Magnolia at Midnight

Victoria

I’m no longer mayor, a sentiment that I’m still trying to get used to saying. After the inauguration of the new mayor, I’m pretty sure that I’ve has reached bottom--until my parents inform me that they are selling their house in Magnolia and I have a week to find a new place to live.

Enter Maggie.

Even though she poses the job opening as a desperate need for help at the inn, I decide to take it as a temporary job until I can get on my feet. After all, I’m a Holt and Holt's don't need handouts.

They also don't need the sexy chef that doesn't seem to want to leave me alone and is breaking down all the walls that I’ve put up.

Fiona

I know that something is wrong with my mom and the coffee shop. Ever since I moved back to Magnolia with my son, I’ve sensed that something was off. It wasn't until I discovered the eviction notice that I realized just how bad things had gotten.

After a pow-wow with the Red Stiletto ladies, Shari convinces me to drive to Nashville in search of my son’s father and the child support he's never sent.

Things go from bad to worse once we get there. Dave's not interested in helping and being in the city I once called home is dredging up a ton of old memories. Now I’m worried I don't have the strength to stand my ground and protect my son.

Magnolia at Midnight will capture you from page one. It will show you the power of friendship and the strength you have inside.

Grab your copy today.

Victoria

And just like that, my entire life had changed.

I’d thought it would be easy to watch Peter take over the role of
mayor. And in the beginning, I discovered that my inner will was stronger than
I’d thought. Despite the fact that I hated the guy, I’d found it in myself to
grin and bear the meetings I had to attend with him, but this was too much.

Standing in front of my mirror, staring at the dark navy satin
dress and my red hair pulled back into a low bun at the nape of my neck, I
glared at my reflection. Why did I have to go to his inauguration? After all,
it was fairly clear that the town no longer needed me. Why debase myself by
walking out onto the stage and clapping as he was handed the job that I had
worked all of my life to obtain?

I knew it made me sound like a petulant teenager, but there was a
part of me that wanted to scream to the world, “This is just not fair!” And
perhaps, if I didn’t constantly feel the judgement of my mother, I just might
do exactly that. Whatever strides we’d made in our relationship after election
day were quickly wiped away. We were back to the status quo.

I blew out my breath and dropped my gaze as I turned to walk over
to my bed. The spinach and cranberry salad I ate for lunch sat like a rock in
my stomach. That thought was strange to me—after all, spinach contained more
water than anything else—regardless, that was how I felt.

“I’m losing my mind,” I whispered to myself as I attempted to make
my slightly too big wallet fit into the black velvet clutch Mom had given me
when she walked by my room earlier today. She’d shoved it into my hand saying,
“Losers support the winners even if we don’t like it.”

I took that to mean she could sense my desire to sprint from the
house, skip town, and start a new life under a new name so no one would know my
shame. And this was her passive-aggressive way of telling me to stop
entertaining it.

Truth was, she wasn’t wrong. I did want to leave this place. Start
over fresh without the weight of her and Dad on my back.

But I knew I would only get so far. Dad had friends in just about
every one of the fifty states, and camping in the woods and using leaves for
toilet paper was not something Victoria Holt was built to do.

I liked my luxuries, plain and simple. And I didn’t feel like it
made me a bad person to acknowledge that. A woman had limits, and roughing it
was definitely mine.

There was a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” I called out as I
grabbed my black, shimmery wrap.

The door swung open and banged against the wall. Danny stood in
the doorframe with a giant grin on his face. He was holding a string in one
hand that led up past the doorframe and a giant bouquet of roses in the other.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at him. He and Shari had been
inseparable since they came out as a couple. It was rare for me to see him
without her pressed against his hip. There were a few times I had to bite back
a snarky comment about how Shari was acting like a teenager even though she was
older than him. I knew it was wrong to say, even if I felt it was factual. But
my brother and my friend were happy together, so I was finding a way to deal
with that internally.

Policing my comments, first around Peter and now Danny—I was
growing as a human being.

