Perfect on Paper Read online

  Table of Contents

  Legal Page

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  New Excerpt

  About the Author

  Publisher Page

  Perfect on Paper

  ISBN # 978-1-78430-730-1

  ©Copyright Destiny Moon 2015

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright August 2015

  Edited by Jamie D. Rose

  Totally Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2015 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

  Totally Bound Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

  Warning:

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Simmering and a Sexometer of 1.

  PERFECT ON PAPER

  Destiny Moon

  When Nadine loses it all, she must rebuild her life. But maybe she no longer wants what she used to have.

  Nadine Baxter pieces her life back together after losing her job, her fiancé and her grandfather—all at once. She goes back to her university job working at the bookstore where she meets David, a young guy with a huge crush on her. While Nadine is flattered, she’s also well aware that she’s in a different stage of life and, more than a relationship, she wants to launch a business doing furniture restoration like her grandfather.

  When David’s persistence earns him a date, Nadine is surprised by how much she likes him. His maturity and attentiveness impress her and she begins to consider the idea of being with him. Just when her life is finally looking up, her ex-fiancé Allan reappears. He wants her back and he still has power over her. As much as she wants to deny it, he really is perfect for her on paper. Everyone wants them to be together, including both their families.

  With the help of an eccentric elderly lady, a couple of dogs and a long lost gift from her grandfather, Nadine must figure out whether real love has anything to do with what is perfect on paper.

  Dedication

  For B.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Alfred Sung: Mimran Group Inc.

  Coty: Coty US LLC

  X-ACTO Knife: Elmer’s Products Inc.

  Olympics: United States Olympic Committee

  On the Origin of the Species: Charles Darwin

  Popsicle: Unilever USA

  Weird Science: John Hughes

  Martini: Martini and Rossi Corporation

  Starbucks: Starbucks Coffee Company Corporation

  Banana Republic: Banana Republic Inc.

  Visa: Ibanco Ltd.

  McBeth: William Shakespeare

  Apple TV: Apple Inc.

  Playboy: Playboy Enterprises International Inc.

  Spellbound: Alfred Hitchcock

  Criterion: The Criterion Collection

  Vertigo: Alfred Hitchcock

  Victoria’s Secret: Victoria’s Secret Stores Brand Management Inc.

  Milk-Bones: Kraft Food Holdings Inc.

  Thermos: Thermos LLC

  Bernard Callebaut: Bernard Callebaut

  Cosmo: Hearst Communications Inc.

  Mary Poppins: Disney Enterprises Inc.

  iPhone: Apple, Inc.

  Pollyanna: Disney Enterprises Inc.

  Disneyland: Disney Enterprises Inc.

  Tasmanian Devil: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

  Star Wars: LucasFilm Entertainment Company

  A Clockwork Orange: Stanley Kubrick

  2001: A Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick

  Valley of the Dolls: Jacqueline Susann

  Phantom of the Opera: Gaston Leroux

  Ikea: Ikea Svenska Aktiebolag Corporation

  BCBG: MLA Multibrand Holdings LLC

  BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft Corporation

  Rolex: Rolex Watch USA

  Lord of the Rings: JRR Tolkein

  Gentlemen’s Quarterly: Conde Naste

  GQ: Advance Publications

  Chapter One

  The only black dress that Nadine owned was the one dress she couldn’t wear to her grandfather’s funeral. With its white piping trim, it was way too festive, flirty and fun for a funeral. It was a snug-fitting Alfred Sung knee-length dress that she’d bought with the bonus she’d made last year.

  Last year.

  She didn’t dare to even think about what her life had been like then. She forced the memories out of her mind as she drove to Sally’s thrift shop. She needed to buy something—anything—black. She’d never wear it again after laying dear Grandpa Winston to rest.

  “Nadine,” Sally, the shop owner, exclaimed as soon as Nadine inched past the clanging bell that dangled on the glass door. “I heard about dear Winston. I’m so sorry.”

  With that, Nadine cried into Sally’s warm embrace that smelled like Coty perfume from the seventies. Nothing at Sally’s had changed in decades, even fragrance. There was solace in that. With that, the tears came.

  “I need a dress for…” she sniveled. It was so hard to say the words. All she managed, by way of explanation, was, “Sunday”.

  Sally gave her an empathetic smile. “I’ve just the thing, dear.”

  She went to the rack along the side and pulled a long dress from it. It wasn’t something that Nadine would ordinarily wear. She eyed its shapeless form.

  “Perfect.”

  “You should try it on, just to be sure it fits.”

