The Christmas Cookie Shop (Christmas Town, Book 1) by Ginny Baird

Author:Ginny Baird
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winter Wedding Press
Published: 2016-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

The next forty-five minutes sped by with Hannah helping Lou and Buddy set up the buffet line by rearranging dishes in groupings—main courses, sides, and desserts—and setting out paper products and plastic tableware. Others came to help them locate serving utensils and drape garlands festooned with red-and-green-checkered bows from the tables. Hannah met the twins’ father, Walt Christmas, in the process. Walt was a handsome man with darker hair than his brothers and stunning blue eyes. If she’d not looked carefully, Hannah might have judged Walt to be the oldest on account of his neatly trimmed beard. But closer inspection revealed a more youthful complexion than Ray’s.

At six foot four, Walt was clearly the tallest of the three Christmas boys, but the other two weren’t far behind him. Hannah wondered where they got their height, as both Lou and Buddy were on the shorter side. Sandy told her she chalked it up to recessive Nordic genes. Twins Noelle and Joy had obviously inherited them. Both were statuesque blondes with long straight hair and big blue eyes like their father’s. Hannah only met them in passing on the way through the narthex. Frank Cho greeted her there as well, briefly introducing Hannah to his wife, Victoria.

Hannah and Sandy were about to enter the sanctuary with Jade and Wendell Scott for the pageant that was about to start when Jade’s dad, the retired sheriff Caleb Smith, joined them. Lou had said that the brief retelling of the Bible story through verses and holiday hymns wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes. It was all the children could stand. And about as much as the adults can take, too, Buddy added with a chuckle.

The children who were performing had gone on ahead to meet with the youth volunteer, Stan Martin, who had a tiny brood of his own. Three little girls nipped at his heels like puppies, each asking repeated questions, as the other costumed kids gathered around began to whine and complain. Stan was taking over for his wife Della, who’d just given birth to their first son, and he was clearly overwhelmed. Hannah saw Walt whisper something to each of his twins, and the girls calmly slipped toward the vestibule to assist Stan with crowd control.

“Hannah Winchester.” A kindly older gentleman dressed as a clergyman handed her a program as she entered the sanctuary. “Welcome to Christmas Town. We’re so glad that you could join us.”

Hannah smiled at the gaunt man with snowy white hair and a pleasant face. “Thank you. It’s an honor to be here.”

“Pastor Wilson,” he said with a nod of his head. “Please enjoy your stay.”

Hannah’s throat felt tender. He’d said it like she was merely a visitor here, but wasn’t that precisely what she’d told everybody? In fact, she’d worked extra hard to drive that point home. “I’m sure I will,” she told him. “It’s a very special town.”

He seemed to be distracted by something at her crown. That’s when Hannah realized with horror that she’d forgotten to remove her elf hat.

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