Santa's Shopkeeper (River's End Ranch Book 18) by Amelia C. Adams & River's End Ranch

Author:Amelia C. Adams & River's End Ranch [Adams, Amelia C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-05-05T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Oh, it’s so pretty!” Maisie’s smile was as bright as the Christmas lights up and down Main Street. Mark chuckled at her reactions to everything. It was impossible not to feel the Christmas spirit when seeing everything through her perspective. Connor was just as mesmerized, but he showed it by sticking one finger in his mouth and looking around with huge eyes.

“What do you think, honey? Should we decorate our house like this next year?” Callie teased, looping her arm through Todd’s.

“Um, let’s not,” he replied, and she laughed.

Mark took a deep breath, loving this time with his family. The undercurrent of stress they’d been feeling because of Callie’s health seemed to have lifted somewhat, and it was so nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful decorations and listen to the carolers, who were dressed as though they’d stepped right out of Victorian England.

“Look! It’s Heidi’s window!” Maisie tugged on Mark’s hand. “Let’s go see it!”

Mark didn’t know if he was biased, but he thought this window was the best. Heidi had really done a great job with the reindeer and motion-activated Santa. The whole thing looked like it could come to life at any moment—real life, and not just robotics.

“This one has to be the winner,” Maisie said, tugging on Mark’s hand again. “Who do we tell that this one should be the winner?”

“Come with me, squirt,” Todd said. “We’ll go find someone together.” He took his daughter’s hand and nodded at Mark. “I think a certain shopkeeper needs some congratulating on a job well done.”

Mark grinned and headed inside the store, where he found Heidi in another of her cute costumes. She was handing out old-fashioned Christmas candy to everyone who walked in. She was busy, but she looked up and brightened when she saw him.

He wandered around and pretended to look at displays until she was free for a minute, and then he walked over and kissed her cheek. “Everything looks great,” he said. “Maisie has declared you the undisputed winner.”

“I wish she was the only judge, but I’ll take her praise over anyone else’s,” Heidi said. “So, what do you think of the Christmas Stroll?”

“It’s awesome, but I think I like the manager of the general store just a little bit more.”

“You can like us both, you know. That part’s not a contest.”

“That’s good to know.”

Just then, Mark’s phone chimed with a text, and he checked the display. As soon as he saw the message—911. Come now.—he turned on his heel. “Emergency. Gotta go,” he yelled, racing out the door and toward the Family Fun cabin as fast as he could.

***

Mark threw open the front door of the cabin, fully expecting to find Callie in the middle of a full-blown seizure. Instead, he found Todd pacing back and forth, Callie trying to calm him.

“What’s the matter?” Mark asked. “Why the emergency text?”

“It’s bad, Mark. It’s really, really bad.” Todd pushed his hands through his hair. “Our house just burned down. A total loss. Everything is gone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.