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Chapter 31
“Is he interested in me?” she muttered to herself, unlocking the door and turning to wave at him before ducking inside and locking the door behind her, not wanting to turn the lights on and potentially attract people who might assume she was open. “No, he can’t be,” she whispered aloud as she headed to the back. “Why would he be? He’s just a nice guy. A very attractive, funny, intelligent, extremely wealthy, nice guy. Not that the money matters—because it doesn’t.” After all, if he got all of that money from taking advantage of families like the ones who owned those homes he was looking at, then that would just be wrong, and she wouldn’t want to be associated with it at all.
She had a feeling that wasn’t the case, though. It sounded like both of his parents were successful in their fields, and perhaps they had also come from money. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like&m
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Christmas Memory Chapter 32
Sleeping in proved harder than Memory had expected. She was up before 8:00, showered, dressed, and puttering around the house, wondering what to do with herself. Going to the shop early wasn’t really an option. Ellie had already sent a text that morning that said she’d better not dare show up before 10:00. After texting her sister and requesting five plush dogs for the snowman project, Memory settled down to watch a Christmas movie she hadn’t seen for a few years before she headed to the shop.Ellie had everything under control, despite the fact that there were plenty of customers inside when Memory came in. All of the shelves were stocked, the store was clean, and somehow, everyone she asked had already been helped with finding what they were looking for, even though Ellie was behind the cash register. Not only was the large table gone, so was another piece of furniture—a bookcase that had been in the corner for as long as Memory
Christmas Memory Chapter 33
Memory laughed along with her, tucking the kit under her arm as the two made their way through the snow to the area where everyone else was gathering. The field next to the lake was huge, so there would be plenty of room for the contestants to spread out and gather as much snow as they needed. The planning committee had set up some bleachers so that spectators could watch, and the same hot cocoa stand from the night before had been moved over, along with a popcorn cart. The scent of kettle corn wafted through the air, and Memory inhaled deeply, her stomach growling.“I told you you should’ve eaten a bigger lunch,” Ellie commented under her breath.“I didn’t have time,” Memory reminded her. “We were busy. Besides, I’d still want kettle corn.”“That I believe,” Ellie said, causing Memory to look at her out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve notice
Christmas Memory Chapter 34
The mayor didn’t have a microphone out in the field, so he had to use a megaphone to get everyone’s attention. The loud blare he used to do so had Memory wishing she’d worn earmuffs. A few kids screamed, so the first thing Mayor Charles said was, “Pardon—pardon me. Didn’t mean to startle everyone. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Christmas Falls twenty-first annual Snowman Build Off!” He paused while everyone cheered, grinning from ear to ear as if he had invented the competition to begin with. Once the crowd died down a bit, he continued. “Teams will have thirty minutes to complete the build of an original, unique snowman—or snowwoman—intended to wow our judges. The only rules are that only two people can compete on each team, you must follow the time guidelines, and the entire snow person must be made of snow, with the exception of the nose, eyes, mouth, arms and/or legs, and any clothing required. Accessorie
Christmas Memory Chapter 35
Memory’s lungs were burning as she fought for air. Between the laughing and the running, she couldn’t draw a solid breath, but once there were a few other teams between themselves and Kirsten and Maison, Dak stopped, doubling over as he was also caught in a fit of laughter. He let go of her arm, and it suddenly felt as if Memory were missing a part of herself.“Focus,” Memory managed to get out. Her cheeks were beginning to ache from so much joking around in the cold. “We don’t even have a game plan.”“Do we need one?” He was beginning to regain his ability to breathe, still grinning at her.“Sure,” Memory said, dropping the bag on the ground between them. “Who’s going to make what part of the snowman? Do we have enough snow right here? What is this snowman wearing? How will we make sure the leashes aren’t too heavy for his faux stick a
Christmas Memory Chapter 36
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She shook her head, pulling her thoughts away from where they’d drifted to, the fact that her grandma wasn’t there with the rest of the family, and then turned to consider where she should start rolling the bottom so that it would end up where she wanted it to. With a decent plan, she dug in, gathering as much snow as she could into her arms and then working it into a ball, though it was wider than it was tall. She worked it around the ground in their area, noticing Dak had moved away a bit to start on the middle so they wouldn’t be needing the same snow. In the back of her mind, she noted he’d called her Mem, something no one had ever done before. It was odd—but she sort of liked it, kind of like when her dad called her Ree.Memory rolled up what she thought was enough snow for the bottom and then backed up a minute to look at it. She glanced at Dak and saw he had the middle and was working on t
Christmas Memory Chapter 37
“Or not,” Dak replied in response to her statement. “It looks great, Mem. Come on. Let’s get the hat and the dogs. Oh—and the arms.”“All right.” She wasn’t completely satisfied, but she knew he was right. There were other things that needed to come first. She took the hat, which had the same logo for the humane society, and put it on top, melding the edges into his head so it would stay put so long as a huge wind gust didn’t come along--like the one the other day that had caught her off guard.Dak had the faux twig arms inserted. “Is that deep enough?” he asked, scrutinizing his work.“I think so. This one needs to go in a little bit more because it’ll be holding the leashes.” Memory gave the snowman’s right arm a few more twists. “All right—did you get collars, or just leashes?”“G
Christmas Memory Chapter 38
Dak reached over and put his hand on her arm, squeezing it slightly. She looked up at him, sinking into his chocolate brown eyes. He didn’t say anything, only held her glance for a second, and then let go, getting up to go start hooking the dogs to the snowman. He didn’t have to say anything, though. The brief contact, even through her coat, had been enough to let her know how he felt, and a rush of warmth rippled to her core, understanding and support renewing her strength in a way she hadn’t experienced since Grandma had left her.Memory couldn’t dwell on it. She had to finish the snowman. Leaving the dogs to Dak, she cleared the bags and other items out of the way, taking all of the trash from the collars and leashes and as many empty bags as she could and shoving them inside of one another until she was left with one small brown paper bag with handles. She moved that aside and started working on the snow.It
Christmas Memory Chapter 39
Lots of other snowmen and snowwomen dotted the landscape, and there were several spectacular entries. Her family was standing in a group, including Ellie and Anson, just behind Memory, but they seemed content to give her and Dak some space, so Memory stood where she was and thought about their chances of winning. It wasn’t about the prize for her; it was about the message. She just hoped people were getting it.Dak leaned in close to her ear. “People are talking about our snowman....”“They are?” She hadn’t been listening to anyone else’s conversations, but as she tuned in to what the others were saying, she did notice a lot of people pointing and mentioning how cute it was. She also heard people talking about the shirt and hat and how clever it was to put the logo on it. Memory’s face lit up. Maybe even if they didn’t win, they could do some good.She felt a hand o
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