Hallmark Movie? - Romance Writers Weekly - #lovechatwrite

I’m telling you right now. I failed this week’s challenge.

Hallmark movies are known for their delightful predictability. Can you write your own in 500 words or less?

Nope. It appears I can’t. But I think I can do a great set up, at least. Here’s the opening scene for my Hallmark movie. I’d love to know what you think! Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

***

The scent of butter and sugar and flour alchemizing into something delicious to eat usually made Samantha relaxed and peaceful. But not today. Despite the tantalizing aromas wafting around her as she stood behind the bakery display case, her shoulder blades were drawn tight, and her lower back ached with tension.

“Here you go, Mrs. Mueller.” She smiled through gritted teeth and handed the small pink box and a takeout cup to the wizened old woman on the other side of the counter.

“It’s so lovely to see you where you belong, Samantha.” Mrs. Mueller beamed, her dentures too large and bright for her dried-apple face.

Samantha was a La Liste recognized pastry chef, not a smalltown baker. She did not belong here, at her family’s rinky-dink Donut Shoppe. Yes, with two p’s and an e. And if she had to make another plain glazed she might just scream.

“I’m sure your mother is thrilled to have you home,” Mrs. Mueller continued. “Of course, it’s terrible about her fall. What was a woman her age doing climbing a ladder, anyway?”

“She was putting up Christmas lights.” Samantha’s answer was a reflex. She knew Mrs. Mueller knew how the accident had happened. Everyone knew everything in this backwoods town. “Hopefully, she’ll be back soon.”

But until that glorious day, Mom was depending on Samantha to keep the family business going. This holiday season was make it or break it. Customers had been drifting away to the new, fancy coffee shop that had just opened only a few doors down on Main Street.

The bell above the front door jangled as Mrs. Mueller departed. And immediately jangled again when Todd McIntosh walked in.

Todd McIntosh. The boy who’d broken her teenaged heart. The man who’d married and then divorced Samantha’s ex-best friend. And the villain who’d opened the kitschy, up-market coffee shop now draining the life from her mother’s pride and joy.

“We need to talk.”

“No.” Her response was rapid and knee-jerk. As much as she hated being back in the family bakery, she would never betray her mother by consorting with the competition.

Especially when that competition still made her heart thump and her knees go weak in the most annoying way.

“My offer stands, Samantha. I want your recipes, and the right to brand them with your name when we sell them. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Well, you’ll have to. I’d never betray my family that way.”

He leaned his elbows on the bakery case, dark eyes determined and intent. Goosebumps rippled over Samantha’s arms, despite the moist heat seeping through the door from the kitchen at her back.

“And I appreciate that. But it’s not as if your mother wants to use your recipes. Otherwise, she’d be offering them here.”

A sharp stab of rejection pierced Samantha’s heart. Adding some of her avant-garde specialties to the menu was sure to entice new customers to the Donut Shoppe. But Mom was stubbornly refusing to allow anything but her old, boring recipes.

“It doesn’t matter.” Samantha lifted her chin. “My recipes are not for sale. Especially not to you.”

***

Now hop over to Jenna Da Sie and find out if she did better than I did!

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☃🤩 THE PROMISE OF FROST 🎅🎄
A Seasoned – and Seasonal – Novella

Only 99 cents for the holiday season!

An adventurous kitten, a curious dog, and a matchmaking eight-year-old guarantee this will be a holiday to remember.

Luca Tannon’s new neighbour is a sexy but surly single dad. Which is all for the best since she’s intent on reclaiming her life after a toxic long-term relationship.

Caleb Frost won’t let anything distract him from ensuring his son’s first Christmas as the child of divorced parents is perfect. And that includes the irritatingly intriguing woman living next door.

Everything is going as planned…until it’s not.

(Single Dad, Christmas/New Years, Neighbours to Lovers, Steamy, Slow Burn, Open Door. Luca 32, Caleb 41)