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Chapter 29
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2021-03-11 13:00:53Dak didn’t respond to that. “I also leased an office space for the next few weeks, so maybe I can get a little more done. The inn is a great place to stay, but it’s not exactly suitable for work.”
Memory raised an eyebrow. “What office space?”
A crooked grin spread across his face, and he held her gaze for a second. “I’m not sure I should tell you.”
“Why?” Before he answered, she put two and two together. “The empty building next to my shop?” Dak nodded, and Memory smirked back at him, shaking her head. “You just can’t leave me alone can you?” She was teasing, but she felt a rush of color come to her face.
“Apparently not,” he replied, still grinning at her. “Don’t worry—I won’t be there too often. I just needed a place to set up a desk and keep my files organized.”
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Christmas Memory Chapter 30
A blast of cold air set her cheeks aflame, and she was glad she’d chosen not to walk. It felt like the temperature had dropped twenty degrees while they were inside, and it was beginning to snow. Soft flakes cascaded from the heavens, a fine, delicate layer of down fluttering from the sky.“Fresh material for the snowman makers,” Dak noted, pulling gently on her arm and leading her down the sidewalk, through the diner parking lot to a public lot next door.She could tell which SUV was his because it was running, and she found herself gaping as he went around to open the passenger side door for her. “Wait—is this a rental?” she asked, staring at the gray Mercedes.“Uh, no,” Dak said, holding the door open for her. “It was a graduation present. From my parents.”Memory caught his eyes for a minute, hers wide, but managed to move past him and sl
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“Is he interested in me?” she muttered to herself, unlocking the door and turning to wave at him before ducking inside and locking the door behind her, not wanting to turn the lights on and potentially attract people who might assume she was open. “No, he can’t be,” she whispered aloud as she headed to the back. “Why would he be? He’s just a nice guy. A very attractive, funny, intelligent, extremely wealthy, nice guy. Not that the money matters—because it doesn’t.” After all, if he got all of that money from taking advantage of families like the ones who owned those homes he was looking at, then that would just be wrong, and she wouldn’t want to be associated with it at all.She had a feeling that wasn’t the case, though. It sounded like both of his parents were successful in their fields, and perhaps they had also come from money. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like&m
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Sleeping in proved harder than Memory had expected. She was up before 8:00, showered, dressed, and puttering around the house, wondering what to do with herself. Going to the shop early wasn’t really an option. Ellie had already sent a text that morning that said she’d better not dare show up before 10:00. After texting her sister and requesting five plush dogs for the snowman project, Memory settled down to watch a Christmas movie she hadn’t seen for a few years before she headed to the shop.Ellie had everything under control, despite the fact that there were plenty of customers inside when Memory came in. All of the shelves were stocked, the store was clean, and somehow, everyone she asked had already been helped with finding what they were looking for, even though Ellie was behind the cash register. Not only was the large table gone, so was another piece of furniture—a bookcase that had been in the corner for as long as Memory
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Memory laughed along with her, tucking the kit under her arm as the two made their way through the snow to the area where everyone else was gathering. The field next to the lake was huge, so there would be plenty of room for the contestants to spread out and gather as much snow as they needed. The planning committee had set up some bleachers so that spectators could watch, and the same hot cocoa stand from the night before had been moved over, along with a popcorn cart. The scent of kettle corn wafted through the air, and Memory inhaled deeply, her stomach growling.“I told you you should’ve eaten a bigger lunch,” Ellie commented under her breath.“I didn’t have time,” Memory reminded her. “We were busy. Besides, I’d still want kettle corn.”“That I believe,” Ellie said, causing Memory to look at her out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve notice
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The mayor didn’t have a microphone out in the field, so he had to use a megaphone to get everyone’s attention. The loud blare he used to do so had Memory wishing she’d worn earmuffs. A few kids screamed, so the first thing Mayor Charles said was, “Pardon—pardon me. Didn’t mean to startle everyone. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Christmas Falls twenty-first annual Snowman Build Off!” He paused while everyone cheered, grinning from ear to ear as if he had invented the competition to begin with. Once the crowd died down a bit, he continued. “Teams will have thirty minutes to complete the build of an original, unique snowman—or snowwoman—intended to wow our judges. The only rules are that only two people can compete on each team, you must follow the time guidelines, and the entire snow person must be made of snow, with the exception of the nose, eyes, mouth, arms and/or legs, and any clothing required. Accessorie
