Love Charms: The Maglias, #1

By Cat Coal

This contemporary romance is the first book in a bright new family series.

 

"A beautiful romance that I couldn't put down. True love does exist!"

 

Nicolette Maglia has always been the headstrong one in her family. As the oldest, she is there for everyone—her sister, her father, her mother, and, from time to time, her cousins. As a successful lawyer in New York, Nicolette doesn't have time in her life fo much else. Well, except her boyfriend. So when he breaks up with er out of the blue, she needs to clear her head. But one thing is for sure, she isn't looking for love.

 

Christian Marino is on the fast track to success. As a teacher, he doesn't see how life can get more rewarding that that. But he knows the one thing he's missing—love. Not that he's looking for it. So he can't believe his luck when he meets the most stunning and interest woman. Too bad she's too busy ignoring their attraction to give into it.

 

A whimsical romance that's all it was, right? One summer together to remember? Nicolette knows it can't last. Soon she'll have to go back to her life in New York, a life that doesn't involve Christian. But he's willing to prove her wrong. Will she give him a chance so they can figure out a way to be together, or will he lose the one girl he knows is his forever girl?

 

This full-length novel can be read as a stand-along story, but you'll likely enjoy reading the other books in The Maglia series.

 

Love Charms

 

Love & Chaos

 

Love the Cook - novelette

 

Love Stories, Vol. 1

 

Love Stories, Vol. 2

 

Love International

• Language: English
• Publisher: Perfect Escape
• Release date: Jun 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393724308

Book preview

Love Charms

Cat Coal

Copyright

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

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Copyright © 2016 by Cat Coal. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

Do not upload or distribute anywhere.

Cover design by Cat Coal.

Cover art from Pixabay.

Excerpt from Love & Chaos copyright © 2016 by Cat Coal. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

Do not upload or distribute anywhere.

This ebook is for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book with others please either purchase it for them or direct them to the retailer of their choice for purchase. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Contents

Love Charms

Copyright

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Thirty-Seven

Thirty-Eight

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Extras

Excerpt from Love & Chaos

Books by Cat Coal

One

Navigating through the streets of New York City on New Year's Eve first thing in the morning was more of a struggle than I could've imagined. Excuse me, pardon me had become my mantra.

It may have been a holiday, but it was still a workday and I couldn't take the day off to start celebrating early, much to my boyfriend's dismay. As an independent architect, Bryan contracted himself out, so he could set his own schedule, but for me it wasn't so easy. The supervising partner at my firm liked to preach You get what you work for. Like most days, I was working for my bonus. If I closed a deal with one of our biggest clients, the bonus fairy would pay me a visit. I didn't care about the money as much as I did about adding another feather to my cap. With enough feathers, I hoped to get promoted from Junior Associate to Senior Associate. In reality, it was more of a lateral move, but it came with just enough respect that I wouldn't be the new girl anymore and that's what I really wanted. The legal world was all politics. It was a slow-paced career path in a fast-paced world.

It was my first New Year's in the city since last year I returned home for the holiday. With my lack of experience, I was shocked at the turn out so early in the morning. I never could have anticipated that so many people camped out to watch the ball drop in sixteen hours!

As I trekked through the streets, I was more grateful by the minute to the shoe gods—I was sporting a pair of new flats that I snagged in a sale at a local boutique a few weeks ago. They were marked down so much, they were practically begging me to give them a home. How could I resist? Little did I know that New York would be unseasonably warm and I could actually wear them before July! Perhaps my prayers needed to go to the shoe gods and Mother Nature jointly.

A shrill ringing came from my bag and by the sound of it, I knew it was my personal cell phone. I kept two. One was issued from work, to keep a tight leash around me (and all the other associates), and another was my personal phone with the number I'd had since college.

Hello? I answered it without checking the caller ID, knowing it could only be my mother, Theresa Maglia. She was the only person who would call at this time. She was usually an early riser during the school year since she was a teacher, so having two weeks off for the holiday didn't do much to alter her sleep schedule.

NICOLETTE! I groaned when I heard her. Yep, that pitch only belonged to one woman—my mother. As she yelled into the phone I could tell that she was multi-tasking, getting ready for tonight's shindig as she called it.

Yes, Momma, it's me.

She didn't waste a second. Honey, I wish you were home for New Year's! I don't understand why you had to rush off after Christmas. Why couldn't your boyfriend come home with you? You know how much we enjoy our visits with you, but you cut this one so short. I counted my second groan listening to her go on. I'd heard that same diatribe so many times before. Your cousins just stopped by on their way to their parents', she lamented, and when I didn't respond, she exhaled a sigh. Even they came home!

