Christmas at Mistletoe Lodge: New Holiday Romances to Benefit St. Jude Hospital by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Top Ten Press
Published: 2019-10-22T05:00:00+00:00

3

In Issaquah, rain mixed with icy sleet pelted down from the sky as Miranda headed to the Animal Castle. She kept going over the conversation with Aunt Bell. Her aunt claimed that Juliet could cover Miranda’s schedule. That was absurd. She and Juliet were booked solid. They were so busy this time of year that they were considering hiring a part time person. Maybe Aunty Bell had her confused with another dogwalker.

Miranda hurried down the sidewalk toward the Animal Castle. When she’d decided on the name for her business, she’d contacted a sign company to create the image. But none of their designs fit her vision. In the end she’d created the design herself and was pleased with the whimsical backdrop of a castle with animals dressed as knights and ladies of the court.

She loved this block and when an opening came around in one of the storefronts, she’d taken out a business loan and jumped at the opportunity. She’d grown up in this area and the street named, Dreams Come True by one of its founders at the turn of the twentieth century, was a nostalgic look back on a time before box stores and chains.

As she passed by the café, the smell of bread and sweet rolls baking made her mouth water and her stomach grumble. She wanted to stop, but there wasn’t time. She worried that F.G. was right and that for some reason a few of her clients had cancelled. The restaurant across the street had just posted its daily specials: homemade chicken soup, turkey and cranberry sandwiches on sourdough bread, baked ham with sweet potatoes and baked squash with marinara sauce.

Okay, she was officially starving. It served her right for missing breakfast.

Next to the restaurant was a pottery, glass blowing and art studio. The newest addition was a clothing design store next to her business that made custom clothes for all occasions, including costumes for fantasy and science fiction conferences, and themed parties and weddings.

She entered the Animal Castle, and once inside she unleashed Woofy who then trotted to the back of the shop for his breakfast.

“You’re soaking wet.” A tall young woman with white, spiky hair, purple eyeshadow, and wearing jeans and a black and gold T-shirt with the logo of a castle on the front. “What happened? Oh, and did Francis Geraldine Bell find you? She said that I could call her F.G.”

Miranda laughed softly at the initials her aunt used. “That makes sense. F.G. is my aunt.” Miranda accepted a sweatshirt with their logo from Juliet. “I asked my aunt to meet me here. She has a crazy idea that you can cover while I take off with her to help a friend.”

“That’s just it. It was the strangest thing. Shortly after you left for your run, the phones started ringing. All of our clients canceled, and soon after, F.G. called and said she wanted to hire you as an event planner and would cover the cost of what we lost in the cancellations.

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