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Memory’s lungs were burning as she fought for air. Between the laughing and the running, she couldn’t draw a solid breath, but once there were a few other teams between themselves and Kirsten and Maison, Dak stopped, doubling over as he was also caught in a fit of laughter. He let go of her arm, and it suddenly felt as if Memory were missing a part of herself.“Focus,” Memory managed to get out. Her cheeks were beginning to ache from so much joking around in the cold. “We don’t even have a game plan.”“Do we need one?” He was beginning to regain his ability to breathe, still grinning at her.“Sure,” Memory said, dropping the bag on the ground between them. “Who’s going to make what part of the snowman? Do we have enough snow right here? What is this snowman wearing? How will we make sure the leashes aren’t too heavy for his faux stick a
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“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She shook her head, pulling her thoughts away from where they’d drifted to, the fact that her grandma wasn’t there with the rest of the family, and then turned to consider where she should start rolling the bottom so that it would end up where she wanted it to. With a decent plan, she dug in, gathering as much snow as she could into her arms and then working it into a ball, though it was wider than it was tall. She worked it around the ground in their area, noticing Dak had moved away a bit to start on the middle so they wouldn’t be needing the same snow. In the back of her mind, she noted he’d called her Mem, something no one had ever done before. It was odd—but she sort of liked it, kind of like when her dad called her Ree.Memory rolled up what she thought was enough snow for the bottom and then backed up a minute to look at it. She glanced at Dak and saw he had the middle and was working on t
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“Or not,” Dak replied in response to her statement. “It looks great, Mem. Come on. Let’s get the hat and the dogs. Oh—and the arms.”“All right.” She wasn’t completely satisfied, but she knew he was right. There were other things that needed to come first. She took the hat, which had the same logo for the humane society, and put it on top, melding the edges into his head so it would stay put so long as a huge wind gust didn’t come along--like the one the other day that had caught her off guard.Dak had the faux twig arms inserted. “Is that deep enough?” he asked, scrutinizing his work.“I think so. This one needs to go in a little bit more because it’ll be holding the leashes.” Memory gave the snowman’s right arm a few more twists. “All right—did you get collars, or just leashes?”“G
Last Updated : 2021-03-11
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Christmas Memory Epilogue
Helen perched on the windowsill right outside of the ballroom, Ann on one side and Joe on the other. Coming to earth to visit her family disguised as a bird had taken a little bit of getting used to, but she was glad Michael had agreed to let her drop in from time to time since she’d done such a good job of fixing the meet-cute gone wrong. Of course, he didn’t know Helen had actually been on her way back to heaven when Memory and Dak worked out the final conflict themselves, but none of that would’ve happened if Helen hadn’t taken on the assignment to begin with. As long as nothing else went awry, Helen’s great-great-great-granddaughter would discover a way to virtually eliminate cancer. Of course, that wasn’t Helen’s primary focus for now. She chirped happily as she peered in the window, glad to see the house in even better shape now than it had been when she and Joe had bought it right after they got married.I
Christmas Memory Chapter 72
Opening the book to the page where the feathers were placed, she squinted to see if there was anything particularly important about that entry. Reading by the light of the Christmas decorations behind her, she felt as if she could hear her grandma’s voice echoing in her ear with each word.I do worry about Memory. We are so close. When I pass away, which hopefully won’t be for many years, I am afraid she will be lonely without me. She is an old soul for someone so young, and she has given up so many opportunities in her life because she is so attached to me and this town. I do hope, one day, she will meet someone who is as generous and caring as she is, who gives so freely of themselves, and who appreciates history and tradition the way my sweet Memory does. I fear she may never give anyone a fair chance to prove himself to her, though. If I am still alive when he comes along, I’ll have to do my best to conv
Christmas Memory Chapter 71
She didn’t—the number was disconnected. Memory held her phone away from her face and stared at it, listening to the obnoxious tone on the other end and the message telling her she’d dialed incorrectly on repeat. Pressing the button to disconnect the call, she rested the phone against her chin. Part of her thought perhaps Ellie had been a figment of her imagination—but other people had seen her, spoken to her, interacted with her. None of it made any sense....Memory put her phone down and grabbed her purse, remembering what Ellie had said right before she left. The journal. She’d mentioned she should read it. Maybe Ellie wrote her a message in the journal to explain what was going on. She opened her bag and dug through it, feeling around in all of the mess, but the journal wasn’t jumping out. “What in the world?”She turned on the overhead light and opened her bag wide, pulling out the lar
