Home for Christmas Series Box Set Duet Read online

  Home For Christmas Series Box Set Duet

  Two Christmas Holiday Romances

  Di Jones

  Write from the Heart Publications

  Contents

  Christmas Harmony

  1. Emery

  2. Harmony

  3. Emery

  4. Harmony

  5. Harmony

  6. Emery

  7. Harmony

  8. Emery

  9. Harmony

  10. Emery

  11. Harmony

  12. Emery

  13. Harmony

  14. Emery

  15. Harmony

  Want More from Harmony and Emery?

  Christmas Hero

  1. Betty

  2. Andy

  3. Betty

  4. Andy

  5. Betty

  6. Andy

  7. Elizabeth

  8. Andy

  9. Elizabeth

  10. Andy

  11. Elizabeth

  12. Andy

  13. Elizabeth

  14. Andy

  15. Elizabeth

  16. Andy

  17. Elizabeth

  18. Andy

  19. Elizabeth

  20. Andy

  Want More from Elizabeth and Andy?

  Christmas Kisses Down Under (Christmas Lights Book 1)

  Hot Kisses in Cold Christmas (Christmas Lights Book 2)

  Author’s Note and Free Book

  Also by Di Jones

  About Me

  Copyright © 2019 Di Jones

  www.dijoneswrites.com

  Christmas Harmony is a work of fiction. All characters in the book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except for text references by reviewers, no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  Kindle Edition

  One

  Emery

  “Did he say what he wanted?” Emery slumped back against the wall of his studio, where he and the band were practicing guitar riffs and lyrics for a new song. His heart thudded in his chest as sweat broke out on his forehead and adrenaline filled the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t spoken to anyone from home in years and one question was uppermost in his mind. Has something bad happened to Harmony? The other guys were trying to appear disinterested in his conversation with Carmen, his manager, who’d arrived only five minutes before, but he could tell they were listening to every word from the silence in the room.

  “Arnold wouldn’t say what he wanted,” Carmen told him. “But I’ve heard from the other guys in the band that he’s been hounding your whole team.”

  Emery was only half listening to what she was saying. Arnold Young was the mayor of Lewiston, a small town in upstate New York, Emery’s hometown. More importantly, Arnold was the father of his ex-girlfriend, Harmony.

  In the five years since Emery had broken up with her and then left the town they’d grown up in, he’d never contacted any member of the Young family. Emery couldn’t imagine why—after all this time—Arnold would touch base with him, unless something had happened to Harmony.

  “Okay. Thanks, Carmen. I’d better call him immediately,” Emery said, running his hand through his thick brown hair in agitation. “You know he’s the mayor of my hometown?”

  “Yes. He told me that about four times during our brief phone conversation.” Carmen’s voice took on a mean pitch, which Emery identified as jealousy. “Isn’t he also the father of your ex-girlfriend?” She pouted, making her botoxed lips even plumper, giving her a bee-stung appearance.

  “Yes, he is. Which is why I need to ring him straight away. Thanks. I’ll be in touch soon.”

  She shook her head at this dismissal, making her thick, honey-colored waves bounce. She gave a low, disappointed growl before turning on her Gucci’s and leaving the studio in a huff.

  “Guys, I’ve got to make a phone call. Carry on without me,” he said to his band mates and before he walked through the door, the bass guitarist was plucking out the beat of a song.

  Emery tried to quell the nerves that were rapidly rising from his stomach into his chest and flowing through his blood stream, flushing his system with a liquid panic. His thinking was disordered as he wondered what might have happened to Harmony, but he knew he needed to hold himself together for the call with her father. He’d thought of her often, always imagining that one day he’d go back to Lewiston, sweep in like a knight on a white horse and ask her if she still loved him. Maybe it was too late…

  Once out of the studio, Emery punched the number Carmen had given him into his iPhone. His hands were shaking. The phone rang at the other end, and just as Emery thought the call would go to voicemail, he heard a click.

  “Hi, this is Arnold Young, Mayor of Lewiston. How can I help you?”” said a smooth, charming voice that Emery remembered well.

  In the few seconds between hearing Arnold’s greeting and Emery’s reply, a flood of memories washed over him. He remembered how he and Harmony had been inseparable, how they had talked of their hopes and dreams, and how she’d supported his aspirations to become a singer. Everyone in town had spoken on how much they loved each other and it had been an assumption that one day they’d marry.

  Arnold had become a second father and he and Gladys both had made Emery part of their family. He felt embarrassed of the way he’d left without saying goodbye to them, or explaining himself. Whatever Arnold had to tell him now, this was going be a difficult conversation, because Emery would have to apologize for his behavior.

