Page 75 of A Heartfelt Christmas Promise
Anna followed the other cars out of the parking lot and then made the turn on Buck’s road. “Everything is so close. It takes me longer than this just to get out of my neighborhood to go somewhere back home.”
Inside, they each had a bowl of Mike’s chicken stew, then went about getting ready for the afternoon festivities.
At 2:40P.M., Vanessa and Anna stood in front of the fire station, dressed in layers and their wool coats along with the earmuffs Anna had brought for the two of them. Vanessa’s hands were so sweaty she wondered if they’d ice over in the frigid air.Dark nimbostratus clouds hung low, looking weighty enough to really drop a load of snow.
“Do you smell that?” she asked Anna.
“It smells fresh.” Anna took in another lungful. “Nice.”
“That’s the smell of snow.” Vanessa loved how the world got quite before a big snowstorm.
“You came,” a man’s voice said behind her. Mike walked up looking very sharp in a heavy black wool collared shirt, and a deep red wool vest with antiqued silver buttons.FRASER HILLS PERCHERONSwas embroidered on the left chest with bright green holly with shiny red berries circling it like a wreath.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Vanessa answered, but truth be told if Anna hadn’t been in town she never would have shown up. But here she was. “Thank you for the chicken stew.” She reached back for Anna’s coat and tugged her closer. “Meet my cousin, Anna.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He touched the brim of his black cowboy hat. It was clean, but had a well-worn look to it.
“Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too,” Anna said. “And I’ve got to tell you, that chicken stew you sent over was delicious. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He focused in on Vanessa. “What did you think?”
She’d been contemplating how to answer that all afternoon. “It’s hard to compare the two so far apart. I didn’t get any spilled on me this time, that was a plus.” She let out a sigh. “If I’m completely honest, yours was better.”
“Told you.” He looked proud.
“So you did.”
“Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do for the parade.” He slapped his hands together and rubbed them, crouching a littleas he spoke. “Y’all are going to get comfortable right up here on the parade line. Me and a couple of my buddies are going to carry some chairs out here in a minute.”
“We don’t need chairs. We can stand,” she argued.
“Chivalry,” Anna whispered to Vanessa. “Let him do it.” She lifted her chin. “Thank you, Mike. Chairs would be lovely. Right, Vanessa?”
Vanessa smiled. “Thank you. Yes. Very thoughtful.”
“It’s a long parade, and you’ll stay warmer in the chairs because they block the wind from your backside,” Mike said. “I’m telling you, it’s the only way to go. You won’t be the only ones sitting.”
Vanessa and Anna looked at each other and shrugged. “Okay.”
“I’m in the parade, so about—”
“You’re in it?” Vanessa’s eyes widened with realization. “Are you riding that horse and carriage—wait, wagon, I meant horse andwagon,like that first day I was in town?”
“If you thought that wagon was special, hold on to your earmuffs.”
Is he making fun of my earmuffs?
“So, midway through the parade I’ve got to run to the other end and get ready. Y’all stay here after the end of the parade, and I’ll meet back up with you. Okay?”
“Got it,” Anna chimed in.
“Good.” Mike jogged off toward the fire station.
Anna had a sly look on her face. Rather than let her engage on whatever she was about to say about Mike, Vanessa said to her, “You’re going to be amazed when you see his horses. I’d never seen anything so big and powerful. It’s quite impressive.”
A moment later Mike and three other guys were back withchairs on each shoulder. They lined them up to the left of the fire truck doors on the road two rows deep, staggered so everyone would be able to see. “Ladies.” Mike led them to the two end chairs on the second row. “Warmest spot to be unless you planned to watch from a window.”
They sat down, mildly amused by all the effort.
