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Cinderella to the Ball

Author: Dallas Ryan
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

The next week was a blur of activity. Thanks to Maggie and Sofia’s work on advertising to local businesses, they had several business breakfasts and lunches held at Common Grounds that week. She and JT also put in long evening hours planning out a couple of event catering projects they had taken on as they were wanting to expand their catering work. Farm to table wedding rehearsal dinners and engagement parties were getting more and more popular and Maggie had seized on the events, on and off site, as a way to grow their little cafe.

With her mother in semi-retirement, she didn’t need her catering and equipment and tableware very often so Maggie and JT could save a lot of money by using them. Tricia Wade believed in her children being self-sufficient so there was a small rental fee involved but, even with the fees, Maggie knew they’d never have been able to afford to buy all the equipment outright by themselves and was grateful, though somewhat grudgingly, for the help. Before she kn
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  • Collide   At the Ball

    Maggie peeked out the tinted windows of the town car nervously as they pulled up in front of the event. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to meet Zane inside and felt her anxiety levels spike. She was just about to pull the phone out of her purse and call him when she saw his familiar tousled, blonde hair coming down the steps. She breathed a sigh of relief as he made it down the steps just as the driver opened the back door for her. Zane reached down for her hand and a smile lit his face. “You made it!” His eyes raked her up and down, the gold flecks in his eyes seeming to sparkle as he took her in. She could feel the heat filling her cheeks at his perusal. His intense gaze made her feel like he didn’t see anyone else but her.Maggie took his hand tightly and grinned as he helped her out of the car. “I did. Thank you for the nice ride.”“I’m only sorry I couldn’t make it to pick you up myself. I feel really bad about that.” He tucked her arm through his and started to lead her up

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  • Collide   Little Mouse

    The ladies’ room was just as impressive as the rest of the hotel. It was all marble and crystal and even had a seating area where you could sit and rest feet that had been crammed into pretty, but deadly, high heels too long. Maggie was grateful that even the stalls were generously sized so she didn’t have difficulty managing her long dress. Seconds after she closed the door behind her, she heard voices and clicking heels coming across the marble.“I know! I couldn’t believe it!” said the first woman, obviously continuing a conversation they had started in the hall. “I tried to get him to invite me to this gala last year and he said he always comes stag so he can get out quickly. Apparently, that’s not true.” She heard the woman make a disgusted sound. “And did you see the little mouse he brought? It's that same little nothing from Gladewater he got all up in arms over last week when I went to see him at the office. Ridiculous.”Maggie was careful to not make a sound. She heard purse

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  • Collide   A Matter of Trust

    Zane’s jaw was so tight he was sure his teeth were going to crack. Shawna and one of her idiot friends had cornered him. She’d latched onto his arm like a leech and he had yet to figure out how to get rid of her without making a scene in the middle of the event. He’d like to peel her off and spray himself down with Clorox but that was not going to be possible. If Maggie would just get back, he could extricate himself and leave. All he’d been able to think about all evening was getting her back to his place and convincing her to stay the night with him; have her face be the first thing he saw in the morning. He glanced at his watch again trying, without success, to extricate his arm from Shawna’s vice-like grip. He hoped Maggie was okay. She’d looked a little pale when she’d left the table. Suddenly, he saw a flash of pink in his peripheral vision heading for the front doors at a rapid pace. Maggie? Where was she going? “Excuse me, Tom, I see my date. I need to go make sure she’s okay

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  • Collide   Mistakes

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  • Collide   Broken

    After Zane left her alone in the guest room again, Maggie slipped out of the dress and unfastened the tiny hooks on the corset, dropping both to the ground. She hadn’t expected the warm hand on her waist and the kiss. That kiss on the top of her spine. She’d thought she was going to melt into a puddle right then and there. She thought maybe he was going to forgive her but then the warmth at her back disappeared along with his hands. He’d left her without a backwards glance. She took a deep, cleansing breath and dug through her big pink tote. She found a pair of soft black leggings and a pink heathered T-shirt that said “BOSS BABE” across the front. It wasn’t something she would have ever bought for herself, but it was a gift from Dani – another of her attempts at affirmation. She usually pulled it out when she wanted to hang around the house and feel comfortable. Tonight, Maggie donned it like armor over the remains of her tattered heart. She moved to the ensuite and scrubbed the pa

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  • Collide   Tequila, Tears, & Threats

    The doorbell rang and Maggie went to answer it in a fog. She had spent the day curled up in her bed, alternately crying or staring at the ceiling going over the horrible mistake she had made and how, or if, she could fix it. At this point, she didn’t know if it was even fair to subject Zane to her obvious craziness. She opened the door to Dani on the doorstep with a large canvas shopping bag. “You look like shit,” her friend told her in greeting. Maggie was too worn down to even chastise her for her language. Dani pushed her way into the house and Maggie trailed her to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure exactly what level of crisis this was as JT said you wouldn’t talk to him about the details,” Dani continued, unpacking the bag onto the kitchen counter. “So, I brought supplies for all three – ice cream, wine, and tequila.”Instead of laughing as she would have expected, Dani saw Maggie’s head drop. The smile left her face. “Tequila it is. I’ll get the mixer, you grab the blender.”Five min

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  • Collide   Reconnect

    Maggie woke to a pounding head the next morning thanks to Dani’s visit with her friend, Jose Cuervo. She knew better than to have more than two of Dani’s margaritas, but she’d needed the escape. Though her head was paying for her lapse in judgment, she had to admit she had come up with a plan of how to right things with Zane. She decided to text him before everything got crazy at the cafe. Her anxiety started rising when she waited several beats and didn’t see the three little dots that would show he was responding to her. She texted him again. Still no answer. She stared at the screen, willing it to answer her but no response came. Her heart sank. ***Zane felt his phone vibrate but whoever it was would have to wait. He stood at the bedside of a twenty-one-year old who had been injured at his job. The boy had been standing on the back of a logging truck bumper directing his buddy in backing the rig out of the woods when the truck hit a large hole in the ground, and he had been bucke

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  • Collide   Fighting the Battle...

