Page 66 of Take Me Home for Christmas

“M—Mrs. Keneally. What are you doing here?” Elle was proud of herself for not asking if a hurricane had blown the woman’s private jet off course.

“I’m on my way to spend the holidays in Palm Beach.” She glanced around. “I thought I’d stop in to see what all the fuss is about.”

Elle braced herself for condescending remarks like the ones her grandson made the last time he’d come home with her.

“I must say this is even more charming than those small towns you see in the television Christmas movies.” Helen pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. “No wonder Jeremy recommended it so highly.”

The mystery of why Jeremy advocated Chances Inlet to his grandmother hadn’t been solved. But Elle knew it wasn’t because he thought her hometown was “charming.” Not that she would argue the point with her boss’ boss. She leaned on her manners, instead.

“You’ve come on a good day. The Christmas Bazaar is always a fun time.”

“Is that Santa’s dog?”

“Um, yes. Well, sort of. He belongs to my brother’s stepson-to-be now.”

“That was a very moving piece you wrote about him.” Helen tapped her chest right over her heart. “Very moving. You are going to make a wonderful columnist, Elinor.”

Funny how the words didn’t sound as appealing as they did a couple of weeks ago.

“I was hoping to catch West while I was in town. There was no sign of him when I stopped by the inn. That’s very troubling to me, Elinor. Since I don’t have the completed manuscript in my hands, I have to assume he’s still writing it. The question is, where?”

Elle’s mouth went dry. “Uh?—”

Helen tilted her head to the side. “Madelaine has been conveying your updates to me. You’ve told her the book is almost complete. Is that not true?”

Well, shit.

If Elle’s career wasn’t on the line, she’d grab Emily and Henry to share a teachable moment about lying. As in,don’t do it.You only get caught in the end.

She’d been keeping out of West’s way for days now. Maybe he’d surprise her by producing a Christmas miracle of a completed manuscript. Of course, he could just as easily be spending his days locked up in the study designing a snowman built out of sand.

Helen’s eyes narrowed. The older woman could probably smell the fear wafting off her.

“Is West even in this town?”

“Yes. Of course. He likes to work at the bookstore some days. For inspiration. Or something like that . . .” Elle’s voice trailed off.

Helen’s shoulders relaxed. Like Elle, the woman had a lot riding on West finishing his book. “Thank God for that. And thank God he’s not at the bar. Let’s go find our renegade author, shall we?”

Elle said a silent prayer West wasn’t holding down a seat at Pier Pressure. With Helen trudging across the town square alongside her, she couldn’t even text the man to see where he might be. Not that he ever answered. His texts seemed to go only one way, drat him.

Helen stopped short when they entered the bookshop.

“Oh, my. I can see why West prefers to work here.” She took in the colorful displays, stopping at the new releases table to peruse for titles she’d published, Elle presumed.

Elle tried to flag down Paige, but the store was bursting at the seams with customers. Tanner was helping her out by working the point-of-sale computer at the front of the store.

“I’ll just go check for West.” Elle hurried to the back of the store, hoping to have a moment to warn the dratted man, only Helen was right on her heels.

Of course, he wasn’t there. Elle was never that lucky.

Everett wassure he had to be hallucinating. That couldn’t be Helen Keneally trailing in Gidget’s wake as they made their way across The Green. He wasn’t aware he had the power to make someone appear just by mentioning them. If he did, Keeley would have returned to him two years ago.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he muttered.

“Who is that?” Kitty asked.

He huffed out a surprised laugh. “Believe it or not, that is the dragon lady herself. Helen Keneally.”

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