Page 53 of Candy Cane Dreams
There were other stores up and down the street as well, although the new restaurant hadn't been able to open in time. There was some red tape that they just couldn't quite get through. Kate wasn't sure whether the restaurant would be open by Christmas or not. Seemed like that would be the date to aim for in a town like Mistletoe Meadows.
"We can check in together in a bit," Kate said.
"I'll text you if I need anything." Marjorie gave her a shooing motion with her hand, and Kate waved and grinned.
Marjorie was the best. She enjoyed helping with the festival, but her heart was most definitely with Jack and Lilly. And indeed, they did need help as she stepped into the store.
It was so packed, Ben hadn't even made it over to talk to Jack.
"It's good to see you out today, Ben. I hope you do nothing but enjoy yourself and have no official business to take care of."
It would be sad to have some kind of business the sheriff needed to take care of during their festival.
"I just hope my presence is deterrent enough. But it's my job, so I'm going to do what I can to make sure things go smoothly."
"It's good to see you. Reassuring."
"Tell Jack I said hi. Looks to me like he's too busy to chat, which I'm happy about, for sure."
"If you want something, I'm sure he'll make time for you."
"I was going to buy a few things—I've got some Christmas shopping to take care of—but I'll come back later." He glanced around the store. "Although you guys might be sold out by the looks of things."
"Yeah. It's been so much better than I hoped it was going to be."
"You and Marjorie deserve a lot of the credit. You spent a lot of hours planning, and then the execution took even more time."
"The McBride family helps a lot, and so did Jack, and I saw you out hanging banners last weekend, so I think the whole town deserves the credit."
"Nothing like a small town to pull together."
There was wisdom in Ben's eyes that seemed like it might have been hard-earned, and Kate thought again about Marjorie saying he'd come back after a nasty divorce, bringing his son with him.
Kate had heard about a few things the secret saint had done, not just for Ben but other needy families around town, and she thought again about how much she loved being in a small town where people cared about each other and did everything they could to help. So much different than where she had been before.
She missed it in a way, but in another way, she saw the breakup with her fiancé and the need to move out of Baltimore as things that had propelled her into the best time of her life. At the time, she wouldn't have thought they ever could have been worked out for good, but they absolutely had.
She thought again about being content with where God placed her and choosing to be happy and look at the positive. Right there was proof that things could work out if she didn't dwell on how terrible everything was. She could have holed up in her apartment, clung to a terrible job, and insisted that God needed to change things so they went her way.
And then she'd still be miserable and unhappy.
Instead, she'd almost by accident chosen the best way—to move on and to look for something better. And she'd found it.
Jack smiled as he saw her, and she walked over beside him, helping to pack up the candy canes that the customer in front of him had just bought.
They spent hours that day side by side, working together, with Lilly giving out free samples that they had made and packaged just for that very reason.
Lilly glowed and spoke with customers with an ease that hid the fact that she hadn't spoken at all for three years.
By the time the day was over, they were all exhausted, but very, very happy.
There were still several hours left, but the big crowds had gone, when Jack found a few minutes to take her aside.
"I was able to speak with my brother yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to tell you about it."
"What did he say?" Kate asked eagerly. On one hand, she wasn't sure that Jack really wanted to give up his farming dream, but on the other, she was really hoping that his brother would be able to buy him out, and Jack would be able to move forward with the plans and dreams he had for the candy shop. He reallyseemed to be getting invested in them, and maybe he'd needed to get over his resentment of his late wife before he could invest himself in the future of the candy shop and let the farm go.
"He said that he would talk to his bank, but he thought it would be a go. It would just take him a little while to come up with a down payment. He said he had some cattle that he could sell, and that should give him enough so the bank would loan him the rest. He said three or four months, tops."
