A Holiday Fling (Novella): Circle of Friends, #4

By Mary Jo Putney

* This novella is also available in the author's Christmas novella collection, Christmas Revels.
* A Holiday Fling has also been previously published as: A Christmas Fling.

 

British actress Jenny Lyme is having a pretty decent career. Though she may not have become an international movie star, she's well loved in England for a role on British TV and continues to work regularly.

 

Now her hometown community center is in danger of being sold. The only hope for its salvation is if Jenny can film the Christmas Revels production she's directing and sell it for television broadcasting.   For that she needs a really good cameraman—and she just happens to know one….

 

Greg Marino has worked hard for his success as a Hollywood cinematographer, and he has an Oscar sitting by his coffee maker to prove it.  But he still has fond memories of the fling he had with Jenny Lyme ten years earlier when they worked together on a disastrous movie.  When she calls and asks if he'd film her community Christmas show, he decides it would be a fun break in his demanding life.  And it would be really, really nice to see Jenny again.

 

The show is a delight, and Jenny and Greg find the old attraction is still there. But is it possible to build a life together when both have demanding careers thousands of miles apart? 

 

Greg and Jenny are characters from The Spiral Path, the second novel in the Circle of Friends Trilogy.

 

The Circle of Friends Triligy:
#1: The Burning Point
#2: The Spiral Path
#3: An Imperfect Process
#4: A Holiday Fling (A Circle of Friends Novella)

 

Praise for Christmas Revels, the novella collection that includes A Holiday Fling:

 

"A great collection for a cold winter's evening with a hot cup of tea. Mary Jo Putney's characters are memorable and their stories are heartwarming."
—The Best Reviews

 

 "These five heart-tugging stories and their endearing characters celebrate the love, joy, and magic of the Christmas season. Highly recommended."
—Romance Reviews Today

 

"If you've never read Mary Jo Putney, this collection is a delightful introduction to her compelling characters and gifted storytelling. If you're a fan already, then you know this book will make a great stocking stuffer for the readers on your list!"
—Old Book Barn Gazette

 

About the Author
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USAToday bestselling author, Mary Jo Putney's novels are known for psychological depth and intensity and include historical and contemporary romance, fantasy, and young adult fantasy. Winner of numerous writing awards, including two RITAs, three Romantic Times Career Achievement awards, and the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from Romance Writers of America, she has had numerous books listed among Library Journal's and Booklist's top romances of the year.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pandamax Press
• Release date: Jun 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386096757

Mary Jo Putney

Mary Jo Putney was born in upstate New York with a reading addiction, a condition for which there is no known cure. After earning degrees in English Literature and Industrial Design at Syracuse University, she became a ten-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA, has published over forty books, and was the recipient of the 2013 RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Book preview

Chapter One

The Tithe Barn Community Center

Upper Bassett

Gloucestershire, England

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"The Carthage Corporation wants how much?" Jenny Lyme blinked, thinking she must have misheard.

The head of the community center council, who happened to be her mother, Alice Lyme, repeated the figure. There were far too many zeros.

Property costs the earth here in the Cotswolds, even in an out-of-the-way corner like Upper Bassett. Throw in the barn’s age, and the price goes even higher. Patricia Holmes, third member of the council present—and Jenny’s big sister—scribbled figures on a tablet. Even if we sell every seat to every performance of the Revels, there is no possible way we can raise enough. She pushed the tablet away with a frown. Resign yourself to the fact that some rich London stockbroker will buy the place and tart it up for use three or four weekends a year.

No! Jenny said vehemently. The tithe barn is the heart and soul of Upper Bassett. Without it, our village identity will wither away.

You’re right. Many of my fondest memories occurred here. Her mother sighed. But the lease is expiring, Carthage is determined to sell, and we simply don’t have the money to meet their price.

Do you think a bank would give us a loan using the property as collateral? Jenny suggested without much hope.

That might buy us some time, but even in a good year, the center only breaks even. Patricia pushed her glasses higher on her nose. She was a schoolteacher, and the gesture was very effective at convincing her classes that she meant business. We will never be able to make enough money to pay off a loan, even assuming some bank officer is demented enough to give us one.

Jenny rose from the battered chair and crossed to the door of the small office. The ancient music ensemble was practicing on the stage at the far end of the barn. She had discovered her passion for acting on that stage, and she couldn’t bear thinking that soon no more local children would have such an opportunity to perform, play, and build lifelong friendships. If my career were in better shape, I’d donate the money myself.

