by Rachel Hanna
“I don’t know. We’ll have to ask one of the firemen,” Dawson said.
“Do they have fire ladies?” Dylan asked.
“I’m sure they do. Now, stop with the questions for a little while and save some for the firefighters,” Julie said, exhausted from answering the thousand questions he had asked just in that one day. She forgot how inquisitive little kids were.
Once on a trip to Kentucky to see some distant relatives, Meg had decided not to go to sleep and had asked what seemed to be four-thousand questions on the way there. By the time they got to Kentucky, Julie had been ready to pull her hair out by the roots.
“I’ll get the cookies!” Dylan said, jumping out of the truck as quickly as he could. Dawson was already back there, waiting for everybody to park and handing out cookies to those who were standing there.
As Julie watched the process happen, she was so thankful to get to create this new memory with Dylan and Vivi. Although Vivi was so little she probably wouldn’t remember this first part. But they planned to do it every year, and she would make sure it was a part of her granddaughter’s life.
Giving back to the community and saying thank you to first responders was an important part of how she had raised her own daughters, and she hoped to raise her new son the same way. She wanted him to be thankful for those who served the community, and to at least show thanks at the holiday season.
* * *
The firefighters had been thrilled to receive all the cookies and cakes. Of course, as Julie expected, there were tons of treats already in the kitchen brought by people in the community. But she still liked to do it, if for nothing else than to just show her appreciation.
Dylan was very excited about the tour. As they walked through in a large group, the firefighters showed them all the different areas, including their living room where they played games and watched TV when they weren’t on calls. They also showed their kitchen where they prepared meals. One of the firemen had explained that he was the main cook of the group, and some of them were terrible in the kitchen.
They walked out into the sleeping quarters, and Dylan seemed to be very surprised by them. They were more like cubicles with little beds in them, and he couldn’t imagine that the firefighters slept in those rooms with no actual walls or privacy.
“What happens when you need to use the bathroom?” Dylan suddenly blurted out. Julie wanted to slip her hand around his mouth, but it was too late.
“Well, we use the bathroom,” the firefighter said. His name was Steve, and he was a tall, muscular guy with bright red hair and broad shoulders. Julie could imagine him carrying just about anyone out of a burning building without an issue.
“But does the bathroom have a door? Or does it look like this where you all use the bathroom in the same room?”
Julie didn’t know where Dylan got these questions. She was so embarrassed, but couldn’t help but laugh.
Steve smiled. “It’s a private bathroom. Don’t worry.”
They continued walking around the place until they ended up in the large bay where there was one firetruck and an ambulance.
“As you can see, this is our main fire truck. We have another one that’s out on a call helping out with a fire in Charleston. And then this is our ambulance. We don’t get a lot of emergency calls around here except for the occasional chest pain or fender bender. “
“What’s a fender bender?” Dylan called out.
“Usually it’s just a minor accident between a couple of cars.”
“Oh. Boring.”
“Dylan, would you like to climb into the firetruck and see all the different buttons?”
Dylan grinned from ear to ear. “Yes! I think I might want to be a firefighter when I grow up.”
“Hey! I thought you wanted to be a carpenter?” Dawson said, laughing.
“I want to be a carpenter and a firefighter,” Dylan responded before running over to the fire truck.
Steve put a fire hat on him and helped him climb up into the truck.
“That kid. Where does he come up with these crazy questions?” Dawson said.
“Oh, my William here used to ask some doozies,” Dixie said, pointing to her son. “I remember one time…”
William walked over and hugged his mother from behind. “Let’s not tell stories right now, Mom. They never end well for me.“
She giggled. “Okay, just know I remember all of them and I’m ready to pull them out at a moment’s notice.”
Julie watched as Dylan walked all the way around the fire truck as Steve told him all sorts of different things about it. His eyes were wide, and of course he was asking tons of questions.
When they were done, everybody stood in a group in front of several firefighters who had been there working the whole time. Julie loved Dawson, but she had to admit most firefighters were handsome. She hadn’t seen an ugly one yet.
“Thank you all so much for making the cookies for us,” Steve said.
“You’re very welcome. And thank you for serving the community. We don’t do enough to show our gratitude, but just know that we are very thankful for all that you do,” Julie said.
After saying their goodbyes, everybody loaded back up into their cars. Dylan was a bit quieter than expected as they drove down the road back toward the inn.
“What’s the matter? I thought you’d be all smiles after that visit,” Julie said, looking at him.
“That was a lot of fun, But I’m a little sad about something.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not going to be able to be a firefighter for a lot of years. All I get to be is just a stupid kid.”
“Don’t worry. Adulthood will come soon enough, Dylan. And you’ll wish you were a kid again,” Dawson said, laughing.
