A Thankful Christmas by Dana Pratola

Author:Dana Pratola
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christmas, Holiday, Christian Romance, Small Town, Festival, Rain, Boat Builder, Fresh Start, Washington State
Publisher: Dana Pratola
Published: 2021-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Aria stood beside the duck pond, fingers linked and pressed to her heart. It was amazing! And looked so real. The acrylic ripples had hardened around the edges and behind the mama duck Ethan had had the forethought to buy, giving the appearance of movement. Gentle, gliding movement of duck feathers through water, and a silky breeze skimming along the top.

“I ... it’s.... It’s perfect,” she said, hating to tear her gaze away.

“Not quite,” Ethan said, tucking in the faux grass. “But it’s pretty close.”

She smiled. She knew better than to bring up a fee again, but there must be something she could do for him.

“How about lunch?” she asked.

To her surprise, he nodded. “I’m starved, actually.”

“Great. My treat.” She gave him a mock angry eye before he disagreed, and tapped the food near me app on her phone. “What are you in the mood for? Indian, Italian, Lithuanian, whatever that is ... Mexican ... Chinese....”

“Sub?”

“Oh, American? Okay.”

“That would be great.”

“Sure, there’s that, too ... somewhere.”

She found a sub place not too far away and put in their orders just as the delivery men arrived with her shipment. Excited was not the word! This was her first real shipment of tangible items she would sell in her very own shop. No longer was she just picking things on the internet. This was real.

After showing the men in and instructing them where to put the boxes, she signed the delivery slip and set about opening and inspecting everything. She began with the umbrellas, removing each one from its box and wrapping, then opening and closing them several times. She set certain ones apart either for pendant or accent lighting, the rest, stock. She had her own stock!

She thought she may have let out a squeal, since Ethan glanced over at her. At first she was embarrassed, but ... why? She giggled to herself, not caring if he heard, or looked, and moved on to the boots. So many kinds! Canvas and other materials, but most were rubber, some with side handles or buckles, and the cutest designs. She’d picked many pairs specifically, but the others were a surprise, like the turquoise with bulldogs sitting in umbrellas. She’d checked the Variety box, so had to be happy with what she got. And she was. Mostly. The white ones with yellow piping weren’t her cup of tea at all, but—oh! Tea! Where had she put her phone?

The food came and Ethan ripped the bag open and tore into his grilled chicken, pepperoni, provolone sub.

“You are hungry,” she said, finding her phone and punching up a tea website she had bookmarked.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” he asked, finally, his mouth full.

“Yeah. In a minute. I forgot to order tea.”

“You have water,” he said, lifting his chin toward the bottle beside the food bag.

“I mean to sell.”

“Oh.”

Ethan reached over and plucked her phone from her hands.

“Hey!”

He tucked it into his back pocket and went back to his food. “You’ll get it back when you eat.

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