Winter Can Wait: A Novella (Seasons of Summer Novella Series Book 2)

  Winter Can Wait

  A Novella

  Seasons of Summer Novella Series: Book Two

  By: Melissa Baldwin

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are 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.

  Copyright © 2017 Melissa Baldwin

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 0692831495

  ISBN 13: 978-0692831496

  I dedicate this book to my dad who rescued me on that awful Valentine’s Day many years ago. I love and miss you!

  Contents

  Winter Can Wait

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Take a sneak peek at the next book in this series . . . To Spring With Love

  Dear Reader:

  About the Author

  About the Book

  Chapter One

  As much as I love Connecticut, I despise the cold. Wasn’t it just summertime yesterday? I wrap the large fleece blanket even more tightly around me while I look over the contract for my next project. Summer Interiors has been flourishing, thanks to my amazing boyfriend, Alexander. One of my latest projects is his friend Nick’s new restaurant. I’ve never decorated a restaurant before and I’m really excited about it. It’s coming along quite nicely, and we’re on schedule for a Valentine’s Day opening. I would think there would be no better night for a grand opening of a restaurant.

  Nick is an interesting guy—very outspoken and charismatic—and this weekend we’re having dinner with him and his girlfriend, Caroline. I’m looking forward to getting to know Alexander’s friends better. I haven’t had much interaction with them other than at the crazy Halloween party at Alexander’s home. And let’s just say that wasn’t the ideal setting to make new friends.

  Another job I’m working on is my landlord’s apartment. This definitely isn’t as fun as the restaurant. Mrs. Rothera and I have an interesting, err . . . friendship. I guess you could say we’re friends. Anyway, a few weeks ago she asked if I would be interested in helping her decorate her place. I reluctantly agreed, and I should have gone with my gut feeling. It turns out she’s one of the most high maintenance clients I’ve ever worked with. Our building consists of four large apartments, and her place is directly below mine, so it’s the exact same layout. It’s a nice size, so that’s not the issue—the issue is the way she questions every suggestion and move I make. Being a psychic, I think she views the world a little differently. Yep—a psychic. I lived here a year and never had any idea until she sprung this little detail on me a few months ago.

  I gather my notes and some paint swatches and head downstairs to show her. When I approach her door, I hear strange music coming from her apartment. I press my ear to the door to get a better listen. All I can hear is the sound of tambourines and chanting. I roll my eyes—here we go.

  I knock loudly on the door, and surprisingly, she answers right away. I wasn’t sure she would be able to hear over that noise, but on the other hand, she probably could see me coming. She is a psychic after all.

  “Come in. I was just finishing my meditation,” she says softly.

  I walk into the dark room. She has the blinds and curtains closed. Thankfully, she turns off the music and opens the curtains. The sunlight pours into the room—much better.

  “I just wanted to drop off these swatches, and I made some notes for you to take a look at,” I say as I lay everything out on the table.

  “Ohhh. Very nice,” she says excitedly. She takes her time looking through everything. In the meantime, I get a text from Alexander, which makes me smile to myself.

  “A message from your sweetie?” she asks, giving me a curious look. “I’m assuming by the expression on your face that things are going well.”

  I blush. “Yes, they are. And I will finally have the opportunity to get to know his best friends a little better this weekend. It will be the first time we will hang out in a social situation. I’ve only met with Nick to discuss his restaurant.”

  Suddenly, her smile fades. “Well, don’t be too disappointed after only one night with new people,” she says vaguely.

  What’s that supposed to mean?

  “Disappointed?” I repeat. “Why would I be disappointed? I’m looking forward to it.”

  She starts flipping through the paint swatches again. “It will just take some time.”

  I’m silent for a few seconds. “Mrs. Rothera, what exactly are you implying? Are you saying they’re going to hate me or something?” I give a nervous laugh.

  She puts the swatches down and folds her hands on the table. “Hate is such a strong word.”

  She always does this—she avoids the question and gives vague answers. What I’m getting from this is that Alexander’s friends are not going to be receptive to me at first. And that’s fine, because I can deal with that. It’s not like they would come between us, right?

  I need to make up an excuse to leave so she doesn’t start giving me any more unsolicited advice.

  “Okay—well, I’m going to leave these with you,” I say, pointing to the samples I brought. “As soon as you make your decision, I will get everything ordered.”

  She nods. “I will look through them now.” She pauses as she takes another peek through the stack. “Do you have any with purple? I’m thinking purple and gold would be nice, maybe a Moroccan theme? Lots of mosaics and we could hang lanterns everywhere.”

