Page 52 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
“Okay, fine. I was never good with pets anyway.” Rosie clasped her hands together. “Still, this is wonderful. Thank you, Andrew.” She batted her heavily mascaraed lashes at him, then stretched up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. “This will be perfect.”
“Not sure I’d say perfect,” Andrew admitted, “especially when we haven’t actually seen the reindeer, but they look great in the pictures.”
Her eyes lit up. “You have pictures?”
“Show us,” Maybelle ordered.
Andrew got out his phone and pulled up the photos the man had texted him.
“Oh, they’re so cute,” Rosie cooed. “Maybe I do want to keep them. Does anyone know what reindeer eat?”
“They look just like in the movies,” his grandma mused.
“That one has a mischievous gleam in his eyes,” Maybelle pointed out. “You’re sure they’re people friendly?”
Andrew frowned at the picture, trying to see the gleam and failing to do so. “I’m not sure of anything except that if you want reindeer, then I need to head to the mountains Saturday morning.”
“Saturday,” Cole mused, running his hand along his clean-shaven jaw. “I won’t be able to go with you.” Sophie gave him an odd look and he added, “I have someone coming out to the farm to see about digging a new well.”
“That’s a long drive to make by yourself,” Grandma Ruby pointed out.
“I’ll be fine,” Andrew assured her. Did they really think he couldn’t drive a few hours on his own?
“Still, you’ll be tired if we get many calls Friday night,” Cole said. “You shouldn’t make the trip alone.”
Everyone looked around at each other, then all eyes landed on Morgan.
“You’re off work Saturday, Morgan,” Claudia pointed out. “You could go.”
Morgan didn’t look totally opposed, but she wasn’t jumping at the chance, either. Andrew had thought they’d ended on good terms when he’d left her grandparents, but her eyes filled with hesitancy. “Oh, I...What about Greyson?”
“He could go with us,” Andrew offered, liking the idea. “He’d get a kick out of going on a Rosie Reindeer Run.” He grinned at his own word play. “Plus, Greyson told me that he’s never seen snow.”
“I...it’ll snow here before winter is over.”
“Probably,” he agreed. “But I think Little Man would enjoy the trip.”
Morgan snorted. “You’ve obviously never ridden in a car several hours with a five-year-old.”
Andrew shrugged. “You’re right. I haven’t. But I’m willing to give it a go. What do you say, Morgan? Will you go with me to pick up Rosie’s reindeer, save Rosie’s wedding, and show Greyson his first snow?”
“Say yes, Morgan,” Rosie encouraged. “Getting these reindeer for my wedding means so much to me.”
Morgan eyed Rosie suspiciously, then glanced around at everyone looking at her and apparently realized they weren’t going to give her any peace if she said no. She took a deep breath, then nodded. “Sure. Greyson and I will go with Andrew to get the reindeer for your wedding.”
“Yay!” Rosie cheered. “I’m going to have reindeer at my wedding.”
“Only you would want them,” Claudia said, shaking her head.
“That makes me think of that reindeer song,” his grandma giggled.
Maybelle’s lips twitched, then she started singing, “Rosie got run over by a reindeer, walking down the aisle on Christmas Eve.” Several hands slapped over mouths to hide laughter, including Andrew’s. “Now you can say that weddings don’t have reindeer, but as for me and the Butterflies, we believe.”
To Morgan’s surprise, Greyson handled the trip to the mountains like a champ. Not that he was usually a bad traveler, but he was five, and being inside Mr. Harvey’s truck for several hours at a time didn’t exactly offer a plethora of entertainment options.
She should have known that Andrew was all the entertainment Greyson needed. Currently, the duo was belting out a country song at the top of their lungs.
“Come on, Morgan,” Andrew said. “Sing with us.”
