by Nancy Naigle
Allie sat taller in the seat. “I can do swanky.” She put her phone down and imagined her new life in DC. She had shopping to do. Swanky was hardly how’d she describe even the dressiest outfit she’d packed.
Ready to get this adventure started, she cranked her truck. It whirred and groaned, but didn’t fire up. She dropped her head to the steering wheel. Not again.
Chapter Four
Ryan Bellamy was thankful his in-laws were still so involved in his daughter’s life. He was lucky they only lived a couple of hours away. Telling them about the change in plans for Christmas this year had made him nervous, but he couldn’t bear another Christmas like last year.
He was determined to make this one as opposite as possible from that.
His in-laws had been understanding about him wanting to take Zoe away, rearranging their schedule to spend time with her at the beginning of her school break instead of on Christmas Day, as had been tradition since Zoe was just a baby.
It was hard for them all, going through Christmas without Sarah.
The two-hour drive to pick up Zoe had made him melancholy. The house had seemed so quiet without Zoe around the last few days.
The thirty-minute ferry ride flew by. He’d daydreamed it away in what seemed like only a moment. He jogged to his car and waited to disembark.
Once he got back on the road, he returned calls, using the Bluetooth so he could keep both hands on the wheel. It had too noisy with the wind to do that on the ferry. He glanced at the speedometer on the rental car. He’d set the cruise control, but these small towns’ speed limits going up and down always kept him on his toes.
Finally, he made it to his in-laws’ house. Panic swept through him as memories from past Christmases ascended on him.
He hadn’t even taken his key from the ignition when Zoe bounded out of the house, running toward him. She’d missed him, too. He jumped out of the car, picked her up, and swung her around. Zoe made his heart complete. He shared quick thank-yous and goodbyes with his in-laws, then got right back on the road.
He skipped the ferry and went the long way around. This Christmas would be like no other, starting right now. No ferry ride.
That was the plan, and he’d make one hundred percent certain he succeeded. Zoe deserved a happy holiday, and he was going to be sure she got it.
The roads were clear as they drove through the Vermont woods. Snow covered everything else around them. The trees bowed from the weight on their branches, and every once in a while, a pile of snow fell like a mini-avalanche.
Zoe sat quietly in the backseat. He was happy to have her within arms’ reach again.
His phone rang, and he took the call. No matter how much he planned for time off, he always ended up slammed with calls the whole first day he tried to get out of town. Not a single call he’d returned earlier that day had been urgent, and he had a doctor covering for him for anything that was.
He heard a quiet sigh from the backseat. She had to be getting bored.
Maybe he’d have been better off letting Zoe field his calls like she’d offered. She seemed to be eight going on twenty-eight most days. Then again, losing a parent at her age had a way of making a kid grow up faster than they should have to.
More often than not, Zoe handled his wife’s passing better than him.
“I gotta go,” Ryan said into the phone. This wasn’t how he’d planned to start this trip. He’d pictured this ride full of laughter and Christmas carols. Time to fix that. “Christmas calls. Bye.” He pressed the button on his Bluetooth to hang up. “Sorry.” He made eye contact with Zoe in the rearview mirror. “Last work call.” He laughed, trying to be playful. “I promise.”
“You said that after the last one,” Zoe reminded him.
Busted. He had said that.
“And the one before that, and the one before that.”
“Whoa. Okay.” He sighed. She was right. He was terrible at unplugging from work. “Hey, Zoe. Now I’m officially on vacation. Just you and me off to Florida and our big cruise on Christmas Day. Won’t that be fun?”
“Sure. We can have fun in Florida,” Zoe said, but he could tell she wasn’t completely sold on the idea yet. “I mean, Christmas is supposed to be cold with snow, but…”
But? “According to who?”
“Santa!” Zoe looked at him matter-of-factly. “That’s why he wears a suit.”
A mental picture of Santa in a pair of red-and-white, furry beach britches made him chuckle. “Aaah. You know, I didn’t know that.” Ryan wasn’t too worried about Zoe’s lack of excitement about the trip to Florida. He was sure she’d have fun once they got there.
It was hard breaking tradition, but there was no way he was going to allow those old family memories to haunt them the way they had last year. That was just too hard. His heart couldn’t bear wallowing in that sad place again this year. But worse than the heartbreak of losing Sarah had been seeing Zoe struggle with that loss. They’d been so close, always working on projects together. They’d even had matching outfits and had gone for mother-daughter spa days.
Those were voids he’d never be able to fill. Anything he could do to make things better, he’d do, and being as far away from a traditional Christmas as he could possibly get was the plan for this year.
He regretted being on the phone for part of the ride so far. He hadn’t meant for that to happen. He’d do better. No more calls, and his New Year’s resolution was going to be to find better life balance to score more quality time with Zoe. They needed to start building new, good memories of their own together.
“But how about this?” Ryan reasoned with her. “Tell you what. When we get there, as soon as we get into our hotel, we will crank up the air conditioning really high, and we’ll fill the pool with ice, and it’ll be just like living in the North Pole.”
