Susan Mallery - Kiss Me At Christmas - Marry Me at Christmas

According to the festival schedule that had been part of his welcome packet, the town tree lighting was Saturday at six. As of the parade yesterday, Fool’s Gold had been turkey central. But by eleven on Friday morning, there wasn’t a gourd to be found.

Instead, he saw snowmen and elves and Santas filling store windows. Workers strung lights and the harvest flags were being replaced with celebrations of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. A truck carrying a huge Christmas tree rumbled down Frank Lane.

Since Ginger had graduated high school and headed to college, the holidays hadn’t been that big a deal for him. Now he found himself enjoying the anticipation of celebrating the season.

He walked into Brew-haha and waited in line. The cheerful store had already put up a small tree in the corner. There were three different nativities on the shelves and paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.

When he reached the front of the line, the woman taking orders smiled at him.

“I heard you have toys for the toy drive,” she said. “That’s great. We’re hoping to fill two trucks this year.”

Word traveled fast, he thought. “The toys aren’t ready,” he said. “They need to be painted.”

“That’s okay. You have a couple of weeks. Or you can ask for help. We’re always happy to step in.”

“Thanks.” He placed his order, then went to wait.

He shouldn’t be surprised that someone who hadn’t been at the party last night already knew about his offer. He would guess the sharing had nothing to do with him and everything to do will filling two trucks with toys.

He’d made the right decision to move here, he thought. Maybe the town wasn’t what he was used to but he liked it. He felt comfortable. For a second he allowed himself to believe he could have it all. A wife and a few kids. A normal family. Not that it was really possible. He’d seen what the attention did to those outside of the business. How it ripped families apart. Why would he do that to someone he claimed to love?

But as he took his coffee and headed for Paper Moon, he savored the possibilities. The what-ifs. And unexpectedly, the woman he pictured wasn’t his usual faceless stand-in. It was a pretty blonde with an easy laugh. One who had bluntly told him that when it came to weddings, she had no idea what she was doing.

He found Madeline wielding an industrial-size clothing steamer. When she saw him, she turned off the machine and grinned.

“Thanks for rescuing me. Rosalind had a sudden rush of shoppers Wednesday afternoon. That generally ends with wrinkled samples. They have to be fluffed back to perfection for the next customer, which means steaming. On the bright side, I’m sure the warm, moist air is good for my skin.”

He liked the combination of practicality and optimism. She was, he had to admit, a temptation. Were they on a movie set, with a predetermined time limit and a clear understanding that this wasn’t going anywhere, he would be making his move. But they weren’t. And Madeline was a forever kind of woman. She deserved a man who understood that. A man who could believe in forever.

She led the way to her office. “What’s up?”

“I spent a little time online this morning and found some wedding favors.” He pulled a couple of sheets of paper out of his jacket pocket.

“I’m impressed that you know what wedding favors are,” she admitted.

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