Page 22 of The Scrooge of the Mountain

“Easy, Eva. If you get any redder, Santa will enlist you to guide his sled on Christmas Eve. I’m just messing with you a little.”

Not really. By the time we’re done with the sleigh ride, she’ll know it was a date. I’ll make it a sleigh ride she’ll never forget.

* * *

“A little to the left—no,to the left.”

I glance back at her. “Yours or mine?”

“Both of ours,” she says, shaking her head. “We’re facing the same direction.”

I brush a branch out of my face. “Right. I’m kinda losing my sense of direction hugging this tree.”

“I wasn’t the one who wanted the biggest tree in the forest.”

“It’s not that big,” I say, pulling my head back from the branches again to get a better look.

“Nick, I’m not sure if you realize this but you’re not a small man. This tree is not small. It had an entire family of raccoons inside. I’m surprised that all the birds from theTwelve Days of Christmashaven’t flown out by now.”

“There’s still a chance. I haven’t cut all the rope yet.”

She stares at me blankly. “Don’t joke like that.”

I laugh and Eva grumbles something and then eyes the tree again.

“I brought boxes of decorations but I’m not sure it will be enough. I might have to raid the Christmas store in town after our sleigh ride tomorrow.”

“There isn’t a Christmas store in Whispering Winds.”

“Well, there should be.”

“You should open one up.”

She pauses for a moment, fingering the sleeves of her sweater. “No. I’m not qualified for something like that.”

I laugh so hard that I nearly let the tree topple over.

“What’s so funny?”

“If you’re not qualified to open up a Christmas store, then who? The only person with more Christmas spirit is Santa Claus and he’s a little busy this time of year.”

“It’s not that. I’d love to open a store, but I don’t have the money or know the first thing about business.”

“You’re a fast learner. I have no doubt we’d find a way to make it work.”

“We?”

I swallow. “Yeah. I know a thing or two about construction. Business. And I think you’d be surprised with how many people in this town would jump at the opportunity to invest in something like this.”

I’d do whatever it takes to keep Eva here. I’ve got plenty saved—haven’t spent a dime of the money my parents and grandparents left me when they passed. What’s mine will be hers…

“Well,” she says, thinking about it. “I’m not sure how it would work. I can’t quit my job.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“Interior designer.”

I swallow hard. It’s like we were meant to find each other.

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