by Jeff Shelby
“Where?” Sophie asked. She strained to get on her tiptoes. “I can't see him.”
“Jump up here,” Will said from his perch on the stone bench in front of Big Mama's. “You can see over everyone.”
Both girls scrambled up on the bench.
“I feel like everyone should be thanking you,” Jake said, his cheeks rosy from the cold temperatures.
“Oh, please.” I huddled against him for warmth. “No one should be thanking me for anything.”
Ted arrested Howie and then called Ava. At first, she thought he was kidding, but eventually she'd come down to the station, where Ted and I explained what Howie told me. Ted showed her the pictures he'd taken on his phone of all of the decorations in the storage room. And Howie confessed to her what he'd done.
“I don't see the kid anywhere,” Jake said, his eyes scanning the crowd.
“I saw Ava earlier,” I told him. “But I didn't see Howie.”
Ava had screamed at him and he'd apologized over and over. Ted ended up writing him a ticket for misdemeanor mischief and petty theft and sent him home with Ava. She'd apologized over and over before they'd finally gone home.
“Hope she didn't kill the kid,” Jake said.
“Me, too.”
Emily elbowed me in the ribs. “Mom. There are those people. From the booth.”
I followed her gaze and saw Nora and Bert across the street, holding hands, watching the parade.
“Yep, there they are,” I said.
“Looks like no more secrets,” Jake said.
“Good for them.”
“They are still creepy,” Emily said.
The crowd cheered as the sleigh neared us. The sun was bright and the snow had finally stopped, turning everything a beautiful, bright white. It looked like a postcard.
“Daisy!” a voice called from behind us.
I turned and Oliver was waving at me.
“Hey, Oliver.”
He cut through the people behind us and sidled up to me. “I just wanted to say thank you.”
“Told you,” Jake mumbled.
“You don't have to thank me,” I said to Oliver. “I'm just glad it all came together.”
Ted had called Oliver from the storage unit and told him the good news. He'd caught him five minutes before he'd been about to tell the town council that everything had been canceled. Oliver himself had rounded up a group of volunteers to haul the decorations from the storage unit and to help him reinstall them back where they all belonged.
“I'm thanking you anyway,” he said. “You never gave up, and we owe all of this to you. So thank you.” He gave me a quick hug and hustled off.
Jake smirked at me. “I told you.”
“Whatever,” I said.
But I was smiling.
Santa and his sleigh were in front of us. I didn't recognize the new Santa, and I glanced across the street at Bert. He was smiling and waving back at the new Santa.
That was a good sign.
I wrapped my arms around Jake. “This is great. This is what it's supposed to be like.”
“And you made it happen,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
And it really was what it was supposed to be like.
Santa and his reindeer were bringing up the rear of the parade.
The town was decorated.
The people were happy.
The snow had fallen.
It was going to be a very merry Christmas after all.
THE END
Continue reading for a note from the author...
Note from the Author
Well, if you've reached this point, I'll assume you made it through this quick little read. Thank you for buying it and reading it!
I've never written a holiday-themed short before and I'm not entirely sure why I decided to do it this year. I'd always planned on doing one, but the holidays get so busy and I guess I'd just never gotten around to it. I hadn't written about Daisy and her family in awhile, so it was fun to sit down with them and thrust them into the middle of a little Christmas chaos.
I toyed with doing a full-length book, but I know I don't have nearly as much time to read once the holidays hit, so I thought that something a little shorter that would provide a little respite from shopping and visiting and wrapping and decorating might hit the spot for readers. I had a good time writing it and managed to get it done in about two weeks. I'm anxious to hear what your reactions to it are, so don't hesitate to email me and let me know what you think. Would you be interested in other holiday shorts in this series or in others? Let me know at [email protected]
I hope your holiday season is safe and filled with all the things that make you happy!
-Jeff
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