My big Italian family never could resist a reason to celebrate, especially holidays. Anytime they had a chance to gather around good food and good wine they took it and turned it into an extravaganza. The most recent of which was Christmas, but when I got on the plane to come home, so did Dessi and Gio, my two cousins who traveled regularly for work. I thought I was safe with them going off again because they were practically never home either. But apparently, what they failed to tell me was that they were coming home again in less than a week. Who had that kind of time? Some of us had to work.

My family knew my life was going to be like this. First, when I sat for the New York and Florida Bar exams. Then, when I accepted a job in New York. Yet, neither of those facts stopped them from assuming I would be able to drop everything and come home whenever.

Momma, most of them live in Florida! I said about my cousins, fully exasperated, but continued anyway to try to put an end to this. You know that I could not take both holidays off, and I chose Christmas, so now I have to work. And Bryan would have come home with me at Christmas, if he could of, but he had a tight deadline for a project with the city. Sure, I had New Year's Day off, but because it was in the middle of the week, one day was not nearly enough time to fly back to—and from—Florida. It wasn't even worth going there though.

I knowww, she dragged the word out like her students did. I just wish you both could ring in the New Year with us. It would make it that much more special. She didn't say what I only imagined she was thinking—she expected this holiday to be the holiday where my boyfriend became my fiancé.

I let her comment slide. Me, too. Have a great party and be safe. I love you.

You, too! Watch out in the city, I know how wild it can get, but you be careful.

The line went dead.

Phone calls with my mother could be so taxing when she did not get her way. Between that call, the foot traffic, and the day ahead of me, I could only hope for a quiet night at home with Bryan and a good bottle of wine. But for now, I knew I had to close the deal I was working on and that was the only thing I could think of as I rode the elevator to the top floor.

Good morning. My name is Nicolette Maglia. I'm here to meet Mr. Hataki for a meeting.

I'll let him know you've arrived. Please take a seat.

***

I decided to take the subway back to the office, but first I needed to stop for a quick lunch. With all of my nerves over my morning meeting, I couldn't eat, but now that it was over, I was definitely ready for an egg croissant sandwich.

I dashed into my favorite café and placed my order, which was delivered to the small table where I made myself at home. I chugged my espresso—being Italian after all, that stuff, along with wine, ran through my veins.

I pulled out my firm-issued work phone to check my messages when I saw I missed a call from the office. I dialed into my voicemail. Congrats Nicolette! I heard the good news. Mr. Hataki called me to sing your praises. He was very impressed with you and your knowledge on this deal. You've done your homework and earned quite a bit of accolades for the firm. This is just the kind of dedication we were looking for from you. Please, take the rest of the day off and we'll see you back in the office on the 2nd. Have a great New Year's.

I couldn't help myself, I hung up and was beaming. Thank you, freedom gods, for that little gift of the afternoon off!

I would actually be able to enjoy my breakfast and grab a newspaper to skim, too. I'd love to say that I enjoyed the newspaper for the scintillating stories, but really, I loved it for the cartoons, ads, and trend section. Growing up, my cousins and I used to always pilfer through the Sunday paper Daddy got delivered to the house. By the time he got to it, only the obituaries and world news were left. He never complained though, he used to sit back and laugh while reading the rejects. Once we all tired of our respective sections, he always knew where to find them—scattered around the patio—and finally sat down to read the whole paper. Usually by dinnertime he had it finished.

Heading home it dawned on me that the firm put me to the test. They were challenging me to see if I could handle what they doled out. I didn't know how I felt about that, but decided I wasn't going to get into that, not when I was ready to slip into some comfortable clothes and cuddle with Bryan.

Two

Bryan and I first met when I was living in Florida. Daddy hired him to be the consulting architect on one of his hotel renovations. We got along so well. It was natural for us to slide from an easy-going friendship into a relationship.

My parents adored him, too. Daddy even offered him a permanent job with Maglia Development, but Bryan liked his freedom, so he declined and moved to the Big Apple with me.

After fourteen months together, we had a solid foundation on which we built our relationship, but as I sat watching the street-level festivities from our balcony, I couldn't help but wonder what was missing. Something must have been missing, because I was in one spot, and Bryan was in another, snoozing.

It was supposed to be a romantic evening, yet even with him in physical proximity, I felt lonely all the same. Thankfully, my sister Ava was never far from her phone, bless her heart, because I needed to talk to someone.

What, are you glued to your phone? I asked, secretly appreciating it when she answered on the first ring.