Zoe rolled her eyes, looking at him like he’d flat-out lost his mind, but at least she was laughing. “Oh, Dad.”
Okay, so it was doubtful the resort would let him turn one of their swimming pools into an artic adventure, but it was the thought that counted. Right?
On the bright side, they had a few days to enjoy Florida before the cruise left port. They’d do some warm weather shopping and visit a couple of attractions. As much as she loved animals, he was pretty sure she’d flip over seeing dolphins, whales, and sea lions up close. Truth be told, he was pretty excited about it, too. When the ship docked in Grand Cayman, they were booked for the Turtle Farm excursion, where they’d get to handle the turtles and even swim with them in the lagoon.
If all went according to plan, Zoe would be asking Santa for another sunny Christmas vacation next year.
Chapter Five
It was moments like this that Allie, for just a nanosecond, wished she hadn’t sold her reliable Ford Excursion when Grandpa had died and left her his truck. It had been his pride and joy; then again, he’d been an ace mechanic. He’d done the full body-off restoration on it over a two-year period. It was factory down to the rivets, as he’d liked to say. He could work on anything from kitchen appliances to tractors, and he’d taught her plenty over the years. She wished now she’d paid even closer attention. On a bright note, she’d gotten pretty good at doctoring up the old truck to get it going again.
She walked around to the front of the truck, pushed the wreath that hung from the hood ornament to the side, and jimmied the latch on the hood, coaxing it to release.
It squeaked as she raised it. She reached over the shiny radiator, down inside the engine compartment toward the distributor cap, and got to work. It would’ve been a lot easier if she’d been a couple of inches taller. She lifted one leg off the ground, stretching to give the wires a good jiggle and checking for anything loose. Her road calls took her down rough country lanes sometimes. She assumed that was why sometimes, just a simple wiggle made
all the difference.
“You could’ve walked to DC by now.”
Allie almost bumped her head on the hood twisting toward Michelle Lansing. She’d recognize her voice anywhere. She extricated herself from the truck and turned to see Michelle marching toward her, carrying a box wrapped in blue Christmas paper that almost matched her coat. It was filled with a half dozen giant, glittery Styrofoam snowflakes.
“Don’t we have enough real snow?”
“Oh, this is for the Christmas festival.” Michelle lifted the box to make her point. Her brown curls bounced with each word. Glitter sparkled on the lapel of her coat. “You know, the one you’re going to miss?”
“Yes, I’m aware I’ll be missing the Christmas festival. Thank you for the reminder.” Allie made one last tweak under the hood.
“I’ll tell you, whoever decided to take over after you planned this thing is crazy.”
Allie snickered as she twisted to see her friend. “You’re taking over the planning!” She’d talked Michelle into it when she’d decided to make the big move to DC.
“Like I said…”
Allie got a good laugh out of that. She’d loved planning the festival. Yes, it was a lot of work, but everyone in town looked forward to it all throughout the year. It had been a labor of love for her, but she’d been doing it for so long, it really didn’t seem all that complicated anymore. Not so unlike making your first Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd. It was scary as heck, but after a few years, you knew exactly what order to cook things in so everything was done at the same time, and it seemed like a breeze. Michelle would have it down pat soon, too.
She slammed the hood and turned to Michelle as she brushed her hands together to get the grease from her fingers.
“Oh, boy. Don’t tell me you’re taking this thing to DC.”
“Of course I am,” Allie said. “This was my grandpa’s truck.” She gave the rounded curves a loving pat. “I love this truck.”
“Well, it obviously doesn’t love you.”
“Why are we friends again?” Allie teased.
“Because I’m the only one who will tell you that you are never going to get this thing to start.”
Allie straightened the live wreath that hung from the hood. “Oh, yeah? Watch this.” She gave Michelle a cocky nod, then crossed her fingers it would start. Holding her breath, she dropped into the driver’s seat and turned the key. Without a moment’s hesitation, the truck started right up. “See. It worked!” She was as surprised as Michelle was, but she’d never admit it.
“Great!” Michelle trudged through the yard, leaving a path in the snow all the way to the truck. “Now you can take me to town hall.”
“No. I have to get to the airport,” she said.
“It’s on the way!” Michelle put the box of snowflakes on the middle of the bench seat. “And this box is awkward. So let’s go.” She slid in and pulled the door closed.
Allie stared at her friend. This was exactly the reason Michelle was the right person to take over the duties of the Christmas Festival. She was bossy and determined.
If town hall weren’t on the way, she’d make her get out of her truck right now. But Michelle had a point. It was just a few blocks down the road. In a town the size of Evergreen, there wasn’t much that wasn’t along the route.
One way in. One way out.
She still couldn’t get used to the remodeled town hall building. Once an all-red brick building that used to be the school, it was now sided in a soft dove gray lapboard with white trim, accented with cranberry-colored doors. It had been a great improvement; it was just strange to see the light-colored building in this spot.
