Page 6 of How The Mountain Man Stole Christmas
What in the hell am I doing?
Harper was dumbfounded. Nothing was going according to plan today. She’d slept awful the entire night and ridiculously restless, bombarded with dreams of the new guy she’d met. She’d also taken quite a ribbing from Elsie when the new guy invited her to lunch today. Thankfully that lunch went well. He’d shared his family dynamic, and she felt so bad for his nieces having their mother taken so early on in their lives. She couldn’t wait to meet them. She’d been on her own for so long with no parents that in a small way she felt a kinship with the twins.
Then her life did a hundred-and eighty-degree flip, and the day couldn’t get much worse than it was right now. She didn’t have the extra money for a mechanic bill, but it was clear her car was not going to start. Dread crept into her head, worrying what they would find wrong. Didn’t really matter though, she needed a car and that’s all there was to it. That’s what she gets for driving an ancient vehicle.
“Hey Harper.” He’d reached over to grab her hand from the seat beside her. “It’s gonna be okay, I promise.”
“Do you think it’ll be expensive? Things have been tight this month so I’m just a little worried.”
“Jaxon’s a very reasonable and understanding guy. I don’t think there’s anything for you to worry about, okay?”
They drove the rest of the way down Main Street to West Side Service Station in silence. She couldn’t help but worry that whatever was broken would end up costing her more than she could afford. Her car wasn’t the most reliable but in the dead of winter, she needed something and a new one wasn’t even close to being on budget anytime soon. Jaxon seemed like a nice enough person from all she’d heard so only time would tell.
After begrudgingly handing over the keys to her beat up baby, Fin dropped her off at work and promised he’d be back when she was done. Harper went in the front door of the post office and just as she’d expected, Elsie was waiting.
“I was starting to worry about you child. Must have been one heck of a lunch.” A familiar smirk crossed the woman’s face.
Harper couldn’t help it when her emotions took over. She got as far as the counter, put her things down and burst into tears. Just like the grandmother she wished she had, Elsie rounded to her side, pulled her into an embrace and held her.
“Oh goodness child, what happened?” She brushed the hair from Harper’s face and helped her with her coat. “Come on, let’s get you into the back. No worries, we’ll fix whatever it is.”
Elsie walked her to the back room, out of public view. Harper couldn’t even talk the sobs were wracking her so hard. She sat down at the kitchenette table in the back room where a storage area had been turned into an overnight room in case the weather ever got bad. Elsie sat across from her and held her hand until she was calm enough to tell her what happened.
“Whatever it is, just tell me. We’ll work through it together. I’ll tan the hide of that boy if he hurt you.”
No wonder Harper loved this woman. She’d become so much more than just a trainer for her job.
“Well, I had a really nice lunch and Fin was great. I agreed to have pizza with him at his family’s farm tonight. He walked me to my car…”
“Oh, I’m glad he was such a gentleman.” Elsie interrupted. “But why were you crying then if it wasn’t him?”
“He was great but then when I got ready to leave my Jeep wouldn’t start. Fin tried it too and said he thought the starter went bad.”
“Is that it? Because your car wouldn’t’ start? I thought maybe he’d done something to you.” The older woman pursed her lips together and her forehead crinkled a bit.
It sounded so unimportant when she said it that way. “Yes, and it’s a huge deal to me. I don’t have the money to pay for car repairs right now.” Harper covered her face with her cold hands.
“There, there; everything will work out the way it should. Don’t you worry, Jaxon’s a very understanding young man. I’m sure he will let you set up some sort of payment plan. He deals with these kinds of problems every day and knows you will need your car.”
Harper looked at the woman curiously. “You make it sound like no big deal; how do you do that?”
“Because it’s not a big deal, not here anyway. This is a good town with good people willing to help their fellow neighbor, or post mistress.” Elsie winked at Harper and rose from the table. She warmed up a cup of hot cocoa and handed it to her.
“Now I think there’s no better time than the present to write that Santa letter.” The elderly woman scrounged through a couple of the metal desk drawers until she found a blank piece of paper, an envelope, and a pen, lying them in front of Harper. Then she laid a quarter alongside the other items.
“While you do that, it’s time for me to head home. I have a date with a bowl of homemade beef stew and the Hallmark channel, something about a lady and a miracle I think.”
Elsie gathered her coat and other things, hugged Harper from behind and kissed her cheek.
“Enjoy your dinner tonight and make sure to tell Fin and Kaleb hi from this old lady. Squeeze those twins for me too. And don’t forget the wishing well.” Then she was gone.
Harper stared at the blank paper, no longer contemplating whether she should do it, but more so what to write about. She needed a miracle of her own right about now.
***
Fin stared at the green digital numbers above the radio in his truck. Twenty minutes past five.
“Should I go in and get her or just be patient?” He knew she was alone because he’d seen Elsie walking home a while ago and no new customers had gone in or out while he sat out front. As the streetlamps started to pop on, he thought he could see small specks floating in their light.