  I grit my teeth as I force a smile. Here we go again. Every other day she wants to use a different theme. The first style she wanted was Victorian, next she wanted Shabby Chic, and then those styles were too much so she decided on Minimalist. I guess that was too boring, so now she wants Moroccan.

  “I’m not sure I have any of those colors in this batch. I can bring some next time I come.”

  She claps her hands together. “Wonderful. I promise this will be it. I have a feeling this will suit me best.”

  I smile. “It’s no problem. I want you to be happy with what you choose.”

  I make some notes of her requests, and I can see that she’s staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I have no doubt she’s watching for my reaction or she’s having some kind of vision. Probably both.

  “I hope I didn’t worry you by what I said about Alexander’s friends,” she says softly.

  “No,” I lie. She gives me a skeptical look.

  “New relationships can be exciting but challenging in some aspects. Especially when blending two lives together with old friends and new friends.”

  I nod in agreement.

  Of course I’m totally worried and nervous about spending time with Alexander’s friends. I’m especially nervous because they used to be Alexander and Helena’s friends. Helena is Alexander’s ex-wife, she also happens to be a model from Sweden, and according to Alexander, she can be a lot to take. (Whatever that means.)

  Their divorce was mutual and very amicable, so at least I won’t have to deal with a crazy ex. And if Nick and Caroline had a good relationship with Helena, then I will for sure be known as the new girlfriend. You never know how that will be received.

  Now th
at Mrs. Rothera has shared her latest piece of advice, I’m completely frazzled and I’m sure I will be thinking about it for the next two days. I definitely didn’t sign up for having my own psychic. And now it appears that I do.

  I’ve tried to tell her many times that I wasn’t interested in any details of things to come, but she doesn’t catch my drift. And what makes it even worse is that she’s my landlord. Taking all of this into consideration, I think it may be time for me to find a new place to live.

  ~*~*~

  The more I think about it, I really hate the idea of moving because it’s so much work, even though it’s probably the right thing to do. As much as I love my place, it’s also a reminder of my past, and by past, I mean a past relationship.

  My ex-boyfriend Jake and I were together for eighteen months until he freaked out while we were on vacation together. Shortly after that breakup, I was hired to decorate Alexander’s home and we clicked right away. Jake tried to win me back, but I had already moved on (mostly).

  My relationship with Alexander has been pretty great so far; of course, it’s still new and exciting. We have had our share of things to overcome in a short amount of time, namely his overbearing assistant Melanie. I actually don’t have any issue with her, but she certainly doesn’t care for me, and to her credit, she doesn’t try to fake it, which I can totally respect. She’s worked with Alexander for a long time and I would never try to interfere with his business relationships. I’m pretty sure that Melanie did (or does) want their relationship to be more than just business, but that’s just a feeling I have. Alexander insists she’s just “overprotective” and cautious. He is sure it has nothing to do with romantic feelings on her part, but I disagree. For one thing, Alexander is quite a catch—he’s very successful, incredibly good-looking (he could be identical twins with Clark Kent from Superman), and very attentive. What woman wouldn’t want to find someone with these qualities? I’m actually surprised he wasn’t scooped up between May, when his divorce was final, and when we met in September.

  When I first met Melanie, I went out of my way to befriend her, but she wanted nothing to do with it so I no longer waste my time. I guess you could say that we are learning to coexist with one another, and some days are better than others.

  When I arrive to meet my best friend, Angie, for lunch, I’m preoccupied with both the possibility of moving and my upcoming night out with Alexander’s friends.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Angie yells as soon as she sees me. I pretend to cover my ears and she rolls her eyes.

  She’s not actually yelling at me, she just speaks so loudly that it sounds like she’s yelling.

  “Seriously, I don’t talk that loud,” she exclaims, making every effort to lower her voice.

  I laugh. “Okay, did you forget how long we’ve known each other?”

  She waves her hand. “Whatever. Now tell me what’s bothering you. And don’t ever go to Vegas with that poker face.”

  I tell her about my conversation with Mrs. Rothera.

  She shakes her head. “You need to stop stressing about this. Why don’t you just embrace her trying to help you?”

  Her reaction doesn’t surprise me. She actually hired Mrs. Rothera to do psychic readings at our Halloween party. She’s all about knowing what’s going to happen in her future.

