Apple Muffin Cottage by Vicki Eileen McGuire

Author:Vicki Eileen McGuire
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2023-12-14T15:56:25+00:00

Chapter 14:

A Night for Miracles

“…behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

John 1:29 (KJV)

“Mom, where’s my halo? Have you seen my halo?” Elizabeth yelled down through the vent in her bedroom floor to her mom in the kitchen.

Gracie stopped in mid-stride on her way through to the dining room and yelled back at her anxious preteen daughter, “Check the table by the front door. It’s right where you left it.”

“Thanks!” Elizabeth shouted back.

“You’re welcome.”

As an afterthought, Gracie paused in the kitchen long enough to stir the meatballs in the slow cooker. The ham was cooked and being kept warm underneath a tent of aluminum foil on top of the old wood-burning stove. She had a cheese ball in the refrigerator along with a vegetable tray. There were breads and crackers, Christmas cookies and candy in decorated trays and tins, and a red velvet cake on a clear glass cake stand sitting on the dining room table beside the empty punch bowl. Everything was ready for their family Christmas Eve party after the play. J.T. and the Holleys would join her and the kids for a little while, and then tomorrow, they would all gather at Holleyhock Haven for Christmas dinner.

“Dinky!” Gracie yelled. “Are you ready? We have to be at the church in half an hour. Come on, let’s go.”

Between making sure costumes were ready, wrapping last-minute gifts, and cooking, she had managed to check her emails and was pleased to find one from the mysterious Maggie O, which read:

May I ask where and when you acquired your tea set? Maggie O

Gracie was happy that Maggie had taken the bait. Her return email read:

It was my mother’s from Ireland.

She’d have to give it further attention after Christmas.

“I don’t wanna be a wise man. I just want to be an old shepherd or somethin’.” Dinky said as he met her in the living room beside the beautifully decorated Christmas tree from Mr. Tabor’s hill. He had a gold cardboard crown on top of his head and a striped bathrobe tied around his waist with a braided gold cord.

“But, what a handsome little wise man you are,” said Gracie, complimenting him with a smile.

“I’m skeerd. I don’t wanna say, ‘I brought some gold for the Christ child’ in front a all those people.”

“It will be okay, son. Just do your best. Miss Patsy is counting on you.”

“Yeah, and Uncle J.T.’s gonna give me five dollars,” Dinky smiled, remembering a bribe from his uncle.

“Make sure Uncle J.T. gets his money’s worth then,” said Gracie, still encouraging her four-year-old as they walked to her car through the cold, crunchy snow in front of Apple Muffin Cottage. It was already dark by 5:30 when they left the house, and the icicle lights hanging off the edge of the roof weren’t on yet because J.T. had set the timer switch for 6:00. The house and yard both were completely dark except for the light of the Christmas tree glowing from the living room window.

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