice I can give you is to ignore the cameras. Never look at them, don’t break the fourth wall by trying to speak to your potential future audience, don’t attempt to play some made-up character or try out that British accent you’ve been working on. Please, I know it’s difficult, but act as though we’re not here. Run into us if we’re in your way. We’re paying attention; we’ll move.”
A voice from behind Jackie said, “I just watched a documentary about jazzercizing with Richard Simmons and they spoke to the camera the whole time. He even had a cameraman come out from behind the camera to get some one-on-one help with his squats.” The man next to woman nodded and furrowed his eyebrows as if he too had seen that documentary and was thoroughly confused as to why this would be any different.
“We won’t be doing that here,” Lana said. “Think more of the Real-World style where the only time you speak to the camera is during quick isolated sessions in a small portion of Tim’s garage.”
Jackie felt for Lana. By Jackie’s estimate, her neighbor’s children may have grown up watching MTV, but most of the people currently living on Christmas Lights Lane had no idea what Lana meant with The Real-World reference.
“I can’t offer your crew any of my oatmeal cookies?” a neighbor from the back of the group asked. Before anyone could answer she added, “Fine. I’ll just leave them on the table and I want you to know you can have them whenever you want them. I won’t say anything into the camera about it. I don’t want to ruin your movie.”
“You can talk before we begin filming your segment,” she offered. “I’m merely requesting everyone here ignore us once we get started,” Lana said with a muffled sigh.
“And we will certainly do that for you. Right, everyone?” Tim asked his neighbors. The crowd mumbled random words confirming they would ignore the crew, and Tim carried onward with a bit of extra enthusiasm in his voice, “Okay, gang, let’s do this!”
“I’ll start recording then,” Scott said as he went back behind the camera. A red dot appeared on the camera to show he was recording, and the neighbors all obediently turned from the camera back to Tim.
Tim rubbed his hands together and made a big to-do of giving the official welcome to the group.
“Welcome, everyone, to the first meeting of the Milton Christmas Display Committee for the 2019 season!” Tim announced. Everyone cheered as if they’d all just arrived and hadn’t had a conversation about the documentary moments before. A few rows behind Jackie, a pair of older women wielded festive cowbells bedazzled with green and red gems to show their support of the momentous occasion. Jackie’s first thought was, those cowbells are fabulous. What came next was panic. Holy shit. This crazy group of neighbors are my people. The scene in the church basement could be her indefinite future. She decided to unpack that idea later and instead focused on the task at hand.
Most of the meeting was an overwhelming blur for Jackie. She’d come in way too overconfident given her lack of experience in comparison to everyone else in the neighborhood. It didn’t matter that in a past life she’d taught herself to cut and sew intricate patterns to make her own clothing, or that she’d had a semi-lucrative side-hustle doing interior design in Philly. The Christmas lights event in Milton was a whole new beast in the way of design and DIY.
The final part of the meeting was the house rundown and binder distribution. Each house had a binder of information that Tim had kept for safekeeping during the off-season. Tim called on each neighbor to give a quick summary of how their planning for the upcoming season was going. The neighbor then went to the front stage to receive their binder in a ceremony not dissimilar to that of a high school graduation. The binder was formally passed on and the hand-off was lauded as cheers erupted from the audience.
“And last but not least, our newest committee member, taking over for the sorely missed Ollie Hoffman, is Jackie Strauss!” Tim announced. A few kind souls cheered while some, the cowbell couple included, held their applause until Jackie proved herself worthy of it. Harsh, but it made Jackie like them even more.
“Thanks, Tim. I’m excited to be here,” Jackie said as she looked around the room nervously and then looked straight into Scott’s camera. She slapped her hand to her forehead and cringed at how quickly she’d broken Lana’s only rule. “Sorry, Scott,” she called out before realizing she was still doing it and adding in Scott’s name to boot. “Shit…sorry…” She turned back to Tim begging him to do or say something that would take over control of the situation and help her to stop mucking it all up.
Tim trudged them all forward as he said, “Fantastic. We’re excited to see Ollie’s shoes filled with a family member. Family and community is what it’s all about.” Enthusiastic nods went through the crowd before it was time to get down to business. “Let’s hear where you’re at with your planning.”
Jackie stood up to address everyone even though no one else had stood. She stopped standing at that realization and ended up in a half squat (somewhere Richard Simmons was cringing as he sensed her poor form) before she decided she might as well just stand up since she was halfway there. Things could be worse, they likely would get worse, she needed to buckle up and let it all happen. Salvage what she could and never look back.
She cleared her throat and said, “I’ve decided to go with a different theme this year – change things up a bit.”
Tim kept a smile plastered on his face, but his eyes deceived him as they widened like a nocturnal creature caught in a center-stage spotlight.
“I’d like to do a nautical theme -”
“It’s the Eastern Shore. We’re all doing some sort of nautical theme,” a man called out impatiently. Again, a smattering of chuckles rippled through the crowd along with a few mumbles and grumbles between neighbors.
