Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,19
the city and come here to Evergreen to enjoy a real Christmas.”
“Wait-wait-wait.” She held her hand up, increasing the space between them. “Are you saying that city Christmases aren’t real?”
“No. I’m not saying that.” Or am I? This isn’t going well. “I mean we’re not cynical here.”
“Who says we are?” She tempted him with those pretty eyes, although right now they were carrying a bit of challenge too.
Honestly, he hadn’t meant to accuse her or the city of being cynical. He dropped his hands to his side. What could he say that wouldn’t just dig him in even deeper?
They’d gotten as far as the gazebo before he stopped her. He made an effort to keep his voice level and calm. “If you’re truly interested in Evergreen, it’s important to understand that we embrace this for real. I want you to experience the real Evergreen if you’re going to write about it.”
Their eyes held for a long moment.
Her smile softened, open to giving it a try.
He relaxed a little, excited to experience it with her.
A shrill scream, followed by the sound of something breaking, came from inside the Kringle Kitchen. Ben and Katie turned and raced for the diner. He entered first, with Katie on his heels.
As the door shut behind them, they both came to a full stop just inside and gasped.
You could’ve heard a pin drop in the Kringle Kitchen at that moment. All eyes were trained on the wooden floor at the entrance.
Shattered glass and water had splattered across the floor in front of Hannah. Chunks of the heavy wooden base were strewn too. An evergreen tree lay on its side next to the horse drawn carriage, as if there’d been a terrible traffic accident. Even the church had been flung off to the side, lying near the counter in a precarious position, its steeple off to the side.
Hannah stood there, frozen in place with her mouth hanging wide.
Nick stood just behind her with Carol, Ezra and Joe looking on, all in a state of shock.
David clutched his folder, tears in his eyes.
With her hands straight out to her sides, fingers splayed wide, Hannah slowly raised her head. “I was just trying to make a wish.” She could barely get the words out.
Ben’s muscles involuntarily tensed as he watched the woman process what had just happened.
On the floor, the town’s most treasured holiday attraction, the snow globe, lay in a hundred messy pieces. Had the magical snow globe tradition just come to a tragic end?
Chapter Eight
Katie stood silently as the locals rushed to rescue the fragments of the famous snow globe from the floor of the Kringle Kitchen. Carol scurried behind the counter and came back with a box.
Hannah’s hands shook as she picked up one of the trees.
Carol handed the box to Joe, who began scooping the augmented fractions of the snow globe into the box. “Maybe it can be fixed.” Joe’s words were promising, but there wasn’t much hope in his tone.
Nick walked over. “I’m partially to blame myself. I bumped into Hannah and—”
She swallowed back a tear and shook her head. “No. I should have had a better grip on it. I’m so sorry, guys.” Her voice cracked, and tears fell to her cheeks.
“Accidents happen.” Carol watched Joe pick up the pieces.
“This globe has been an Evergreen tradition for years, and now—”
Joe placed the last pieces in a box. A waitress rushed over with a mop to clean up the area and keep anyone from sliding as they came inside.
Joe stood. “Let’s focus on having it fixed, Hannah? Okay?”
Nick and Carol guided Hannah over to a table, trying to reassure her.
Hannah nodded. “Do you think Elliott might be able to do something about it?”
“It’s worth a try,” Carol said.
Katie felt horrible for Hannah, and everyone else too. They were all genuinely upset. Anxiety filled the air. Even if that snow globe brought in a lot of customers, who else would know if they just replaced it with another one? No. Something was up with this one, which only made her curious to hear some of those stories about the wishes this particular snow globe had supposedly granted.
Ben went over to the glass bakery case and picked out a pie for Nan.
Katie had almost forgotten about the pie. Especially after Carol had filled them up on cookies and her famous apple dumplings. Right now, all the sweets were twisting in her gut. She could only imagine how Hannah felt.