* * *
When Julie opened her eyes the next morning, she couldn’t believe it was the day of the festival. After so much preparation, it was finally time to celebrate with the entire town. She would be glad when it was over so she could completely focus on Christmas morning. In fact, she still had a ton of Christmas shopping to do because Dylan’s list seemed to get longer and longer. She knew she shouldn’t be buying everything he wanted, not wanting to spoil him, but she just couldn’t help herself.
“Good morning,” Dawson said, sitting on the edge of the bed. He had been up for a while, probably working on his super secret project in the barn. It had been all she could do not to go in there and try to figure out what he was working on, but she didn’t want to ruin the surprise for him or for herself.
“Good morning,” she said. He handed her a cup of coffee, something he often did when he woke up before her.
“How’d you sleep?”
“After that party, I slept really well. I’m surprised the sugar from eating all the broken cookies didn’t keep me up all night.”
“I’m surprised Dylan wasn’t bouncing off the walls.”
Julie laughed. “No, he was down for the count last night. He went to sleep and that was that. Maybe we should make him do more things during the day to get sleepy.” She sat up in the bed and took a sip of her coffee.
“I was going to head into town to help set up for the festival this evening. Do you need me to do anything before I go?”
“Well, if you could load up a bunch of those wreaths, that would be helpful. Otherwise, me and Tina are going to have to load them into my car, and I don’t think they’ll all fit.”
“No problem. I’ll get them there. Anything else?”
“Nope. I guess I’ll see you this afternoon when I head over. I don’t want to miss the caroling since Meg and Christian are doing it.”
“Oh, that’s right. I guess we’ll have Vivi?”
“No, I think Colleen is going to keep her.”
“Okay then. Remember, don’t go snooping around the barn,” he said as he stood up and quickly kissed her on the head.
“I won’t,” she called, still fighting off the urge to just peek into the one of the windo
ws.
As she watched her husband walk out the door, she felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the gift of their marriage. When Michael had destroyed their relationship, she’d been at her lowest, thinking second chances didn’t happen for most people. Now, here she was living a life she could’ve never dreamed of because it was so beyond anything she would have imagined for herself. It just went to show that sometimes God’s plans were so much bigger than a human’s brain could even comprehend.
Chapter Nine
SuAnn’s favorite time of the day had always been morning. She loved getting to the bakery early and beginning her work to create the best pound cakes the town had ever known.
Still, her heart was heavy this morning after the discussion that she had with Nick. She had no idea where they stood, and that was making her feel very uneasy. In fact, she hadn’t talked to him since the day before, and she worried that he had already left town. Maybe he decided being with her wasn’t worth it, after all.
“Good morning,” Darcy said as she walked through the back door.
“Good morning. If you don’t mind cutting up the cakes I set aside for the festival, that would be great. We’re going to be handing out samples.”
“No problem. How was the cookie party yesterday?”
SuAnn stirred the ingredients for her favorite gingerbread pound cake in a large stainless steel bowl. “It was fun. My new grandson had a great time at the fire station tour.”
Darcy nodded. “You seem a little down today. Is everything okay?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Just pesky life stuff.”
Darcy reached for the large serrated bread knife and put one of the pound cakes on the cutting board in front of her. “It sounds more like it might be relationship stuff?”
“I don’t have a relationship,” SuAnn said, continuing to stir.
“I thought things were going pretty well with you and that Nick fellow that came searching for you?”
“So did I.”
Just as she was sure that Darcy was going to stick her nose into her business, the door opened, the loud bell announcing the arrival of a customer. SuAnn took that as an opportunity to go into the back room and let Darcy take the lead. She could hear her out there, chatting up their regular customers, ringing up their orders and pouring their coffee. This morning, she just didn’t feel like doing any of it.
This was the perk of owning her own business. She could decide on when she worked, how late she worked, and what she did when she got to work. But she would leave each day feeling proud of her accomplishments.
For most of her life, she had been a caretaker. Being a mother and a wife for so many years, she never had a lot of time for herself. All of her dreams had gotten pushed to the back burner a long time ago. That was why the bakery meant so much to her.
It was the first thing she had built from the ground up, all by herself. Its success or failure depended completely on her. All the responsibilities rested on her shoulders, and she liked that. If she was honest with herself, she wanted other people to admire her accomplishments because that had never happened before.
Although she had loved being a mother, this was a time in her life that she felt belonged to her. She wanted to see what she could accomplish, and that’s why Nick wanting her to leave Seagrove when she had just gotten started with her business made her feel so upset. It was like she was having to choose between the two great dreams of her life - owning a successful business and having a relationship with the person she believed to be her soulmate.
“Darcy?”
“Yeah?” Darcy said, after finishing up with the last customer that had come during the morning rush.
“I know it’s highly irregular for me to do this, but do you mind if I leave you here alone for a little while? I just want to take a walk and clear my head.”
“Of course. You’re the boss anyway,” she said in her normal blunt style.
“Very true,” SuAnn said, reaching for her cardigan sweater on the hook where she hung it next to her apron. “I’ll be back soon.”
