by Ginny Baird
Mary showered and dressed quickly, then passed Marshall in the lobby on her way out the door. “Good luck with everything today!” he said.
“Thanks! You too. I hope the refreshment sales go well. Will you be sneaking away to get a peek at the parade?”
“Most definitely,” Marshall said. “Jeremy, Andrea and I are doing a rotation. That way none of us will have to miss it.”
Mary left the B&B at the same time a woman across the street exited a dilapidated old Victorian. It was the house that had recently sold and that the Clarks had been talking about. When Mary reached the sidewalk, she saw that a brand-new sign had been erected in its front yard. It read The Sweetheart Inn.
The woman stood there admiring the sign for a moment and then walked to her car, which was parked on the street. “Oh, hello!” she said to Mary, noticing her.
“Good morning.” Mary smiled at the stranger. “Are you the one who bought the house?”
“I am,” the woman said proudly. She had dark brown eyes and a sunny smile and looked to be roughly Mary’s age. Two short blond braids poked out from beneath her winter hat. “My name’s Karen Johnson.”
“Mary Ward. Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Mary.” She cast a glance at Marshall’s place. “Are you one of the owners of the B&B?”
“Oh no. Just visiting.”
“Clark Creek’s a great place to visit,” Karen said. “I’m sure it will attract even more tourists after today.” Karen pressed her key fob to open her car door, and Mary wondered where she was headed so early.
“Aren’t you staying for the parade?”
“I wish I could.” Karen shrugged. “But I need to get back to Williamsburg for Christmas with my family.”
It was such a simple statement, but it cut so deep. While Karen had only been replying to her question, her answer had underscored something important that Mary was missing: a family to go home to at Christmas.
“I’ll be back for good after the first of the year,” Karen said, getting into her car. “Hope to see more of you if you’re around!”
“Oh, no, I’m not…” But Karen didn’t hear her. “Staying.” She’d already shut the door and was waving goodbye.
Mary strode toward the gazebo as muted daylight spread across the snowy town square. The ice rink was deserted at this hour, but the gazebo and its surrounding area buzzed with activity. A woman in a wheelchair stacked programs on a folding table beside a walkie-talkie. She smiled when she heard Mary approaching.
“Hi—I don’t believe we’ve met,” she said. “I’m Helen Hastings, the Sheriff’s Office’s dispatcher.” Mary returned Helen’s greeting, then Helen introduced her husband next. “This is Bernie,” she said referring to the older Black gentleman beside her with short gray hair.
“Mary.” Bernie uncertainly held out his hand in her direction before angling it right in front of her. When she shook hands with him, he said, “I’m afraid my eyesight’s not as sharp as it used to be.”
“Bernie’s handing out programs,” Helen said. “I’m selling tickets.” Both of them wore one of the sticker badges that read Parade Volunteer.
“How great of you both to help out. Thank you.”
Mary greeted several town council members, including Vivi Torres.
“Itzel is in the courthouse helping Evan with something,” Vivi said to Mary. “Isn’t it so exciting about her being deputized?”
“Yes, very!” Mary said. “I’ve got to go and grab my lineup cards from the conference room. I’ll look for her inside.” Mary wanted to touch base with Itzel and everyone on her team. She also needed to pick up her walkie-talkie.
Mary turned away and Connie caught her elbow. She stood next to an open box of T-shirts and Mary’s heart stilled. “Mary,” she said. “About these T-shirts…” Mary bit her lip.
“I think they’re fab!” Connie held one up in front of her, showcasing the back. “Christmas is Clark Creek, everybody!” she proclaimed, capturing the busy group’s attention. People turned her way. “This was Mary’s brainstorm,” she told the others, latching onto the idea. “Clark Creek equals Christmas.” She leaned toward Mary and whispered. “Evan told me all about your clever plan. Love it.”
“Er, thanks.” Sweat beaded Mary’s hairline. Now she just had to hope two thousand nine-hundred and ninety-nine other folks loved it too. At least she had Evan to thank for helping her save face with his mom the mayor, and the other people in town.
