Working the Neighbourhood: Neighbours: A Contemporary Christian Romance Series 1, #4

By Tracy Krauss

Tamara Spence is co-owner of a trendy café in downtown Calgary. She's also a single mother, proud of her First Nations ancestry, and a civil rights activist. She even likes to play matchmaker once in awhile – as long as it's on behalf of one of her friends. One thing she isn't is trusting. Especially when it comes to slick newspaper journalist Steve Russell. Despite her best efforts to deflect his attention, he seems determined to pursue her. How long will she be able to hold out before his charm wears down the fortress she's built around her heart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fictitious Ink Publishing
• Release date: Aug 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9780992097783

Tracy Krauss

Tracy Krauss is a best selling and award winning author and playwright. "Fiction on the edge without crossing the line"

Book preview

SCENE 1

Tamara Spence sat at the small desk in the back room of the coffee shop she co-owned with her friend Carmen Lamont. The ‘office’ was actually a corner of the storage room. Boxes of supplies were piled high along the metal storage shelves and a freezer hummed nearby. Hardly the best atmosphere to take care of the business end of things, but it was the best they could do at the moment.

The Brew had been open for about a year and in that time they had built up a successful clientele of local business owners and young executives. It was a dream come true for both women. Tamara, in her early thirties and the older of the two, was a single mother from the Blood First Nation just south of Calgary. Her business partner, Carmen, was twenty-eight; an African Canadian woman who gave up her dream of making a living as an artist for something that would put bread on the table - literally. They had met a few years ago at a vigil for victims of abuse and had become fast friends once they discovered that they shared so many interests. Not only did both women have a well-developed social conscience, but they both loved art and they both loved to create in the kitchen. Thus, the idea for a trendy café in the heart of downtown that could become a hub for artists, musicians, poets and anyone with a heart for social justice, was born.

The two had plans for expansion that included space for artists to display their work, a place for live performances, and maybe even a platform for interest groups to launch their campaigns. The current space was limited at this point, however. They didn’t even have room for a proper office.

I’m just going to slip next door. Carmen Lamont stuck her head around the corner. My niece is coming to town and I wanted to get her a little something before opening night.

Renee? Tamara looked up from the paperwork.

Carmen nodded. She got a part in a local production and is going to be staying with me for a month.

That’s cool. Tamara pushed her office chair back from the desk. I was sick of trying to figure out this invoice anyway.

Tamara logged off the computer, stood up, stretched and then went into the café. It was their slow period between the lunch rush and afternoon coffee break. Still, there were several patrons sitting at the high tables or lounging in leather armchairs that were placed around the room.

One of their regular customers, Steve Russell, a newspaper columnist, was sitting at his usual spot near the front window. He came almost every day during their slow time and drank exactly three