A Valentine for Chelsea: Holiday Daddy Doms, #2

By Raisa Greywood

Cupid needs to be shot with one of his own arrows.

 

Chelsea hates Valentine's Day. She hates the pink and red hearts hung all over town, the kissy faces everyone makes, and the cringe-worthy cards. The one thing she actually loved, her dog Princess, is happy in a new home, and Chelsea has no one to celebrate with. Not that she would. The whole holiday is a marketing ploy to get people to spend money.

 

Tennyson Barber is happy. He's got a brand new medical practice and the company of beautiful women whenever he wants it. Why then, is his inner daddy so fascinated with Chelsea Grant? She's coming off a bad marriage and has a whole mess of problems he should avoid. Tennyson is nobody's knight in shining armor, but he wants to slay Chelsea's dragons anyway.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raisa Greywood
• Release date: Feb 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781952596230

Book preview

A VALENTINE FOR CHELSEA

HOLIDAY DADDY DOMS

BOOK TWO

RAISA GREYWOOD

Raisa Greywood LLC

© 2020 Raisa Greywood LLC

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise - without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is unintended and entirely coincidental.

Cover art by Wicked Smart Designs.

Editing provided by Amy Briggs.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-952596-23-0

Print ISBN: 978-1-952596-07-0

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Epilogue

Treats for Lucia

Acknowledgments

About Raisa Greywood

Also by Raisa Greywood

Wicked Truth - Minette Moreau

PROLOGUE

W hat do you think, Daddy?

Remy pulled Lulu close and dropped an absentminded kiss on her cheek. You’re a stubborn little girl who needs to go over Daddy’s knee.

Lulu tucked herself under his arm, thankful to be in his loving embrace again. I know, and you can spank me for it later. What do you think about Chelsea?

He rubbed his bristly chin, scowling. In my day, we’d have taken a man like her ex-husband out behind the woodshed.

They followed Chelsea down the street and Lulu’s heart broke at the sight of her bowed shoulders. The little girl was sad, broken down, and thoroughly cowed by a man who didn’t deserve the gift he’d been given.

Your day was fifty years ago, Lulu replied. Can we help her?

Smart-aleck woman. We’re not guardians anymore, and we ain’t allowed to talk to them without Gabriel’s permission.

I was a hundred and eight years old when they planted me, a scratchy feminine voice said. Ain’t nobody with enough gumption to tell me I can’t talk to someone.

Lulu turned to face the woman and smiled. Mrs. Barber, how are you?

A few million pennies shy of my wings, Miz Lulu. Glad to see you got yours, though. She peered over half-moon spectacles at Remy. And who’s this fine boy you’re making time with?

My husband, Remy, Lulu replied.

A pleasure. Remy tipped his battered fedora to reveal wiry gray hair.

Does that girl have a guardian? Mrs. Barber asked, pointing at Chelsea.

No, I don’t think so. Lulu glanced at her husband and they shook their heads. We haven’t seen one.

Well, she does now.

You need to ask Gabriel first. No guardian gets two at the same time, and you have your great-grandson, and… Lulu fell silent at the first sign of Mrs. Barber’s lifted eyebrow. Sorry.

Gabriel ain’t gonna like that, Remy said doubtfully.

Who cares? Mrs. Barber inclined her head and made her way down the street to her great-grandson’s office. She had business with that boy and no time for fledgling angels—or archangels older than the earth itself for that matter.

Gabriel could bluster and whine as much as he wanted. Nobody crossed Edith Lynne Barber when she had her mind set on making something happen.

There was a fun fact about Edith she didn’t share with too many folks. She’d earned and lost enough points to have gotten her wings a dozen times over, but she liked being a guardian. Every time she got close to wings of her own, she’d push her charge to the person she chose for them, swirl her cane a few times, and true love sprang to life.

Truth be told, she didn’t need the cane swirl, but she liked the way it looked. Seemed fancier somehow and she liked to annoy Gabriel whenever she could.

