Page 16 of The Mountain that Saved Christmas

“OK. So tree, check. What's next on the list, Dottie?” Ruthie asks.

Miss Dottie pulls her glasses out of her every-present handbag and pushes them up her nose before leaning forward and still squinting at the long list of notes in front of her. “Decorations,” she says before looking back up. “We've already got seven truck-loads we brought with us from home and what we picked up in Anchorage.”

“We've also got an old storage shed behind the Fire Station/Sheriff’s Office/City Hall building. It has a bunch of old stuff from back in the day,” George says. I'm still stuck on the fact that the town has one building for everything official, and that one man holds almost all of the town positions.Maybe he's just a multi-tasking, do-it-yourselfer.

“They'll be a bit dusty but nothin' a good rag and some elbow grease can't fix,” Cary says.

“Could always grab some paint from the Hardware store and freshen them up,” Toby suggests. “Austin's good at buildin' stuff, repairin' too.”

I look over at my brother-in-law who has his thinking face on. That means he's probably thinking of things he can build and/or paint to make George's holiday wish come true.

“OK,” Ruthie says, moving on. “Next on the list is the festival. I was thinkin'—”

“Afestival?” The Arrys—as I'm now calling them—and George whisper in unison, their voices filled with awe.

“You think we'd come all this way to give the town Christmas and not give you a holiday festival of your own?” Mags says. “Georgie Porgy, you're gettin' the full Christmas package. Trees, decorations, food, market stalls,anda festival to celebrate it all.”

George turns to his friend. “Larry, I'm goin' to ask you to pinch me.”

“Why's that?”

“Cause there's no way any of this is real,” George says to his now grinning friend.

“Believe it. This town of yours is gettin' the Christmas we've all wanted and thatyoudeserve. And all because you went on the internet and found yourself a pen pal called Ruth,” Larry beams, patting George's back.

George lifts his beer glass to his lips and takes a healthy gulp before lowering it back to the table, the foam sticking to his grey mustache.

“Savin' some for later, are 'ya George?” Landry asks, gesturing to his top lip.

George blushes as his jolly laugh fills the air. “Yep.” Then his brows furrow. “Wait, what about the Holly Jolly Cup? Are y'all not doin' that again this year?”

“We've done a couple of challenges on the way here already,” Miss Aggie says. “But that's just between the couples. No need to do anythin' official since we're all too busy bein’ Yuletide fairies.”

“But you'll keep doin' them, right? The challenges? Cause I'd love to see all of y'all battlin' to see who wins,” George says, looking around our group. “Maybe I could even take part?”

Ruthie grins. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Got any ideas of what kind of activities we can do for the challenges while we're in Rainbow Springs?” Cora asks George and his friends.

They look between each other, sharing some unspoken conversation before Cary nods. “I'm sure we can think of somethin'.”

“Now, back to this festival. For the market stalls, we'll need to spread the word around the townsfolk but we've got a radio channel we can use to do that, cause I'm sure there'll be plenty of willin’ vendors,” Barry says, speaking for the first time. What shocks everyone is just how deep and low his voice is. He must notice all the surprised expressions on our faces because his brows lift sky-high. “What?”

“Your voice isawesome,” Star says. And wouldn't you know it, the big, tough, and gruff Barry blushes bright red.

Frankie quickly rushes to write all of our ideas down. “OK. So, we've got the tree, decorations, challenges, and food at the market. I'm not sure if there's anythin' left to organize.”

“Sounds like we've got everythin’ covered,” Red notes.

“Ah, there's just one thing…” Gary says, joining us from behind the bar. “You've forgotten about the big man in Red.”

“That'sme!” Tobes announces, puffing out his chest with pride. “I'm playin' Santa. I've got the costume and everythin'.”

“Not sure you need it withthatbeard,” Rhett muses.

Toby strokes his facial hair before turning his dancing gaze over to me. “Skippylovesit.”

I smile and shrug because there's no point denying it. I love everything about my husband, crazy overgrown beard and all.

---