Page 54 of Mail Order Christmas (Hawthorne Billionaire 5)

I pulled the office door open, then looked back to them. “Have fun and don’t break anything. Or anyone.”

I could hear them rolling with laughter as the door closed. They had an odd sense of humor, but they were good people and completely trustworthy. Mitch was waiting at the mall entrance, just as I’d asked him to be.

“Hey Mitch, did you set up a car service in New Hampshire?” I climbed up into the Hummer.

“I did, and Nicole messaged me your return details for tomorrow morning.” Mitch pulled away from the mall entrance. “Did you have a fun adventure in the mall?”

“What makes you think I had an adventure?” I clicked my seatbelt and adjusted in my seat. “Who have you been talking to?”

“Mr. Hawthorne, you stayed in the mall overnight with a pretty lady,” Mitch chuckled.

“Oh, right. It’s not what you think. I know I have a bad reputation, but she’s an old friend.” I explained. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so let’s leave it.”

“My lips are sealed.” He pointed to the glove box. “I got you the information on varied Hummers.”

I flipped through the pamphlets. “This is the one.” I held up the page with a black Hummer with red on the rims. “Did you get me dealer info?”

“It’s all in there,” Mitch said. “Here you are, sir. Your chariot awaits.”

I took the information and climbed down out of the Hummer. My plane was running and ready. While in flight, I sent the information on the Hummer to Nicole to get it purchased and delivered tomorrow to the hotel. My pilot let me know over the intercom that we’d be in flight for another twenty minutes. I pushed my recliner back and closed my eyes.

Elves? I gotta find this elf so it will get out of my dreams.

The car service was at the airport when we landed. We were en route to the mall when I spotted an apple orchard. Naturally, it made me think of Apple, which made me realize I hadn’t responded to her message.

“Turn into the orchard, please,” I told the driver, then read my text.

“Have you been in the mall lately?”

“I was in the mall this morning. What about you?”

“I’m always in the mall. I don’t think I’ve been outside in weeks.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Because you left me here, silly.”

“How about I come get you this week?”

“What will your new phone think of that?”

Chapter 34

Paige

Ihad the cell in my purse behind the counter so I could check for his response, but I’d gotten busy and hadn’t checked in about three hours. Sherry offered to stay longer since my eye had swelled almost shut. I snuck over to the food court several times to get more ice. The worst part of it was that the kids seemed a little worried about me when I invited them over.

I need to switch to the red wig. It has long bangs I can drape over this eye.

“Sherry, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I called out to her once the line died down. “I need to take some meds for this eye.”

I went into the jewelry store to see if Kim had some pain medicine. She was busy, so I waited.

“What are you doing in here at this hour? It’s not your break time,” she said once her customer left.

“I was wondering if you had any pain meds on you.” I turned so she could see my face.

“Oh my god! What happened!?” Kim ran over and stood inches from me. “Did someone hit you?”

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