The Stonemason and the Lady
Dear Editor Book Two
Emily Sharpe
Published by Blushing Books
An Imprint of
ABCD Graphics and Design, Inc.
A Virginia Corporation
977 Seminole Trail #233
Charlottesville, VA 22901
©2020
All rights reserved.
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The trademark Blushing Books is pending in the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Emily Sharpe
The Stonemason and the Lady
Amazon ISBN: 978-1-64563-593-2
Barnes & Noble ISBN: 978-1-64563-594-9
Kobo ISBN: 978-1-64563-595-6
Apple ISBN: 978-1-64563-596-3
Print ISBN: 978-1-64563-597-0
Audio ISBN: 978-1-64563-598-7
v1
Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design
This book contains fantasy themes appropriate for mature readers only. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual sexual activity.
Contents
Note from the Author
1. Bridesmaid Day
2. New Guy at Work
3. News and New Things
4. Plans All Around
5. Bride and Groom Day
6. Florida
7. An Early Celebration
8. Thanksgiving Party
9. The Ten-Cent Tour
10. Christmas Approaches
11. Christmas in Florida
12. Healings of Different Kinds
13. Things Come to a Head
14. Anti-climactic
15. All is Well
Halloween News
Emily Sharpe
Blushing Books
Blushing Books Newsletter
Dedicated to the fine writers of Use Your Words writing group, at the Inner Truth Project, in Port St. Lucie, Florida and to my first real editor—all of whom encouraged me to keep going.
Note from the Author
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Some locations mentioned are in existence. Resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental, but the author sincerely hopes that all of us find the kind of love and happiness that is possible.
It's never too late!
1
Bridesmaid Day
Eric stretched on the bed beside his fiancée, waking her. Donna opened her eyes to bright sunlight streaming through the white slatted blinds. A beautiful fall morning and a wonderful day. In a few hours, she would help her best friend prepare for her wedding and stand at the front of the church with her. She sighed at the thought.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Eric asked, turning over on his side and reaching up to brush an errant blonde curl from Donna's face. A strand of his long strawberry blonde hair fell in front of his shoulder.
Donna giggled and pulled the strand gently so that he would bring his mouth closer for a good morning peck. "I think you can afford more than a penny."
Eric shook his head so that the sunlight caught his thick hair and beard. He was clean-shaven when they'd first met a year ago, but he had grown it back, and then some. He kept things neat, but his handsome features reminded Donna of a Scottish laird of old. Sometimes she wished he would act more like a laird, more… forceful. She could easily see him in the cast of Outlander, and what she wouldn't give to play the maiden who caught his eye! You've got a lot more than his eye, her inner self chided.
"I need another job before that." Eric chuckled, not really worried. A talented stonemason, he'd recently finished one large job on the new city hall downtown, but nothing loomed on the horizon in the foreseeable future. "You'll find my life is one of feast or famine. Here in a bit, I'll have cycled back to famine. At least you've got a steady job, babe."
Donna wriggled from his embrace to get dressed, feeling his eyes on her as she walked to the closet for her robe. The bedroom was decorated for her and by her, in pastels and florals, feminine and completely suited to her perky disposition. The couple had consummated their relationship some months earlier in the room on the other side of the wall, however—the room where they had enjoyed quite a night of play just hours before. That room was decorated quite differently.
As Donna made a quick breakfast, Eric pulled on jeans and winced slightly. Donna's crop had been delightfully firm last night. Feeling the tenderness brought it all back, and he smiled as he readjusted himself in order to zip up the jeans. As much as he'd like to, he knew better than to call to Donna and suggest they return to bed in either room. She was on a mission. Bridesmaid Day was circled prominently on the calendar in the kitchen, and she had been counting down for weeks. There would be no time for an encore performance in the red room until late that night.
Pouring a steaming cup of coffee, Eric sat down in one of the dinette chairs and watched Donna move from cabinet to stove, to refrigerator and back. Jessica's getting married today, he thought. There had been a time when he had assumed that whenever that day came, he would be the one standing at the altar to meet her. They had dated a long time. They had seemed destined for marriage. Eric stared off into the distance, remembering.
Donna cleared her throat loudly. "Ahem. I can afford more than a penny."
Eric smiled and took a sip of his coffee. Just the way he liked it, black, no sweetener. "I was just thinking of the day we met."
Donna smiled as she expertly flipped the cheese omelet. "I was standing in line at the hot dog stand—"
"And you turned around and said hi because you are just naturally friendly, and I told you I'd come downtown to surprise my girlfriend for lunch, and then we—"
"Sat by the fountain and talked and laughed and ate our hot dogs and you told me you'd seen her with another man at a restaurant, so you didn't follow through, but—"
"I knew that something magic had happened when we met, and I broke up with Jessica that very night, over… if memory serves, a damn good pizza."
Donna slid the omelet onto a plate and brought it and two forks to the little table.