I was just going to ignore the fact that I felt like Dante’s Peak
with all of this internal suppression. I was ready to blow.

“What do you want?” I asked as I shook out my shawl and then
draped it over my shoulders. I knotted it in front of me, so I wouldn’t have to
hold it there the entire time.

Danny took that as an invitation to come in. Just as he cleared
the doorframe, balloons filled my room and bounced off the ceiling. I stared at
him and then up to the balloons and scoffed. He’d added loser underneath
the word, Congratulations. Typical Danny.

“Wow, thanks,” I said with a snarky tone to which I added a
pointed look.

Danny chuckled as he walked over to my dresser and set the roses
down. The balloons bounced as the weight that was tied to the end of the
strings landed on the floor. “Hey, I had to wrestle these away from Bella. That
girl’s got some strength. She was ready to kill me when she saw me carrying
them.” He turned and gave me a wide smile.

That smile meant he was going to hug me if I didn’t move fast
enough. But the thought didn’t register in time, and Danny was already across
the room and wrapping me up in one of his famous hugs that ended with him
lifting me off the ground.

“Danny,” I squealed. As much as I hated how rumpled my clothes
would be after this exchange, I was secretly enjoying it. He was the only
family member who understood me, and once he and Shari became more serious, I
was going to be left alone once more. I might as well enjoy this while I had
it.

He set me down and stepped back. “Have no fear, your superhero
brother is here.” He pushed his hand through his floppy brown hair and grinned
at me. “Plus Shari, too. We’re all going to support you.”

Tears pricked my eyes, and I turned so that he wouldn’t see my
reaction. Mom’s words, replayed in my mind, were such a contrast to his, but I
made an effort to push them out. It felt nice, knowing that there were going to
be people there for me and not just for Peter. After all, I’d sacrificed. I’d
given myself to this town. My happiness revolved around my success as a mayor.
Without that, I didn’t know who I was.

“Thanks, Dan,” I mumbled as I grabbed my clutch and turned to face
him.

His look of concern made my stomach flip-flop. He knew that I was
struggling more than I was showing. Blast my inability to hide my feelings from
him. But there was no way I wanted to get into this now. We could have this
conversation over a few beers when I wasn’t worried about smearing my makeup.

Raccoon eyes really didn’t say graceful loser, and there
was no way I wanted Peter to know that this election had broken me. I wanted to
remain strong for as long as I could. Crying was for the shower, and that was
it.

Danny paused but then nodded. Thank goodness he wasn’t going to
push me further. Instead, he linked his arm through mine and led me from the
room. He patted my hand a few times as he escorted me down the stairs and into
the foyer, where Shari stood talking to Mom.

When Shari saw us, her expression turned desperate as she hurried
over. “Hey,” she breathed out. From her red cheeks and frantic eyes, I could
tell that her conversation with Mom had been a strained one.

To say my parents weren’t happy that Danny had chosen to date an
older divorcée was an understatement. I could only imagine the subtle—or not so
subtle—hints that Mom was dropping Shari’s way.

If I wasn’t dealing with an existential crisis myself, I might
have felt some pity for Shari. But at the end of the day, she got to escape to
her house with Danny, and I was pretty sure that made up for any unpleasantries
she experienced here.

I was stuck in this house. So in this crappy situation, I had it
worse.

Thankfully, Mom and Dad were determined to be punctual, so all
chitchat was cut short, and we were ushered from the house.

The ceremony was okay. Peter was too flashy for my taste. The mess
of balloons and floral arrangements that adorned the flower garden behind City
Hall was a bit much. But that was Peter, and everyone in attendance seemed agog
at the sight.

After he was sworn in and dinner had been served, the tables and
chairs were removed to create a dance floor. The DJ was blasting music, which
was doing nothing for my headache. I wanted to leave, but every time I stepped
up to tell Mom, she waved me away, telling me to mingle, and then walked away
to fake smile at someone else.

It was as if everything I did trapped me. Be the mayor—trapped.
Lose reelection—trapped.

