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Chapter 49
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2021-03-11 13:17:00The parade wasn’t long. After a few more floats, some horses, a couple of clowns, and some classic cars, Santa was spotted coming around the corner. Lorelei and Anson giggled and shouted, jumping up and down. All along the sidewalk, children clapped and waved at the big man, some even shouting their Christmas wishes.
Santa looked an awful lot like Sheriff Parks, even with his fake beard and stuffed tummy. The kids didn’t seem to notice. He waved and tossed candy from atop his sleigh, his plastic reindeer fastened up the roof of the pick-up truck towing his magical sled atop a flatbed trailer. It was decorated with fake snow and Christmas trees so that it looked as if Santa was flying over the top of a forest of lighted trees.
“Well, that’s that,” Memory said, turning toward him, her hands deep in her pockets. “Until next year.”
“That was impressive. Especially that ginger
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Kirsten and Maison’s house was nice, though she apologized several times for the mess of toys strung throughout. It was understandable, since she had two small kids, and part of Dak was a little jealous. Having a messy home because one had children was a blessing.Bryce, Sheila, and Ellie made their way in, Ellie delivering Memory her missing items from work, and they all sat down to a meal of beef stew and buttered bread with sweet tea and cookies for dessert. The stew was delicious, which was surprising considering how everyone in Memory’s family said they couldn’t cook, and he appreciated Memory’s thoughtfulness when she brought him water to replace his tea since all Kirsten had on hand was sweetened already. The conversation was light, peppered by Lorelei’s laughter and Anson throwing carrot bits and green beans on the floor and smashing them in his hair.Dak helped clear the table. “I don’t
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Twenty-seven. That was the number of texts Memory had gotten between 6:00 AM and 3:30 PM when she closed the shop and headed across town to the fairgrounds where the annual snowball fight was held. She didn’t want to go. In fact, the list of things she’d rather do than compete in the snowball fight included medical procedures, trekking through raw sewage, and/or scaling steep inclines lined with banana peels. But her sister’s dares and threats were inescapable. Memory had to go. She had to participate. And she had to win.With any luck, she’d be on the same side as Kirsten, and then it wouldn’t matter.Memory found a parking spot and dropped her keys in her pocket. She left her phone hidden under her car seat, along with her handbag, because she didn’t want it to get smashed or wet. The forts were already up, and she could see kids practicing, running around throwing snowballs at each other. It must b
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The mayor’s secretary, Barbara, a woman with poofy blonde hair and glasses that took up half of her face, stood beside him holding a large burlap sack. As people stepped over to her, she opened it wide, her smile mirroring the bag.“Ready?” Dak asked, his hand still on Memory’s arm.“I was born ready,” she muttered. Dak laughed loud enough that a few people turned and looked at them, and Memory hid her proud smile at cracking him up as she headed for the bag.“Purple!” Kirsten shouted, holding her buff up and looking around. A few of the other purple players congratulated her on joining their team. Memory noted a lot of the purple team were men. Tall, strong men who probably ran at least five miles a day. Lorelei drew purple, too, but Maison came up with a red buff. Kirsten laughed and pointed at her husband. “I’m going to smash you in the face with a snowball
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The other woman leaned back slightly, and Memory hid a smile. It wasn’t like her to shock other people, but sometimes people changed. Her sister had to lose this battle, and if that meant Memory had to throw some snowballs, so be it.Mayor Charles gave the signal, and a flurry of snow kicked up on both sides of the field as both teams began to form snowballs as quickly as they could. Memory did her best to scoop handfuls of snow and round them off quickly while still watching what was going on. Dak only had two snowballs in his hand when he took off for the other team’s fort, two other men on each side and the kids leading the way.Snowballs started flying almost immediately. Dak was the closest and biggest target, so he was bombarded quickly. Many of them missed the mark as he ducked and dodged, but several hit, and Memory found herself praying none of them hit him in the face. He was inching his way closer to the enemy for
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Memory’s grip on the seat of the bench was so tight, she would likely see white knuckles if her red gloves didn’t obscure her hands. Staring at a pair of brand new, shiny, white, leather skates that had somehow managed to work their way onto her feet was intimidating. She couldn’t remember exactly how she’d gotten here.The week had been a whirlwind. She’d been so busy at the store. Ellie was a blessing for certain, working extra hours when needed. With Christmas only three days away, everyone in town, and lots of visitors, had been in for last minute gifts and décor. Memory hadn’t even been able to make it to see Santa with Lorelei the day before, which was disappointing.When Dak had stopped by Saturday afternoon with a gift wrapped box in his hands, she realized she hadn’t even spoken to him for almost a week, not since the snowball fight. She’d waved at him a few times through t
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Talking and skating was hard at first, but after Memory made it around the lake once, she felt fairly sure that she wasn’t about to fall and bust her backside. Dak carefully let go of her arm for a second so that he could turn around the other way, and she was relieved when she could latch on to him again. By then, more people were arriving, and even though the area of the lake roped off for skating was fairly large, it would be more difficult to navigate with extra people sailing by. Dak was good at steering around obstacles though, so Memory decided to try to relax and let him take charge.“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Dak said, watching where they were going and avoiding areas of congestion. “Why is the town called Christmas Falls?”“What do you mean?” Memory asked, praying she could talk and skate at the same time.“Well, there’s no river, no falls. Why Chri
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Slowly, Dak's head rocked back and forth. “I thought you looked familiar.”A smile spread across her face. “I left my shopping bag on the bench that day, the last time I went skating, and you brought it to me.”The crooked grin on his face confirmed she was right. “How did you know my name, though?”“Your friends. They shouted at you that they were leaving, and they called you Cody. I’ve always thought there was something familiar about your eyes, but I never put two-and-two together. Dakota... Dak... Cody. Of course, it makes sense now.”“Wow, Memory. That’s crazy.” He ran a hand through his hair, still smiling at her. “It was only a few moments of interaction at best. Although, I must admit, I had already spent a good deal of time staring at you that day. And you’re right... you did fall down a lot. I really wanted t
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“What’s that?” He twerked an eyebrow at her, staring into her eyes.A reply on the tip of her tongue, Memory almost blurted out she knew where he could find a space that would work. But Lorelei shouting, “Aunt Memory! Uncle Dak!” had her head whirling around.Her niece was skating at her full-force. Memory turned, letting go of Dak, her hands out, hoping Lorelei knew how to slow down before it was too late. Apparently, she didn’t. The little girl skidded, her skates turning sideways as she tried to stop herself, but she didn’t do it in time. She collided with Memory, knocking her backward, and sweeping her legs out from under her.Memory’s arms went flying up, her feet shooting into the air, and the sky loomed overhead. She braced herself for the sting of ice connecting with her backside, but strong arms wrapped around her, swooping around her and catching her right befor
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
