A Night To Remember

By Christy Wilburn Nobella Webb

Mindy recently graduated from business school, obtained her first job, and has moved into an apartment with her cat Harley.  She’s attractive and longs to find Mr. Right, but tends to attract nerds due to her kind nature.  While riding the bus to work, she meets the man of her dreams.  As she tries to capture his attention,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Mar 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643453682

Christy Wilburn Nobella Webb

Christy Webb has been an avid reader all her life. She especially enjoys a fun romance with unexpected plot twists. Ever since she was a little girl, teachers and friends have begged her to share her funny life experiences by turning them into delightful and memorable fictional stories. She lives in Utah with her loving husband, who is the perfect role model for all of her heroes!

Book preview

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Copyright © 2019 Christy Wilburn Nobella Webb

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Stratton Press, LLC

1603 Capitol Ave, Suite 310,

Cheyenne, WY 82001

www.stratton-press.com

1-888-323-7009

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in the work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-64345-280-7

ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-64345-368-2

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Dedicated to the memory

of my husband, Edward Nobella

Chapter 1

Finding love had always been a challenge for Mindy Wilson. Her friends described her as a petite girl with a flawless figure and a friendly, outgoing personality. Her shoulder-length strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes were her strong features. Despite having these qualities, she seemed to attract all the wrong guys. She was constantly reminded by her friends that she was too nice, which explained why she attracted the nerds. She shuddered when she thought about all the dreadful dates she had endured, not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings. She was beginning to wonder if she would ever meet Mr. Right.

After finishing her morning routine of getting ready for work, she quickly applied some perfume, checked her hair and makeup, and glanced at her watch. Realizing she needed to get going in order to reach her bus stop on time, she grabbed her purse. While hurrying past her cat, Harley, she called out, Have a good day, Harley, and keep an eye on our apartment. See you when I get home.

It was a crisp fall morning in September as she bustled down the street. The wind teased the leaves in her path as she steadily made her way toward the bus stop. Mindy loved this time of year. It wasn’t too hot or cold, and the autumn air promised aromas of crisp apples and cinnamon. She thought about all the fun fall activities. Just last night her mother had left a message on her answering machine informing her that she had signed her up for one of the booths at the church’s annual fall bazaar. She thought about the haunted houses and corn mazes she had gotten scared or lost in over the years. Finally, her friend Angie had reminded her daily of the upcoming harvest dance where she might meet her Mr. Right. Being a romantic at heart and hoping to discover true love, she had agreed to attend.

With so many events to think about, she wished she could take the day off and just escape her responsibilities. Remembering her rent, groceries, and utilities, she kept moving because she wanted to prove to her parents that she could be responsible with a job and having her own place.

When she looked down the street, she saw the bus winding its way to her stop. Running quickly so she didn’t miss it, she hurriedly grabbed her bus pass from her purse and jumped aboard when the bus stopped. Stan, the driver, said hello after she greeted him, and she clung on to several seatbacks as she cautiously made her way to the fourth aisle window seat. It amazed her how even though the bus didn’t have assigned seats, the regulars always seemed to gravitate to their preferred seats.

While contemplating her workday ahead of her, she glanced up to see a tall dark handsome young man climb aboard the bus. Mindy couldn’t help staring and hoped her mouth wasn’t hanging open as she watched him hand the driver his money.

He had to be close to six feet, broad shoulders, raven black hair, with chocolate-brown eyes—what she considered her dream guy. When he sat down in the aisle directly across from her, she thought for sure she had died and gone to heaven!

Did she dare sneak another look at him? She had to do it in a nonchalant way so he wouldn’t think she was staring. As she turned her head to glance at him, he smiled. Her heart began to pound, and she hoped he couldn’t hear it. Not only was he handsome, but he had the most beautiful smile, exposing straight white teeth.

She had to think of something clever to say to him in order to spark his interest in her. Her mind began racing, and nothing clever would come. Her mouth was so dry she was sure if she did try to say something, it would come out in a squeak. Sounding like a mouse would never do.

