No Reservations

By Elizabeth Coldwell

FROM POPULAR ROMANCE AUTHOR ELIZABETH COLDWELL

Book two in the Holiday Falls series

She' s plumb lucky to have found a hot younger man, but will the age difference get in the way?

Miranda Hickman has successfully run the Maltby Farm Inn, the top-rated bed and breakfast spot in Holiday Falls, since her husband walked out on her for another woman. She can cope with most problems, but a plumbing emergency requires professional help, and that' s when Zach Peters walks into her life.

They make an instant connection, and Miranda finds herself having the best sex of her life. Zach is cute and capable, but he' s also thirteen years younger than Miranda, and he can' t stay with one woman for too long. It doesn' t seem like it should be a problem, but as the relationship progresses, Miranda begins to realize it' s a lot to navigate. Is it her imagination, or does Zach not want to be seen out with her in Holiday Falls? She doesn' t want to be his dirty secret, but will her reservations hold her back from being with a man who makes her feel like no one else ever has?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781839436802

Elizabeth Coldwell

Elizabeth Coldwell is a multi-published author and editor whose stories have appeared in a number of best-selling anthologies. She has written novels in a variety of different genres, from paranormal to BDSM and contemporary romance. She is the former editor of the UK edition of Forum magazine and the proud winner of an International Leather Award. When she is not busy writing, she is an avid supporter of Rotherham United Football Club and can be regularly found on the terraces at weekends, cheering her boys to victory (hopefully!).

Book preview

Totally Bound Publishing books by Elizabeth Coldwell

Single Books

Something Within Him

Neil and Obey

The Feel of Wings

Away from it All

Wagers of Sin

Everything to Him

More Than Vanilla

Night Voices

Steal Your Soul Away

Beyond His Control

Mr December

Holiday Falls

Closed for Christmas

Anthologies

Treble: Three-Part Harmony

Sensory Limits: Cruise Control

Collections

Christsmas Crackers: The Christmas Box

Feral: Abyssinian Heat

Mi Amore: Missing in Milan

Paramour: Maestro

Rules of Summer: Tamed in Tuscany

We Three Kings: Temporary Angel

Her Harem: Wild in the Country

A Wolf in Billionaire’s Clothing: Wolf in the City

Holiday Falls

NO RESERVATIONS

ELIZABETH COLDWELL

No Reservations

ISBN # 978-1-83943-680-2

©Copyright Elizabeth Coldwell 2023

Cover Art by Erin Dameron-Hill ©Copyright April 2023

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

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The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2023 by Totally Bound Publishing, United Kingdom.

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Book two in the Holiday Falls series

She’s plumb lucky to have found a hot younger man, but will the age difference get in the way?

Miranda Hickman has successfully run the Maltby Farm Inn, the top-rated bed and breakfast spot in Holiday Falls, since her husband walked out on her for another woman. She can cope with most problems, but a plumbing emergency requires professional help, and that’s when Zach Peters walks into her life.

They make an instant connection, and Miranda finds herself having the best sex of her life. Zach is cute and capable, but he’s also thirteen years younger than Miranda, and he can’t stay with one woman for too long. It doesn’t seem like it should be a problem, but as the relationship progresses, Miranda begins to realize it’s a lot to navigate. Is it her imagination, or does Zach not want to be seen out with her in Holiday Falls? She doesn’t want to be his dirty secret, but will her reservations hold her back from being with a man who makes her feel like no one else ever has?

Dedication

For Lord T

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Tylenol: McNeil Consumer Healthcare

Chevy: General Motors

Aerosmith: Aerosmith

Nickelback: Nickelback

Space Invaders: Taito Corporation/Square Enix Co. Ltd.

Pac-Man: Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.

FaceTime: Apple Inc.

WD-40: WD-40 Company

Cinnamon Toast Crunch: General Mills

Tupperware: Tupperware Brands

Bridget Jones’s Diary: Universal Pictures/Little Bird/StudioCanal/Working Title Films

Netflix: Netflix, Inc.

Chapter One

This isn’t good.

Miranda stared at the water gushing from the broken pipe that led to the showerhead, then at the rapidly spreading pool on the bathroom floor. Even with only three guest rooms to clean every day, something always had the potential to go wrong. When she found anything amiss though, it was usually nothing more serious than a clogged sink or a loose handle on the nightstand drawer. Something she could fix with the aid of a screwdriver and a little elbow grease.

