Page 63 of The Twelve Months of Christmas
“Of course not. You can also invite him to one of our parties, you know.” From his parting remark, it was obvious he knew what they were doing.
“We’ll see,” Molly said, not committing one way or the other.
“Speaking of parties, have you got time to get together and plan our next one? I’m thinking we should take care of all the details so all Arianna has to do is come.”
“Good idea,” Molly agreed. “Come on over to my place tonight.”
“I’ll bring that quart of eggnog I stuffed in the freezer,” said Sunny. “You can keep whatever we don’t drink in case a certain holiday camper shows up under your tree. You do still have it up, right?”
“Of course, I do,” Molly said. “I’m ready for whatever Santa wants to bring me this year.”
“Good on ya,” said Sunny. All she wanted that year was for Santa to bring her a new and improved Bella, but she wasn’t holding her breath. Travis had tried talking to his daughter, but it hadn’t helped. The Weed sure wasn’t doing her part to make things better.
Later that evening they sat at Molly’s little kitchen table, enjoying their eggnog and the view of Dyes Inlet from her window. She’d had her corner lot house in Mannette, a charming Bremerton suburb, for years, bought it long before real estate prices shot sky-high. Mia’s house down the street had a peekaboo view of the water but Molly’s view was a sweeping one, and she never got tired of enjoying it while she had her morning coffee, either inside or, in nice weather, out on her deck. She’d already offered her house for their Fourth of July celebration because between the deck and the good-sized backyard, it was a perfect party spot and would give them a great view of fireworks on the water.
“I think we need to incorporate leprechauns since it’s Christmas in March,” she said to Sunny.
“They double as Santa’s helpers?” Sunny suggested.
“Yes.”
“Maybe we should bake cookies for them on the night before on the twenty-fourth. It’s a Friday night.”
Molly groaned. “I’ll be tired.”
“Okay, you sit and supervise and the rest of us will bake.”
“That works for me.”
“We can do the party at my house but what do you think about baking at Arianna’s? That way Mia can be part of it if she has the energy. We can shoot a video and put that up on Arianna’s website.”
“Are they going to be up for that?” asked Molly.
“I think so. Did Arianna tell you how many views the last two videos got?”
“No.”
Sunny brought up the one of Mia getting her head shaved and turned it so Molly could see. “It’s only been up a few days.”
“Holy moly, that is amazing.”
“They’re facing this like Spartans. Except I know Arianna’s worried about money.”
“She isn’t making any yet on her website?”
“I think she’s getting close. Meanwhile, though, once her paid vacation time runs out, it could get scary. So I’ve got an idea.”
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“What do you think?” Sunny asked after she’d shared her idea.
“I think Santa would be proud. I’ll be the first contributor,” Molly said.
“Actually, you’ll have to settle for second,” Sunny said with a grin. “I already got it going.”
“Second works fine. I’m sure Ava will want to be your third.”
“She’d better hurry. This thing is up and running.”