As she continued to think of some way to capture his attention, her purse flew off her lap when the bus turned the corner. To make matters even worse, she hadn’t closed her purse when she sat down, and now the contents were flying everywhere. So much for making a first great impression! Why did these things happen to her? Her friends continually reminded her that if it weren’t for bad luck, she wouldn’t have any. Now she was beginning to think they were right!

She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she struggled to pick up her runaway items. She noticed an extra pair of hands helping to retrieve the items and looked up to see Mr. Handsome smiling at her as he handed several of her escaped items.

Looks like you’re having one of those days, he said with a chuckle.

You could say that, Mindy barely squeaked out.

Too humiliated to say anything else, she walked back to her seat and looked out the window and wished she could just disappear. The bus continued to rumble along its morning route. To her disappointment, the handsome stranger pulled on the cord to notify the driver his stop was approaching. She didn’t dare try to say anything now.

She waited until he had his back to her and then watched him leave the bus. She couldn’t believe her bad luck and wished things could have gone differently. She might as well face it. Love was not in her future.

She looked out her window to see if she could tell what direction he was going. Why did the good ones always manage to slip away? Losing track of his progress, she settled back in her seat and thought about how she could meet him again. She tried coming up with solutions until finally it was time for her to get off the bus.

She moved quickly down the sidewalk toward the Walker Bank Finance building, where she worked as an executive secretary to the vice president of the company. She was fortunate to have acquired this job. After graduating from high school, she had taken a two-year business course in office procedures. She loved the curriculum and had obtained the skills necessary to secure a good job. She had been working there for a little over nine months, having previously started in January.

She was outgoing and was able to make friends easily with the other office personnel. She was anxious to take her first break so she could tell Ginger the details of her morning bus ride. She hated having to admit to being a klutz with her purse, but needed some good advice on what to do. After both recovered from a good laugh, Ginger confessed to having to think about a plan of action. Too soon break time was over, and it was back to the business at hand.

The rest of the day passed smoothly, with Mindy completing all her work assignments. She had a variety of responsibilities—from answering phones, taking and transcribing dictation into correspondence, running a ten-key adding machine, verifying that all financial statements had been calculated correctly, and finally, preparing the weekly and the end-of-the-month financial statements using her Excel skills. Placing her completed documents on Mr. White’s desk for his review, she returned to her office to pick up her purse. She was anxious to go home and always marveled at how fast her workday flew by. Saying good night to some of her coworkers, she left the building and walked briskly to her bus stop.

She couldn’t help but wonder if she would see the handsome stranger of this morning. If she did, she definitely would keep a tight rein on her purse to keep from causing any further embarrassment. She looked up and down the street, checking on the progress of the bus while also glimpsing around to hopefully see the stranger.

When the bus pulled up to her stop, she nervously climbed aboard while carefully scanning the passengers. To her disappointment, Mr. Handsome was not on the bus. It was so crowded that it looked like she would be standing and hanging on to a pole or seatback for a good part of the ride home. As the bus crawled slowly through the work traffic, she kept a sharp lookout for her stranger. It was soon apparent that her ride home would be without Mr. Handsome. Once she reached her stop, she exited and began her climb up the street to her apartment.

After opening the door, she was greeted by a meowing Harley, advising her he was happy she was home. While she prepared some macaroni and cheese for dinner, she told Harley all about her day. He responded appropriately with a meow in all the right pauses. She poured cat food into Harley’s bowl and then sat down and ate her dinner. While carrying her dishes to the sink, the telephone rang.

Did you get my message regarding the annual fall bazaar? Mindy’s mother asked.

I did. What booth did you sign me up for this year? Mindy asked.

"You will be in charge of the homemade cakes this year, dear. I will be baking several cakes. However, I won’t be able to attend this year. Your father has been asked to speak at a convention in Denver, Colorado, that day, and I will be traveling with