“Very funny,” Marty fussed.
“Still grumpy, I see.” Peppermint was the only man on earth who dared to embrace Marty's ill-temper.
“Yes, I'm still grumpy...what do you want?”
Peppermint laughed. “I want to offer you a job, you old grouch.”
“A job...are you out of your mind? I've been retired for the last three years, and I'm not coming out of retirement. No sir. I'm through being a high school principal. My years of being tormented are over. I went five years longer in the system than I should have.”
“You're bored and miserable. You need something to do.”
“Oh, do I?” Marty rolled his eyes. “Do tell, Mr. Peppermint, what do you have in mind for this miserable soul you are speaking to.”
Peppermint was sitting in a lush kitchen that was large enough to house a family of elephants. The kitchen was warm and smelled of coffee and fried bacon. Marty, Peppermint guessed, was outside in the cold, fussing with a snow shovel. Inside Peppermint's mind, he saw a gray-headed old fart who was scrawny, grumpy, and needed to shave his ear and nose hair. Marty always reminded Peppermint of Jason Robards. Peppermint was sure the younger generation had no idea who Jason Robards was—that was one of the downfalls of getting older. “I need you to come live on the island I call home. Two sweet ladies are going to turn the island into some sort of Christmas Toyland. I'm all for it. But we need folks to come and help us...a supervisor in particular.”
“Have you been drinking?”
Peppermint laughed again. “No, I haven't been drinking, you old mule. I'm serious.” Peppermint took a sip of coffee. “Listen, you heard that a woman in New York won the lottery, right?”
“Yeah...I heard,” Marty grumbled. “I bought twenty tickets and barely got any numbers. What a waste.”
“Well, that woman is one of the women who is going to turn the island I call home into the North Pole,” Peppermint explained. “The other woman is Betty Vance.”
“Betty Vance...isn't she the wife of the man who just died?”
“Yep,” Peppermint confirmed. “Betty Vance was the wife of a man who owned the rights to some very special toys. She's going to open a toy factory here on the island.”
Peppermint's tone told Marty he was serious. “Well, what do you need me for?”
“I talked to Betty and Candy...Candy is the woman—”
“Candy Baker, yes, I know the name of the woman who won the lottery...just get to the point,” Marty fussed.
“Betty and Candy agreed to hire you as a supervisor if I could talk you into moving to the island. I stuck my neck out for you and put in a good word.” Peppermint reached for a chocolate donut sitting on a red and white plate. Blizzard was sitting next to Peppermint. The wolf made a grunting sound. “I know...I know...here.” Peppermint fed Blizzard a donut and then took one for himself.
“Are you feeding that wolf of yours?” Marty asked.
“Yep.”
“A man who owns a wolf...insane.” Marty rolled his eyes. “If you weren't the cousin of the woman I married, I would disown you.”
“You can never disown me, old man.” Peppermint laughed. “Now listen, stop being so fussy and take the job. It's no good for you to be living way up there in northern Maine by yourself. You're not even from Maine. You're from Georgia.”
“I've been living in Maine for the last thirty years.”
“You still sound like a Georgia man,” Peppermint pointed out.
“So what? No one in Bangor ever talks down to me...they know better.”
“That's because you are a mean wild cat.” Peppermint took a bite of his donut. “Listen, Marty, enough kidding around. Take the job. You'll like living on the island...and it'll be good to see you again. I've been missing you.”
Marty looked down at the floor of the front porch. “I...I've missed you, too, Peppermint. You were always a good friend...a man I always respected. Freda was always very fond of you. You two were always very close.”
When Marty used the wordalwaysnumerous times in one sitting, that meant the man was very sad in his heart. “I loved Freda like she was my own sister, Marty. When the cancer took her away, I knew a piece of you died with her...a piece of me died with her.”
“Your own wife—”
“Ophelia and Freda are waiting for us in Heaven,” Peppermint cut Marty off. “If they were here...well, we both know they would want us to keep on living. Ophelia made me promise to laugh and live for her. Freda made you make the same promise.”
