Page 1 of Mad About Yule

ONE

HOPE

An eight a.m.phone call from my mother is a bad omen, right?

I want to let it go to voicemail, but her motherly freak-outs have quadrupled since I volunteered to revitalize our town’s Christmas festival. She already operates at Defcon Two, I really don’t want to find out what happens when she reaches Maximum Hover Mother.

“Good morning.” I flash a mega-watt smile—she can’t see it, but I put on my armor anyway.

“How’s my little event planner?”

“Everything’s going great.” A blatant lie. My Winter Wonderland is turning into a Merry Mess, but Mom will swoop in like a coddling vulture at the smallest sign of weakness. I need this win. So I lie like my pants are on fire. “We’re right on schedule.”

“Really? I heard about Silas.”

All the air whooshes out of my lying sails.Well done, Sunshine gossips.It’s only been two days, but she probably heard his whole medical report in the frozen food aisle at Ray’s Grocery. My sole volunteer handyman no sooner opted into my project than henopedright out again. He strained his back lifting a sheet of plywood.

So no, my project isn’tquiteon schedule.

“It’s totally fine,” I say, hoping to soothe her with my calm confidence. That’s also a big old lie, so I’m on a roll. “I’ve got a replacement.”

“Already? Who did you find?”

I straighten yellow tubs of Bee’s Knees body butter in their honeycomb-styled shelf.Calm and confident.“I don’t know his name yet.”

Impossible for me to spin that into a positive, but at least it’s true. She hesitates a fraction of a second on the other end, like a shark smelling blood in the water. A too-sweet, motherly shark who will swim right over to bandage up the poor injured fish.

“I’ll phone my contractor in Bend. I’m sure he’ll be willing to rearrange a few things in his schedule as a favor to me. It’s just the Christmas village, right? That can’t be too hard.”

I’d drawn out plans for five whimsical little houses reminiscent of vintage Christmas displays, each with a different style and theme to make a pretty little Winter Wonderland in town square. But sure. Just a Christmas village.

“I have it covered, Mom. Kat McBride said she knows a guy.”

“Kat? That’s a relief I guess, but why did you go to her?”

Kat runs the town’s largest landscaping company with her grown sons and is on the town council, but Mom makes it sound like I asked an outsider for help.

“She was in the store when Silas called yesterday.” I’d also told my best friend Wren that I’d rather eat a whole loaf of fruitcake every day from now until Christmas than ask for my mother’s help with the festival, but who’s keeping track? “She said she had someone in mind and texted me last night to let me know he’d agreed.”

“And you don’t know who it is?”

With only three weeks to go until tree lighting, I can’t be too picky. The closer it gets, the more the festival hemorrhages volunteers. At least Silas’s back strain is a more believable excuse thanmy dog has pneumonia. I didn’t research it, but that one sounds like a scam.

“One of her employees, I assume. I’m sure it will be fine.”

I need it to be fine. I have too much riding on this for it to be anything but fine.

“This is a big undertaking, honey, and you’ve been working so hard to make it happen.”

She sounds more like she’s consoling me than praising me, but I’ll take it. Ihavebeen working like crazy to pull this together.

“Just remember, Lila and I are always here to help if you need us,” she adds.

It’s too early in the morning for this. The last thing I need is for my mom and sister to parachute in to save the day for me.

“I have to go, Mom. I’m meeting Kat and her guy in a few minutes.”

“Let me know if I need to call Andre to help you out.”

---