Welcome To Wonderland

By Suzanne D. Williams

Laurie Gray and Skelley Black don't get along. Co-workers at the firm, Atkins & Sons, they frequently butt heads, and usually loud enough that everyone can hear it.

 

When Skelley saddles Laurie with his most difficult client, their contest of wills reaches its peak. Two people with such determination can't continue to operate together. One of them has to win, no matter how underhanded they have to act to accomplish it.

 

Yet, the miracle of Christmas has other plans for their lives, romance and a lesson they should learn. In a series of odd dreams, the woman who'd like to claw his eyes out becomes a favored princess, and the man, who hates everyone, is the king.

 

A Christmas fantasy romance by author, SUZANNE D. WILLIAMS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Suzanne D. Williams
• Release date: Feb 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201618254

Suzanne D. Williams

Best-selling author, Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books. She writes a monthly column for Steves-Digicams.com on the subject of digital photography, as well as devotionals and instructional articles for various blogs. She also does graphic design for self-publishing authors. She is co-founder of THE EDGE. To learn more about what she’s doing and check out her extensive catalogue of stories, visit http://suzanne-williams-photography.blogspot.com/ or link with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/suzannedwilliamsauthor.

Book preview

From the back cover:

Laurie Gray and Skelley Black don’t get along. Co-workers at the firm, Atkins & Sons, they frequently butt heads, and usually loud enough that everyone can hear it.

When Skelley saddles Laurie with his most difficult client, their contest of wills reaches its peak. Two people with such determination can’t continue to operate together. One of them has to win, no matter how underhanded they have to act to accomplish it.

Yet, the miracle of Christmas has other plans for their lives, romance and a lesson they should learn. In a series of odd dreams, the woman who’d like to claw his eyes out becomes a favored princess, and the man, who hates everyone, is the king.

And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. (Ge 31:11)

CHAPTER 1

She yanked the file from his hands, her face heated, and stomped back to her desk. Falling down in her chair, she flipped the file open and tried to release the time bomb pent-up in her chest. Her co-worker’s head popped up over the dividing wall, and a moment later, the man she’d been arguing with showed up again.

Look. I get it, she said. You don’t want the responsibility, so you can go shine your ... Machine. She muffled the last word.

Skelley Black was a thorn in her side, the biggest burden she dealt with working here. She was of the opinion he measured himself on the hour and, darn it, if he wasn’t always bigger and better than any other man in the vicinity.

Well, when I’m done, he said, that trademark sneer on his lips, I’ll be sure to send you the specs.

His looks aside, he was a jerk. She gave an angry grunt, and he tossed up his hands.

Just get it done, he said.

When she offered nothing else, he disappeared down the aisle.

You and him just need to give in and bang each other senseless, her coworker said. I bet the skies would explode.

Laurie Gray raised her chin, ice forming in her veins. I’d just as soon date Edgar.

You’d date me? Edgar’s head rose over the wall on the right. His hair disheveled, his glasses askew. We could go to the arcade.

How old are you Edgar? Millie asked.

His brow furrowed, he attempted to fix his glasses, but they slid down his nose anyway. Thirty-one. Why?

Exactly. Millie switched her gaze to hers.

I can’t stand that man, Laurie said.

He is hard to take. Millie looked compassionate then. But he seems to have it out for you worse than anyone else. I still say it’s because he likes you. Anyhow ... She motioned outward. He’s saddled you with the Erickson account?

Laurie nodded and sighed. Another person I must pucker up for ... when IT ISN’T MY JOB! She raised her voice at the end, but got no response. She sighed. I should be good at it now. I get all the crabby people. It’s okay ... She tried to soothe herself. I’m going home tonight and lose myself in a good book. I have a new one. In this one, the servant girl marries the prince.

Millie rolled her eyes. I don’t see how you can read that mushy stuff. It’s so unrealistic, but then, maybe that’s the point. She sank down below the divider, her chair squeaking, out of view.

Laurie sifted through the file. Skelley’s attitude set aside, she now had work to do. She couldn’t afford to let him get to her.

That evening, though, curled up in a blanket on the couch, her book cracked, unread, his face hovered in the room, and her temperature shot up. Millie was partially right. As aggravating as he was, Skelley was an eyeful. He’d once showed up at the company picnic wearing his workout gear and those arms, that chest, every muscle perfectly formed, were worth ten minutes of drool.

The problem was his attitude. Daddy’s money had put him through school and afforded him the best of everything. Add in, he was intensely smart and well-qualified to do things like dump bad clients off on her, and she shouldn’t be surprised he thought so much of himself.

She snorted. I am not going to waste one more minute of my evening thinking about him. Shaking her head, she raised the book.

The castle lay at the end of a long lane that cut through the surrounding forest. A place delightful in the spring, when it was adorned with flowers and spilling with birds and deer and many other creatures. This close to Christmas, however, it was bleak indeed.

A knock at the door raised her face from the book, and she furrowed her brow. Who could possibly need anything? It had to be her neighbor. They borrowed stuff all the time:  a cup of sugar, a little laundry soap, or the toilet plunger. The knock repeated, and Laurie exhaled.

Unwinding herself from the blanket, she dropped her book on the couch and crossed the room, skirting the beginnings of her Christmas tree. She’d purchased the green fir tree and a new stand, but hadn’t decorated it yet.

Coming, she called.

She unfastened the dead bolt and twisted the lock. A blast of cold air blew in the crack, fluttering flakes of snow around the crimson cheeks of an older woman on the stoop. The woman smiled, making her round face appear that much rounder.

Can I help you? Laurie asked.

I was hoping you’d be home, the woman said. She wriggled her hands deep into a furred hand muff.

You were? Have we met before?

She didn’t look familiar, and surely, she’d remember such a unique person. For that matter, the woman seemed to have stepped out of another time, from her long skirt to a pair of black pointed boots, and a hood that covered tufts of curly gray hair.

I was sent to fetch you, and we must make haste.

Haste to what? Really, after the day she’d had – her fight with Skelley, an unproductive phone call to the account he’d forced her to take, followed by particularly thick evening traffic – she just wanted to relax and read.

I’m sorry. I don’t know you and ...

A gust of wind blew, bringing with it another blast of snow. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. When had it gotten so cold? There’d been some snow falling the night before last, but she couldn’t recall any blizzard warnings. Plus, the streets had been swept clean on her way home.

She looked past the woman, but instead of asphalt and street lamps, there stretched acres of trees, their trunks crowded together. In a cleared spot, in front of the forest, stood an expensive carriage, embellished in silver and drawn by six snow white horses.

I’m dreaming, she said.

The woman extended her hand. Come.

Laurie glanced behind her. Where the living room had been – the gas fireplace lit, the undecorated Christmas tree, and past it, her kitchen with the refrigerator humming – there was instead an old-fashioned parlor. Unpolished wood floors, the fireplace unlit, a settee placed before it.

What? How?

She looked down at herself and started. Her worn leggings and old college sweatshirt had transformed into a nineteenth century travel dress, complete with cloak, hood, and muff.

I will explain, the woman said. You will find it most fortuitous to proceed with this night.

What is this? Some ‘Old Mr. Scrooge’ moment? Laurie wore a frown. "You’re the ghost of Christmas past? That’s not appropriate. I like Christmas, and I’ve bought gifts, though I haven’t wrapped them yet. I’m going to give everyone at work gift certificates. Well, except for my arch-nemesis. And I’ve already mailed something to my mother."

I know not any ‘Mr. Scrooge’, the woman replied. "I am to be your guide this night. You will