Christmas Star Sapphire (Inspirational Romance): A Second Generation Jewel Series Novella (The Jewel Series Book 6) Read online

  Christmas Star Sapphire, a Novella

  A Special Christmas Novella

  Inspired by the Jewel Series

  Written by

  Published by

  Olivia Kimbrell Press™

  COPYRIGHT NOTICE

  Christmas Star Sapphire, a Novella; Inspired by the Jewel Series

  First edition. Copyright © 2015 by Hallee Bridgeman. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or recording – without express written permission of the author. The only exception is brief quotations in printed or broadcasted critical articles and reviews. Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, places, locales or to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or publisher. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

  PUBLISHED BY: Olivia Kimbrell Press™*, P.O. Box 4393, Winchester, KY 40392-4393

  The Olivia Kimbrell Press™ colophon and open book logo are trademarks of Olivia Kimbrell Press™.

  *Olivia Kimbrell Press™ is a publisher offering true to life, meaningful fiction from a Christian worldview intended to uplift the heart and engage the mind.

  Some scripture quotations courtesy of the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

  Some scripture quotations courtesy of the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas-Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Original Cover Art by Amanda Gail Smith (www.amandagailstudio.com)

  Library Cataloging Data

  Names: Bridgeman, Hallee (Hallee A. Bridgeman) 1972- Christmas Star Sapphire

  Title: Christmas Star Sapphire; a Novella Inspired by the Jewel Series / Hallee Bridgeman

  Description: Olivia Kimbrell Press digital eBook edition. | Kentucky: Olivia Kimbrell Press, 2015.

  Summary: He cast away his birthright. She'll inherit an enterprise. Can he captain her heart?

  Identifiers: LCCN 2015950627 | ISBN-13: 978-1-68190-019-3 (ebk.)

  Subjects: LCSH: Christian fiction | Christmas stories | College stories | Love stories | BISAC: FICTION / Christian / Romance | FICTION / Holidays | FICTION / Romance / Contemporary | FICTION / Romance / New Adult | BIC: FW | FR | FRD | FA | 2ABM | 3JM | 5AQ | 5AX | THEMA: FW | FR | FRD | 5PGM | 2ACBK | 3MRB | 5AQ | 5AX

  Classification: LCC Z688.C53 B72 2015 | [Fic.] DDC 813/.6--dc23

  DEDICATION

  LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO…

  CRU LEADERS all over the world, specifically the leaders our ministry supports:

  Pastor TL & Haley

  Pastor Weston & Heather

  and Pastor Joe

  You’re in the trenches every day, working with college students, uplifting believers, leading people to Christ, molding tomorrow’s leaders in their spiritual walk for our future and their eternity. We love you guys and pray for you daily. Proceeds from the sale of this novella will go to Cru ministries all over the world.

  Merry Christmas

  THE JEWEL SERIES

  The Jewel Series

  by Hallee Bridgeman

  Book 1: Sapphire Ice, a novel

  Book 1.5: Greater Than Rubies, a novella

  inspired by The Jewel Series

  Book 2: Emerald Fire, a novel

  Book 3: Topaz Heat, a novel

  Christmas Diamond, a novella

  inspired by The Jewel Series and Introducing the Virtues and Valor series

  Christmas Star Sapphire, a novella

  inspired by The Jewel Series

  Available in eBook and paperback wherever fine books are sold.

  CHAPTER 1

  WHEN Madeline Viscolli arrived a few minutes late at the small auditorium on the east side of the University’s campus, she expected to see a few dozen people already there, but found only one lone man sitting on the floor with his back against the base of the raised stage. Frowning, she glanced at her watch. Surely on the campus of one of the largest universities in Alabama, the Cru program had more than one person involved.

  Once called Campus Crusade for Christ, Cru served on college campuses all over the world. Cru provided students with worship and fellowship opportunities in a body of believers – a family away from family. While an undergraduate at the University of Florida, she’d spent hours and hours with her Cru family, and grew into a deeper relationship with God than she’d ever even thought possible. She’d gone on four mission trips spanning a total of eight different countries, volunteered in summer programs, and had developed friendships she knew she would treasure for the rest of her life. Now, pursuing a Master’s degree in business, she found herself on the coast of Alabama hoping to integrate into a new Cru group.

  Never shy, Madeline walked into the nearly empty building and marched straight down the aisle. The man looked up from his book and smiled at her. He had light red hair and a goatee that looked nearly blond. As she drew closer, she recognized the logo on his T-shirt from her favorite seafood restaurant in Key West.

  “Hello,” he greeted, setting his book aside and standing. Even though Madeline stood just two inches shy of six-feet, she had to look up at him. He smiled warmly and looked directly into her rich blue eyes as he held out his hand. “Joseph Westcott – Pastor Joe – though most people just go with Joe.”

  “Madeline Viscolli.” She shook his hand. Even though he kept his grip purposefully light she felt the hard calluses on his palms. Her father, an avid rower, had similar calluses. So, he was a pastor. Why was no one else here, then? “Am I in the right place for the Cru meeting?”

