Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,37
finally escaping before saying something else embarrassing.
She raced down the steps feeling like a fool, but when she looked over his shoulder, he was standing there with a half smile and his head cocked in amusement…or something. Hopefully something good.
Hannah walked straight out of the store to town square without so much as a pause. Her heart was still racing. She was so relieved the snow globe could be repaired, but even more than that, her heart was doing back flips, and those were for the man behind those repairs.
She touched her brow, damp with sweat even in the cool air. Oh Elliott, I hope I’m not the only one feeling this way.
When she came around the corner, David stood there in the alley with his hands in front of him like a movie director. As she got closer, she noticed the picture of her parents in his hands. “Do you think that’s where the picture was taken?”
David turned and nodded. “I do. I mean, I can almost line up the whole thing. I just don’t understand why someone would remove that mural. And why?”
“Maybe it got damaged in the Christmas blizzard?” Hannah said. “I guess that picture would’ve been about the time of the blizzard.”
A tsk came from behind them. Joe had walked up. “It’s a shame. The mural really would have been nice to keep up.”
David stared up at the wall, still puzzling through this. “I was really hoping I would find it before my dad got back to town. I wanted to show him that I’d solved another puzzle.”
Hannah placed a hand on his shoulder. “Think of it this way. You found something about both Evergreen town history and our family history. He’s going to be excited to see you either way.”
“I can’t wait to see him. It’s been a couple of weeks this time.” David stood there mesmerized by the wall that had once had the mural on it. Maybe what made it more interesting to him was that the picture had his grandparents in it. He’d never gotten the chance to know them. They’d have loved him so much.
It was such a gift that she and Thomas had stayed so close over the years, and when he and his first wife had had David, she’d been the proudest aunt on the planet—like he was her own.
Carol walked around the corner from the Kringle. “Good morning. You’re here early.”
“David’s still trying to figure out that picture,” Hannah said.
“And now the key too.” David lifted the photograph of his grandparents again. “Two mysteries at once.”
“When I was a little girl, my dad would take breaks from the bakery out here,” Carol said. “And sometimes I’d come out with my chalks, and I would write all over this wall. He would put a milk crate down, and I would stand on it…right about here.”
“You’d have thought he’d mention there’d once been a mural there.”
“He never did.” Carol walked to the center, and then turned to face the wall. With imaginary chalk in her hand, she swept her arm through the air. “I would design plans for my own diner. The windows were up there. The counter over there, and I’d always put the door here, because see…” She pointed to a spot about eye level now. “There’s a little knot in the wood here somewhere that’s shaped like a keyhole. See, it’s right there.” She pointed playfully, as if enjoying the memory, then jumped back, startled. “Wait!” Carol put her hand on the wall, then tapped it. “Is it an actual…?”
Hannah raced over to see.
David clocked in to what was going on. “It’s a real keyhole? Do you think the key from the sleigh fits it?”
“I don’t know, but this could be something wonderful…or nothing at all.”
“We should try it.” He was so anxious that he was jumping like a kangaroo on coffee.
“Let’s gather everyone. If it’s nothing, no big deal, but if it’s something, don’t you think the gang would like to be a part of it?”
“You’re right,” David said. “I’ll run down the Historical Society phone tree and get everyone to come over.”
Chapter Fifteen
Katie stood in the inn’s kitchen, refreshing her cup of coffee. She popped a tiny quiche into her mouth. Megan provided such a wonderful spread of delicious nibbles that Katie was afraid she wouldn’t fit into her holiday dress if she wasn’t careful.
I’m sure going to miss Barbara’s County Inn when it’s time to leave.