“I hope so.”
I hope so too, his polar bear threw in. It was hunched over now, and its usually bright eyes were dull with shame.I didn’t mean to scare the reindeer.
Wade hadn’t realized that blaming himself also meant blaming his polar bear. He hated seeing it looking guilty and ashamed. He rushed to reassure it.
It’s not your fault at all. You were fine. It’s just life. Things just go this way sometimes.
That reasoning, he knew, made more sense than blaming himself for something he couldn’t control. He had done his best to stay away from the reindeer to keep everything calm, and Marsh had messed it up.
Okay, so he hadn’t gotten the Christmas Village shut down. That was good, but it wasn’t good enough. Letting himself off the hook still didn’t do anything to help Mira.
So whatwouldhelp?
Susan and Cliff came back with mugs of eggnog and a platter of cookies.
“Technically, we should save all this for dessert,” Susan said, offering Wade his pick of the cookies. “But at Christmas, I feel like cookies count as an appetizer.”
“I agree,” Wade said, taking a peanut butter blossom.
They all settled down to enjoy their cookies and eggnog appetizer. Petey could probably start a whole successful restaurant chain with this idea, Wade thought fondly—he’d have to tell him about it.
“So,” Cliff said, glancing back and forth between Wade and Mira. “How did you two meet?”
Mira squeezed Wade’s arm. “Wade’s brother was playing Santa, but he won a free trip to Hawaii. He couldn’t go unless someone covered for him, so Wade stepped in. He has a woodworking business in the mall. Actually ....” She ducked back into the foyer for a moment and came back with her parents’ gift. “I know the timing here is a bit of a spoiler for what your present is going to be, but open it anyway.”
“You sure you don’t want us to save it for Christmas?” Susan said.
“Positive. This one is from meandWade, so you should open it while he’s here.”
Cliff reached for the box and then gave his swollen knuckles a rueful glance. “Honey, maybe you should do the unwrapping.”
Susan kissed his temple and took over without missing a beat.
Luckily, she did a neat but rapid unwrapping job, so Wade didn’t have to endure too much suspense about whether or not they would like it.
“Oh,” Susan said, her breath catching in her throat. “Oh, that’sbeautiful. Wade! You really made this?”
“Stunning,” Cliff added, unfolding his reading glasses so he could give the little sculpture an even closer look.
Wade felt his face heat up. “Yeah, I make everything in the shop. I have assistants, but they just handle the selling. I do all the carving and the carpentry.”
“This is incredible.”
“Isn’t it?” Mira said, beaming. She took Wade’s hand in hers. “Everything in his shop is like that, but this was my favorite piece. And I thought you might like to take it with you when you move.”
Susan’s face went still, like she was trying to stop herself from getting carried away by hope. “You got your bonus?”
The loss of the Christmas Village seemed very far away right now. Mira’s smile was huge and bright, and there were no shadows in her eyes. Wade was glad she could enjoy this moment.
“I got my bonus andthen some. You guys are good to go.”
“Oh, Mira,” Susan said, melting. She wrapped her daughter up in a huge hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“This will make all the difference,” Cliff said with obvious relief. He kissed Mira on the cheek. “Thank you, sweetie. We know what you had to put up with at that job.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” Mira said, rose-colored glasses firmly in place. “I got to meet Wade, after all.”
“So you did,” Cliff said. He gave Wade an appraising glance that, to Wade’s delight, gradually turned more and more approving. “I know it’s early days yet, and I’m going to embarrass the hell out of you by saying anything, but the two of you just seem to fit.”