  “You sure are,” he answered, his green eyes shining with amusement, “and you’ll be right on time in about fifty-eight minutes.”

  “Doesn’t the meeting start at six?” Madeline frowned checking her watch.

  “Yes. It does.” He raised an eyebrow. “Still on east coast time?”

  Why would he be asking…? Feeling her face flood with heat, she realized. “Of course. We’re in Central Time.”

  With a friendly laugh, he gestured toward a cooler that sat on the floor near the stage. “Takes a little while to lose that hour. Water?”

  “That would be lovely, thank you.” Accepting the ice cold bottle from him she slipped her bag off of her shoulder and sat in one of the comfortable auditorium seats. “I didn’t get in until just now. Came straight from the airport. I actually scheduled my arrival to coordinate with the meeting.”

  “Where you comin’ from, Miss Viscolli?” While he casually dropped the verb much like a native, his accent didn’t sound Deep South to her ear. It made his manner of speaking interesting. His warm smile made it even more interesting.

  “I graduated last spring from the University of Florida.” She took a long pull from the bottle, not realizing how thirsty she felt until the icy water hit her dry throat. “I’m going to be getting my Master’s here.”

  “Gators? Let me think.” He hopped up onto the stage, facing her. He wore leather deck shoes with no socks and, despite the red hair, had a rather dark tan. “Chris Wilson still the Cru director there?”

  Picturing the dark brown face and laughing light brown eyes of Pastor Chris, Madeline s
miled. “He is. His wife just had their second baby.”

  “He showed me pictures at our annual conference.” He gestured at his T-shirt. “I usually spend a good bit of the summer in Florida myself.”

  The calluses on his palm and the tan lines despite his fair complexion had her guessing his hobby. “Do you sail?”

  His eyebrows rose in surprise. “How did you know that?”

  Madeline shrugged. “Lots of little clues, I guess.” Plus, she could see him, in her mind’s eye, on the deck of a little catamaran, skimming the turquoise waves off the Florida Keys. Her family had a home down there, and she had spent her childhood living in either Boston or southern Florida. Sailboats were just a part of what she considered normal in life.

  “Quite observant, Miss Viscolli.” He pronounced her name perfectly, long o sound and all. He looked at his watch. “We have some time before the meeting. If anyone else had their times mixed up, they would have been here by now. Honestly, you should probably eat something now if you’re still on Eastern Time. You’ll be starving in a few hours. Want to grab a coffee and a snack or something?”

  “Actually, I think I’ll skip tonight and go find my apartment.” She stood, almost instantly regretting turning down the offer. She suddenly realized she might enjoy getting to know Mr. Westcott better. “I thought I’d have more energy. I just got in from spending the last several weeks in England with my brother and his wife, and I’m a bit jet lagged.” Waving a hand around the room, she added, “Hence the mix-up with the time.” She picked up her bag and slipped the strap over her shoulder. “I look forward to the next few years, Pastor Joe Westcott. Cru has been a major focus of my life since my first day at college. I’m praying I’ll be able to develop the kind of friendships I had in Florida.”

  He scooted off of the stage and held out his hand. Without hesitation, she placed her hand in his again.

  “It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Madeline Viscolli. I look forward to seeing you again very soon and I’ll be sure to email Chris Wilson and let him know I met you.” He held her hand throughout this tiny little monologue, then gave her fingers a gentle squeeze before he released her grasp. Did he hold her hand a heartbeat longer than necessary, or was that just her jet lagged brain slowing everything down?

  MADELINE had to hit the panic button on her electronic key fob to find her rental car. She felt rather foolish about that, but after traveling for the last twenty or so hours, she honestly couldn’t remember what color car she’d just rented. The remnants of a hurricane hitting the coast of Massachusetts had thrown all of her travel plans off and brought her here two days later than originally planned. So, when she arrived at the airport so close to the Cru meet and greet time, she just rented a car. She would visit the car dealership to pick up her new lease vehicle later in the week. Audibly thanking God for built in GPS, she input the address of her new apartment and followed the electronic voice’s directions to an upscale town house neighborhood within walking distance of campus.

  Her father, Tony, had told her he’d rented her an apartment. Madeline had expected a studio apartment, or at most, a two bedroom place. The red brick townhome surprised her, though it likely shouldn’t have. She pulled into the driveway, not really astonished to see another rental car already there. She dug through her purse and found the key her father’s secretary had delivered to her in England, then popped the trunk on the rental car.

  She pulled her suitcases out of the trunk and secured them together so she wouldn’t have to make another trip outside. When she unlocked the door to the town house, she smelled fresh paint and new carpet. She also caught a whiff of her mother’s perfume about two seconds before she saw her.

  “Madeline!” Robin Viscolli greeted, coming forward with her arms extended.

  “Mama!” Madeline hadn’t seen her mother in three weeks. She had inherited her mother’s height and sapphire blue eyes, but the resemblance nearly ended there. Where Robin had thick blonde hair that fell to her shoulders in soft curls, Madeline had her father’s dark hair and Italian complexion. “I’m so happy you’re here!”