As she walked out onto the town square, she looked around at her new hometown. Never had she thought this place would have grown on her so quickly, but it did. The people were friendly and they accepted her for who she was. The scenery was beautiful. And, best of all, her family was there.
She loved how the town had decorated the square for the holidays. They had wrapped each of the quaint light posts in garland and lights. On the light poles, they had also attached lit up candy canes with silver and red tinsel attached.
In the center of the square, where the grassy area was, there was a nativity scene, temporary ice-skating rink and of course the Christmas tree that would be lit later that night.
Sometimes she looked around Seagrove and thought about how it was like a town out of some past era that didn’t exist anywhere else anymore. It often reminded her of her own childhood when things were simpler and she could go to the corner drugstore and get a soda.
Maybe that was why she had fallen in love with the town because it reminded her so much of her younger years. Maybe simple was exactly what she wanted in her life, and that was why traveling to some remote place with Nick wasn’t appealing.
“Are you lost?”
She turned to see Nick leaning against one of the light posts. It reminded her of how he looked back in high school when he would lean against the wall outside of her math class waiting to walk her to science. He’d been so handsome then, with a thick mane of dark brown hair and broad shoulders. Somehow, he was even more handsome now. A long life and plenty of earned wisdom had served him well.
“Are you accusing me of having dementia?”
He chuckled. “No. Just trying to sound funny. I can see I didn’t hit the mark.”
She kept walking, albeit at a slower pace since she was hoping he would try to keep up. He fell in step behind her, eventually meeting her stride. She continued staring straight ahead, but having no particular place she was going. Her intention was just to walk round and round the square.
“Are you not speaking to me?”
“I never said that.”
“But it seems that way.”
“Look, I’m not the one who decided he wants to gallivant around the world. I’m perfectly happy right where I am, so it seems we are at cross purposes here.”
“Susie, I don’t want to bash the wonderful business you’ve built for yourself. That’s not what I meant to do at all. You should know better than anybody that I sometimes stick my foot in my mouth.”
She chuckled under her breath. “Yes, I do remember that about you.”
“And if I remember correctly, you do that your fair share too.”
“I won’t admit to that.”
“It’s just that I’ve dreamed my entire life that we would find our way back to each other, and I want to give you the world.”
She stopped and looked at him. “I don’t want the world. What if I want you and my business and my kids?”
“That just seems like such a letdown.”
“Excuse me? A letdown?” she said, putting her hand on her hip.
“See? I just stuck my foot in my mouth again. I meant a letdown for you.”
“Why would it be a letdown for me?”
“I know that you’ve been a wife and mother for most of your life. And now you have all of this freedom, and I feel like I need to show you the world that you haven’t seen yet. Take you places. Have adventures with you we didn’t get to have when we were younger.”
“But what if everything I want is here, including you? What if I don’t want to do all that traveling? Are you going to be okay living the simple life right here in Seagrove?”
“Susie,” he said, putting his hands on her upper arms. “I have the rest of my life planned out. And the only thing written on that list is to be near you. So, if this is where you want to be, then this is where I’ll be. But I still want to go fishing in Montana at some point.”
&nb
sp; She couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “How about this? Twice a year, we plan some amazing trip, and I leave my bakery in the hands of my capable assistant, Darcy.”
Nick grinned. “I do believe that sounds like the perfect plan. So, I guess I better look for a house for me right here in Seagrove. Looks like I’ll be staying a while.”
She looked up at him. “With any luck, you’ll be staying here with me forever.”
“That sounds like a dream come true, Susie Q.”
They walked arm in arm down the sidewalk, and SuAnn couldn’t believe her good fortune. Maybe she was going to have her own second chance after all.
* * *
“But where is he?” Julie asked, holding the phone to her ear. How could a Christmas festival be this incredibly stressful? “The kids are already lining up… I understand that he’s not feeling well but…”
She paced back-and-forth on the grass right in front of the nativity scene. For some reason, she felt very exposed right in front of baby Jesus. She didn’t want to say anything inappropriate, but she was getting pretty irate.
The man they had hired to play Santa Claus for the children’s pictures had called out sick an hour before he was set to start the job. He had been Santa Claus at the Christmas festival for the last six years, but he had to pick this day to come down with the flu.
“I understand. Thank you for letting me know and please tell Wendall that we hope he feels better soon.” Right now, she honestly wanted to throttle Wendell, but it didn’t seem in keeping with the Christmas spirit to say that out loud.
As she pressed end on the call, she couldn’t help but freak out a little. There was already a line of kids and parents forming in front of the Santa Claus display, and the only person there was an elf who looked very lonely. She didn’t know what they were going to do.
“Janine!” she called from across the grassy area. Janine was helping to set up the cakewalk game that they would play later in the evening.
“What’s up?” she asked, breathless from running across the square.
“We have a major problem. Santa Claus has the flu.”
