Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,45
“I think I can explain this one. Oddly enough.” He was dressed in a fancy ski jacket with at least ten ski tags hanging from the zipper. “The Stralls were my grandparents, on my mom’s side. Years ago they sent me several boxes of skates and scarves to hang on to until someone from town asked for them. I thought it was a surprise donation or something. I guess it actually kind of is.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Nope. They’re stacked up in my shed.”
“A lot of planning went into this,” Michelle remarked.
“Glad I was here when you opened the time capsule. I remember Grandpa talking about it when I was a kid. Do you think I can borrow Allie’s truck? I can take all the boxes down to the pond, and you can distribute them there.”
“Absolutely,” Carol said. “I can make that happen.”
Nan said, “I used to be quite the skater. I still have my skates too. They’re quite fancy, in fact. Blue with silver stars on them. Hannah blinged them for me when she was just about David’s age. She’s always been so artistic in every way.” Nan searched the crowd for Hannah. “Do you remember doing that for me, Hannah?”
“I do!”
“Katie, you should borrow them,” Nan said.
“Oh, no. I’m not a skater.”
“Just in case you change your mind then,” she said with a wink.
Michelle clapped her hands. “Everyone, remember that the volunteer fire department is still clearing off the skating pond and making sure everything’s safe, so we’ll see everybody down there a little later on.”
As the crowd dispersed, Katie was hoping to grab Ben and apologize about this morning, but he’d already taken off.
“Hello, Katie. How are you enjoying Evergreen?” Nick stood there, his round cheeks slightly pink from the cold.
She forced herself to turn her attention away from Ben. “Oh, hi, Nick. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Wait until you see the skating pond all set up. One of the most fun traditions we have in Evergreen. You really must give it a whirl. I just know Nan’s skates would be perfect for you.” Nick sailed off as Katie watched Ben walk away without another word.
She’d never been much of a skater, but then, she’d never been anywhere like Evergreen. It’d been a long time since she’d even tried. Nick’s words danced in her mind. This time capsule advent calendar made the twelve days of Christmas look like slacker duty. And she was no slacker. An idea hit her, and it was better than a partridge in a pear tree.
She rushed across the street and entered Daisy’s Country Store.
“Hi, Katie,” Lisa said from behind the counter. “Good to see you again. Are you looking for something fun, or need something practical again?” She pretended to pout.
“Nothing practical at all. I saw something the other day that would be just perfect for someone.” She turned and walked over to the decorated Christmas tree in the center of the store. “I see it from here.”
“Great. Let me know if I can help.” Lisa turned to help a man who’d just approached the counter with his arm full of gift items.
“I hope you can help me by wrapping these,” he said to Lisa.
“Are you kidding? I am the best gift wrapper around. Wait until you see the fancy bows from wire ribbon that I’m going to make for you.”
Katie loved how Lisa was so into her store and customers. She browsed through each of the decorated spaces in the store. Lisa had created the most inviting nooks filled with similar items to help customers match items to the people on their shopping list.
Beside a robin-egg blue upholstered chair was a table covered in a rich brown satin tablecloth. Somehow that spring-colored combination felt so homey among all the Christmas decorations. The hand-lettered sign on the table read “Gifts for Mom.” Katie took her time, enjoying the chance to perhaps find something special for her mom. She was so hard to buy for. She had everything, and she was funny about certain things like clothes, so there was no sense in trying to buy her anything like that. But there were unusual items here. She picked up three small things. Together they’d be a wonderful gift.
She paid for her purchases, then walked over to the arts center. She’d been meaning to check out the glassblowing ever since Elliott had mentioned it that day at the inn. Today would be the perfect time, since they’d be making