Wanted for Christmas

By JM Dragon

Belle Farrow knew what she wanted for Christmas‒work. Except she had little to offer but a minor degree in cookery and household management, certainly not enough for a decent chef or housekeeper position. Then she saw an advert in the local newspaper.
Wanted: Housekeeper/cook/nanny for the period of Christmas until the New Year.
Could this be her savior for a short time, even if children didn’t exactly come under her expertise. How hard could it be for a few weeks?
Danny Reed, is desperate, taking out an ad to find someone who can provide skills she hasn’t...cooking being the main one. Her aim, ensuring she keeps custody of her two nephews and niece. Helping her to provide evidence all is well for the grandparents visit Christmas day. There must be someone out there that would fit the bill for a few weeks.
This is Christmas. Perhaps Santa reads the ad column too and pushes a little spirit of the season and romance into the request.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Affinity Ebook Press NZ Ltd
• Release date: Nov 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781988588353

Book preview

Wanted for Christmas

JM Dragon

2019

Back of the Book

Belle Farrow knew what she wanted for Christmas‒work. Except she had little to offer but a minor degree in cookery and household management, certainly not enough for a decent chef or housekeeper position. Then she saw an advert in the local newspaper.

Wanted: Housekeeper/cook/nanny for the period of Christmas until the New Year.

Could this be her savior for a short time, even if children didn’t exactly come under her remit. How hard could it be for a few weeks?

Danny Reed, is desperate, taking out an ad to find someone who can provide a skill she hasn’t…cooking being a big one. Her aim, ensuring she keeps custody of her two nephews and niece. Helping her to provide evidence all is well for the grandparents visit Christmas day. There must be someone out there that would fit the bill for a few weeks.

This is Christmas. Perhaps Santa reads the ad column too and pushes a little spirit of the season to that request.

Wanted for Christmas

Copyright © 2019 by JM Dragon

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-98-858835-3

First Edition

PDF, ePub, mobi

Published: December 1, 2019

This book is Published by

Affinity eBook Press NZ LTD

Canterbury, New Zealand

E-mail: [e-mail]

Editor: Angela Koenig

Cover Design by Irish Dragon Designs

Production Design: Affinity Publication Services

* * *

This work is copyrighted and is licensed only for use by the original purchaser and can be copied to the original purchaser's electronic device and its memory card for your personal use. Modifying or making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, without limit, including by email, CD, DVD, memory cards, file transfer, paper printout or any other method, constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions.

* * *

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

Acknowledgments

I’m a total advocate of Christmas. I used to get up on the hour after midnight until finally being allowed, to get up to see what Santa brought me in my sack. I still love the whole Christmas thing. I write stories for this time of the year for the joy of the occasion. I’m a great believer of paying forward and this time of the year is the very best.

Thank you, ML, I won’t say more at this time of the year…we both know why.

Angie thank you for another great edit, have a wonderful Christmas and a marvelous New Year.

NK, I could just say thanks and move on, but I want to say kiddo, next year your name will be out there, cheers.

Dedication

For all who love the festive season.

By JM Dragon

Dreams in a Jar

At Last

The Radicals

Jeager’s

Breaking the Silence

The Promise

Do Dreams Come True?

The One

Letting Go

Circus

Falling into Fate

The Fix-it Girl

In Name Only

Death is Only the Beginning

Lonely Angel

Echo’s Crusade

The Tempest

A Window in Time

Waterfalls, Rainbows, and Secrets

The Dragon’s Halloween Collection

Incantations – A Collaboration

Affinity’s Christmas Collection 2010

Christmas Collection 2011

Christmas Collection 2012

Christmas Collection 2014

Define Destiny Series

Define Destiny Series

Haunting Shadows

In Pursuit of Dreams

Actions and Consequences

All Our Tomorrows

Two Steps Forward One Back

A World of Change

When Hell Meets Heaven Series

When Hell Meets Heaven

Fatal Hesitation

JM Dragon & Erin O’Reilly Collaborations

Racing for Love

Against All Odds

Take Me as I am

Echoes of the Past

The End Game

Requiem

Earthbound

New Beginnings

Atonement

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

About the Author

Other Books from Affinity

Chapter One

Darn it Greg. You didn’t have to die and leave me in this mess. Danny Reed pursed her lips contemplating the up-coming festive season. In a little over two weeks’ time, she’d have to present a happy and stable family front, or everything would change. It wasn’t so much the happy part that eluded her—it was the stable.