You know that I don't take breaks, not even when they're school-designated. I was able to secure that independent study class, so I'm reading and preparing for it. I want that paper done by spring break.

Ava was the hardest working senior at her college. That was why she was going to graduate first in her class in May, having finished two majors no less. She already received her acceptance letter from my law school alma mater.

What's the focus of your paper?

She told me all about this one professor who really inspired her and how Ava got her to agree to an independent study on immigration reform. Apparently, she hoped to get it published when she was done.

Sounds interesting, but why aren't you out with the family or your friends?

I was at Aunt Fran's earlier, but I left as soon as the clock struck midnight. What are you doing, or rather not doing, since you're on the phone with me?

I told her about my day, but left out my suspicions about my sneaky boss. And so Bryan and I decided to stay in this year, but he fell asleep long ago. He really was enjoying his day of relaxation a bit too much. I sat back and sighed.

I'll say. Hey, Nic, I'm going with Daddy to check out the hotel in Molokai over spring break for a few days. Why don't you come with us? I figure this will be my last real spring break, so I want to do it right.

Oh yeah, going away with your father on a business trip is the real deal for spring break! I laughed at her, but she knew I was only kidding. Traveling had always been a favorite in my family, and the presence of parents never hindered our good time.

Well, come with me! I'll even get Dessi and Grace to come, then it'll be a girls vaycay! Her excitement level began to rise. I may even invite Felicity, if she's willing to fly. You know how my BFF hates flying.

Okay, I'd love to see those cousins of mine, I said thinking about my earlier phone call with Momma. Did you know Dessi was coming home again for New Year's?

No, it was last minute.

Oh. I went mum. If that was true, then I supposed I couldn't hold it against her.

Well, I better go. Say 'hi' to Bryan for me, Ava said before she got off the line to return to her studies.

Moseying my way back inside, I looked around and wondered how I got here as I shut the television, corked up the wine, and threw an afghan over Bryan's sleeping form. As a little girl, I used to dream about being a big-time lawyer, coming home to my loving husband and our dozen kids. If only young-Nicolette could see me now.

***

It's all worked out so I could leave the office a little early on Friday. Just tell me where you want me to meet you, I announced and darted a glance at Bryan to see if I could catch anything from his expression. It was blank.

What, babe?

Friday, I repeated, tell me where you want me to meet you and if I'll need a blindfold. Unlessss, I dragged out my words intentionally, trying to lighten the mood, this year you want to just tell me where we are going. You know, it doesn't always have to be a surprise. I raised my eyebrows suggestively.

What doesn't have to be a surprise? A look of confusion crossed his face, taking his hazel eyes prisoner, turning them a muted shade of brown. His eyes were his best quality, so expressive—changing colors with his moods.

I see how you want to play this. Okay, never mind.

He returned to his sketches without another word. He had been working on a project for the city, and he liked to do his prep work old school, by hand. He complained that technology cramped his style.

With my failed attempt at prying Valentine's Day details from him, I couldn't help but wonder what he had up his sleeve. Although, I couldn't do much more to find out ahead of time, so I dropped the conversation and entered our kitchen where I checked the sauté pan. My onions were caramelizing nicely for the French onion soup I was making. I went about slicing, first the portobello's and then the French bread. There was nothing I loved more than sitting down to a yummy bowl of soup on a cold winter's night, and winter finally had reared its ugly head in New York.

We had our first blizzard of the year a few days before and the nip in the air was seriously bone-chilling. My Florida blood would never get used to weather below sixty degrees. Bryan managed better than I did because he was born and raised in Illinois before moving to Florida for his brief stint in the Sunshine State.

I made soup for lunch, hun. Come in when you're ready, I yelled into the other room.

When I got no response, I sat down to enjoy the fruits of my labor, letting it warm me from the inside out. My mother would be proud, she always wanted her girls to be self-sufficient in the kitchen. To provide for your family, she would say. After many years of failed meals, I finally found my footing in the kitchen.

I needed to hear her voice, so I dialed her number. Hey, Momma.

Hi, dear. How are you doing? I saw the weather report. You better be keeping warm.

I am, Momma. I even made soup. Here, I'll send you a picture. Hold on. I pulled up my camera, snapped a photo, and sent it her way.

She put me on speakerphone. Oh my, I'm so proud of you. It looks yummy. I could hear a big smile cross her face.

Next I'll try grandma's minestrone, if this weather keeps up.

"Ahh, delizioso. Now, the smile was all mine at the familiar trace of Italian. So, I hear you and the girls are catching a ride with your father to Hawaii in a few weeks. Your aunts and I thought we would join you girls. We may even try to get Jo to join us if we can pry her away from Gramps and the farm."