Using magic made Gabriel furious and he took away all the points she might have earned, but that was just a side bonus. He called it cheating. Edith called it efficient. Why go through all the trouble of dating and courtship when her methods were more reliable and took less time? After what almost happened with Lulu’s Jennifer and Kaden, he ought to have better sense by now.

She’d gotten the gift from her many-times-great-grandmother, Faith. Dozens of men and women lost their lives during the Salem Witch Trials, but Faith was the real deal. She lived quietly, kept her head down, and came through with her hide intact to produce a dozen fine sons and daughters, all of whom shared her gifts.

Chelsea would be strong enough to slay her own dragons in time, but right now, she needed a knight. Tennyson was a good boy where it counted. His armor only needed a little polish to get the tarnish off. It was time for him to stop his tomfoolery and settle down with the right woman.

Edith just needed them to touch each other. Once that happened, she’d know for certain if they were meant to be. Chewing on her lip, she considered how to get Tennyson out of his office and in the right place before Chelsea got away.

She looked up and tapped her cane on the pavement, bringing a load of snow down from the roof of Tennyson’s office right before Chelsea managed to cross the street.

Chelsea screeched and threw herself backward, right into Tennyson’s waiting arms.

I told that boy a hundred times to clean the snow off his roof, Edith murmured. Ain’t my fault he didn’t listen.

The minute Tennyson took Chelsea’s hand, Edith saw what she expected.

The faint pink arch hovering over Chelsea and Tennyson seemed strong and perfect at first glance, yet there was something off about it. Edith frowned and moved closer. One end of the arch came from Tennyson, meeting the one emanating from Chelsea like it was supposed to, but there were two swirling purple threads reaching toward both of them.

Well, shit. Edith rested her hands on her cane and burst into cackling laughter. Looks like you’re going to be growing up faster than you thought, son.

CHAPTER 1

Stupid snow. Stupid ice. And really stupid fluttery hearts hung everywhere. It looked like Cupid puked glitter and shit pink construction paper all over Montgomery.

Some women got flowers or jewelry. Not Chelsea. For her first Valentine’s Day as a single woman, she got a divorce decree, an eventual eviction notice, and a steaming helping of kick Chelsea while she was down in the form of a positive pregnancy test two days after her ex-husband, Evan, left her for someone else.

If she had the money, she’d send his new girlfriend a thank you gift. Unfortunately, Evan stole everything they owned on his way out, including her truck. The truck had been in his name so there wasn’t much she could do about it, but it left her with no means of transport. Which meant she couldn’t work—which equated to not having a way to support her baby, much less herself. Thankfully, her landlady was more than sympathetic and let Chelsea stay rent free in exchange for doing the maintenance on her rental properties. Mrs. Finley could only give her six months though. After that, Chelsea would be homeless if she couldn’t find something else.

Jumping at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, she spun around, then relaxed. Hey, Kaden. How’s married life treating you?

Kaden’s eyes softened at the mention of his new wife and he reached down to scratch a fluffy golden retriever between the ears. His wife Jennifer used to be her vet, but Chelsea didn’t need one of those anymore.

Jennifer had saved Chelsea’s dog Princess after Evan accidentally on purpose shot her last Christmas eve. Even though Evan was gone and Princess would be safe, Chelsea couldn’t afford to care for her. She was better off with the McCleods.

It’s wonderful. He narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down. But the real question is how are you doing? It doesn’t look like you’ve been eating, and—

I’m fine. Everything is perfect, she replied, too quickly. The last thing she needed was for anyone in town to know Evan had left her knocked up. I’m just busy looking for work is all.

Why don’t you come stay with Jennifer and me? We have the space, and we could loan you the down payment on a new—

No, but thanks for the offer. Mr. Parker promised me a few extra hours at the hardware store, so I’ll be fine.

After everything Jennifer had done for Princess, there was no way she could bring herself to take advantage of them again.

Actually, Jennifer and I have been meaning to talk to you about that. We wondered if you’d be interested in doing a kitchen remodel for a friend of ours.

Although she wanted to bounce with excitement, Chelsea