“How’s Jesse doing this morning?” she asked Connie.
“Still not one hundred percent,” Connie said. “But he was feeling a little better when I left him. Not running a fever or anything, fortunately, so we’re hoping he’ll rebound by tomorrow. We always have the boys over for Christmas dinner. Little Chloe too, of course.”
Mary nodded, considering what a fun family gathering that must be. “Well, when you speak with him, please tell him I hope he feels better soon.”
“Thank you, Mary.”
Mary glanced toward the street and spotted the band director approaching with his full marching band in uniform. The teenagers weren’t in formation—more like meandering all over the place, while chatting and holding their instruments off to one side. “Excuse me,” she said to Connie, “I’d better go and grab that lineup. The entries are starting to arrive.”
Mary found Evan in the conference room with Itzel, who had a deputy’s badge pinned to her unzipped jacket. Mary also noticed she was wearing a walkie-talkie. Itzel evidently had provided Evan with lots of padding for his Santa suit, and now helped him adjust the shoulders of his tunic. “There,” she said in a motherly fashion. Itzel was the type to mother-hen everyone, including those older than she was. “Super Santa-like!”
Evan looked doubtful.
“Ah, you’re missing your beard!” Mary said, spotting it on the table beside the Santa hat. Evan’s eyes twinkled when he saw her.
“Morning, Mary.”
“Morning, Evan.”
Itzel scrutinized them both like she was trying to decide whether she detected an undercurrent between them. A romantic undercurrent, it was clear, from her interested gaze.
Evan picked up the fake beard and strapped it on, and then tugged on the Santa hat. “So?” he asked, posing for their approval.
“It’s not so.” Itzel rolled her eyes. “It’s ho-ho-ho.”
He grinned beneath his fake beard and shot a spirited glance at Mary. “Ho-ho-ho!”
Mary’s jaw unhinged at his deep belly laugh. He actually sounded jolly. “You did it!”
Evan patted his huge round tummy. “I know.” He reached for an extra walkie-talkie on the table and gave it to her. “This one’s yours. Know how to work it?”
Mary nodded.
“Great.”
Itzel zipped up her jacket and headed for the door. “I’d better get over to the fairgrounds. When I came through town this morning, people were already starting to arrive in the parking area.” Mary passed her a page from the papers she’d placed in a manila folder, along with a small roll of stickers. “Here’s the list of volunteers working parking this morning. They already have their wands and reflective vests.” Those had been Evan’s idea, and he’d had Dennis deliver them to the volunteer coordinator in that section. “Can you ask everyone to wear a sticker, including our reindeer handlers, Austin and Leroy?”
Itzel chuckled. “Sure thing.”
Mary tucked the walkie-talkie in her largest coat pocket and grabbed her stash of index cards from the table. All she had to do was place a quick call to Judy, then she could get busy with the lineup.
She spoke to Evan once Itzel left, not wanting to mention the whole typo fiasco in front of her. Although she probably would have told Itzel later, if she were sticking around and meeting up with her again. Mary guessed her T-shirt mistakes might make a funny story in retrospect, but she wasn’t laughing about them now. “Thanks for running interference with the mayor, by spinning the T-shirt typo.”
“I was happy to do it. Sometimes it’s better to get out ahead of things, before they catch up with you.” His snowy white fake eyebrows arched and he did look like a jolly old elf. An incredibly adorable jolly old elf. She almost giggled because his appearance was so contrary to his regular demeanor.
“Mary,” he said seriously. “I’ve had an inspiration.”
She folded her arms in front of her, tickled by this. “What? You?”
“It’s about selling those T-shirts.”
She was all ears.
“I think we should toss them out.”
Okay, now he’d lost his marbles. Maybe the stress of playing Santa and acting so jolly was taking its toll. He noticed her doubtful expression.
