Maddie James Book Club

“Oh, Suzie. Looks like your flame went out under your pot.” Suzie looked toward where Sarah pointed.

“Darn. You’re right.” The little canned flame under the fondue pot had been difficult to light earlier. She guessed it was out of juice.

She rounded the island and leaned over to inspect the flame. With her lip tucked between her teeth, hands on hips, she rose to assess the situation. “Need my lighter,” she said under her breath. After rummaging around in a nearby utility drawer, she finally came up with one. Bending again, she pulled the can-o-flame from under the fondue pot and struggled with the snap-snap-snap of the trigger to ignite a flame.

She looked up. All eyes were still on her.
“Never mind about me, guys, go on with your ingredients. We’ll light your fires in a minute.”

She bent to fiddle once more with the lighter.

“Darned thing.” She snap-snapped. No luck.

“Mind if I try?”

The voice startled her. She rose to find herself face-to-face with a very nice, black t-shirt covered chest – a chest that she knew all too well – and then gazed up into an incredible set of chocolate-colored eyes.

Brad.

“Huh?” She licked her lips.

“Mind if I try lighting your flame?”

Jim guffawed.

Suzie swallowed. “Um.”

Finally, Brad took the lighter out of her hand.

Five sets of eyes were still on her. She could feel them staring at the back of her head. She then whipped her head around to face them. “Are you all going to make fondue or what!”

Five sets of hands scrambled to grab something in front of them, hastily assembling their ingredients.

“Fondue is the greatest thing.” Brad talked to no one in particular and everyone at the same time while he fiddled with the lighter. Within a few seconds, he’d managed to light the flame, slowly move it back under the fondue pot, and hand the lighter back to Suzie.

“There, that should do it.”

She managed a half-smile. “Um, thanks.”

Brad peered over into the pot of cheese, then picked up a whisk off the counter. “One of the keys to a good fondue,” he began, all eyes on him again, “is in the light whisking of the cheese and wine mixture.” With several rapid flicks of his wrist he managed to whip the cheese and wine into a batter-like consistency. Suzie couldn’t help but take in the sinews of his forearm and wrist, and the firm grasp his long fingers had on the whisk.

She swallowed back memories of his hands. On her. Smoothing. Whisking. Laying them on her.

A flush of heat snaked up the sides of her neck and settled on her cheeks. Crimson. She was growing even more crimson. Great.

“Suzette?”

She glanced up. Brad stood grinning at her. “Um. Oh. Thank you. That demonstration was...um, nice. I’m sure we all will benefit from your hands, er, whisking, er, motions. And, the lighting of the flame thing.”

Brad stared at her for a moment. “Always ready to light your flame, ma’am.” And then with a sly wink, he edged out of the room.

Suzie’s jaw dropped.

For a moment, nothing else moved. And then collectively, every woman in the room sighed long and hard.

On the heels of that collective exhale, Jim released a loud cackle.

“Looks like our Suzie’s got herself a boyfriend.”

She spun toward the man who was her best friend since childhood. “I do not!”

“Do!”

“Not!”

“Do!”

“Not!”

“Well then tell me, Ms. Cookie. Just one thing. That bump on your head have anything to do with the shiner over his left eye? You guys been touching toes or something and get a little frisky?” He belly-laughed as he spit out the words.

Lilly side-armed him in the gut.

Suzie picked up a strawberry and threw it at him.

Maddie,

Here's a comment about Suzie's story: I love it! But I've told you that before, maybe more times than you want to hear it.

For our readers-to-be: Suzie and her B&B are central to the Ladies of Legend: Finding Home anthology, as the heroines in the other three novellas all consider Suzie a good friend and confidante.

Best to you with your new book club, Maddie!

Magdalena Scott

It's true that Midnight has a way with a voodoo doll. I'll bet you were surprised that I'd never had a voodoo doll in a previous story I'd written. Because obviously, this one is so very real to all of us - and will be to any reader who's ever been really, truly angry with men in general.

And that's all I'm saying...for now.

Magdalena Scott
author, Midnight in Legend, TN
novella in LADIES OF LEGEND: FINDING HOME anthology

If you've been waiting to get your ebook copy of Ladies of Legend: Finding Home, the wait is almost up! On Tuesday, January 22, the book will be released in download format.

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

Look for the paperback print version in late February on www.Amazon.com!

maddie