Author: Elyse Douglas
Publisher: Elyse Douglas
Date of publication: September 15, 2015
A First Love. A Second Chance.
A young widow travels to New York on business a few days
before Christmas. She has reluctantly made a date with a lover she hasn’t seen
in 20 years, and she is nervous and apprehensive. Twenty years before, she made
a difficult decision that has both troubled and haunted her ever since. She
knows she’s about to come face-to-face with her past and she’s hoping for some
redemption and resolution. She also wonders if she can somehow pick up where
she left off 20 years ago and start again.
An exciting chance encounter changes everything. Now, not
only will she face the past with hope to rekindle an old romance, but there is
the possibility that this chance meeting will bring her love and happiness she
never thought possible.
Once again, she will have to choose. She will have to make
the right decision. She will have to believe that Christmas miracles can still happen.
Excerpt:
At the center of the bridge, Olivia stopped, hearing a
saxophone in the distance, the musician softly playing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It was a lovely moment, as
snow fell and a gentle, cool wind caressed her face. She leaned against the
railing, smiling with pleasure, taking in the railing features, its gothic
cinquefoils and interlaced spiral designs. She was reminded of the many
sketches she’d drawn of them and of the surrounding paths, the lights, the
trees and the skyline over Fifth Avenue that rises up from the trees.
All the anxiety suddenly melted away, just like it always
had when she’d visited the bridge. She felt calm and hopeful. She felt
revitalized. It was wonderful to feel that girlish freedom again—living life
unplanned and uncalculated in the timeless contentment of the bridge—her
bridge.
She remained for a time, and although she was cold and
hungry, she didn’t want to leave. She hadn’t felt so light and peaceful in
years.
She was vaguely aware of someone approaching from the
opposite side of the bridge, and wandering toward her. There were plenty of
people around, so Olivia wasn’t concerned for her safety. The figure stopped
only a few feet away from her. From the corner of her eye, she saw it was a
man. He leaned against the railing, gazing out.
“I love it here,” he said, almost at a whisper.
Olivia didn’t respond. She glanced at him with a certain
suspicion and reluctance. To her surprise, he was quite good looking. He was in
his middle 30’s, hatless, with plenty of brownish hair. He was wearing an
expensive Italian leather jacket, blue jeans and white silk scarf.
She lowered her gaze when he continued.
“I always feel better after I’ve been here. Always feel easy.
Whenever I have to make a big decision, I either come here or I picture myself
here.”
Olivia didn’t respond, aware he wasn’t looking at her. His
eyes were fixed on the water and the distant glow of the Fifth Avenue skyline.
Olivia gathered her nerve, but she didn’t look at him. “And
do you have a big decision to make?”
He turned, and it seemed to Olivia that he was seeing her
for the first time. His eyes cleared and he focused on her. It occurred to her
that he may have been talking to himself, completely oblivious to her.
He pocketed his bare hands, nodding. “Yeah… Yeah, I do have
a big decision to make.”
Olivia studied him. He was tall and well-built, with a
pleasant, handsome face. It was a “boy back home” kind of handsome, appealing
and trusting.
He shrugged, loosely. “So here I am, at my crossroads, as my
mother used to say.”
They stood, staring, listening to the sax player. “Good
music. He really puts you in the Christmas spirit, doesn’t he?” the man asked.
Olivia turned toward the sound and smiled. “Yes, it’s quite
lovely.”
“You must be from the South. Georgia…maybe Tennessee?”
“Kentucky.”
“I like Kentucky. I’ve been there. Been to Louisville and
Lexington.”
Olivia just nodded, not looking at him directly.
“What about you?” the man asked. “Do you have a decision to
make or are you just sightseeing?”
Olivia looked down, her mouth forming a half smile. “I made
my decision a long time ago.”
“Oh, I see. And was it a good decision?” he asked, quietly.
Olivia shrugged. “Yes and no, like most things in life.”
“Yeah… like most things, I guess. There’s some good and some
bad in everything, so you just have to go for it and hope there’s more good
than bad.”
Olivia breathed in, feeling the cold seep into her bones.
“It’s cold tonight.”
“Yeah. Going down to 25 degrees, or so the weather people
say.”
And then there was an awkward silence. Each wanted to say
something to keep the conversation going, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Well… I should go,” Olivia said, but she hesitated. She
didn’t want to go.
He studied her, and his gaze was direct before it drifted
away. “Maybe you could give me some advice.”
Olivia blinked. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m not so
good at taking my own advice.”
He grinned. “I doubt that. You seem like the well-grounded
type. The steady, confident type. Like you don’t need many warm-up pitches in
the bullpen before you go to the mound to throw three strikes and win the
game.”
Olivia laughed a little, and she saw it pleased him. She’d
never heard that line before. “Well… I don’t really know what to say. I was
never very good in sports. I was all legs and tangled feet.”
“My name’s Brett, by the way. I hope I’m not bothering you.
It’s just that…I don’t know you from anybody, and I could use
an-anybody-I-don’t-know right now…well to help me with this thing—with my
decision.”
Olivia wasn’t sure about Brett. He seemed genuine, but maybe
he was a practiced New York manipulator.
“I don’t think I’m the one to help you,” she said. “I’m sure
you have good friends who know you and could give you good advice.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a lot of good friends, that’s for sure but…”
he paused, sighing. “Well, let me put it this way, they see me a certain way
and it’s hard for them to see me any other way. Do you know what I mean?”
Olivia looked up slowly, tilting her head, as if trying to
read him better. “I’m not sure I do know what you mean.”
“I could explain it to you,” he said.
“I really should go,” Olivia said, ducking her head and
moving the strap of her purse from one shoulder to the other. “It was nice
meeting you, Brett, and I hope you make the right choice. I hope you find the
right person to give you advice.”
She turned and started to walk away.
He called after her. “Did you make the right choice a long
time ago?”
She stopped, abruptly. When she turned back to him, she
thought he looked distressed.
He moved toward her and then stopped. “Can I buy you a
drink?” he asked, hope in his eyes. “Or Coffee? Food? A hotdog? I have this
strong gut feeling you could really help me with my decision.”
Olivia considered his offer.
About Elyse Douglas:
Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the husband and wife
writing team of Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse’s mother was a
painter and her father a textile consultant. Elyse began writing poems and
short stories at an early age, and graduated with a degree in English
Literature. Douglas grew up in a family of musicians, astrologers and avid
readers. His great grandfather lived to be a 134 years old, and was the oldest
man in the world when he died in 1922.
Some of Elyse Douglas’ novels include: The Other
Side of Summer, Christmas for Juliet,Wanting Rita, The
Christmas Diary, The Christmas Bridge and The
Summer Diary. They live in New York City.
Website: http://www.elysedouglas.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/douglaselyse
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