  I take a sip of my water. “It’s not just that. I’m nervous about what she said because I know she’s right. It doesn’t take a psychic to know that it may be difficult getting to know Alexander’s friends who also happen to be Helena’s friends.”

  She makes a face. “Come on. I’m sure they know that the divorce was a mutual decision. There’s no reason for them not to like you. Maybe you won’t be besties right off the bat, but I doubt they’re going to hate you.”

  I give her a grateful smile. “I know I’m probably overreacting, and considering Nick already hired me as their decorator, I shouldn’t be so concerned.”

  “Exactly,” she exclaims. “On that note, how are things with my friend Alexander?”

  She likes to take credit for Alexander and me getting together, which isn’t exactly the case considering things were already heating up while I was decorating his house. However, it was her Halloween party that pushed us to take that step forward.

  I can feel myself start to blush. “Things are good other than we haven’t had much time together lately,” I reply. “He’s been working some long hours in the city, and I’ve been busy with my new clients. That’s even more reason for things to go well this weekend.”

  She waves her hand at me. “Stop.”

  I decide to change the subject before Angie continues to yell at me for making a big deal out nothing.

  “So, I’m thinking of looking for a new place to live.”

  She gives me a confused look. “Really? Why?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “Mostly because Mrs. Rothera is constantly in my business, but besides that, it’s probably time to move on. The whole place still reminds me of Jake. I made a decision months ago to move on from the past, and I think I’ve done really well so far. Finding a new place to live will make that decision complete.”

  She gets a wicked grin on her face.

  “What?” I ask. I know her well enough to know that the wheels are turning in her brain.

  “I was thinking you could probably move into Alexander’s house. There’s plenty of space and you did decorate the entire house. You could make it more of a roommate situation.”

  I knew she had some crazy plan in her mind.

  I shake my head. “No way. We’ve only been seeing each other a few months. I’m not going to kill our relationship by making that mistake so soon.”

  Angie has a familiar gleam in her eyes. “Don’t even think about it,” I demand.

  She gives me an innocent look. “I have no idea what you’re referring to.”

  I know she’s already planning out some way to casually suggest something to Alexander about me staying at his house.

  “You know exactly what I’m referring to, and if you do it, I will never forgive you.” I fold my arms tightly to my chest trying to show her that I mean business.

  She rolls her eyes. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think? I’m sure Alexander would love having you stay with him. I’ve seen the kind of chemistry you two have . . .” she trails off. I have no doubt where her mind is.

  Truthfully, it’s not that I would mind living with Alexander. I fell in love with his house (read: his house) the first time I went over there. And of course I feel extremely comfortable there being that I know it like the back of my hand. However, I definitely know that neither of us is ready for this kind of commitment, at least the commitment of living together.

  “Very funny,” I say with a laugh. “What about you? Why haven’t you moved in with Brett yet, since you seem to think living together is such a great idea?”

  She throws her head back in laughter. “I said it was a good idea for you. I’m not the one looking for a new place to live.”

  I knew she would say that. Angie is always coming up with brilliant ideas and somehow I always get caught up in them.

  Chapter Two

  “They are going to love you,” Gina says, smacking her gum. I’m spending most of my day in the office, which rarely happens. I share a small office space with my friend Gina. It’s Friday and I’m getting more and more nervous as the time gets closer. You would think I was meeting Alexander’s family for the first time.

  “I don’t understand why you are so worried. Didn’t you already meet them?”

  I nod my head quickly. “Yes, but very briefly. Nick and I were discussing his restaurant. I only said hello to Caroline. She’s actually the one I’m more worried about. You know how women can be.”

  Gina gives me a look. “I certainly do,” she says emphatically. “But, so what if they don’t like you? It’s not like Alexander is going to stop seeing you or anything.”

  I shrug. “I know. But they’
re his best friends. I just want to make a good impression.”

  Gina nods nonchalantly. She’s obviously already lost interest in our conversation. Maybe I am making a bigger deal out of this than I need to. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  I start searching some new décor ideas for Mrs. Rothera’s new Moroccan-themed apartment. I’ve been taking my time being that she will probably change her mind again anyway.

  I actually stayed up late last night looking up places to live online. Alexander has been so busy this week with work, so he has no idea about my sudden plans to move. And I know for a fact that Angie hasn’t said anything to him because I threatened her. Let’s just say we all have secrets and I have a great memory. I know she thinks she’s helping and it’s the thought that counts, but I really don’t want Alexander to think it was my idea that we should move in together.