The Best Gift

By Michele Venne

Why would a happily married woman believe the anonymous lies about her husband?

Claire Adams is married to the man she loves with all her heart. Then evidence arrives that leads her to file for divorce. She wonders how her life has gone so horribly wrong.

Nicolas Adams investigates the evidence and uncovers is a list of victims and crimes. Will he be able to convince Claire to listen to the truth and save their marriage?

• Language: English
• Publisher: My Joy Enterprises
• Release date: Aug 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781945593338

Book preview

The Best Gift

The Best Gift

Michele Venne´

My Joy Enterprises

The Best Gift

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.

First Edition

Published by My Joy Enterprises

PO Box 73372, Phoenix, Arizona USA 85050

www.michelevenne.com

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Copyright © 2021 by Michele Venne´

Cover art created by Lilly Skye at www.lillyskye.com

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ISBN: 978-1-945593-33-8

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author or publisher.

Contents

Story

Questions to Ponder

Dear Reader

Acknowledgments

Titles by Michele Venne´

About the Author

In previous years, the scene around Nicolas would have elicited feelings of family and happiness. Apples, cinnamon, and pine scented the air. Icy wind blew against piles of snow along the sidewalk. Boughs from the surrounding forest migrated to lamp posts and shop doors in the shape of wreaths. Garland hung in decorative swags on the tops of windows. Lights glowed and twinkled everywhere. Shoppers wearing colorful coats, scarves, and mittens were loaded down like burros in South America with packages containing gifts for friends and family. The jingle of Salvation Army volunteers beside their red buckets mixed with chatter and the ceaseless drone of carols.

Nicolas shoved his bare hands deep in the pockets of his Navy Peacoat since he’d misplaced his gloves. Again. Pausing at the banner that stretched across the road, he read: Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. Hamilton Write Mabie.

Snorting his disagreement, Nicolas shrugged deeper inside his coat and crossed to O’Malley’s Pub. Arriving before the rowdy Happy Hour crowd, he hoped to claim the usual table and have a clear view of the front door. Nicolas nodded a greeting to the bartender—Barry O’Malley was the oldest of three and worked most nights—then let the sounds and scents of the neighborhood establishment wash over him. Settling into a chair he’d used often enough that it felt like he owned it, he shrugged out of his coat and smiled a thanks at Cindy, the waitress who delivered his beer.

Claire paused outside the pub door and glanced up at the banner stretching across the road. To combat the lump that clogged her throat, she scowled. A familiar, if unwanted, voice sounded behind her and forced her decision to seek refuge inside the bar. Their bar. Where they met for their first date, held their wedding rehearsal dinner, and rented the back room on all nine of their anniversaries. She supposed comfort could be found in the familiar. One step inside O’Malley’s and that familiarity clenched her heart.

Dragging her gaze away from the corner table and its occupant, she strode to the bar and perched on a stool. She signaled for the bartender, then removed the pointed ear coverings, part of her costume, and stuffed them inside the pocket of her coat. In the other pocket were the green curled shoe coverings, which had a small jingle bell dangling from the end. She pushed her fingers through her short, dark, curly hair and dislodged the felt hat that matched the shoe coverings.

She shrugged out of the thick jacket and laid it across her lap. The snug white shirt reached to the top of her thighs and was cinched around her waist with a wide black belt. With her legs tucked under the bar and covered with her coat, no one