“Ho-ho-ho. You thought I meant throw them away.”
“Didn’t you?”
“No.” His blue eyes glimmered. “I meant toss them out—from my sleigh.”
“What?”
“You know how at sports games, and other events, gifts are tossed into the crowd?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, what if we choose a certain number of T-shirts as giveaways, then those can serve as advertising. Say, for example, you’re standing beside me and I catch a T-shirt, but you don’t. I admire the T-shirt and tell my friends—or family—how cool it is. Suddenly, you want one too. Then, your kid wants one, and your husband says you should buy one for your mother-in-law.”
“That’s ingenious, Evan! How many should we give away?”
“At least a few dozen, maybe more.”
“I like your idea. Like it a lot.” She added her own marketing angle. “How about if we add a second-shirt discount as a sweetener? Supposing it works out like you say, and more than one person in a group wants to buy one? They could get one for twenty and—”
“Maybe you’d better start lower,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of T-shirts to move.”
“True. Fifteen?”
Evan nodded. “And two for twenty-five.”
Mary pursed her lips. “That means selling the second one at cost.”
“Yeah, but maybe you’ll sell more that way.”
Evan was right. She was much better off getting rid of the T-shirts by breaking even on some of them. That strategy beat facing the uncertainty of returning them, which was risky.
“What about the ones we’re giving away? Those will be a loss.”
“It takes money to make money.”
“Right.” And, maybe with this plan we can make most of that thirty thousand dollars back. She was so pleased by his solution she wanted to kiss him, and so she did. Smack-dab in the center of his forehead. “Thank you, Santa!”
His neck reddened. “Ho-ho-ho!” he crooned with a cheery air.
Dennis walked into the room holding a large plastic container of carnation boutonnieres. “Hi, Mary,” he said, “Happy Christmas Eve.”
“Happy Christmas Eve to you.”
“These were just delivered by the florist.” He stared down the flowers. “Should I take them somewhere?”
“The gazebo would be great, thank you. They’re for the mayor and the parade marshals to wear.”
Evan adjusted his fake beard. “I’ll go with him,” he told Mary. He extended his hand. “Why don’t you give me the first part of that parade lineup and I’ll get things started.”
She grinned, passing him half of her index cards. “Awesome. Thanks.”
He left and her cell phone rang. It was Judy. Perfect timing.
“Hey, how are things going?” Judy asked. “Hectic?”
“A little, but basically under control.”
“Great. Did you download that accounting program I sent you?”
“Yeah. I went through the tutorial a couple of times last night.”
“Super. Everything’s up and running here and will sync automatically with the data you enter on your end. Your parade expenses are all entered and there are individual columns for different types of revenue. Your pledge donations have already been added. Did you download the app to your phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, then you can update data real-time. If you get a number for ticket sales at the midpoint, say, you can go ahead and enter that number, then update it later. Same with merchandise sales. Not sure when you’ll be hearing from Marshall about his refreshment total, but you can always add that in later.”
“Got it,” Mary said. “I’ve asked our cashiers to give me a running count when they’re able. If things get busy, some of the information might be delayed, but we’ll definitely get it all entered after the parade ends.”
“How’s the crowd looking?”
“It’s early, so only parade workers on this end so far. Itzel saw a few vehicles headed towards parking.”
“Things will pick up. Your announcements in the local area papers looked really good, and adding the parade as an Airbnb event to tie in with the lodging option was a real stroke of genius.”
Mary was glad she’d thought of that, because every extra bit of exposure helped.
“The parade’s running till ten?” Judy asked.
“The actual parade part, yes. We’re keeping Santa’s Workshop and the reindeer rides going for an additional hour or so. The animal adoption tent, too. Everything will be over by lunchtime, and local restaurants have all prepared themselves for a heavy rush.”
“This could be a really good thing for Clark Creek.”
Mary felt another twinge of nerves. “Hope so.”
“So when are you coming home?”
“Maybe later today, or first thing in the morning. Haven’t decided.”
