A Dash of Christmas Read online

  Also by Samantha Chase

  The Montgomery Brothers

  Wait for Me/Trust in Me

  Stay with Me/More of Me

  Return to You

  Meant for You

  I’ll Be There

  Until There Was Us

  Suddenly Mine

  The Shaughnessy Brothers

  Made for Us

  Love Walks In

  Always My Girl

  This Is Our Song

  A Sky Full of Stars

  Holiday Spice

  Tangled Up in You

  Shaughnessy Brothers: Band on the Run

  One More Kiss

  One More Promise

  One More Moment

  Holiday Romance

  The Christmas Cottage/

  Ever After

  Mistletoe Between Friends/The Snowflake Inn

  Novellas Now in Print

  The Baby Arrangement

  Baby, I’m Yours

  Baby, Be Mine

  In the Eye of the Storm/Catering to the CEO

  Exclusive/A Touch of Heaven

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  Books. Change. Lives.

  Copyright © 2019 by Samantha Chase

  Cover and internal design © 2019 by Sourcebooks

  Cover design by Dawn Adams

  Cover image © ZaitsevMaksym/Shutterstock

  Internal image © Nata_Slavetskaya/Getty Images

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

  Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

  (630) 961-3900

  sourcebooks.com

  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  Prologue

  “Eliza, quick! Turn on your television! Do you see this?”

  Eliza Montgomery was used to her sister-in-law’s theatrics, but right then she sensed something more urgent in her tone. And considering they were on the phone, Eliza could only imagine the look on her face. “Give me a minute, Monica,” she said, reaching for the TV remote. “What am I looking for?”

  “It’s all over the morning news shows,” Monica said. “I saw the promos and couldn’t believe it! I mean, I met them at your house, at Joseph’s funeral! I guess you just never know about some people, right?”

  “Wait…what? Who are we talking about?” Scanning quickly through the channels until she landed on Good Morning America, Eliza wracked her brain for who on earth she was going to see.

  “That poor, sweet girl,” Monica went on. “I knew, you know. I just knew when I met them that she was too good for him. And that was before you dropped the bombshell on how she was the one you had hoped to set Carter up with!”

  A migraine was starting to form behind Eliza’s right eye. “Are you talking about Emery? What’s happened? Why is she on the news?”

  Monica made a tsking sound and explained. “Her weasel of a fiancé, that’s why! Turns out he was messing around with everyone and a lot of it wasn’t consensual.” She paused. “I’m telling you, it’s a disgrace the way these men in powerful positions take advantage of women. It’s disgusting.”

  Before Eliza could comment, her sister-in-law was on another roll.

  “William talked to him—the fiancé—quite a bit that day at your house, and later on he told me he didn’t get a good feeling about him. He told me the bad things Joseph had said about him in the past.”

  That was a bit of a shock. “Really? My Joseph? I didn’t think he even knew this Whitman boy.”

  “I’m sure with all of you living in the same town and Joseph having business with so many corporations, they would have crossed paths at some point.”

  “Hmm…maybe.”

  “Either way, William was more than a little turned off by Whitman’s attitude. Apparently with good reason. You know what an excellent judge of character he is.”

  Just then, the segment came on and Eliza was transfixed.

  “According to sources, Congressman Whitman is accused of multiple counts of inappropriate sexual behavior,” the news anchor reported. “While this story is just breaking, it appears Whitman’s behavior has been an issue for several years, dating back to his law school days. No official statement has been issued, but we did catch Whitman’s fiancée, Emery Monaghan, leaving her home this morning.”

  Eliza gasped at the look of utter devastation on Emery’s face as she fought her way to her car while the media shoved their cameras and microphones in her face. Eliza’s heart broke for her. The news anchor was still talking, but all Eliza could focus on was how she wished they would leave Emery alone. Wasn’t the situation hard enough without adding a circus to it?

  “I can’t imagine what she’s feeling,” Monica said, interrupting Eliza’s thoughts. “I hope she has her family around her to support her.”

  “If I remember correctly, her family is the reason she’s in this position.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on, Monica. Isn’t it obvious? A young politician on the rise? What parents wouldn’t want their daughter to date him? He comes from a wealthy family and a long line of politicians.”

  “Poor girl. What do you think will happen now?”

