A Nutcracker Christmas by Laurie Winter

Author:Laurie Winter [Winter, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Published: 2021-09-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Filled with energy, Aria woke well before either her alarm or Bingo’s method of rousing—nosing under her covers and licking her feet. As she swept her dog saliva free feet onto the floor, the puppy lifted his hooded eyes and glanced at her for several seconds before falling back to sleep.

You stay asleep, baby, and let mommy get a few things done before we need to go outside. She almost never was up this early. Even during most of her working life, her schedule tended to be heavier later in the day. After the last primetime newscast, she’d return to her desk and begin prep for the following day’s stories. Of course, not every story could be provided in advance. Some of her most exciting times anchoring a broadcast were during breaking news events. The unpredictability made for a true test of her skills.

As she rested in bed, she let her mind wander to last night, sitting in the cold underneath a sky bursting with stars. At first, neither had seen a shooting star. Soon, they had a real contest going. Kort ended up seeing ten while she counted fifteen balls of fire arching across the dark sky. True to her word, she ended their stargazing party before the clock hit eleven then went home and after some stalling that would make a toddler proud, went to bed.

Now, she rolled onto her side, willing herself to get up. Once standing upright, she went to the bathroom then headed to the kitchen, where her laptop rested on the table. Last night while watching him read to the children, she’d been struck with the hint of a story. She sat, powered on her computer, then logged into the data cloud for her cellphone.

While reviewing the photos from yesterday’s story time, she sensed her smile grow with each image. In the first pictures, he appeared nervous and kind of defeated—hunched shoulders and a grim frown. By the last ones she’d taken, he’d inverted the scowl. Her favorite was with him sitting in the chair with a toddler on his knee, attempting to hold the storybook far enough from the child’s grasp while still being able to read the words. She chose several good photos of Kort with the children’s backs in the foreground facing the camera as well as a few shots of the interior of Clara’s Christmas Shoppe.

A tingling sensation flowed through her hands and fingers—the energy emitted when her brain was rapidly firing an idea down to the rest of her body. The excitement of creating something always left her slightly dizzy.

She started a new document. Doubt formed like a thundercloud in her head. This wouldn’t be some short fairytale or story about someone else’s experience. The one she wished to write would need to be crafted from the heart.

Taking a deep breath then exhaling, Aria set her fingertips on the computer keyboard. In her mind, she pictured Kort, the Christmas store, and what she’d set out to do in honor of her great-aunt.

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