Muffins And Mistletoe (A Starlight Hills Holiday Novella) by Debora Dennis

ONE

     
    Corinne Mackenzie had no choice but to seek out the help of the town matchmaker.

    Her down-filled coat flapped against her knees as she rushed down the street toward the Starlight Hills Civic Center, anxious to get out of the cold. The coat did its job insulating her body from Old Man Winter, but nothing could keep the chill from her heart these days. Though the morning sun glistened on the branches, creating the illusion of warmth, the wind sliced across her face with an arctic blast, reminding her it was December. The thirty-foot-tall Norway spruce stood at the center of Triangle Park to her right. Boughs adorned with festive red bows, the town's holiday symbol barely swayed an inch against the same icy gusts that tugged the hood from her head.

    Inside the entryway, she stomped the snow off her boots while she did a quick scan of the area for any sign of Jimmy Crane. Then she came to her senses. Of course Jimmy wouldn't be here. He'd been avoiding her.

    She knew it.

    The whole town knew it, too.

    Her heart sank to her down-covered knees.

    Even though she was the editor of the Starlight Hills Herald , Corinne couldn't stop the small-town gossip mill from grinding out the sordid details.

    For the first time in her life, she had to screen her calls. Amazing how many men crawled out of the woodwork once word got out she had commitment issues. Which she didn't. She got scared, maybe she got cold feet—but she did not have a problem committing!

    Jimmy must have had been screening his calls, too. Or maybe her number had been blocked. Either way, he'd made it clear he didn't want to talk to her.

    Refusing to step down from the Preservation Society's Holiday Gala Committee was her last hope at forcing them together. He needed to know how wrong she was, how miserable she was without him. She had to apologize and set things right between them, but how could she when the stubborn man wouldn't take her calls?

    If she had any hope of not losing the man she loved, she had to resort to desperate measures.

    She slipped off her coat, hung it on the rack beside the door and spotted her target. Elizabeth Crane, the muffin-baking matchmaker extraordinaire. Corinne pushed Jimmy out of her thoughts and focused instead on the woman coming to greet her with a bakery bag in one hand and a wide smile on her face. Elizabeth "Bitty" Crane had an uncommon knack for what some would call meddling, but most knew it was pure matchmaking skill. Corinne had never known Bitty to be wrong when she announced that a couple fit . If only her brother Dalton had listened before he eloped with Melanie…but he didn't, and now he was alone and miserable.

    She refused to follow in Dalton's footsteps, or those of their parents before them. She'd come to her senses, hopefully before it was too late. She wanted Jimmy Crane. They were meant to be together. If that meant enlisting the help of his mother, so be it.

    Corinne stood under the fresh pine roping that hung from the arched entrance to the main hall and took a deep, lung-filling breath. Fragrant real trees stood tall at each side of the arch, glittering with tinsel, white lights and red glass ornaments. She pulled off her gloves with a relieved sigh, letting the scents of Christmas surround her. She was determined not to give in to her personal despair and allow it to squelch a festive holiday mood. After all, she had a plan.

    Mrs. Crane's blue eyes danced with merriment as she held out the signature yellow bag and gave it a shake. "Good morning, Corinne. Fresh from the oven—I know how you love them warm."

    "You do know my weakness, Mrs. Crane." Corinne tried not to let her mind race ahead and think what a wonderful mother-in-law Bitty Crane would be. Then Corinne thought about her waistline and decided she might be better off without the permanent supply of the woman's irresistible carbs.

    It was hard enough walking by the Itty Bitty Bake Shop everyday on her way to work with the