Red Roses, Black Orchids

By Ginger Ring

Cassie Meyers yearns of finding her knight in shining armor on a Valentine’s getaway vacation. It’s also a chance to forget about the mysterious black orchids that seem to follow her everywhere. Her fantasy comes even closer to reality when a handsome stranger arrives on the scene but is he her dream man or a nightmare about to happen? 
Niko Bauer should be enjoying his time at the island bed and breakfast but it is all work and no play. All work, that is, until he catches sight of the beautiful woman he's been hired to keep an eye on. Now all he wants is to hold her in his arms. But can he do that and keep her safe from the man that wants to kill her? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ginger Ring
• Release date: May 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533728012

Ginger Ring

Ginger Ring is an eclectic, hat-loving Midwestern girl with a weakness for cheese, dark chocolate, and the Green Bay Packers. She loves reading, playing with her cats, watching great movies, and has a quirky sense of humor. Publishing a book has been a lifelong dream of hers and she is excited to share her romantic stories with you. Her heroines are classy, sassy and in search of love and adventure. When Ginger isn't tracking down old gangster haunts or stopping at historical landmarks, you can find her on the backwaters of the Mississippi River fishing with her husband.

Book preview

Cassie dreams of finding her knight in shining armour on a getaway vacation. Unfortunately, her dream just might turn into a nightmare.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Red Roses, Black Orchids

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 © Ginger Ring

Originally published in:

Windswept: Stories of Enduring Love

Cover by JRA Stevens

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Chapter One

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Valentine’s Day was the worst holiday of the year. Cassie Meyers turned her nose up at the couple all lovey-dovey in the seat in front of her. It was a special day to celebrate true love but for most people not in a loving relationship, it was like throwing salt in a wound. She crossed her arms across her chest and examined the clouds floating past the airplane’s window.

Last year on cupid’s holiday her boyfriend dumped her. After dating for nearly a year, he informed her that he was in love, but not with her. Oh no, he was in a love with a waitress who worked at the topless burger and chicken joint down the street called Burgers and Thighs. There was no way she was spending this Valentine’s Day home alone. Cassie exhaled and her gaze dropped to the brochure for Galveston Island that lay on the empty seat beside her.

The glossy front photo enticed her to page through it again. Beautiful scenery, excellent restaurants, historic sites to explore, and everything else she needed to escape from reality for a few days. She pressed a fingertip to her lips as she studied the photo of Windswept, the old Victorian mansion that would be her home while on the island. What a lovely place. Windswept, a bed and breakfast, was the grand jewel of the island. Cassie had been lucky to get a room at such short notice and that was only because of a last minute cancellation.

A ticket dropped out from the brochure and fell in her lap. Cassie smiled and shook her head. It was silly. This wasn’t like her to just up and fly to an island by herself but enough was enough. There was no way she was spending another Valentine’s Day watching numerous delivery guys walk past her office door carrying bouquets of roses, boxes of chocolates, and stupid red or white teddy bears. No sir. She booked a flight to Galveston Island to attend their annual Valentine’s Day Masquerade ball. It had some fancy name but it was still just a single’s dance for Valentine’s Day where you dress up in a costume and wear a mask. Also, according to legend and the colorful brochure, if you kissed someone beside the island’s Forever Fountain, it would be true love forever.

A call to the organizers guaranteed that it wouldn’t be a bunch of women all vying for the attention of the ten guys who might be there. No, they assured her there would be just as many available males as females. Her goal was to dance, drink, and have long, loud, and sumptuous amounts of sex with some handsome man. A smirk formed on her face and she tossed the pamphlet to the side. Well, that was the plan anyway. With her luck, she’d be fortunate to get a dance and a kiss good night.

It wasn’t just Valentine’s Day that was getting her down. It was the dreaded birthday of hers that would soon follow. She would be hitting the big three-o. Most of her friends were married and had started, or were getting started, on making a family. Children weren’t on her radar yet, she just wanted to find someone to love. Was that too much to ask for?

Ma’am, we will be landing soon, the young attendant advised her. Please return your seat to the upright position.

Did she say ‘ma’am’? Cassie winkled her forehead and sneered at the young attendant’s back. She tightened her seatbelt and gathered her belongings. Stuffing everything in her purse, her mind replayed the events of the past few weeks that had helped contribute to her impulse vacation.

Boredom with work, lack of social life, and loneliness were just to name a few. Not to mention the black orchids. She shivered. It was probably just a prank from one of her crazy coworkers trying to be funny but it was starting to freak her out. With any luck, by the time she returned, they would be bored with the game.

In the seats ahead, Romeo and Juliet finally unlocked their lips long enough to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at the scenery outside the plane’s window. Cassie’s eyes followed suit. Her spirits lifted as a beautiful lighthouse came into view on Bolivar Peninsula. It stood out starkly against the flat landscape. She shivered in excitement remembering what she’d read about it. Abandoned for sixty-one years, it still appeared to guard the Gulf like a lonely sentry. Hopefully, there would be a painting of that particular lighthouse available for purchase in a gift shop on the island.

Soon charming Victorian houses and cottages came into view from above as they circled back over Galveston. Cassie clutched her purse to her chest, eager to get her