  She let her mom pull her into her arms and hugged her back tightly. When they broke the embrace, Robin smiled and ran a hand over Madeline’s hair. “I’m thrilled to be able to help you settle in. I missed you while you were visiting your brother. I’ll show you around and you can tell me how he and Faith are doing these days.”

  They walked through the entryway and into a room with gleaming wood floors. A large wooden desk sat on a rectangular oriental rug. The desk faced a big bay window that looked out onto a small porch and a manicured lawn. An ornate wrought iron table and chairs and a covered stainless steel grill looked perfectly at home on the porch.

  Several bookcases lined the two available walls. About half the shelves held books. Madeline saw boxes stacked in the corner and suspected they contained yet more books.

  “Your father sent the books he thought you’d need on top of the ones you said you wanted,” Robin said. “I was just unpacking when I heard you pull in.”

  “I love this desk,” Madeline said, leaving the suitcases by the stairs and walking into the room. She ran her fingers over the gleaming wood. “It is so beautiful.”

  “I had it custom designed for you,” Tony Viscolli confessed, coming down the stairs. “Hello, figlia.”

  “Papa!” Madeline rushed into his familiar arms, breathing in the scent of his aftershave. “Mama didn’t tell me you were here, too.”

  “I assumed it was assumed,” Robin teased with a grin.

  “We got in yesterday. How are you, figlia? You look tired.” He stated, studying her face.

  “I had a pretty long layover in Amsterdam.”

  Tony scolded. “Should have taken the Viscolli jet.”

  Madeline half smiled. “I don’t mind flying commercial.”

  Robin interjected, “How are your brother and Faith doing?”

  Madeline smiled. “England is beautiful in the summer. It rains like Florida; hard and fast and completely dry a few minutes later. Their little house is so nice. And I really, really like Faith. I like her more the more time we spend together. She is the coolest British chick in the world. And TJ is incredibly happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen him. I can’t wait to visit again.”

  Robin interjected, “We’ve already made them promise to join us in the Keys this Christmas.”

  “Faith will probably want to fly.” Madeline had declined the opportunity to fly with Faith in her recently repaired North American Na-16 during her brief visit, though she had gladly watched from the ground while her sister-in-law performed dangerous looking aerodynamic stunts in a recently acquired Submarine Spitfire Mk IX. Even watching from the ground had made Madeline’s stomach feel a little bit queasy.

  Tony slipped his arm over his wife’s shoulder. Madeline always enjoyed watching her parents when they were together. Her father completely doted on her mother, who in turn absolutely adored her father. Madeline often prayed that she would find a love like that one day. “The desk,” he said, gesturing with his free hand, “will go with you wherever you decide to work.”

  As a corporate mogul with businesses that spanned the globe, Tony could offer Madeline her pick of locations in which to permanently settle and hand over control of businesses he expected her to start to manage. She had her choice of everything from a Christian movie studio to five-star hotels and just about anything in between. Her interest in her father’s companies and business dealings had engaged her since before high school. Her older and only brother, TJ, had never desired to take the reins of the Viscolli empire. Madeline, however, had longed to sit behind the big desk ever since hosting tea parties in her father’s office at age four.

  “If only I can settle on what I want to do,” she said a bit wistfully. “I still contend that my time might be better served to just start working rather than continue my education right now.”

  “Yet you felt God’s call to come to Mobile despite so man
y good schools closer to Boston. It’s always better to listen to His voice rather than your own.” Tony countered. He stepped away from his wife and took his only daughter’s hand. For whatever reason, the calluses on his palms made her think of Joe Westcott, the young Cru pastor she had just met. “When God has you fully prepared, then we’ll all know where you should go and what you should do.”

  He crossed the room and retrieved her suitcases before walking back to the staircase. “In the meantime, let’s get you settled. The circles under your eyes are about to pull you over, giovane figlia.”

  She followed them up the stairs and into a large living area. Her mother walked into the living room while her father continued up the stairs with her luggage. On the second floor, a sectional couch faced a fireplace where a large flat-screened television hung above the mantle. A balcony looked out over the lawn she’d seen from the study. She could see a kitchen through a door and walked in that direction, stepping into an area almost the size of the living room with a large island in the kitchen half and a round table with four chairs in the dining half.

  With half an ear and a head buzzing from exhaustion, she listened to her mother explain the staples and supplies with which she’d stocked the kitchen. “Why don’t you go find a bed, Madeline? You look beat. You can explore later.”

  She nodded as she yawned, then left the kitchen. Back in the living room, she went up the stairs and entered a small hallway. Her feet sank into the plush bone colored carpet. Directly in front of her stood a bathroom, and on either side, she saw the open doors of bedrooms. Seeing evidence of which room her parents had taken, she walked into the other one. A double bed sat in the middle of the room, covered with a quilt done in the blue and orange of the University of Florida, handmade for her by her Great Aunt Darlene, her Aunt Sarah’s adoptive mother. She smiled as she ran her fingers over the warm quilt. Her father emerged from a doorway in the corner of the room.