Page 82 of The Christmas Eve Delivery

No one on my team had ever mentioned purchasing an abandoned or a rundown property for restoration. But then again, that hadn’t been their task. They had been told to find a location where we could build something new.

“How far out of town is this place?” I asked.

“Seems like it would be the prime location for teens to go get themselves into trouble, but it’s far enough out of town that it’sinconvenient for a local hangout. Kids do go up there, usually in the summers, mostly.”

“And you say it’s a mountainside family resort?” I asked. “Lake houses, outbuildings, that sort of thing?”

“Lake houses, it probably has a swimming pool, and one of those fancy ballrooms or even a dining room with a stage for dinner shows. I haven’t been up there in a while.”

“How do you know what’s still available?” I asked.

He gave me a sheepish grin. “I might have run it past county records after one of our historical society town meetings.”

“So you thought you could lure me away from downtown Brookdale if you could find another attractive piece of real estate for me to develop?”

Dan’s head bobbed up and down as he nodded. “That sounds about right. Here we are.”

He pulled the truck slowly to the side of the road and climbed out.

“Come on, shovels are in the back.”

I followed him out of the pickup, and he handed me a shovel.

“We’re clearing walkways all down this block. I’ll take this side of the street. You get that side.”

It was one of the blocks of houses that I had intended on taking over and leveling for my construction project.

I don’t know if Dan had plotted this, but having me shovel and clear off the walkways from the homes I had targeted seemed very shrewd and manipulative.

I spent a good portion of the day shoveling walkway after walkway.

“You look a little too big to be one of Santa’s elves,” the elderly resident of the home I was currently working on said as she pushed open her front door.

“Merry Christmas,” I said. “Not an elf. Conscripted into service.”

“Would you like a nice cup of hot cocoa for your troubles?” she asked.

“That sounds delightful.”

A few minutes later, she opened the door again. “I have some hot cocoa and some of the cookies that I left out for Santa Claus that didn’t get eaten last night.”

“Thank you.” I took the offered mug of hot chocolate and a cookie.

“What has you out doing such neighborly good deeds today?” she asked.

I gestured across the street to where Dan was shoveling her neighbor’s walkway.

“Oh, Danny Breaker. He’s always been such a good young man. It doesn’t surprise me that he would get one of his friends to come out on Christmas day to help dig us out.”

“He probably has teams all across town doing the same kind of work,” I said.

“Of course he does.”

“He really likes to take care of everyone here, doesn’t he?” I asked.

“We all like to take care of everyone here in town. It’s what makes this town home and like a family,” she said.

I thanked her for the drink and the cookie before continuing to dig her out.

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