Page 10 of Candy Cane Dreams
"Oh. I see."
"Basically, we're recruiting you to become a part of the Secret Saint network. Would you be interested?" Nelly just flat out asked her, and Kate appreciated her directness. That was part of the reason they'd always been good friends.
"I would love to." She knew she should probably say "I'll pray about it," or "Let me think about it," or at least play hard to get a little bit, but she had loved the idea from the moment they saidit, and this totally played to every desire she had to be a help to people who needed her.
"Although, I'd really like to only help people who actually need it. Sometimes you see things like this happening, and people get free stuff just because... the people who are giving it out don't know anyone else to give it to. Do you know what I mean?" She'd seen a lot of that in the inner city—the same people getting more and more and more, and never learning how to do for themselves.
Unfortunately, she didn't really have a solution to the problem. When there was a need, she just couldn't help herself from wanting to be able to help with it. She supposed there were a lot of other people like that.
"I told you she would want to," Nelly said to Roland.
"You were right, dear," Roland said with an affectionate eye roll.
"Is there a protocol for anything?" Kate asked.
"No. What we do is we just keep our eyes and ears open for people who might need help, and then we keep our eyes and ears open for people who can give help, and we try to match things up. You can come to us with your information and we’ll pass it along to the folks who need to know. We just wait for our opportunity, gather supplies, and then we let the right people know."
"Nice."
"Speaking of, we have some supplies for someone who's been going through a very difficult time for the last three years, but especially the last six months."
"All right," Kate said slowly.
"And we were hoping that you would be able to deliver them tonight on your way home."
"Sure. I don't know the area very well?—"
"It's right in the middle of town. If you've driven through it, you've gone by the candy cane shop."
"Yes. It looks so quaint and nostalgic. I think there might have even been a penny candy display in the store, although I didn't walk in."
"There is. And there is still candy for a penny."
"That's neat," she said. She remembered way back when she was really small, visiting her grandmother and going to an old-fashioned candy store that still had penny candy. It had been fun and different, although she'd only ever gone once.
"We have some supplies that we need you to drop off there. You can just put them right in front of his door. Jack will see them tomorrow when he opens."
"Aren't you afraid someone's going to steal them?"
"No. This is Mistletoe Meadows, not Baltimore. The town will be dead until tomorrow morning, and Jack gets up before anyone else in town."
"I don't know of anyone who works harder than Jack does," Roland said, and although his eyes were still crinkled, his tone and face were serious.
"All right." Kate nodded. "Just let me know what you need me to drop off, and I'll do it."
"Actually, if you don't mind, Roland can put the things in your car."
"I don't mind at all. There's a little bit of room in the front passenger seat. The rest of it is packed with all my stuff."
"Have you found a place to live yet?" Nelly asked, sounding concerned.
"Not yet, but I'm going to," Kate said, remembering that they had offered to allow her to stay there, and after seeing everyone interacting tonight, she was tempted. But she just couldn't bring herself to impose.
"If you change your mind about my offer..." Nelly smiled, and Kate shook her head.
"I'll say something if I need it." But she hoped she wouldn't. She really needed to knuckle down and find a place. She couldn't continue to stay in a hotel, but she absolutely couldn't impose on the McBrides anymore.
"I'll tell you what, I'll stop nagging you to come live with us if you at least agree to eat with us at least five nights a week," Nelly lifted her brows.