  Nadine held it to herself. The thing was ugly, that was for sure, but it would definitely fit. It was loose. That was the style. She’d have to cinch it with a belt or something. It didn’t much matter. She’d figure it out at home.

  “I’ll take it.”

  “But…”

  “It’s fine. I’ll be bringing it back to you next week.”

  “I know you will, dear. Why don’t you just borrow it?”

  “No. Let me pay you for it.”

  “All right then.”

  Sally went around the counter to the old cash register that had been the same since Nadine had been a kid. She rang up the purchase.

  “That’ll be three dollars.”

  N
adine almost cried again. She knew that Sally was discounting the dress by several hundred percent, but she understood why. Her grandfather had also helped Sally many times over the years, offering advice and a helping hand whenever he could. He had done that for everyone in the neighborhood.

  She placed a five-dollar bill in the elderly woman’s hand. “Will you be there on Sunday?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  They hugged again and Nadine left the store.

  On her way home, she picked up a salad from the grocery store and, although it went against her rules, she also grabbed a bottle of merlot. She wasn’t one to drink alone, but this was different. She couldn’t be around her family. She didn’t know how to even begin to add her grandfather’s death to the horrid typhoon of events that had turned her life upside down in the past few months. It was better to be alone with her thoughts and feelings until she had a bit of a handle on them.

  The past year had changed everything. It had started half a year ago when she’d lost her job at Simmons & Co, where she’d been one of their best investors. It wasn’t her fault, her manager had said, just the result of the recent market meltdown. She shouldn’t blame herself, she’d been told.

  Telling Allan had been hard. All their wedding plans had already been set in motion. Their credit cards had had charges for things like deposits on the church gazebo, tent rentals, chair rentals and a big four-tier butter cream cake. He’d told her they’d get through it together, so she’d leaned on him.

  Then there had been that horrible day, a couple of months later—their engagement party—when he’d left her in front of all their friends and relatives. The aunts and cousins and neighborhood ladies had all said it was a simple case of cold feet—that most men got that. But most men did not walk out on relationships they’d been in since high school just because they were a little nervous, Nadine was convinced. Though she had accepted the kinder explanations in the moment, she knew he was gone. Because even if he tried to come back, the memory was too painful for her to overcome. She knew that she could not marry a man who would leave her at their engagement party. There was just no recovering from that.

  Nadine ate her salad in front of the evening news, the living room dimmed all around her. The local news did a segment on Winston’s Fine Furniture and the role her grandfather had played in the community. It was almost too much to bear.

  * * * *

  Sunday was cold. Nadine put on the frumpy black dress and made the best of her hair and makeup. She didn’t care how she looked. This was a day for crying.

  Throughout the service she sniffled, unable to accept that he was actually gone. He’d been so present in her life, the one member of her family who had never hurt her feelings.

  After the service, there was tea and cake in the community room adjacent to the chapel. Nadine took a slice of someone’s homemade lemon loaf onto a plate.

  Her aunt Martha made a face and came over to her. “Careful, dear,” she said. “Now that you’re single again, you have to watch that figure.”

  Oh boy.

  Was that really what she cared about on a day like today?

  “Thanks,” Nadine said, taking a bite. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  “You’ve got your mother’s hips. And you know what that means.”

  Nadine scowled. How many times had the mean aunts made fun of her mom’s slightly larger than average hips? It was one thing at a birthday celebration, but this was Grandpa Winston’s day.

  Aunt Shirley sauntered up to them. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

  “No,” Nadine said, taking another bite of lemon cake.

  “So, tell us,” Aunt Shirley said with her usual gregarious smile, “are you seeing anyone yet?”

  “No,” Nadine said, her tone cool and formal. “Not yet.”

  “Well, no need to worry, dear. You’re young.”

  What was that supposed to mean? Was it really so hideous in the minds of her aunts to be an unwed woman over thirty? Wasn’t it better to be single than to have married the kind of guy who’d walk out?

  “I’m keeping busy with work,” she said, in an effort to justify her life.

  “Oh, yes. That’s right. Our little investment broker,” Aunt Shirley said, squeezing Nadine’s arm.

  “Our career girl,” Aunt Martha agreed.

  “Well, actually, I’m back at the bookstore, remember?”

  Does nobody around here ever listen?

  “Heavens, no. I don’t think I heard that,” Aunt Shirley said.

  Nadine wanted to roll her eyes, but there was no point. Her aunts did their best. “Yeah, at the university. It’s a decent job with benefits. When Simmons & Co laid me off last year, I had to take it.”