  He let out a breath, dreading the exchange but at the same time relieved because something in the tone of Arnold’s greeting assured Emery that the news wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined. A father wouldn’t sound upbeat if someone was wrong with his daughter, would he?

  “Arnold, it’s Emery returning your call.” He paused momentarily. “Is everything okay?”

  “Emery, my boy. How are you? It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

  At the other man’s cheerful tone, Emery slowly let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Relief washed over him now that he was certain Arnold wasn’t phoning to deliver bad news.

  Emery thought quickly, his mind attempting to craft a plausible explanation as to why he hadn’t been in touch in the past few years. There wasn’t a good reason so he decided a simple apology would do instead.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t stay in touch. How are things there?”

  “In a personal sense, things aren’t too bad.” Arnold’s deep voice was as friendly as it had been the last time Emery had spoken with him years before. “I’m going to be honest with you. Lewiston is in dire straits. Things have changed in the five years since you left. Lots of people have moved away, heading to larger towns, and of course many are moving into the city.”

  Emery knew exactly what the man was talking about because Emery’s own parents had left the small town three years ago to be closer to him, their only child. He murmured sympathetically, not wanting to break Arnold’s reply.

  The older man’s sigh whistled down the phone. “We also don’t get as many tourists as we used to, so retail isn’t doing very well here either. What with people driving an hour or more to go to the malls and others using online shopping… things just aren’t thriving here anymore. We’re having a bit of an economic crisis and I’ve been scratching my head wondering what to do about it. How can I inject the x-factor back into the town?”

  As Arnold paused to catch his breath, Emery wondered if this was simply small talk, or whether the town’s demise was the purpose of the call. He ne
eded to satisfy himself because he still wasn’t sure the call wasn’t about Harmony. He ploughed in, determined to put his fear to rest. “How’s the family? How’s Harmony?”

  “The family’s good, thanks, Emery. Gladys and Harmony, yes, they're doing well. Like me, though, they’re both worried about the state of the town. It really isn’t what it used to be.”

  Lewiston had never been a major hub. A cute little place with a sense of community, sure, a nice little tourist town and a good solid place to have grown up, but it was not a large, thriving town. A sense of sadness rolled through him. Although he’d left the town to find greener pastures, Lewiston still held a place in his heart.

  “That’s why I am calling you. You remember the annual Christmas concert?”

  “How could I forget? You know, I think about it every year. The winter festival was one of the highlights of my year.”

  “People used to come from miles around to attend the Christmas Eve concert, but we’re getting increasing competition now. People want to stay home and watch Netflix, not come out on a winter night. So I’ve been thinking about how we could add a bit of excitement this year. Some way that we could put Lewiston back on the map. And you know what I thought?”

  Emery ran a hand over his forehead. He had an idea of where this was going, but it was clearly a rhetorical question, as Arnold didn’t give him time to answer.

  “I believe that you performing in the concert could turn things around here.”

  “Thank you.” His voice was humble even though he knew Arnold was right, because he was one of the biggest draw cards in the music world. His massive success was still a surprise to him and he didn’t take a moment of his celebrity status for granted.

  “Think about it, son, the effect you could have for Lewiston. People would flock from miles around to see you. In fact, it occurred to me that we could get national press for the event and this could put our lovely little town back on the map.” Arnold stopped to take a breath and the silence retained the energy of his enthusiasm. “What do you think? You’d love to help out your old hometown, wouldn’t you?”

  Emery was a nice guy who never liked to say no, but on this one occasion, he couldn’t have, even if he’d wanted to. His defenses were down, partially as a result of his overwhelming relief that Arnold hadn’t been calling with bad news. But there was a lot more to his inability to refuse the Mayor what he wanted. Emery might be a chart-topping recording artist who lived in Los Angeles and travelled the world while he was on tour, but he wasn’t as fulfilled as he expected. He’d always wanted to be a star and while on the surface it seemed all of his dreams had come true, life wasn't the way he assumed it would be as a career musician. When he thought about it long and hard, he could only deduce that he’d left his happiness back in upstate New York with the girl he’d once loved.

  “Is Harmony still the production manager?” he asked. She’d done it since she’d been in her teens. Writing the skits, arranging the music and managing the local talent for the town’s most ambitious event had been a joy to her. Harmony was also a beautiful singer herself, and the two of them had sung a duet in more than one of the concerts.

  “No, it’s not Harmony. She volunteers, but that’s all she does now. She gave up managing the whole shebang three years ago.”

  “Why? She always loved organizing the concert.”

  “She did, but she told her Mom and I that doing the concert made her feel sad after—”

  Emery wished that Arnold had finished his sentence because he wondered—no, he hoped—that his absence made Harmony sad. It wasn’t that he wanted her to be unhappy, but he would have liked to know that she missed him as much as he did her.