My grandmother Josephina Jo Dotti Magalia was born and raised in Italy. After coming to America to start a family with my grandfather, Giovanni, at only eighteen years old, they decided to go back when their three sons went off to college and her brother passed away, leaving the family farm to her. She always said that farm life in Campania was more for her, but I'd swear she's the only woman who could get down and dirty on the farm, but also glam it up for Fashion Week. Usually, we only saw her during the holidays, but this would be a real treat since they didn't fly in for Christmas.

Sounds wonderful! When I get home, maybe we can take a quick shopping trip. I'll need a few new swimsuits. I mentally started packing and realized I needed to add a few more select pieces to my wardrobe.

Noted. I'll start looking when I'm out, but I got to run now. I have a few more papers to grade before progress reports go out.

Three

I snuck out of the condo early to put in extra hours at the office so I could leave early like I promised Bryan. Although, I made sure to leave a Valentine's Day card on the kitchen counter by the espresso machine where I was certain he would find it. In fact, I was expecting a call from him any minute to wish me the same sentiments on the romance-filled day.

But I hadn't gotten that call. Not that I would've had time to talk if he did reach out because I was flooded with little tasks as soon as I stepped foot in the office—write a memo, draft a motion, and brief my boss on the results of my last meeting with Mr. Hataki.

I had a feeling he already knew the results of that meeting, but I'd appease him nonetheless. He was always one step ahead of me where Mr. Hataki was concerned.

The morning flew by as I crossed all the tasks off my list. When I finally had a chance to look up from my computer screen, there still weren't any messages from Bryan. I gave in and sent one to him: My Valentine, I can't wait to see you! Soon.

Surprisingly, I got a quick beep in response: Hey Nic, me, too. We need to talk when you get home. When will that be?

Before responding, I inspected his words for hidden clues or meanings. Nothing. I did notice the distinct lack of I love you or terms of endearment of any kind. Suddenly, I had a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. Preparing the motion for summary judgment was going to have to wait.

I was able to reduce my anxieties using meditation breathing, a necessary skill for a lawyer, but it didn't change the fact that I knew deep down this was not going to be a good chat.

Following my gut instinct, I figured out that I wasn't too upset when I really thought about the possibilities of what he wanted to talk about. Something had been off with us for the past few weeks, maybe even months.

That afternoon I approached our condo slowly, taking a deep breath before entering. Usually, I would have kicked of my shoes, but at that moment, I felt like I needed them on my feet. My guard was up. There was no reason to be comfortable when I felt so, well, uncomfortable in my own home.

Nicolette, is that you? Bryan came out of the den carrying a few boxes stacked neatly. Suddenly, all I saw were boxes and luggage. What the hell was going on?

Are we going somewhere?

No, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. He gestured around. A few weeks ago, I was offered a special project in Ohio and I finally decided to take it since my project with the city just wrapped up and I'm a free man on the work front.

I stood in stunned silence, my feet rooted to their spot. Right now, my distinct lack of words shocked even me—as a lawyer I was never without words, it was a matter of pride for me in some ways.

He continued, stating the suddenly very obvious, I decided to take it.

Then, he struck me with the next part and I felt like I was getting verbally pummeled. In a few words, he gave me a short synopsis of why we were over.

I know you were hoping for more from me, but we're better suited as friends. I want more for myself and you deserve more, so this is for the best. Still, unrecovered, I stood there with my mouth agape and he didn't stop. I'm leaving tonight. Seeing as you are so amenable and calm to all this, I want to thank you for understanding.

He moved swiftly around the condo a few more times, collecting random boxes, bags, and other items.

I tried to gather my wits before I finally spoke, hoping to avoid sounding nasty, but it didn't matter because it still came out somewhat sarcastic for my own ears. Wow! Well, I will say, I certainly don't feel amenable or calm right now, but I guess I can't say I'm shocked. I've also noticed that we've been growing apart.

I knew you'd be cool with this. You know I want the best for you. Just like I know you want the best for me.

The term cool was a bit of a stretch. I would have been cool with a romantic dinner, or perhaps some justice in the world, but sure, I'd settle for him wanting the best for me.

I extended the lease for another six months to help make sure you're settled. I also changed the lease to be in only your name.

You've thought of everything, I spat out in my annoyance over the way he handled his desire to breakup.

But Bryan didn't seem to catch my tone because he went on, Bye, Nic. Take care of yourself. With those parting words, he walked out. I could not breathe and even meditation was not going to help.

As the afternoon sun started to set, the sky's inevitable darkness could