I was suffocating, and all I wanted to do was push myself to the
surface to breathe. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t quite get there.

Sighing, I headed over to the bar. If I was going to be here, I
might as well drink. Besides, it was an open bar. If Peter was paying, I was
going to take full advantage.

I nodded at a few twenty-year-olds who were hanging out at the
makeshift tiki hut. The grass skirt that surrounded the bar was a bit too much,
but Peter was a bit much, so it fit him perfectly.

The girls nodded back but then tightened their circle. I sighed.
There was no way I wanted to join their conversation. I was just trying to be
nice. Maybe that was the problem with my reelection—everyone in this town
annoyed me.

“Rough night?” A deep voice drew my attention, and suddenly, I was
staring into a pair of very familiar blue eyes. The bartender, who was also the
chef at Magnolia Inn, grinned back at me as he moved to pour a glass of beer.

Seeing him here startled me. My tongue felt heavy in my mouth as I
stared at him. I knew I was supposed to say something—after all, that’s how a
conversation worked—but I was exhausted and shocked, so words were a luxury I
could not afford.

He raised his eyebrows as he finished filling the glass, and then
he handed it over to a beefy man with a mustache who was waiting for it. The
man slipped a dollar into the tip jar, and the blue-eyed bartender—whose name I
had forgotten—thanked him before turning his attention back to me.

“Name’s Brett. We met a while ago at the club across the bridge.”
He leaned closer. “I work with Maggie at the inn.”

“I know,” I blurted out. Geez, no words, and then suddenly I was
literally yelling at the guy.

Thankfully, Brett didn’t seem startled. Instead he just chuckled
as he grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge and began to fill the flute in
front of him. “You doing okay?” he asked as he handed the full glass to
Serenity, the woman who owned the grocery store in town. She gave him a smile
followed by a wink before she turned away from the bar and disappeared back
into the crowd.

I sighed as I shook my head and leaned against the bar for
support. This entire evening had been a flop, and coming face-to-face with
Brett was the icing on the cake.

Everyone in town now knew I was a loser, and they weren’t shy
about showing it. If another person gave me a sympathetic smile or nod, I was
going to explode. “Can I get a beer?” I asked as I turned my attention back to
Brett. He had been staring at me, and as soon as our gazes met, he straightened
and cleared his throat.

His reaction was strange, and for a moment, I allowed myself to
think that it might have meant something, but then I chased that idea out of my
head. He was just marveling at my pathetic state, that was all. The once strong
and confident Victoria had been knocked down. I was a museum exhibit now.

“Are you sure that’s all you need?” Brett asked as he grabbed a
glass and began to pour.

I narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean?”

Brett’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t—that wasn’t—” He cleared his
throat. “I was just joking.” He finished filling the glass and then handed it
over to me.

I took a drink. “Great. My life is a joke.”

“I didn’t mean that—”

I raised my hand, effectively stopping him. “It’s fine. Laugh it
up. I mean, I would too if I were witnessing this pathetic person in front of
you.” I waved my hand toward myself.

Brett’s smile faltered for a moment as he stared at me. “Pathetic
person?” His voice was soft, and I felt his confusion. It sent my heart racing
in a way that I couldn’t quite describe. It was both exciting and exhilarating.

Needing a break from the confusion that came from him, I sucked in
my breath and turned toward the throng of people dancing. They were celebrating
and happy. It was hard not to feel hurt. After all, they were celebrating my
demise.

I sighed. I couldn’t dwell on that.

Even though I didn’t know where I was going with my life, I was
kind of excited to leave the world of politics behind me. The constant pressure
to do well—to perform well—was crushing. It might just have been the beer
talking, but I slowly felt more relaxed the longer the evening dragged on. My
connection to this world was fading, and I could feel its icy-cold fingers
loosen their grip on my soul.