  “Oh dear.” Aunt Martha looked at her with pity. Both of her mother’s sisters seemed evil to her in that moment. Their focus shouldn’t even be on Nadine’s life at all. If there was one time to not have to face their catty gossip, surely it’d be a day like this.

  “I still don’t believe it’s over between you and Allan,” Aunt Martha said, as though it was supposed to be a comfort.

  “Shirley’s right. He’ll be back for you.”

  Ugh. If that happens, I’d rather join Grandpa Winston.

  Nadine excused herself and wandered away. She couldn’t be around their negative views. She, too, felt that her life had fallen apart. She no longer had her glamorous job. She’d lost the status of having a fiancé, which in her family meant that she was relegated to sitting at the kids’ table at family events. And she had just lost the one man who had accepted her unconditionally—Grandpa Winston. There was nothing that seemed certain anymore except for one little thing. Allan was not a prize worth waiting for. It had hurt her bitterly that he’d left, but if he ever came back, she would definitely not marry him. She might throw a wrench or a brick at him, but marriage was not an option.

  Chapter Two

  One year later

  Nadine was up at six, as usual. After her morning yoga, she made a mug of tea and sat down to eat breakfast—oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon and blueberries. She went over her business affirmations, reciting feel-good phrases in an attempt to convince herself that she could do this. Building up a business from scratch was not easy, but neither was any dream worth striving for. Having given up on her earlier dreams of being Allan’s wife and her former firm’s youngest and brightest, she had spent the past year seeking clarity. It had come in the form of an epiphany. One day, she had realized that the one thing in this life that made her happy was working with furniture. She’d been happy in all the years of her childhood and adolescence when she’d hung out at Grandpa Winston’s shop, watching him for hours at a time as he sanded and varnished. She loved the smell of the solvents he used. And she lived for the scent of wood. It was divine.

  As she took a sip of her morning tea, she thought about how strange life was that in all the years when she could have apprenticed with her grandfather, she had never considered it. Now that he was gone, she wanted nothing more than to get back into his workshop and learn from the best. He’d been like a wizard with his hands, working his magic on pieces of furniture that other people had abandoned. It had been incredible to see what he could do with chests of drawers that had survived fires, wars, divorces and years of being locked away in damp garages. Nadine admired not just the beauty he had been able to create, but also the way he saw craftsmanship as something sacred—like he owed it to history and posterity to preserve each and every cabinet and bookshelf and credenza that came his way.

  Yet, for all her admiration, Nadine’s vision seemed insurmountable this morning. She browsed through the classified section, as she did each morning, looking for a space that might function as a storefront as well as a workshop. She wanted exactly the kind of setup that Grandpa Winston’d had. How she kicked herself for not knowing this a year earlier when her parents had put his very shop up for sale. Grandpa Winston had lived upstairs, done his work in the back and served
customers up front for as long as she could remember. Alas, she would have to find some other way to have a storefront. And on a day like this one, it all seemed a little too daunting. In her mind’s eye, she saw herself unable to hoist furniture onto the back of her truck. How had her grandfather managed to do it into his golden years? She imagined herself falling into debt, the way so many businesses in this town did. It was quite common in this economy to open a shop and close it down again within the same year for lack of business. Ann Arbor had suffered just like every other small town across America, and Nadine was afraid. What made her think she could handle it?

  She said her affirmations out loud to try to silence the negative thoughts that played continually as the music of her mind.

  “I am capable. I am strong. I am successful.”

  She got up from the breakfast table, put her bowl and mug in the dishwasher, got dressed and did her makeup. By seven, she was in her car. By half past seven, she was at her desk in the basement of the University of Michigan’s bookstore. This was busy season—September. This was the time to sock away savings so that when the perfect location became available, she would be able to make her move. She wanted badly to quit this asinine job, but living without medical insurance and a high enough income to support herself? She would not. Her parents had raised her to have high expectations. She was used to the best. But this last year had seen her evaluate what that meant. Nadine had stopped going for regular manicures and pedicures. She’d quit shopping for brand name clothing and expensive cosmetics and fragrances. She’d laid off the cocktail lounges and nice dinners with friends. Everything was about her new dream.

  She logged onto the bookstore network and got to work immediately, recording the sales from the night before, inputting orders to textbook suppliers and following up on invoices. Morning was the only time to do this, for once nine o’clock rolled around, she had to supervise the student workforce and make sure they didn’t screw up. They had to keep the stock flowing from the skids here in Shipping and Receiving to the stacks on the floor. That was not easy. She remembered it from the other perspective, too, back when she’d been a UMich student and this had been her part-time job. But now she was the boss, and she vowed to do the best she could.