Twistmas – The Season for Love by Diane Lynn McGyver is available starting today at CreateSpace. It will be available soon through Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. Links will be updated when they become available.

If you missed the first chapter of this seasonal adult romance, click here.

To learn more about this story, set in Cole Harbour – Home of Sydney Crosby, check out its book page.

The story continues with Chapter 02: Sexcapades

Jan returned the digital camera to the display cabinet. She rearranged the matching 55mm lens, adjusted the case and propped up the price sign that had fallen when she extracted the item to show a customer.

The countdown had begun: fifteen shopping days left until Christmas, including today. Saturdays had been the busiest shopping day of the week until that MacDonald premier decided to make it a free-for-all and allow shops to open every day of the year except November 11th. Retail employees weren’t guaranteed to get any statutory holiday off to spend with their family.

“Excuse me.” A customer leant over the counter and peered down at Jan. “Do you do camera repairs?”

Jan turned to face the young man with blonde hair streaked with purple dye and an earring the size of the CN Tower sticking out of his nose. “We don’t repair on site; we send them to our branch at Bayer’s Lake. What’s wrong with your camera?”

“Well…” He glanced around to see who might eavesdrop, then leant forward and spoke in a hushed voice. “My girlfriend was a little wasted and…well, I wasn’t bad either.” A big, stupid grin spread across his face. “We got into some stuff, and when I bent over her, it fell in the toilet.” He didn’t appear embarrassed to admit he did stuff with his girlfriend on the toilet.

“Did you get it out of the water right away?” She had no patience for ignorance, and this was what this conversation would reveal.

“After we were done. I mean you can’t lose the moment, right?” He chuckled. “Anyways, can you fix it?”

“If it sat in water for any amount of time, there’s no hope in fixing it?”

“Can you take a look?” He dug into his torn jeans pocket and extracted a slim camera. He set it on the glass counter as if he presented a fine sample of jewellery. The device appeared to have gone through the wringer more than once.

She gawked up at him. “It looks as if you’ve used it as hockey puck.”

He grinned guiltily. “Only once, but it was on carpet. It still worked great after that.”

Jan swallowed to keep her tongue from saying something it shouldn’t. She picked up the camera, flicked it on and nothing happened. This model cost about $150. Obviously pocket change for the ignorant kid in front of her. Or it had been a gift from a parent who would no doubt shell out more money to feed his immaturity. She opened the battery compartment, extracted the two AA batteries and inserted a new set. Still nothing.

“We tried that.” He looked confident as if he had never struggled to push open a door when the sign clearly stated pull.

Jan caught movement to the side and looked to see her daughter and her sister walk into the store. Emmie would finish the rest of the shift with Jan while Lorette went to work. She returned her attention to the customer.

“You could send it away, but it’d probably cost more than if you bought a new camera. And there are no guarantees they can fix it or how long it will continue to work after the abuse it has taken. The extra warranty won’t cover being dropped in a toilet during your…sexcapades.”

The boy man laughed. “That’s a good one! But serious, man, you can’t fix it?”

“I can’t fix it and neither can the genies at Bayer’s Lake. You’re better off buying a new one.”

“Sweet. A Christmas gift in the making. I didn’t like it anyways.” He slipped the broken camera into his pocket. “Still makes a good puck.” He turned and left the store.

Jan watched him saunter away, flicking dangling price tags and making others veer out of his path. He needed a good dose of reality and a shot of maturity.

“Hey, sis, gotta run. Traffic was hellish,” said Lorette.

“It’s that holiday spirit you spoke of making them so happy and giving that drives them out.” Jan grinned and winked.

Lorette stared, confused until a light went on, and she giggled. “I didn’t see any knights on horseback on Portland Street. Maybe they don’t come out until after dark.”

“With my luck, his nails would be longer than mine, and he’d have fangs out to here.” She held her hand several inches from her mouth.

Lorette turned to Emmie and gave her a great hug. “Take care of your mom, sweetie. See if you can find her a little Christmas spirit.”

Emmie smiled and nodded, and Jan wondered what ideas ran through her young mind. After Lorette left, she guided her daughter to the back of the store. “I brought your sketch pad and pencils, honey. It’s crazy busy, so keep yourself occupied.”

“Can I go to the toy store?”

“It’s busy in the mall today, Emmie.”

“I know. I’ll be careful.”

“You’ll remember the rules?”

Emmie nodded with a big smile. “Every rule!”

“Okay.” Jan hugged her. “Remember, you’ve already given me your wish list.”

Her daughter giggled as she sped out the door. ♥

Thank you for reading Chapter 02 of Twistmas – The Season for Love.