Page 60 of The Cowboy's Christmas
Chapter Twelve
If little girlscould dance on air, then Sophie and Jessa would have been hovering above the sidewalk the second they climbed out of their booster seats at the public library. Quinn, who’d traveled to town in the flatbed so that they wouldn’t have to be packed into Deke’s truck like sardines, had parked on the other side of the small municipal lot and caught up with them.
“Come on, Quinn,” Jessa said in her sister-bossing voice. “We don’t want to be late.”
Santa was a big deal, and Savannah was glad that Quinn had accidentally alerted the girls. Otherwise, they would have missed out because of her. Hiding out this year would not have served the same purpose as last. Last year she didn’t have the tools to deal with the emotions. This year, she did—but she had been afraid to try them out. Afraid of the nips of pain.
“I already saw Santa,” the boy in front of Sophie and Jessa informed them after they joined the line. “When he was at the Christmas Stroll.”
“It’s nice he could come back,” Quinn said.
“He’s wearing different clothes,” the boy informed them. “The fur is longer.”
“The elves are probably washing his other clothes,” Deke said.
“Do you want us to stay in line with you?” Savannah asked. They’d gotten there early enough to be near the front.
“For a little while,” Jessa said, sounding nervous.
“I’ll stay and Deke and Quinn can wait outside.” It was getting crowded in the children’s area.
One of the organizers overheard and turned toward Savannah. “They can wait upstairs where we have the gift bags set out.”
Sophie and Jessa exchanged looks.Santaandgift bags? Score!
“I’ll tell them.” She told the girls to stay put, as if there was any chance of them moving, then made her way through the growing crowd to tell Deke and Quinn where to meet them.
Twenty minutes later she shepherded her candy cane clutching nieces upstairs to where Quinn and Deke were standing next to the stacks.
“How was it?” Deke asked as a volunteer steered Sophie and Jessa to the gift bags.
“A little stage fright on Jessa’s part, but Sophie had a lot to say.”
“Have you already shopped for them?” Quinn asked.
“Ask the UPS driver. Fortunately, their lists were similar to what we got for them.”
“Time to go shoppin’,” Sophie announced as she and Jessa approached, swinging their gift bags in one hand and carrying a book in the other.
“We’re not supposed to open the bags until we get outside,” Jessa told Deke.
“Then let’s get outside,” Deke said.
“Yeah.” Jessa beamed at him and put her free hand in his good hand.
Instead of having drinks and cookies inside and then dealing with the ensuing cleanup, the volunteers had wisely stuffed bags with juice boxes, cookies, tangerines, stickers, pencils and markers.
After leaving, they stopped at the truck to drop off the goodie bags before embarking on the next phase of the day—an interview for Quinn and Deke, shopping for her and the girls. They walked together as far as the Main Street Diner where Deke and Quinn stopped outside the entrance.
“I’ll text you when we’re done,” he said before smiling down at the girls who were hanging onto Savannah’s hands. “Then we’ll feed these little elves.”
“Right,” Savannah said. “And if we’re done early, we’ll get a table here and wait.”
Deke nodded. “You doing okay?”
She was on emotional alert, surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas, but so far, she was dealing rather well, if she did say so herself. Her throat had tightened when she’d recognized a decoration in a store window Matt had made with his plasma cutter as they’d driven past on the way to the library, but she’d been able to draw a breath and let the sadness roll over her. There, then gone.
Hanging their ornaments last night had helped.
