Beth Albright - Sleigh Belles

Join the Sassy Belles this holiday season—it’s Christmas, Southern-style!

With her hair perfectly coiffed, nails freshly manicured and a heavy trail of perfume wafting behind her, local news reporter Dallas Dubois is sure she’s about to kick her career—and maybe her love life—into high gear. The director of the Tuscaloosa children’s Christmas play has fallen ill, and Dallas is ordered by her station manager to take the reins. Everyone is shocked—especially Cal Hollingsworth, who still remembers her as the Ice Queen from high school.

If nothing else, Dallas has never met a challenge that a little lip gloss and a Chanel knockoff couldn’t fix. But she has no idea how to relate to these kids, and their brutal honesty is giving her pause. Things are made even more complicated by the butterflies she gets whenever Cal is near....

But when long-lost family members reenter her life, Dallas’s icy veneer begins to melt. And with Cal by her side, she soon realizes that it’s what’s under all the hair spray that counts.

Sleigh Belles

Beth Albright

www.mirabooks.co.uk

For my Brooks, my son, my precious friend, the center of my universe. I loved you from the moment I thought of you and it has grown into the most wonderful priceless love I have ever known. You are a special soul, and I am the luckiest mother on earth to have you for my child. This book is all about family, and you are the very definition of the word. I am so proud of the man you have become, brilliant and sensitive, thoughtful and loving. As in everything I do, this is all for you.

I love you more than any words could ever express.

For my Ted, and my precious mother, Betty—

our little family is absolutely everything to me.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Acknowledgments

1

Dallas couldn’t believe she was having another flare-up. Not now, not tonight, when she had this huge story to report. For Dallas Dubois, trying to get over Cal Hollingsworth was like trying to get over a chronic allergy. You could pretty much count on flare-ups for the rest of your life. Like if you’re allergic to bee stings. One little prick and you’ll find yourself in the emergency room.

Ironically, that’s exactly where she was when she began having the latest of these chronic flare-ups: in the waiting room of the hospital E.R.

Not that anything was wrong with her. She was there to cover a story: Lewis Heart, the Alabama Crimson Tide star football announcer, was rushing to the hospital to see his brand-new baby girl make her way into the world. He had just finished announcing the big win over rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl Classic, and he was sliding into the E.R. just under the wire. Dallas was right there on the scene to cover the birth of the new baby, which was big news in the college town of Tuscaloosa. Lewis was considered Tuscaloosa royalty since he was the “Voice” of the Crimson Tide, the national champion football team, and that was reason enough to cover this big arrival.

“The biggest rivalry in all of college football is going down today, and this is the day that redheaded Vivi chooses to have her baby,” Dallas muttered as she ran into the emergency room just barely ahead of Lewis.

“Well, I think this is par for her. Remember, they got married on the day of the season kickoff,” Daniel, her cameraman, said as he raced in after her, nearly tripping over the camera cords.

“I know it! Who the hell gets married during football season?”

Lewis dashed into the emergency room, huffing and puffing right past Dallas. His best friend, Cal, was running in right after him, just like the days when they both played for the college football team themselves. In they ran, Cal swooshing right by Dallas without even noticing her. That’s when she felt the acute symptoms of this chronic condition coming on again.

Great, she thought. How can I do my job with him here?

This report had to be good, but Cal always had a way of making Dallas lose her train of thought. Already her heart was racing and her mouth was dry.

How does he do this to me? This is ridiculous. She smoothed her hair and slid her lipstick over her lips one last time, trying to get ready for her live shot.

Dallas had fought this allergy ever since high school when she’d first developed an infatuation with Cal, the super-smart quarterback of the Tuscaloosa High School Warriors. Dallas had such a crush on him back then, and that old crush was the source of all these symptoms now because, the truth was, her feelings never really went away.

Dallas forced herself to focus. She smiled into the camera as Daniel counted her down to showtime.

“Good evening, Tuscaloosa! I’m Dallas Dubois, reporting live from Druid City Hospital for WTAL News where we’re all eagerly awaiting the birth of the newest addition to our football lovin’ town! Our very own Voice of the Crimson Tide and his lovely wife, Vivi, are expecting their first child at any moment, and we’ll be right here to bring the news to you firsthand...” Dallas continued her speech into the camera, but she was having trouble concentrating. She stared at the handsome Cal, the “symptoms” taking over her completely.

Thankfully, it was only minutes before Lewis rushed out to the eager crowd that had gathered in the waiting room. “It’s a girl! Baby Tallulah is finally here! Oh, my God, she is gorgeous!” Lewis was totally over-the-top excited. “I barely made it,” he admitted. “Now I got me two little redheads!”

Everyone clapped and hugged each other, celebrating and high-fiving while Daniel captured the whole event on camera. Before Dallas even knew what happened, she found herself pushed into Cal’s arms.

“Hey, Cal.” She swallowed hard and forced a smile.

“Hey, Dallas...”

They were face-to-face, inches apart.

He looked at her awkwardly. She pulled away with an uncomfortable grin. Seeing Cal was dangerous. It threatened the thick emotional walls she’d built up over the years to protect her most intimate secrets.

The worst part was, in her opinion, Cal could be such a jerk. He’d never really liked her, always telling his friends she was self-absorbed, the Original Ice Queen.

How could he make her heart always feel as if it was fixin’ to jump right outta her chest if they really didn’t even like each other? That little question had always bothered her. But she figured it was pointless trying to make sense of how these things worked. The heart wants what the heart wants and all that. What she did know is that they were never going to be together.

Whatever this was, this chronic allergy she had to Cal, she also knew she could never find herself in this position again—within inches of Cal’s gorgeous face. Being anywhere within five hundred yards of him and she could feel that emotional firewall grow weak and start to crumble. That wall had taken her years to build.