“I understand that, thank you,” she said to everyone since she couldn’t pin-point the disgruntled neighbor at the moment. Her palms got sweatier by the second as she tried to organize her thoughts while reminding herself the moment was key in scoring a spot as the main focus in the documentary. This could be her first impression and in her mind, everything that followed would hinge on the few precious minutes before her.
“I’ll be doing an underwater nautical theme. I’ve decided to dig up the grass on my front lawn and install a temporary beach by spreading sand where the grass used to be. My main display with be a four-foot tall, animated Santa crab named Santa Claws.” She’d spent the last few months doing little unpacking. Her time was devoted to the job she’d found in town as the front desk clerk of a marina, and to researching and planning out the new intricate house design she’d dreamed up over the summer.
Her efforts and hours upon hours of planning were not in vain. Tim appeared to be warming up to the idea as he said, “Okay…it sounds like you may have something here…Though one of the reasons this neighborhood has been so successful over the years is because we create a cohesive display with each house blending and working with the houses next to it,” Tim explained. “Before you start digging up your yard, let’s sit down together with Margaret, Evelyn, and Mort. Then we can discuss how your house will incorporate with the others.”
“Absolutely,” Jackie beamed. “Looking forward to it,” she added for good measure before she ascended the stage to officially receive her house binder.
The meeting adjourned with everyone singing an original verse to the tune of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Rockin’ around Christmas Lights Lane
We’re the best holiday display
Join us for a ride, on our train
We’ll beat Bal’more any day
Midway through the chanting, Jackie pondered the very real possibility that she hadn’t just inherited a house, but had also unknowingly joined a cult. When the camera wasn’t trained on her, she snuck a few glances at Scott. One of which Scott intercepted and they shared a quick look that said, “How the hell did we end up here?”
They clapped to the beat, and everyone pointed at Mort for the train reference. She didn’t know anything about that, but she had a feeling the Baltimore line was directed to Baltimore City’s own holiday lights display on 34th Street. The two Maryland locations had been battling for the title of best holiday display in the state for the past decade. The Baltimore location often beat out Milton on convenience alone since it’s located in a heavily populated area with Interstate 95 cutting directly through the city. But Milton had been gaining traction for years and, according to the locals, Tim was the leader they needed to put them ahead of Baltimore in the upcoming season.
The pizzas arrived, as promised, and were set on a few tables along the wall next to the stage. After their song, some went straight for the free food, while others lined up for the reflection room in hopes of getting out of the meeting sooner rather than later.
Jackie grabbed a slice then took a seat at the edge of the stage which was really just one long step. She planned to sit back and take in the dynamics of the group as she ate. Her neighborhood analysis was put on hold when Tim sat down next to her. Not just next to her, but practically on top of her. An interesting move given there was at least five open feet of step on either side of her. He was white hot, too. Their thighs touched and she could feel the heat coming from him through both his khakis and her capris. She hoped the heat was a result of the hideous knit Christmas vest he was wearing even though it was well over eighty degrees in the church basement, and not due to some sort of attraction to her.
“How are you holding up?” he asked her. If he noticed she’d inched slightly away from him to create a modicum of space between them, he didn’t mention it.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“A little overwhelmed?”
“Not at all.” Lies. The cameras weren’t anywhere near them, so who was she trying to fool? Herself, likely. Fake it till you make it is a well-known saying for a reason.
“I have no doubt. Your mother gave me a bit of a run down about you at Ollie’s funeral. You’ll be great. I’m sure of it.”
Jackie thought back to the day of the funeral and was more than mildly disturbed to hear Tim had been present and had been asking about her. She was serious about the event, but she was also weary of letting it take over her life the way it seemed to have taken over poor Tim’s life.
Unsure of what to say in response, Jackie merely thanked him for the vote of confidence and excused herself to get in line for her reflection session.
“Right,” he said. “Well, I’d better keep circulating around the room. Don’t want people to think I have favorites.”
Despite herself and everything she’d just thought about his lack of a social life and hideous outfit – a vest and a Rudolph tie complete with blinking red-light nose – she shamelessly checked out the view from behind as he walked away. She couldn’t honestly say Tim was a hard no for her. The man clearly worked out and he was organized and motivated.
Get your head in the damn game, she thought to herself when she realized what she was doing. You are here to win. To be the best of the freaking best and to not let any guy – not Tim and especially not Scott – take away from this life-altering opportunity!
With her mind back on track, Jackie tried to psych herself up as she waited for her turn in the reflection room. It very well could be her introduction to everyone. Lana said her documentary wouldn’t be like everyone else’s, but Jackie wasn’t buying it. She’d been watching nothing but DIY shows and various documentaries for months in preparation. She knew that with this large of a crowd and this big of an event, they would have no choice but to narrow in on the most interesting stories and people within the event. Lana was sitting in on the reflections and was likely already outlining on her iPad whom they would be focusing on. She needed to rock this reflection to secure a position as one of the main interests from the start.
Mort smiled at Jackie as he left the reflection room and she heard someone call from within, “Whoever’s next, we’re ready for you.”