Release Me by Ann Marie Walker & Amy K. Rogers

Author:Ann Marie Walker & Amy K. Rogers [Walker, Ann Marie & Rogers, Amy K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: InterMix
Published: 2015-07-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Allie stared up at the fifty-foot spruce that towered over Daley Plaza. All at once memories of her as a small girl, wearing a white fur coat and standing on a dais between her parents as the mayor flipped the switch to light the city’s official Christmas tree, filled her mind. She remembered the collective gasp from the people who gathered in front of the stage and the hundreds more who milled around the Christkindlmarket. Year after year she’d had the best seat in the house. But secretly she’d longed to join the other children, eating fried dough covered in powdered sugar while watching with wide eyes as glassblowers created ornaments for their parents to take home and hang on the family tree.

“So what exactly is a Christkind?” Hudson asked, pulling her from her childhood memories. He’d groused about their little holiday adventure, lobbying hard for a day in bed as opposed to one spent among “the masses of people buying items they neither need nor really want.” But he’d come around once they were out on the snow-covered streets. And looking at him now, his hand linked with hers as they stood side by side amidst complete holiday mayhem, Allie couldn’t help but smile. For as different as their backgrounds were, when it came to the holidays at least, they had one thing in common: neither of them had fond memories. As she reveled in the love reflected in his warm gaze, Allie realized this was a second chance for both of them. They had each other now, and together they could create new memories that would slowly replace the old ones. Together they would find their way.

“Well, the Christkind,” she began, reciting the story she’d heard dozens of times growing up, “is a fairylike angel, dressed in white-and-gold robes and wearing a crown on top of her long golden hair. According to folklore, she is the bearer of gifts to children in German-speaking countries, leaving the presents under the Christmas tree and disappearing before they can catch a glimpse of her.”

“So a cross between the tooth fairy and Santa Claus?” Hudson somehow managed to keep a straight face, but the amusement in his eyes was evident.

Allie laughed. “Something like that.”

“And all this?” He gestured to the red-and-white striped tents arranged in rows under the shadow of the steel Picasso.

“This is the Christkindlmarket.”

He lifted a dark brow. “Which is?”

“C’mon,” she said, tugging him. “I’ll show you.”

Hudson chuckled quietly as she pulled him into the crowd. Although only a few blocks away in actual proximity, the Christkindlmarket seemed a world away from the retail giants of State Street and the Magnificent Mile. In the plaza outside Daley Center, dozens of merchants sat in small tents selling classic German products like nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks, and beer steins, while others offered handmade jewelry, clothes, and toys. Some even demonstrated their handiwork for customers, carving wood or blowing glass for those captivated by the idea of purchasing items directly from their workbenches.

They

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