Christmas Memory Chapter 70
No longer thinking linearly, Memory took off for the back of the store, grabbing her coat and shoving her arms into it, dragging the insurance policy through the sleeve with her fist. She snatched up her purse and dug for her keys, running to the back door and flying through it, barely getting it shut before she jammed the key in to lock it.Her car sputtered when she turned it over. “Not now! Come on Bertha, let’s go.” The second time, it cranked, so she said another quick thank you to heaven before throwing on her seatbelt and backing down the alley a ways before she flung the shifter into drive and took off headed for the Candy Cane Lane Inn.The sun was beginning to set, and Christmas lights glowed from every yard and rooftop, but she didn’t pay any attention as she concentrated on getting to her destination as quickly as possible without breaking too many driving laws. She found a parking spot on the street
Christmas Memory Chapter 69
Eventually, Memory managed to get control of herself again, though her throat continued to spasm as she choked stuttered breaths through her constricted airway. She felt around for her phone and found it between two boxes, figuring she must’ve dropped it when Dak had hung up. She didn’t even want to hear his voice at the moment, but she was curious about that second message he said he’d left. Her hands were shaking as she dialed into her voicemail.“Hey, Mem. Are you okay? I’m at the store, but the door’s locked. It’s not 3:00 yet. I hope you’re not upset about Ellie. I know how much you’re going to miss her. Me, too. Listen, I wanted to tell you in person, but since I don’t know where you are, and you might need some good news about now, you should know, I found something you’ve been looking for at your grandma’s house. I think you’re going to want this piece of paper I have i
Christmas Memory Chapter 68
As soon as he was gone, the tears sprang free. Memory swiped at them with both hands before she slammed her fists into the counter. It all suddenly made sense—Dak had to have known about the house all along! He was never interested in her. He just wanted the house with the perfect ballroom. Beardly was probably an associate of his.It wasn’t 3:00 yet, but Memory was done. She flew across the room to the door and locked it, flipping the sign as she went, and then switched off the lights, shooting to the back of the building where she could be alone. She went into the stock room and dropped to the floor, her arms tossed over a box, her head buried on top of them. Her shoulders shook as wave after wave of tears rippled through her.After a few minutes of thinking through the situation, she realized she wasn’t just sad—she was angry. How dare he come in here, to her town, and try to take advantage of her? To pretend
Christmas Memory Chapter 67
Thankful for a moment to herself, Memory went behind the counter and pulled out a tissue, wiping at her eyes. She waved her hands in front of her face, willing the tears to stay away. After a couple of minutes, she thought she had control over herself, repeating that she hadn’t just lost her grandmother again—Ellie was just a friend.Remembering that her phone had been ringing, she pulled it out and saw she had a missed call from Dak. “Dang it,” she mumbled, wishing she’d had a chance to talk to him. She missed him already, even though she’d seen him earlier when he stopped by to pick up her key. Hopefully, he had good news about the roof. She clicked into her voicemail and listened to his message. Though she had no idea what he was talking about, he sure sounded excited, which made her laugh.She raised her thumb to click the button to call him back when the bell chimed. Trying to hide her disappoint
Christmas Memory Chapter 66
The ticking of the clock registered in Memory’s head even over the Christmas music as it drew closer to 2:00. That’s when Ellie would be leaving, and even though she’d made Memory promise not to try to talk her into staying again, she wasn’t sure she could keep that promise.They’d been busy most of the morning into the afternoon, which hadn’t given them much time to talk. Memory was dreading the moment her new friend had to say goodbye. Despite Ellie’s inability to commit to ever coming back or willingness to tell her exactly where she was going, Memory was hopeful they’d meet again soon.The last customer from the latest rush walked out the door, bags in hand, and Memory turned her attention to the clock. She didn’t like what she saw.“I’m sorry, dear.” Ellie came around the counter, already untying her apron. “But I have to go.”
Christmas Memory Chapter 65
Dak pulled his SUV into the drive of Memory’s Victorian home, glad to see Ralph’s work truck parked to the side, a ladder propped over the west wing. He imagined the roofer was already assessing the situation. Dak checked the time. It was already almost 1:30. He’d told Ralph his meetings might run long, but he had no idea he’d be almost an hour late. Frustrated, he pulled the keys out of the ignition and dropped them in his pocket, heading up the snow covered drive.At least he’d gotten the offer on the factory put together and sent off. His agent said she thought they wouldn’t hear anything until after the first of the year, but that was understandable. It was a solid offer, and he was confident even Corbin Beardly couldn’t compete with. When he’d run into him the night before at the diner, Corbin had mentioned having something up his sleeve, said he was onto something pretty special, something Dak would b
