A Blended Family Christmas: A Short Story: Eugeena Patterson Family Shorts, #2

By Tyora Moody

Eugeena Patterson is marrying her neighbor and companion, Amos Jones. Her family and friends are happy to finally see the couple walk down the aisle. But there's something missing.

Since his wife's death, Amos has been estranged from his two daughters. Eugeena encourages Amos to reach out to his daughters by inviting them to spend Christmas with him.

Will Amos' family accept the invitation and will they accept the pending nuptials?

Take a sneak peek at Chapter 1 from A Simmering Dilemma, Eugeena Patterson, Book 4.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tymm Publishing LLC
• Release date: Dec 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393218074

Tyora Moody

Tyora Moody is the author of Soul-Searching Mysteries, which includes cozy mystery, women sleuth mystery, and mystery romance under the Christian Fiction genre. Her books include the Eugeena Patterson Mysteries, Joss Miller Mysteries, Serena Manchester Mysteries, and many more series.  When Tyora isn't working for a client or doing something literary, she enjoys reading, spending time with family, binge-watching crime shows, catching a movie on the big screen, and traveling.  To contact Tyora about book club discussions or for book marketing workshops, visit her online at TyoraMoody.com.

Book preview

Chapter 1

7 Days Before Christmas

I’m not sure how our Christmas shopping got so off track. I suspected my daughter, Leesa, and new daughter-in-law, Carmen had something to do with my current predicament. Both women had been grinning way too much for me this morning. It was eight thirty on a Saturday morning and neither one of these young women were that enthusiastic about starting weekend errands before twelve o’clock noon.

Now I was excited about Christmas shopping as much as the next person, but I was not looking forward to being around crowds. The shopping trip wasn’t too bad, since I managed to pick up some toys for my three grandchildren above age six. They were old enough to slip me hints. The other two grands that were under age three weren’t that hard to please either.

This grandma did a good job with her Christmas list. Yes, I did!

When we turned the corner to head towards the food court, my suspicions were confirmed that something was up. My aunt Cora popped up from the bench and waved at us. Cora was my father’s youngest sister. Interestingly, she was two years older than me. We were more like sisters and talked a few times a week. Funny, when we talked on the phone yesterday, Cora didn’t mention she was going to meet us for Christmas shopping.

I eyed all three women, What’s going on?

Cora grinned and winked conspiratorially at the other two women, We have a surprise for you.

With that statement, I found myself whisked away by three family members into a bridal boutique of all places. A few months ago, I had been planning Carmen’s wedding to my middle son, Cedric. We stood in this same boutique watching her try on dresses. This time, I wasn’t the wedding planner.

I was the bride.

Still, a wedding dress was not anywhere on my Christmas shopping list. I wasn’t ready for this. My beau, Amos Jones, only proposed less than two months ago. While I accepted, I wasn’t in a hurry to get married. I mean the man was my next door neighbor. I saw him almost every day.

A few years ago, I was unhappy about my empty nest, especially with my husband passing away. I’d never really experienced living alone before and I didn’t like it. Not one bit!

But that all changed the first summer of my retirement from teaching. It was unfortunate, but my life was flipped upside down when I found the dead body of a dear friend in her home. Since that horrific day, my life hasn’t been dull. In fact, I seem to stumble upon one predicament…or should I say one crime after another.

Despite my protests that this wedding planning was all too soon, I stood inside a dressing room, facing a three-way mirror. I’d pulled the second wedding dress over my body, quite thankful to see it fit. The first one didn’t even make it over my hips. That was truly a sad sight to behold in three mirrors at the same time.

Do you hear what I hear? was playing over the boutique’s speakers. Normally, I loved listening to Whitney Houston’s version, but my mind was wrapped up in my current state, with my holiday mood being smothered by satin and lace. 

I see why young people threatened to elope. At my age, that seemed like the better choice. Maybe I should run this by Amos. I always loved hearing his stories about being in Vegas, and I’d never been.

I let out a breath, scrutinizing myself in the three-way mirror. I was one of those people who could never hide their true feelings from their face. Sure enough, my nose was turned up as if I smelled something bad.

Lord Jesus, help me. That was all the prayer I could muster, though I’m pretty sure I knew the answer. This wasn’t the dress.  Now if I was forty years younger with more of an hourglass shape… maybe. This was the season for miracles, but I was a realist.

  A knock on the dressing room door broke my intense concentration.

A shrill voice asked, How are the dresses working for you, Ms. Patterson?

I sighed and rubbed my hands down the silky material. I had asked the attendant to help me select off-white dresses. I was a woman of age and