“Chris is gonna do more than bring jobs to this town. He's going to bring Christmas!” Ralphie promised. “Candy's been telling me all about the true meaning of Christmas, too. I guess I never knew the true meaning until now.”
“If we love each other, then we make Christmas complete. Totally!” Sandy called out. “Like, what it comes down to is that we need each other. You need us and we need you, and like, weneed to be a family and all that. If we take care of each other, then everything will be alright.”
“Sandy is right,” Marty insisted.
“Like, totally.” Sandy nodded. She hurried over to Ralphie and took over the microphone. “Like, my crazy ex-boyfriend was on his way here to hurt me, but he didn’t make it. And Ralphie, the mafia wanted to hurt him bad. We found out this morning that those guys are now behind bars. Candy said God is holding a bag full of miracles. At first, like, I wasn't so sure. Totally wasn't sure. But now I am. So...like...all I'm asking all of you to do is believe, too.”
“I think they will.” Chris walked to the front of the meeting hall. He stepped up beside Sandy. “I just got a text message from Candy. She's outside. Haley Huntington has been arrested by a special agent who works for the FBI.”
A wave of shock rippled through the meeting room. Phillip hurried to the microphone. “Fair citizens of Pine Snow, under the circumstances, I believe we should—”
“Don't cancel this meeting. Let the man speak!” Bob yelled at Phillip. “What's going on?”
“I'm sure Chief Huntington will fill you all in on the details in time.” Chris studied the confused and anxious faces staring at him. “Haley Huntington wanted to hurt Candy Baker for reasons a reasonable person would refuse to search out. But the truth is some shadows sleep in the closet, and Haley called her shadows out. Now she's going to prison.”
“Prison...goodness,” Phillip gasped. “I have to speak to Chief Huntington at once. Excuse me.” Phillip hurried away.
“Everyone, we have a chance to build something great,” Chris continued. “God has removed those who can hurt us...all of us. Candy's close friend Fran Lane, who works at the toy factory here in town, is going over some blueprints I drew up last night in haste, I admit. I will adjust the blueprints.”
“What blueprints?” Bob wanted to know.
“We're going to buy all the land that sits behind the toy factory and build, for now, a small Christmas village. I wanted to build an amusement park, but we have to be careful with money. The Christmas village will connect to the toy factory, and during the summer months, the Christmas village will be used as a summer camp. The island will also have a Christmas village, but we have to take into consideration that some children will be afraid of water.”
“I was afraid of water when I was a kid. I said what I said.”
“I'm starting to like that kid.” Bob laughed.
“Please, listen, everyone,” Amy begged. “We need jobs in this town. Mr. Carols, please proceed.”
“Well, the way I see it is if we can turn all of Pine Snow into a Christmas town, we could attract a lot of attention. We'll need to modify the downtown district and build a few Christmas lodges for people to reside in while they're staying here and a few more restaurants—”
“I don't want our small town to become a crime-ridden city,” Bob yelled. Many voices in the crowd agreed.
“No, of course not, and that's why any building would have a limit,” Chris promised. “Sir, I love small towns just as much as you do. I come from a small town north of here. The only building we will do will be to accommodate guests. Nothing more. I promise.”
“Ayo, we'll even build a Christmas movie theater and show Christmas movies year-round,” Ralphie called out.
“Like, Chris told us that everything will be, like, totally connected to helping everyone,” Sandy added.
“That's right,” Chris continued. “What Pine Snow needs is an investment. And there's nothing better to invest in, in my view—”
“Than Christmas.” Candy appeared at the back of the meeting hall covered with snow. Everyone turned and looked at her. Candy smiled and walked up to Chris. “I believe we can bring Christmas to life not just one day of the year but every day.”
“But trying to turn our town into a cheesy tourist trap doesn't sound realistic,” a man named Den called out. “Candy, I have my hardware store to think about.”
“I know you do, but how much business do you get, Den?” Candy asked.
Den removed an old baseball cap and sighed. “Except for local business, which isn't much, just enough to pay my bills and put a little food on the table. It's like that for everyone, mostly. Pine Snow is a poor town, Candy. You know that.”
“But we need jobs, Den,” Amy begged. “The toy factory pays good. Every other job in town except for the hospital and a few other jobs pay very little. We have families to support, Den. If Mr. Carols can bring jobs, what's wrong with that?”
“More than jobs, hope,” Candy promised. “Everyone, I love Pine Snow just as much as you do. I'll grow old and die in this town. But you have to admit, there isn't much joy in our little town, and as you have seen, we're not immune from the world. We have to trust in each other, love each other, and take care of each other. That's why I'm willing to invest all the lottery money into Pine Snow. I'll build what needs to be built, and when I run out of money, then so be it. We'll either make it together or fail together. That's my promise to you.”
“But we have bills now,” Den insisted. “We've also got a hard winter ahead of us. No one can build until the snow melts, Candy. You know how hard the winters are in Pine Snow. The cold winds off the lake become so cold. Why, a man can freeze to death in his boots before he even walks out of his front door.”
“I know, Den, I know.” Candy drew in a deep breath. “We'll make it through this winter.”
“That's easy for you to say. You've always had it easy. You had a nice, toasty job at the toy factory and a nice, little house.” A woman named Esther spoke up. “I'm not putting you down, Candy, but you don't have a husband or children. I do. I have to worry about putting food on the table. My husband has to worry about making an hour’s commute every day to work his construction job. With winter breathing down our neck and Thanksgiving the day after tomorrow, why should we put our faith in you? I need a full-time job. The job I have at the diner barely pays the light bill.”