“You doing okay?” Maggie asked. She’d broken from the crowd and
approached me. I could see the pity in her gaze, but I chose to ignore it. I
was trying to let more people into my life, and all of the women in the book
club had proven they would stick by me even when I was a curmudgeon. They’d
earned my respect, which was the highest level of praise a person could expect
from me.

I shrugged and nodded. “I’m getting there.”

Maggie wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.
“Well, we are all here to support you.” She waved to Shari, Clementine, Archer,
Jake, and Danny, who were all congregated at the edge of the dance floor.

I scoffed. “Not the new mayor?”

Maggie chuckled. “Nope. I’m lucky that I don’t know of the legacy
of Peter.” She wrinkled her nose. “You’ll always be the mayor who greeted me
when I first came to Magnolia.”

A pit formed in my stomach. Maggie was making me feel guilty for
being so sour. She was nice, and out of everyone in town, she was the one that
I felt got me. Or at least accepted me for where I was at.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

“So what are you plans now that you are out of a job?” She dropped
her arm and turned to grab some pretzels from the bar.

I sighed. “I’m not sure. I fear I’ve caused headaches for a lot of
the residents. They might not be too happy with me coming around and begging
for a job.” I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and blew out my
breath.

Maggie was nodding and munching at the same time. “So you don’t
have a lot of options?” she asked. I watched her meet Brett’s gaze. There was
some kind of exchange between them, but I wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Not really,” I said slowly as I eyed the two of them.

“Perfect. It’s settled, then,” Maggie said as she pushed away from
the bar. “You’re coming to work at the inn.”

I sputtered as I shook my head. There was no way I was going to
ruin the only relationship I had that was somewhat decent by working for
Maggie. It wouldn’t be long before she learned about my annoying quirks and
stubborn behavior. The last thing I needed was to alienate my friend and end up
jobless and alone. I could only go so low.

Maggie patted my shoulder. “You’ll learn I’m more resilient than I
look. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” Her smile was carefree and relaxed.
As if this was the only option that made sense for me.

As much as I wanted to say that she was just pitying me, she
seemed genuinely excited. Did she really want me there?

“Plus, you’ll be helping Brett and me out.” Maggie knocked her
fist down on the bar in Brett’s direction.

He nodded and smiled as he dried a glass. “Agreed.”

“Wait, what? You want me to work with Brett?” I shook my head.
That was a big mistake. He was cute. He was sexy. And spending my days with
him wouldn’t end well. Not with my history with men.

“Nonsense. Brett’s been complaining that he needs a hand in the
kitchen to help with prep, and I need help turning around rooms. It’ll be
perfect.” She smiled and then moved back toward the group she’d broken away
from as if this conversation was over and she had won.

I watched her leave, stunned by what had happened. I blinked, the
desire to hate her for putting me in this situation grew inside of me, but at
the same time, my respect for her game was growing as well. Making a
declaration and not waiting for a response was my move, and she’d executed it
perfectly.

Blast that woman.

“I wouldn’t fight it.”

I turned to see Brett smiling at me. “Who says I’m fighting it?” I
asked as I tucked my hair behind my ear. It had shaken loose with my forceful
objection to Maggie’s offer.

Brett narrowed his eyes as he set his hand down on the bar and
leaned toward me. That movement brought him close, and suddenly, I felt shy. I
wanted to retreat. How well could he see into my thoughts? What if he saw who I
really was? What would he think? Would he run?

He would. I knew the answer to that question, which is why I felt
like an idiot for thinking it.

All men ran when it came to Victoria Holt. Either I intimidated
them or scared them. It was both a blessing and a curse.

“I can see it in your eyes.” He held my gaze. This prolonged
exchange made me feel exposed.

Could he really see how I felt? Did he know?

And then I felt like an even bigger idiot. Of course he couldn’t
see. Eyes didn’t work like that. He could believe what he wanted, but the truth
was, I wasn’t scared. I was annoyed, and I was alone.

But I wasn’t scared.

At least, that was what I was going to tell myself.

Even if it was a lie, it was the only way I was going to survive.

And right now that was all I could do.

Survive.