  “Anyway, the new manager of the show is Trisha Bell. She’s organized everything since Harmony stepped away. Do you remember her?”

  Emery sure did remember Trisha. He’d had a fling with her just before the summer that he and Harmony had gotten together. Trisha had hoped their ‘romance’ would continue and had been jealous of the love that he and Harmony had shared. On numerous occasions she’d tried to entice him back with offers of sex, but he’d never taken her up on her booty calls because he knew the first time he’d kissed Harmony that she was the one for him.

  He gave a noncommittal reply, thinking ahead to his Christmas schedule. The holiday season was going to be a surprisingly quiet time of year for him, apart from one or two smaller engagements that he wasn’t even sure Carmen had already committed him for. But he knew his manager wouldn’t be happy if he left town as she liked to keep him close, not only to keep the money rolling in but in case she wanted a hookup. He and Carmen had dated for a while, but in his mind they weren’t an item any longer, although she wanted them to be. For Emery it was clear. He didn’t owe her anything beyond the hefty commission she got from being his manager.

  “You know what, Arnold? I’d like to do something to help the town. And you know how much I always loved the concert. Yes, I’ll do it—”

  “Thank you, son. That would make me, and the rest of the town, very happy.” Arnold’s voice bubbled with happiness.

  “Hang on, there is a condition, and it’s non-negotiable. I’ll come back and donate my time only if Harmony manages the production.”

  Two

  Harmony

  Harmony came back to her parents’ house for a special breakfast every Sunday, to enjoy her mother’s specialty, chocolate pancakes. These ones were superlative…light and fluffy, with huge chocolate chips melting inside them, fresh raspberries and whipped cream on top and with a little icing sugar and a smidgen of real grated chocolate. A forkful was halfway to her mouth when her father mentioned the man she’d been trying not to think about for years.

  “Emery Dante?” she asked in a sharp voice, dropping her knife and fork down on the wooden table with a clatter. The mere mention of his name had made her instantly lose her appetite, and she pushed her plate away despite the fact she’d only had a few bites of the pancake, and usually she could eat a double stack and still want more.

  Emery was the man Harmony had expected to marry. She thought they’d have kids, buy a house, and possibly get a dog together. She’d anticipated they’d do all the things couples in love did, and that they’d be together until they were old and grey. Not only had she believed all those things, but so did everyone else in Lewiston. That is, until the day he told her he had to leave, because if he stayed he’d regret it. She’d listened to those words with disbelief, because up until that day he’d always said he loved her more than anything. And he’d acted like he’d been telling the truth. Even as she looked back on their time together there were no hints that he’d leave her.

  He’d adored her, and she saw it in everything he did. He’d put her first, wanted to spend all his time with her, and planned their future. In fact, she hadn’t been able to rein him in. He was affectionate, caring and no one had ever loved her like that since. No one had ever broken her heart like him either. She’d never let anyone else in close enough to hurt her like that again.

  “What’s the problem?” her father replied, and she noticed that he didn’t make eye contact with her. It wasn’t surprising. Both her parents had dealt with the aftermath of Emery’s leaving, which was the hardest thing their daughter had ever been through. At the time, they’d held their tongues because they’d loved Emery like he was their own son. She’d seen the pain and confusion in their eyes though, and knew they must have been hurt too.

  “Dad, why did you have to ask him? Of all the people who could have come and performed at the Christmas concert, why the one man you know I can’t be around?”

  “Sweetie, what was your father to do?” her mother answered, her forehead cloaked in a frown. “For heaven’s sake, all that business with Emery was years ago. Surely you’ve moved on by now.”

  Harmony stared at her belligerently, knowing that it was always her mother’s place to support her father. But still, did her mom have to take his side in this issue
that was so important to her?

  Her mother’s normally benign expression became stoic and determined, and Harmony knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to argue. Gladys was a stay-at-home mother who’d supported her beloved husband in any and every decision he made. She saw herself as the true power behind the mayor, although she wouldn’t have taken any credit away from her spouse by suggesting that. If anyone asked what she did she’d say she was a philanthropist, but Harmony knew that in reality a better description of her mother was queen of the town’s gossip mill. Of course she’d never use that description to her mother’s face, especially given her mother wasn’t malicious. Far from it: she was a caring woman who put her family and her town first but she knew everything that was going on, and she wouldn’t hesitate to use that information to her advantage at times. She considered it was her duty and her right as Lewiston’s first lady.

  “Darling, you know this town is not doing very well. We’re suffering the economic crises that so many small towns are, but it’s worse here. And because your father’s the mayor, he’s got to do what’s right for the community. You know that the Christmas concert used to bring in people from miles around and we want that to happen again. And having Emery here will make all the difference. Please, sweetie, we need this. And we need you to work with Emery to make this a huge success.”