Page 83 of Wild Promises

Xander took Joey's hand and the bucket and ran from behind the barrier, throwing balls before diving into the doorway of the fort.

Christopher blew a whistle, calling a temporary cease fire. The kids filed out to find their parents.

Joey held Xander's hand as he approached Oliver. "That was so much fun. Can I do it again?"

"In a bit. Let's go find Carolina, okay?"

Joey nodded eagerly and took his hand.

"You're good with him," I said to Xander.

"I try."

"How's it going?" It was nice to be this close to him during daylight. I hadn't spent much time with him lately.

"It's been busy. But I think it's going well. People are having fun, and I can see that they're spending money."

"It is busy, and it's just the beginning." The festival was planned to go all day and into the evening.

"Eli's already talking about making it a thing we do often, like every Saturday or an entire weekend."

"You're not sure about that?" I asked him.

"It's a nice event, but what if people get bored of it?"

"I guess you won't know if you don't try. Business is trying things to see if they work."

Xander blew out a breath. "I have to get used to it."

Christopher blew the whistle again, and Xander said, "I have to get back out there. Thanks for stopping by."

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, getting some food. Then I found Noelle by the holiday light display she'd made into a maze.

"Do you have time to walk through it with me?" I asked her.

Noelle smiled. "Of course."

Some of the kids wore paper glasses on their faces. "What are those for?"

"They give the illusion of candy canes on the lights."

"That's a cute idea," I said as we walked behind a family dressed as Grinches. We walked through various themed areasbased on popular characters. It was nicely done. At the end, there was an opportunity to get pictures with Santa.

Noelle gestured toward the line. "The photographs are making us the most money."

"I bet." We stood off to the side of the little house for Santa.

"It sounds like Eli wants to pay me a percentage of the guests who walk through."

"You don't agree with that?"

Noelle's forehead creased. "He already paid me to create it. It seems like double-dipping to me."

"That's just business. Your creation is keeping a steady stream of guests walking through. I think it's fair."

"I work hard, but then I have a hard time accepting that money comes easily sometimes. When you have your own business, it's not an hourly wage thing. Sometimes I get paid nothing, and other times, it's a lot."

"When the money does come, remember how hard you worked unpaid when you were setting your business up."

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