This year’s Christmas Festival banner had already been hung high above the doors. Never an easy task. She was delighted that they’d kept the same design she’d created long ago. The tri-colored, weather-resistant banner had snowy-white Christmas trees in each corner and a green ribbon across the bottom with a bow right in the middle, like a perfectly wrapped Christmas present. Above the bow read 48th Annual Evergreen Christmas Festival. A matching banner would be hung in front of the gazebo on Main Street soon, where many of the outdoor gatherings would happen.
People carried tall boxes as they headed inside—probably more trees to decorate. Two men hung over a ladder, trying to finish stringing lights in the huge shrubbery in front.
On the steep stairs to the front doors on the second floor, the six-foot-tall nutcrackers dressed in all of their Christmas finery guarded the entryway. Allie had always struggled with where to put those huge nutcrackers. And there were seven of them to place. A gift from a well-loved resident long ago, they had to be as old as she was, and they were heavy. But they were tradition, so they were part of the equation, even though not a year went by that the ominous statues didn’t send at least one tiny tot crying into the arms of his parents.
Allie stopped in front of the building and waited for Michelle to get out of the truck.
“You’ve got to come in,” her friend pleaded.
“I’ve got to go.”
“But I want you to see the layout. We’re changing some things. Come on.”
She could spare a couple of minutes for her friend. It was important to her. Besides, Allie was curious. “Okay. One minute.” Allie knew how hard Michelle had been working on this project. She left the truck running rather than risk it not starting again. “You’ve got one minute.” She hopped out and jogged to catch up with Michelle, who’d raced ahead, carrying the fake snowflakes and dodging two guys clearing snow from the walkway.
They ran up the steps side-by-side, then Michelle backed up to the door and pushed it open, letting Allie go in first.
The inside of town hall buzzed with activity. Teams of people decorated Christmas trees with shiny plastic balls in festive colors. Another group strung giant snowflakes, like the ones Michelle was carrying, from the rafters and on nails along the walls. It was all hands on deck to prepare for the festival. The whole building smelled of fresh pine from the trees. Lights and decorations put the dazzle on the greenery like a sparkling jeweled necklace, making the finishing touches on a beautiful gown.
“This looks amazing!” Allie stepped inside and twirled, trying to take it all in. What Michelle had already completed in such a short time was impressive. Long tables served as workstations around the room, and folks seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was no shortage of volunteers. Michelle handed off the box of fake snowflakes to one of them.
“You did such a good job,” Allie said.
Her friend pulled her hands to her heart. “Thank you.”
Allie noticed the new mayor, Ezra Green, giving orders to one of the snowflake makers. “This one needs a little more sparkle…” he said, handing it back to her.
What does he know?
Ezra’s father had been mayor all the years Allie had run the festival, and Ezra and his dad were as different as night and day. Mayor Green, Sr. had always stayed out of the way, simply reminding her once in a while to keep up the traditions and trusting her to get the job done. He was laid back, never in a hurry, and always wore a smile. Ezra was up to his elbows in the middle of things, plus he had an abundance of nervous energy that was unsettling—like a piece of live wire dancing around. That would’ve driven her crazy.
Michelle’s shoulders drooped. “Uh-oh. Here comes the mayor. I haven’t had enough coffee for this.”
Allie couldn’t get used to referring to Ezra, who she’d known since grade school, as mayor. “There’s not enough coffee in Evergreen,” she agreed.
Ezra marched over to them. “Michelle, I have an idea.” As jittery as a Chihuahua in a room full of strangers, he could hardly stand still.
“Good morning, Ezra,” Allie said.
He all but growled in her direction. “Former resident.
”
“I haven’t even left yet!” He’d taken her decision to relocate so personally.
Michelle gave him half a chance. “What’s your idea this time, Ezra?”
“I think we should have an app,” he announced, way too proud of himself, standing there with his big idea as bold as brass. “You know, an interactive experience.”
“The festival is in five days. We can’t get an app made in five days.” Michelle’s frustration level rose.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first harebrained, last-minute idea the new mayor had tossed her way. Allie was so glad she’d never had to deal with Ezra when she’d been planning the festival.
His eyes bugged out like he was about to explode. “Well, we need to find some way to make the festival current. We need to shake things up.” He did a little shimmy shake that made her think of the chicken dance. If only she had that much energy.
Michelle brushed her curls from her face, a nervous habit from way back. “This is my first year in charge, and I don’t want to shake things up.”
Ezra narrowed his eyes. “It’s my first year as mayor, and I want things shaken.”
Michelle sucked in a breath, and then let him have it. “Your dad was mayor for thirty years, and this was good enough for him.”
It was taking all Allie had to stand there and hold her tongue.
“That’s my point!” Ezra said. “We don’t want this to be our parents’ festival.”
Michelle turned to Allie for help. “Allie?”
“Don’t look at me.” She threw her hands up. “Soon-to-be former resident, remember?”
Ezra wiggled his brows in a way that was as annoying as a kid brother, although Allie was pretty sure that wasn’t what he was going for.