Mistletoe Mine: An Eternity Springs Novella by Emily March

Author:Emily March [March, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emily March Books
Published: 2023-08-06T18:30:00+00:00

After the portrait session, Jared declined an invitation to join the Malone family for lunch. He spent the afternoon cross-country skiing, exercising, and exorcising his demons—or attempting to, anyway. He allowed himself to think about his relationship with Emma, something he’d not permitted himself to do for a very long time. He returned to Angel’s Rest in a pensive mood.

Marital mistakes were sorry thoughts to carry into a children’s Christmas program. That’s why Jared tried to focus on happier times as he gathered his camera bag from the backseat of his car and walked through the frigid night air toward the school that evening. But when he walked into the auditorium, accepted a program from a kindergartner dressed like an elf, and heard his wife playing “Greensleeves” on an upright piano, sadness overwhelmed him.

The first picture he snapped was one of Emma at the piano.

The program introduced an original play written by the sixth-grade class, followed by a Christmas carol sing-along. Eavesdropping on a conversation between a woman named Nic and one called Sage, he learned that the play was a version of the Nativity story as it had never been told before. The house lights dimmed, and Jared turned his attention to the stage.

The first-grader dressed in a white choir robe and sporting gold paper-mâché wings was a doll who reminded him so much of Molly at that age that Jared’s heart hurt.

The storyline centered on a trio of angels announcing the birth of the Savior. One of them, Harold, was distracted by offerings at the bazaar of Bethlehem and was late heralding the news to the Three Kings, who decided to trade in their camels for faster transportation.

Jared almost dropped his camera when he saw the scene for that part of the story. Three boys dressed in kingly gear sat perched atop stuffed animals—not the plush kind, but the work of a taxidermist—a bear, a mountain lion, and a bighorn sheep.

Seeing Jared’s surprise, Celeste leaned over and whispered, “The school owns quite an extensive collection of preserved wildlife donated by a former resident of Eternity Springs.”

On stage, the youngest angel clasped her hands and dramatically despaired, “What’s Christmas without camels?”

The audience erupted in laughter, and Jared grinned, snapping a shot of the young drama queen he knew her parents would treasure.

Onstage, the Three Kings realized they still weren’t going to make it to the manger in time, and at that point, the materialistic little cherubim saw the light. Harold flew the kings on Angel Airlines, delivering them to the stable in time to honor the Christ Child. Unfortunately, Angel Air lost the kings’ baggage, so they despaired that they had no gold, frankincense, or myrrh to give the newborn King. At that point, angel Harold patted them on the back and said, “Hark. I say unto you. It’s the thought that counts.”

It was silly and sappy, but the little drama provided the first spark of Christmas cheer Jared had enjoyed all year. Then the lights dimmed, and the three angels took center stage beneath a spotlight.

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