Page 9 of The Snuggle is Real
My heart skipped a beat at her using that word. She wasn’t calling me her dad, but she was casting me in the role.
And suddenly all I wanted for Christmas—all I wanted most in the world—was to never let this little girl down.
CHAPTER 3
Mason
“Mason,we’ve got another last-minute request,” Rebecca called, the office phone receiver tucked between her head and shoulder as she jotted down details.
“Another one?” I surveyed the chaos raging around me as we organized frozen turkeys, bags of potatoes, gravy mixes, and cans of cranberry sauce for our annualSleigh Your Holidaymeal program. It was similar to the classic Meals on Wheels program for seniors, only it was holiday meals delivered by sleigh, and anyone in need could qualify.
“Real nice lady by the name of Dottie,” Rebecca said. “She’s cooking for her and her neighbor. He was going to buy the groceries, but he had a major last-minute expense.”
“Oh?” I pulled up our list of drop sites on my laptop, only half listening. Rebecca had a knack for getting folks’ whole life stories out of them, and even if she didn’t, she probably had some town gossip she’d picked up somewhere.
None of that mattered to me. If someone said they needed help, that was good enough. They didn’t have to justify it.
“Yep, her neighbor Ford just got landed with his ex-wife’s little girl for the holidays. Out of the blue! No warning! Can you believe that?”
I glanced at her in surprise. “Ford?”
“Ford Donnelly. You know him?”
“Not really,” I said quickly. “I, uh, might have met him? At the treelighting. Unless it’s some other Ford…”
Rebecca’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, no, judging by the look on your face, you met the same Ford. Big sexy mountain of a man? A little rough around the edges but sweet?”
“I don’t remember him beingsweet,” I mumbled.
She chuckled. “Oh yeah, he’s one of those hard outer shell, gooey insides kind of guys.” She fanned herself. “So hot.”
Well, there was no arguing Ford was easy on the eyes. But that was beside the point.
I forced myself to refocus on the work. “So, he’s taking care of his daughter unexpectedly?”
“Oh, she’s not his. His ex’s kid. But he always loved her like his own.”
I nodded. “That would certainly add to the strain of the holidays…” And judging by Ford’s words at the treelighting, he was already out of work. “Put them down. We can’t fit in another delivery until Thanksgiving, so we may have to find a pre-cooked turkey or something else that can be thawed and cooked the same day. But we’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
Rebecca beamed. “I knew you’d make it happen, Mase. This town is lucky to have you.”
I huffed a laugh and shook my head. “I’m just doing my job.”
“It’s not a job everyone wants,” she said. “Lonnie did his best. Don’t get me wrong. But the foundation was sorta limping along under his leadership, helping here and there. Not like the professional operation you’ve turned it into in the past six months.”
“I can’t really take credit for that. We got a huge endowment from Jem Knight. You know, the former NFL star?”
Rebecca chuckled. “Yeah, we all know Jem, the big ole softy. He’s totally gone for Murphy.”
“I don’t know all about his personal life, but he’s the reason we got this building,” I said. “And contributions from ex-NHL stars Rudy Snow and Mik Gilmore helped expand our operations to include a full-time staffer. Otherwise I wouldn’t even be here.”
“But youarehere, and you’re doing a great job.”
I shot her a grateful smile. “I sure hope so. There’s a lot riding on this holiday season. We’re growingfast,and it’s my job to make sure we don’t bite off more than we can chew.”
Those one-time gifts had helped us expand, but they wouldn’t sustain our day-to-day mission to serve the community. That would be up to me. No pressure, right?
“Speaking of chewing,” Rebecca said. “We need another turkey.”