  “I have no idea. But I hope her parents will back her up no matter what she decides.” Eliza paused. “I don’t know them very well, but from what I remember of all the years Carter and Emery were in school together, they weren’t the warm and fuzzy types.”

  “That’s a shame. I hope someone’s in her corner. She’s got to be humiliated.”

  They both went silent as the news story about Whitman’s career continued, showing photographs of him with Emery.

  “Is it just me or does she not look happy in any of those photos?” Monica asked.

  Eliza remembered Emery as the girl with the beautiful smile who always had a kind word for everyone and was very enc
ouraging to her classmates. The woman in this footage bore little resemblance to the girl she remembered.

  “Although, she didn’t look too happy at Joseph’s funeral either,” Monica went on. “But I just attributed that to the circumstances. Have you seen her since?”

  “I have. It’s funny—I hadn’t seen her in years before the funeral, but since then, I’ve run into her in town several times. Just last week I saw her at the nail salon,” Eliza said, thinking back to the conversation. “She was as pleasant as always, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t know. I think maybe this wasn’t breaking news to her. She was talking about wanting to change careers and making a move. I just figured she was referring to her fiancé needing to move for his job. You don’t think—”

  “She was already looking for an escape? A way out of a bad relationship? Um, yes!” Monica said giddily. “Eliza, you have to find a way to get in touch with her. We can help her—maybe find her a job so she can start fresh. We can—wait, what is it she does for a living?”

  “Something with marketing, I believe. A content manager, maybe?” Eliza sighed loudly.

  “So how did you leave things? Did you mention any openings with Montgomerys?”

  “Honestly, Monica, it wasn’t even on my mind at the time.” She paused. “Although…”

  “Yes?”

  “I did mention the cookbook project I’ve been hounding Carter about.”

  “And?” Monica asked hopefully.

  “Well, this is all speculation, you understand, right?”

  “I do.”

  “She seemed genuinely interested in the project. She even had some suggestions about marketing it.”

  “But…I thought this was all just a charity project—something local. You’re even printing it locally, not through a publishing house, right?”

  “We are,” Eliza explained, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t do some creative PR to get attention and raise more money for a good cause, right?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Maybe I can reach out to her and see if she’ll help me brainstorm a bit?”

  “Oh, Eliza, the timing is awful. You know she’s not going to be answering her phone or returning emails,” Monica said, and Eliza could almost see her pouting. “It’s a shame you don’t have her private contact information.”

  A slow smile spread across Eliza’s face. “Perhaps I do.”

  Monica was quiet for a moment, then cleared her throat. “And it’s really a shame your condo in Manhattan sits empty so much of the time.”

  “That’s true.”

  “And you know what else?”

  “Is there more shame?” Eliza teased.

  “Very funny,” Monica replied. “I’ll just throw this out there. More than anything, it’s a shame how Carter has been so difficult with this project. It’s not like you ask a lot of him. The least he could do is finish this cookbook and give you a little peace.”

  “Well, it’s not like he isn’t busy, Monica.”

  “It’s a shame,” Monica said with emphasis, “how he doesn’t have an assistant or some sort of project manager keeping him on task. Say…someone who brings out Carter’s competitive side.”

  “Ooohhh …” Eliza drawled as it all began to make sense. “That’s an interesting idea.”

  “Trust me, Eliza, I know all about doing whatever it takes to coax even the most reluctant Montgomery into action! If we play our cards right, Emery will be making a move to the Big Apple very soon and enjoying the real estate on Park Avenue.”

  Eliza’s smile grew. “And you want to know a weird coincidence?”

  “I do!”

  “I think Carter’s going to be enjoying that same real estate at the end of the month. Wouldn’t it be awfully convenient if they were both there at the same time and working toward the same cause?”

  “I do believe this is a proud moment,” Monica gushed. “I feel a little like the student has become the teacher!”

  Laughing, Eliza commented, “Well, it took me long enough, and besides, we’re out of children.”

  “Bite your tongue. The grandkids are getting older and eventually will benefit from all our wisdom.”

  “What we’ve just worked out for Carter could be the most rewarding match yet!”

  “If we play our cards right, there could be an engagement for Christmas!”

  Eliza smiled. Truth be told, that was her dream.

  Chapter 1

  Exhaustion—mental and physical—was going to be the death of him.

  And his mother was fully to blame.

  Carter Montgomery climbed into the back of the sleek town car and confirmed the address with the driver before returning his attention to the phone conversation with his mother. To most, Eliza Montgomery didn’t appear capable of it, but right now she was most certainly going to kill him.

