Stained Glass Memories

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Caterer Lorelei Warner juggles her fledging Southern California business and raising young twins with the help of her mother and sister. Handling a three-day wedding event stretches her limits…and then her old beau walks in and threatens the delicate balance.

Stained glass restorer Wynn Tatum hopes to cross paths with the woman he left behind to pursue his dreams. What he doesn’t expect is that seeing Lorelei again sparks the feelings from six years ago. Now that he’s held her in his arms again, and learned he’s the father to five-year-old twins, he will do anything to stay in touch. How can his family be whole if he and Lorelei live on two different continents?

• Language: Unknown
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Nov 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781509243723

Linda Carroll-Bradd

After years spent in the administrative support field, Linda decided to exercise another part of her brain and write a novel. She loved reading romance and figured that's what she'd write. Easier said than done. After years of workshops and RWA chapter meetings, she finally saw her manuscripts place in contests. Twelve years after her first writing class, she sold a confession story. From that point on, she couldn't be stopped and is always pleased when her sweet contemporary and historical stories find homes. With interests as widespread as baking, crocheting, watching dog agility matches, and reading thrillers by Swedish authors, Linda is the mother to 4 adult children and grandmother to 2 granddaughters. She currently lives in the southern California mountains with her husband of almost 34 years and their two spoiled dogs.

Book preview

I’m not ready. Lorelei stiffened. The voice she’d expected, and dreaded, to hear from the moment she won the catering contract for this wedding materialized only a few feet away. Bracing for the impact of seeing her high school love again, she angled her body to face him. At nineteen, he’d been on the cusp of becoming the handsome man who now stood not four feet away. Sun-kissed brown hair pulled straight back from his broad, tanned forehead. Stubble dusted lean cheeks. His gray eyes stared from under thick, smoky eyelashes she’d always envied. Same as always, she flushed from her chest up her neck. Wynn Tatum, you do remember your roots.

Just as smart-mouthed as always. He glanced up and down her length, then smiled. "Still as bella as I remember. You haven’t aged."

A foreign word? Well, he hadn’t lost his charming ways during his absence from Southern California. Not as muscled as when he’d played football, he appeared athletic and way too polished for her peace of mind. Am I supposed to return the lie? She adjusted the stack of plates a half inch to the left. Biting her tongue would have been better than snapping. She glanced again at his tall form and recognized the signature cut and details of a world-class tailor known for expensive, custom-made suits. The dove-gray color offset his tan. Those college classes in fashion design hadn’t gone to total waste. She recognized quality when she saw it. Wherever he landed when he disappeared off the face of the earth, he’d done well for himself.

Praise for Linda Carroll-Bradd and…

LONE STAR ANGEL:

"Lone Star Angel is a short but very satisfying historical fiction read. Linda Carroll-Bradd’s writing allowed me to easily visualize the story unfolding, and even provided a few laughs. She has a unique way of expressing her characters’ feelings giving enough description to allow us to understand what is going on but also leaving something for the reader’s imagination, which is wonderful for someone who enjoys a clean read."

~5 stars by Brenda C. of Readers’ Favorite Reviews

~*~

TEN FANTASY WISHES:

…definitely lives up to its title even though it’s a short story. Linda Carroll-Bradd brings out an average woman just trying to make ends meet and learn to live on her own and introduces her to a man who just wants to win her love forever. I loved it.

~4 Angels, Lena at Fallen Angel Reviews

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FREEDOM’S PATH:

My first thought upon having finished the book was that it was too short! I wanted there to be more to the story. I wanted to see the future, not only the present. The characters were rich, in-depth people whose traits matched their words and deeds. They fit the time span portrayed in a realistic manner. The research into the historical elements of the era created a setting that was believable in every way.

~Andrea M.

Stained Glass Memories

by

Linda Carroll-Bradd

Christmas Cookies Series

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

Stained Glass Memories

COPYRIGHT © 2022 by Linda Carroll-Bradd

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Jennifer Greeff

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Edition, 2022

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-4372-3

Christmas Cookies Series

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

For all those who believe in second chances

Chapter One

The town car braked to a stop, knocking Wynn’s knee against the door.

Mr. Tatum, we’ve arrived. Sir, wake up.

Wynn straightened from his slumped position against the car door and rubbed both hands over his face. Beard stubble prickled his palms. Glancing around, he recognized the rental car and the dark-haired driver. However long the nap from Los Angeles International was, the time didn’t put a dent in the jet lag from his overnight flight from Milan, Italy. Thanks, Greg. He reached into his overcoat pocket, pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, and extended it over the seat. By the time he gathered his briefcase and slipped his feet into his custom-made loafers, the door opened to his right.

Stepping into the bright morning sunlight, he squinted and reached into his coat pocket for his sunglasses. The Pacific Ocean air held the familiar salty tang different from any other body of water he’d traveled near. A warm breeze blew his shoulder-length hair across his jaw. Somewhere in his travels, he’d lost the leather thong that usually secured it.

Temperatures in the seventies rendered his wool coat unnecessary. He glanced at the building before him, appreciating the stucco-and-beam construction showing Long Beach’s ethnic heritage. He bet the roof was constructed of red tiles, like so many houses he’d seen in Europe.

Wynn strode to where Greg held open the entrance door, nodded, and proceeded across the tile lobby to the receptionist desk. A glance around confirmed the hotel was of vintage construction, and the antique furnishings and gilt-framed pictures provided an Old World charm.

A tan, blonde woman looked up. Good morning and welcome to The Velman Hotel, a boutique gem on the Pacific Ocean.

Wynn glanced at her name tag. Hello, Tiffany. I have a reservation. Last name is Tatum. He bestowed his signature smile, figuring he had sufficient energy for another fifteen minutes of politeness. After that, exhaustion would outpace his charm.

Clicks sounded from the keyboard. Yes, here it is. Oh, Wynn Tatum? Her eyes rounded, then her gaze scanned the countertop.

One, two, three…