“Well, if you don’t have any plans, you can come and have Christmas at my parents’ house with me.”
“And your new boyfriend?” Mary appreciated Judy’s kindness, but demurred. “I don’t think so.”
“Come on. We’d love to have you. I’d love to have you, and, hey! You can meet Paul, maybe even serve as a buffer between him and my grandparents.”
“Funny,” Mary said.
“I wasn’t joking.”
“I’ll give you a call after the parade, all right?”
“Okay. I’m pulling for you, Mary.”
“Thanks, Judy. I know you are.”
She hung up the phone, missing her friend. Things had been so crazy, Mary hadn’t had a chance to tell Judy about Evan playing Santa Claus or the romantic horseback ride they’d shared in the country. She hadn’t confessed her totally messed up and conflicted emotions either. She was liking Evan so much, and her feelings for him kept deepening. Yet with her potential move to the West Coast, she couldn’t envision a future for them. Long-distance relationships were hard. Maybe they worked out sometimes, but they’d never worked out for her.
Mary picked up her half of the notecards and left the conference room, turning out the light. What mattered now was the success of the parade. This wasn’t about her promotion; she wanted it for the town. She needed the parade to be a big hit for Clark Creek, and if it was, that would mean getting reassigned to Seattle. The promotion still sounded exciting, but not nearly as much as it once had. Mary sighed, understanding that after she left here, she was going to really miss Clark Creek. Not just the town, but its people. Most of all, she was going to miss Evan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mary stood on the sidewalk in front of the Whistle Stop Café, watching the parade go by. Snow clouds hovered overhead, but the weather was clear as the parade marshals rolled past on a big fire truck driven by Marshall’s friend Donny. The town council members smiled and waved at the crowd, and all of them wore boutonnieres. The mayor did too, and she was ahead of them waving from the passenger seat of the ambulance. The ambulance driver let out a short screech from his siren and people cheered. These first responder vehicles were at the front of the parade on purpose. In the event they were needed for an emergency, they couldn’t afford to be hemmed in.
People swamped the sidewalks on both sides of the street. Mary occasi
onally spotted Dennis and Itzel strolling along, while encouraging parade patrons to stay back from the road. Parents held their children on their shoulders, and lots of kids waved Mary’s Clark Creek flags. Mary saw Gerald and Geraldine across the way in front of the Taverna Italiana, and they fluttered their programs in hello. Marshall appeared behind them, sending her a thumbs up.
Her walkie-talkie crackled in her pocket and she took it out. It was Evan’s voice, asking “How’s it going out there?”
“Really great,” Mary answered. “The marching band just went by, along with your mom, and then the parade marshals.”
“Itzel?” Evan asked.
“Here, boss,” she said, her connection crackling. “Looking good over in parking.”
Dennis chimed in on the channel. “Gazebo looks clear. Most folks have bought their tickets and gone on to Main Street. Oh, sorry,” he added with a chortle. “Christmas Avenue.”
“How’s it going with you, Santa?” Mary asked Evan.
“Just about to board my sleigh.”
Mary made her way through the crowd to peek at Santa’s workshop and the animal adoption tent, which was waiting and ready for the animal carriers to be unloaded from the trucks. She turned around and saw the portable library truck approaching. It towed along huge candy cane and book balloons and had a big banner on either side of it saying: Home for the Holidays and Reading.
The flatbed truck from the Feed & Seed had large snowflake balloons anchored to its sides and carried bales of hay surrounding a painted nativity scene, complete with a life-size rendering of a donkey and sheep. Mary carefully crossed Three-Notched Pass, then strode by the fairgrounds so she could cross over to the other corner on Main Street and go back the other way.
She heard bells ringing and peered above some taller heads to see the church bus coming with its bell ringers. All around her, people looked happy, and Mary was happy too. Her heart felt full to the brim with the joy she saw on people’s faces. There was nothing like the wonder of a Christmas parade.
