Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,77
together through the good and the bad.
“Hold on, everyone. There’s more!” Ezra danced around, which only excited the crowd further. He waited for people to quiet down before he continued. “While I’m sure you’ve enjoyed opening these boxes, we want to be sure you all get to spend Christmas morning with your families. And so, we have officially started a Christmas Festival to be held on Christmas Eve each year.”
“We’ve kept up that tradition every year, no matter what tried to get in the way,” Michelle said.
“Tonight,” Ezra continued, “on what we hope will be the fiftieth anniversary of that festival, you are to open the final green envelope with as much of the town present as you can muster. As a town. As a family. As Evergreen.”
Hannah raised her hands in the air and, on the count of three, the choir sang “Jingle Bells.” The joyful noise filled the air as folks sang along.
Ben stopped in at the Kringle Kitchen for breakfast, and Nan went back to wrap a few gifts and meet a few folks she’d ordered books for. He watched as children deposited their last-minute wishes into the Letters for Santa mailbox. How old had he been when he’d finally given up writing to Santa? For the life of him, he couldn’t remember. Nan had always instilled in him that “if you don’t believe, you don’t receive,” so he’d carried on the charade for many years.
He laughed as he lifted a forkful of Carol’s incredible apple dumpling to his mouth. Maybe he should drop a note to Santa this year. There was only one thing on his list.
Nick and Hannah walked over and sat down at the table with him.
“Merry Christmas! How was your trip to New York?” Nick asked.
“It was good. The job didn’t work out, and I’ll be honest, I’d kind of hoped Katie might want to come back. That didn’t happen.” His heart sank. The connection had felt so real, but it had been fast. These two probably would think he was a little crazy to be pining away for her. Tourists came and went. Everyone knew that. “But I still made a good friend, and it was good to see her in her environment.”
“Well, sometimes that’s how it starts.” Nick looked at Ben and then over at Hannah.
Ben wondered if Nick was talking about Hannah and Elliott or people in general. Could he be thinking of Ben and Katie, or was that just wishful thinking? Ben had hoped Katie would be in touch, but it’d been radio silence since he’d left. Even on the ride home, on the train, he’d had to keep himself from texting her. He missed her already.
“I made a wish on the snow globe,” Hannah admitted to Nick.
Nick danced a jig. “Something good, I hope.”
“Definitely. Funniest thing. Having to repair it, we saw the key underneath the sleigh. And that led to finding the mural and the calendar—well, the time capsule. And breaking the snow globe brought Elliott and I together to fix it. I see him in a whole new light. And all because I dropped it that day with you, Nick.”
Nick nodded ever so slowly. His eyes twinkled and the air of mischief hung above him like mistletoe. “Some things…just take a little push.” He stood before either of them could say a word. “I’m late for something very important.” And just like that, he took off into a jog across the square.
“Did he just allude to making me drop the snow globe?” She wasn’t asking Ben so much as making an observation.
Ben watched Nick dash away. “I’m not sure what just happened.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The sun had set, and kids were getting sleepy-eyed despite their excitement about Santa Claus coming tonight. Later, they’d line up for the candlelight processional. Such a beautiful tradition, with the hand-crafted candles, the church bells and a cappella carols lifting glory to the heavens. The true reason for the season.
Ben went over to the library to see if he could help Nan with story time tonight. When he walked inside, Nan and Nick stood side by side, looking a little suspect.
Nan seemed to be explaining the business to Nick. “And of course, if they’re willing to shelve a few books sometimes, we like to waive overdue fees.”
“Makes sense to me,” Nick said.
Ben approached the desk. “Hi. What are you two doing?”
“Ah, Ben,” Nan said. “You’re just in time to meet our new part-time employee.”
“Nick?” Ben shook the man’s hand. “Welcome aboard. But—”