    Zane spent most of Saturday trying, and mostly failing, to distract himself. In his experience, a woman who said she ‘needed to talk’ didn’t usually have good news to share. He lifted weights at the gym until he couldn’t feel his arms, then went on a long run in White Rock Lake Park but found that only gave him more time to stew over what Maggie wanted to tell him. He wasn’t remotely ready to let her go. He felt in his heart that they were starting something important. He just needed to get her to quit overthinking and giving into her insecurities. He needed to convince her that she was exactly what he wanted. Honestly, what he needed at this point. And he did need her, he realized, all of her. He made his way back to his condo, sweaty, exhausted, and in no better of a headspace than when he started. He slammed his water bottle on the kitchen counter in frustration as he made his way to the shower.Damn, I’m stressing like a teenage girl waiting to be asked to the prom.He’d never us

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Latest chapter

  • Collide   Epilogue

    Three months later, Maggie was back in Dani and Levi’s barn, standing under the million twinkle lights. This time, however, it was for her own wedding. It wasn’t the large Texas wedding she’d had in her little girl dreams with the fairy princess dress, a crystal tiara holding a chapel length train to her head that would billow for a mile behind her, the minimum six bridesmaids – all in blush pink, of course, the ride to the chapel in a horse drawn carriage, and the sit down dinner afterwards for at least 300, but it was so much more. Maggie’s dress was a simple, Empire waist gown à la Pride and Prejudice, with lace panels in front and back and a few sparkling crystals surrounding the low-scooped n

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  • Collide   Testosterone Poisoning

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  • Collide   Concussive Forces

    "Get security!" he yelled, turning to the woman he had pushed past to get into the ladies' room. She started to argue with him but then took in the sight before her. "I'm on it," she said and quickly moved through the crowd. “Maggie!” he yelled, falling to his knees next to her. She was on her hands and knees on the floor near the sink. Blood was pouring down her face and her eyes weren’t focusing. He could tell she was trying to stand but couldn’t get her feet under her.“Don’t try to get up, baby,” Zane told her. He eased her back down to sit on the floor and took her face in his hands trying to see where all the blood was coming from. He knew logically that head wounds bled copiously even from a tiny cut but, his heart stuttered in his chest at the sight of her beautiful face and gentle hands covered in red.“Zane?” she asked in a confused whisper. “How did you get here? Are we in the ladies’ room?”She tried to raise her bloody hands to her head, but he caught them. “It’s ok, swe

  • Collide   Mama Tried

    Saturday came before she knew it and Maggie found herself rushing to pack for the weekend before she was late. Her thoughts were unusually scattered and she couldn't seem to get her things together. Her current dilemma included her boots taking up too much room in her weekender bag causing her to not be able to get the zipper closed. “Aren’t you coming back tomorrow night?” JT asked, leaning on the door frame to her bedroom and watching her attempt to get her bag closed with amusement.Maggie glared at him over her shoulder. “Yes, I am, but we’re going to Mama Tried to see Morgan Wallen and I have to get.these.boots.to.fit,” she said punctuating her last words with the effort to get the teeth of the zipper close enough to catch.JT chuckled and went to her side, pushing her away from the bag with a hip. “Here let me fix it.” He reached in the bag, removed the boots and easily zipped up the case. “There, fixed.”Maggie stared at him, hands fisted on her hips. “I could have done that,”

  • Collide   The Hall Pass

    The last few months had flown by in a happy haze for Maggie with the wedding planning, her business going great guns and her nightly marathon Facetime sessions with Zane between visits, but with only two weeks left until Dani and Levi’s wedding, she was exhausted. There seemed to be a never-ending list of things to do and not nearly enough hours in the day to get them all done. I’ll just lay my head down for a minute.Sofia started to knock on the door jamb but then stopped abruptly at the sight in front of her. Maggie was at her desk with her head pillowed on her arms, fast asleep. She was really burning the candle at both ends. Sofia was worried about her. She’d never caught her sleeping at her desk before. She rarely even took a coffee break during the day. Maggie could do more things in a day than most people did in a week but even she apparently had her limits.She saw JT coming down the hall and put a finger to her lips. “Shhhh,” she whispered, closing the door softly. “She’s as

  • Collide   Small Town Moves

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  • Collide   Charmed X Two

    JT was just finishing up cleaning up after his prep work in the Common Grounds' kitchen when Sofia popped her head in. “Hey, boss. I finally got the final numbers from Jim at the bank if you have a few minutes to go over the menu with me,” she said brightly.“Sure, give me five minutes,” JT said. Sofia shot him a grin and nodded. With a flip of her dark, shiny ponytail, she was gone.JT smiled and shook his head as he wiped down his workstation. He’d never seen Sofia in a bad mood. No matter how onery the customer or how crazy the day got, she always had a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. And she was good at everything she did. He’d never tell Maggie, but he thought Sofia could give her a run for her money in the organization and customer service departments. The best decision they’d ever made was recently promoting her to manager of the cafe and assistant event coordinator for Common Grounds Catering.When he met her at the table a few minutes later, he moved over some pa

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