Your career is fine, Patricia said loyally. You can’t expect to go from one smashing series right to another, but you’re still working.

Even if you could afford it, that might not be the best thing for the village, Alice added. This is a community center. It needs to be saved through collective action, not by one successful woman raiding her retirement savings.

Jenny supposed they were both right. Her career was having a slow spell but it wasn’t dead yet, and her mother made a good point that the center belonged to all of them and should be saved by joint efforts.

That was why Jenny had stepped in to produce and direct the upcoming Revels, combining the considerable local talent with her own skills and connections to create a professional-quality show. She was even performing as Lady Molly, the female lead.

But it wasn’t enough. The Revels are going to be marvelous. If only there was a way to use the production to generate more money— She stopped as an idea struck.

You’ve got that dangerous look in your eyes, Jennifer, Alice said warily. Care to enlighten us?

Jenny turned back to the office and leaned against the door frame as two identical pairs of blue eyes regarded her. The women of the Lyme family looked ridiculously alike, with dark hair, pale, flawless Welsh complexions, and deep blue eyes. She hoped that she and Patricia would age as gracefully as their mother was doing. This isn’t dangerous. It just occurred to me that we could film the Revels and sell copies of the performance. Get it reviewed or mentioned in some of the London papers. If we do a really good job, maybe we could sell broadcast rights to the BBC for next Christmas.

There was a thoughtful silence while her mother and sister considered the suggestion. We could set up a website and link with folklore and performing groups, but we’d have to sell a huge number of copies to raise the kind of money we need, and we only have a few months, Patricia observed. Selling broadcast rights would give us a larger chunk of money, but the production would have to be high quality, not just someone’s husband with his video camera.

Alice said, Perhaps Jenny has cameramen friends who could be persuaded to contribute their time to a good cause.

It’s very short notice. Jenny ran down the list of camera operators she knew well enough to impose on. Patricia was right that they needed someone who was first rate. Someone whose name would add value to the production.

Greg Marino.

With some reluctance, she accepted that he was far and away the best choice. Winner of the previous year’s Oscar for best cinematography, he was a brilliant director of photography who brought texture and nuance into every film he shot. I worked with Greg Marino once. He would be perfect, but he’s an American and insanely busy. I doubt I’d be able to even locate him, much less persuade him to drop everything and come to England on a moment’s notice.

"He shot The Centurion, didn’t he? And that big fantasy movie that was such a hit last year? With a sister in the film business, Patricia kept up with such things. His work is wonderful. If he’s a friend of yours, it’s certainly worth asking."

Not a friend; a former lover. Would that be a plus or a minus? They hadn’t seen each other in years, but they’d parted amiably and kept in touch, in a casual kind of way.

She pictured Greg, with his rangy American build and a smile that always made her smile in return. He’d helped her through a very bad time. If he could be persuaded to shoot their performance, he could transform the Revels from fun into Art, and maybe save the community center in the process. I’ll try to run him down when I return to London, but don’t get your hopes up. He’s very much in demand.

But her pulse quickened at the thought of having a reason to call him.

Chapter Two

Los Angeles, California

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Greg Marino emerged from his bed yawning. He was too groggy and disoriented to figure out what time it was in Australia, but his body sure thought it should still be there rather than in Los Angeles.

By the time he’d showered and shaved, a pot of steaming coffee had dripped through. He poured a mug full, sending silent thanks to the friend who had stocked his refrigerator with perishables the day before. People who made movies did a lot of coming and going, and he and his buddies took care of each other.

Yawning again, he rubbed the head of the shiny gold Academy Award that sat incongruously between the toaster and the drip coffeemaker. He liked keeping old Oscar there in a nice, visible spot. The statuette was his symbol of having made something of himself, contrary to the expectations of people who’d known him when he was a kid.

Taking his cell phone in case someone called, he stepped through the sliders onto his balcony. After swiping at the chair to remove the layer of urban dust, he sank into it and propped his feet on the railing. The view over the apartment complex courtyard wasn’t thrilling, but it was home.

For the thousandth time, he told himself that he really needed to go house hunting. He could afford a house now, and it would be nice to have a larger place. One with a view. But house hunting took time, and it was easier to walk away from an apartment for months on end than it would