This, on the other hand…

This is the last thing I need right now.

The couple who would be staying in the pink room—the couple who were due to arrive in less than three hours—had mentioned they were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary when they’d made the booking. Miranda had already placed a big bouquet of red roses and a bottle of Californian sparkling wine on the table as a welcome gift, alongside the bowl of fruit she always kept filled for guests. But it didn’t matter how cozy and welcoming the bedroom felt if the floor of the en suite bathroom was under an inch of water and the shower was doing its best impression of Niagara Falls.

There wasn’t any point in wishing Tom were around to help. He was long gone, and he wasn’t coming back. Ever since he’d moved to Pittsburgh to live with her so-called best friend, Joni, Miranda had gotten used to running the inn single-handedly.

You can cope with this, she told herself, fighting not to panic. The first thing to do was turn the water off at the stopcock. At least that would prevent the leak from getting any worse. Still, it took her a few seconds to remember its location—under the kitchen sink.

Miranda dashed down the main stairs to the lobby, through the breakfast room and into the kitchen. She flung open the door of the cupboard beneath the large butcher’s sink, and had to pull boxes of cleaning supplies, dishwasher tabs, and tea lights out of the way to reach the pipes. The stopcock was stiff, and at first, she feared she wouldn’t get it to move. Then it turned in her hands and she let out a long sigh of relief.

When she tried the taps, the water that had backed up in the pipes streamed out for a moment, then stopped.

Well, at least I managed that part okay, she muttered as she snatched up her cell phone from the kitchen table. She scrolled through her contacts list till she found Lance Peters’ number. He’d been handling the plumbing and electrics for the Maltby Farm Inn for as long as she and Tom had owned the place, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to call him out for an emergency.

He answered the phone on the third ring.

Hi, Lance, it’s Miranda from Maltby Farm.

Hey, Miranda, how are you? His voice was little more than a croak.

I’m fine, just about, but you sound hella rough.

Yeah, I’ve got this bug that’s going around. I’ve been laid up in my bed for the last couple days. Donna’s been nursing me with chicken soup and Tylenol.

Oh. Miranda’s heart sank. If Lance was out of commission, where would she find another plumber she could trust on short notice?

Everything okay there? Lance asked.

Well, I have a problem with my pipes. It’s kind of an emergency, and I’d been hoping you could come take a look, but…

What sort of problem?

I’m not sure, exactly, but there’s a leak in one of the en suite bathrooms. I’ve turned the water off at the mains for now, but if I don’t get this sorted, I’m going to have to start turning guests away. She thought of the Connollys, driving to the inn from two states over to celebrate their anniversary, and prayed she wouldn’t have to cancel their booking. She clutched the hem of her cable-knit sweater and twisted it between her fingers, a nervous habit she’d never been able to give up.

Lance must have heard the desperation in her voice. Don’t worry, Miranda. Zach’s fixing a dripping faucet for a woman over in Pittsfield, but as soon as he’s finished up there, I’ll get him to come straight over to you.

Zach? He’s working with you now? I thought he moved to Boston.

Yeah, well, things didn’t quite pan out for him there. You know what that boy of mine is like. Anyway, he’s been back four months now. I’m surprised you haven’t seen him around town.

I don’t know that he and I run in the same circles, Miranda said with a chuckle.

She didn’t mention that until a couple of months ago, she’d stopped venturing out for social occasions or to do much more than shop for supplies. Tom’s betrayal had hit her hard, and there had been times when all she’d wanted to do was lie in bed and pull the covers over her head until the hurt went away. Instead, she’d plastered on a smile and given all her guests the warm, professional Maltby Farm Inn welcome, never letting the pain show through. Recently, things had begun to change for the better, or so she hoped.

Well, I’m enjoying having him working alongside me again. Lance broke off to cough, the sound muffled by what Miranda assumed to be his hand over his phone.

I’d better not keep you talking any longer.

Oh, I sound a lot worse than I am, Lance assured her. But I’ll get in touch with Zach as soon as I’ve finished talking to you. All being well, I figure he’ll be with you within the hour.

Thanks so much, Lance. And feel better soon.

Miranda ended the call and went to mop up the water from the broken pipe.

* * * *

Forty minutes later, someone knocked at the front door. When Miranda went to open it, she found Zach Peters standing on the porch.

She stared at him for a moment, struck by his height and the broadness of his shoulders, and wondered