“Clem and Slade.”
“Church, too. There should be a stopping point.”
“I agree, but some would say tradition should be shaken up once in awhile. I liked the creche and the tree smaller like last year’s, but nobody asks my opinion.”
Summer mulled his answer. “Did you find Santa?”
“No. Not a sighting anywhere – even on social media.” The disgust in his voice made her grin, but she turned away, hiding her face.
“I saw that smile. If I didn’t have Mia bugging me every second about the case, I might find humor in the antics of whoever did this. But at the moment, not so much.”
“Mia needs validation. She’s not sure of herself or her ideas. As soon as she gains some confidence, she’ll be able to guide herself through these mazes.”
“Is that what you did? Find a mentor?”
“Yes and no. My grandfather loved my art, but couldn’t see a path forward. I could see the path, but was unsure of my talent. Jonathan gave me both.”
Tom stayed quiet while he turned into Clem’s, parking in the first slot. “Thank God for Jonathan.”
“For sure. Give Mia space. You might encourage some growth and give her a trusted, non-related adult to rely on. She’ll take correction from you better.”
Tom shook his head. “Not in my job description.”
“All the things you do for this town are not in your job description. You do them anyway. This is one of them.”
Tom’s eyes narrowed. “Might be the right approach with her. We’ll see.”
“As Mrs. Heigl would say, patience and practice.”
Tom got out of the vehicle and came around. She waited for him to open the door because he liked to do it.
“Come, let’s get coffee and the food. The philosophy can wait. Hungry people can’t.”
“Why are you doing this anyway? Does the police department normally deliver the food?”
“No. But the couple who usually does the work has holiday travel plans, and we’re all pitching in. Tomorrow is the fire department’s turn, then the hospital.”
“That’s smart. It doesn’t fall on one person or group.”
Tom opened one of the double doors to the restaurant and let her go first.
&&&&&&&&&&
With her last class block as a free period, Mia Devlin left school early and took an unexpected route on side streets to her house. She coded her way in and went to her room, her haven. Dang, she didn’t feel good at all.
Mom had added a new strand of lights over the white banister. While they were pretty with all their twinkling and such, it messed with the feel of the smooth wood under her handgoing up and down. The light addition put their home in a ‘too decorated’ category.
The house creaked with wind and silence. Her mom was still at work at the library. Usually she went and helped her. She dashed off a text and told her mom she was at home with a sore throat and a headache. The usual Tylenol, drink some tea, blah blah came back at her. Like she was a baby and couldn’t figure the treatment out herself. She huffed and studied the pink room. It was time for a change. Pink was such an immature color.
Mia tossed her coat over her desk chair, dropped her backpack to the floor, and kicked off her boots. Stylish-wise the pink slouch boots were fab, but comfort was minimal. In two minutes, she changed to her avocado pajamas and thick olive green socks, then pulled her long hair back with a black scrunchie. She had work to do.
Today she had new pictures to upload.
The boys – Jake and Daniel – had propped Santa on a bench at the Applegate Farms Market. They got slaps for clear, funny pictures that would play well on the social media account even if they came close to being caught by Chad Applegate.
Sgt. Applegate wouldn’t be happy when he found out she’d been the one bouncing everyone around, but her main thesis still had to be answered: Why did adults care more about decorations than the real meaning of Christmas?
She pulled the experiment notebook from her pack and grabbed her laptop off her desk. Human behavior continued to baffle her, and the more she studied, the less she understood. It wasn’t clear and concise like rocket science where if you did A then B happened. With this, sometimes you did A then J happened, and usually the outcome you expected was skewed into craziness. Not scientific logic, but her observations supported an unpredictable result.