Moving over to the window of the old farmhouse, she pulled back the drapes from the mist covered glass. The outlook, typical picture postcard scenario for this time of year—snow. Trailing a finger down the windowpane, she traced a matchstick man through the moisture. A smile tugged at her lips recalling doing this on many an occasion in the past when she was growing up here.

The Reed family had owned the farm for over two hundred years. In the beginning, it had been predominantly wheat farming and over time had changed to accommodate the changing lifestyles of people to keep in business. Now, the farm was a mix of organic crop farming as well as free-range chickens, turkeys, and ducks.

Sighing, she shook her head. Greg was her twin brother, elder by an hour. When their father had a heart attack ten years ago, he retired from the farm and their parents moved to a cottage by the sea two hundred miles away. The farm automatically passed to Greg. A no-brainer really, Greg had been dad’s understudy from…the first moment he could walk she supposed

Yep, he loved living here, it was his life, Danny muttered. Memories of her brother racing after chickens and then being chased back through the yard when he was barely able to run had her tearing up.

It had been a long time coming when Greg married Susan Lancaster, he was thirty-five. There was no surprise that the patter of tiny feet soon came along. Eventually that patter ended up as three.

Liam, at ten, looked like Greg from his curly brown hair to his bright blue eyes that seemed to be laughing all the time. He was bright and loved the farm—the apple hadn’t fallen very far from the tree when he was born.

Sally, at eight, a slim child, with a snub nose, washed out grey eyes and a halo of blonde hair. She was studious, tending to shy from strangers although a very loving child lay beneath her rage over her parents’ death.

Jack, at five, was chubby tending to fat with a precocious smile, sea-green eyes and a mop of ginger hair. He definitely had some of the characteristics of his mother. At times, he tended to be fiery when confronted by something he really didn’t want to do—otherwise he was the most loving of the brood.

Moving away from the window, she turned to survey the heart of the house—the kitchen. The large AGA stove was keeping not only the bacon, sausages and hash browns warm, also the room. The enormous kitchen table, which could seat twelve with the extra leaf in, was set for the morning meal. The welsh dresser filled with both serviceable crockery and antiques from years gone by filled one wall. The doorway to the larder and the adjoining laundry/boot area had a dog the size of a small pony lay apparently fast asleep, his ears up waiting for that special word beginning with a ‘w’. The kids had apparently fallen in love with the stray when Greg found it three years ago by the river that ran through their property. Little did they know that the cute mutt with the big feet was going to turn out to be such a monster. The kids called her Tiny—that was kid logic for you.

Molly, the tabby, purred as she twirled around Danny’s legs for her five minutes of attention and most of all, food.

Morning, Molly. I guess the mice didn’t want to be caught this morning huh. She reached down stroking Molly’s ears and her purr increased in tempo. Glancing at the clock on the whitewashed wall over the outer door, she sighed.

Time for the monsters to be woken, Danny said softly to Molly who was now washing her back oblivious to the comment.

Heading towards the doorway that led to the twisting stairs, Danny took them two at a time and was soon on the hall landing. The first door to her left was Sally’s room. She knocked lightly and opened the door. Sure enough, Sally was doing exactly what she did most mornings—a tiny ray of light from a mini flashlight focused on a book as her niece read.

Hey, Sally, did you sleep well? Danny asked, smiling as she headed towards the bed.

Yes, Danny. Sally blinked rapidly as she moved the covers to look directly at Danny.

"Wonderful. It’s time for you to get