  “Mom,” he began wearily as he leaned his head back against the cushions, “I did what you asked of me. I did what I could afford to do. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a bit busy right now.”

  “Yes, yes, yes, I know. We all know, Carter,” Eliza said with a hint of annoyance. “But a promise is a promise, and I didn’t expect you to renege on this! You know how important this project is to me. With everything I’ve gone through in the last year, you would think—”

  “Okay, okay,” he quickly interrupted before she reminded him of all the ways she had been struggling since his father died. It wasn’t something he liked to think about, but it was a subject she had used with increasing frequency since she’d approached him with this project some time ago.

  A cookbook.

  A holiday cookbook.

  Rolling his eyes at the thought of it, Carter wondered what he could possibly do to appease her at this point. He’d chosen the recipes, had some photos taken, and written the foreword. What else was there? It wasn’t like this book was going to press with a major publisher, for crying out loud. It was a little self-published cookbook for a local charity. Why was she making such a big deal out of it?

  “Look,” he said, starting again with a little more patience. “I am struggling with this Montauk place—the permits aren’t all in and I’m having trouble finding the right staff. And I gave you everything you asked for in regards to the book, Mom. You wanted recipes? I gave you recipes! You wanted a little personal touch? I wrote one!”

  She sighed.

  It was long enough that he knew he’d only prolonged the inevitable.

  Here came the guilt trip.

  “This is the first project I’m heading up in a long time, Carter. My original plan was to do it last holiday season, but…well, with losing your father, I just couldn’t. Our group put out a cookbook with contributions from our members and it wasn’t a very big hit and we didn’t raise a lot of money. But one with your name and reputation behind it will.”

  “Mom…”

  “Besides selling it as part of our annual fundraiser, I’m sure we could attract a bigger crowd by placing the book in your restaurants, with a percentage of the proceeds coming back to the charity.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” He rubbed his temple. “Now you want to branch out and place this book in my restaurants? When did we talk about this?”

  “I don’t see why you’re getting so huffy,” Eliza snapped back. “It’s good PR for you too.”

  While she did have a point, it also meant he would have to put a little more effort into the project since it was going to be in his restaurants. When it was just something they were going to sell as a charity fundraiser, Carter hadn’t put much thought into making the book look polished. Using a smaller press and doing a print-on-demand sort of thing was just fine with him. His mother had organized a team to handle the formatting and cover design, and by that point he’d be well and truly out of the process—but n
ow?

  Rubbing his temple wasn’t doing a damn thing for him right now except reminding him that his head was pounding. It was late—he’d been traveling all day and he was looking forward to two full days of sleep before heading out to Montauk to look at the progress on the restaurant. Currently, he was in Manhattan and staying at the family condo because it was easier for him to get the flight out of LaGuardia to the island.

  Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. He wanted to be lazy and spend some time eating at a few of his favorite restaurants in the city before dealing with all the stress and aggravation the next several weeks were going to bring.

  But even with all the stress sure to come his way on this project, it was nice to know he’d have something to look forward to at the end of each day to help him unwind. He had opted to rent a small house in Montauk since the summer season was over—it meant a little more privacy while enjoying spectacular views. He hadn’t appreciated that sort of thing until he’d visited his brother Christian and his new bride, Sophie, at their place in San Diego and realized how relaxing the sound of the waves could be.

  “Carter? Are you still there?”

  And it was farther away from his mother and, if luck was on his side, would have lousy cell service.

  “Yeah, Mom. I’m still here,” he said and then yawned. “Can we pick this up again next week? I just landed—I’m in the car going to the condo and I just can’t focus on this right now.”

  “The condo? You mean your apartment?”

  “No, the family condo in the city.”

  “You mean you’re in New York already? I thought you said you were flying in on Monday!”

  He groaned. He had mentioned that earlier in the week to get out of being guilted into going upstate first. All he wanted was a little time to himself before tackling the mess out on the east end.

  “I wish you had let me know,” she said quickly. “I—I would have had food brought in or maybe driven in myself so I could see you.”

  “It was a last-minute decision,” he said and immediately felt guilty.

  “A likely excuse.”

  “It’s not an excuse. And honestly, Mom, I’m legitimately tired. I worked all week down in New Orleans and grabbed a late flight and—”