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Chapter 40
Cornerstone Baptist Church was nicely decorated for Christmas, with three large trees on the stage behind the pastor, twinkling with white lights, red and gold trimmings reflecting the Christmas spirit. That wasn’t what was keeping Dak’s mind from focusing on the sermon though—it was the woman sitting in the pew in front of him, all the way at the other end. He knew he needed to listen to what the pastor was saying, but Memory looked so beautiful in the bright blue sweater she was wearing. It made her eyes glitter like sapphires. Not that she’d even looked at him for more than a few seconds. But for Dak, it had been enough to keep his mind wandering.
Ellie was sitting next to him, one of her new friends and the woman’s husband on the other side, and they were all captivated by the sermon. Who wouldn’t be this time of year? The story of how God sent his son to Earth as a tiny baby who would save the world was one of the
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Christmas Memory Chapter 41
Dak didn’t bother to stop and grab his coat off of the wrack where he’d hung it when he and Ellie had first come in. Memory wasn’t in the hall anymore, which meant she’d probably already made it outside. The faint scent of vanilla lingered in the air near the doorway, so he knew she’d come this way. He squeezed around a few people chatting and finally made it out the exit. Not even feeling the cold air, he stepped out into the snow and looked around. Memory’s Accord was headed out of the parking lot. Dak dragged his hand down his face....“You didn’t catch her?”Ellie’s voice made him jump. “Where did you come from?” He hadn’t even seen her trying to leave the sanctuary. It was like she had just appeared next to him.“Originally? Hoboken.” She rested her hand on his arm, no longer joking. “Honey, I’m sorry. I guess she
Christmas Memory Chapter 42
The scent of cardboard was overpowering, and Memory was ready to get out of the stock room. She felt like she’d spent the last two days in there—opening boxes and repackaging ornaments to ship out. When the order had come in Saturday afternoon, she’d been thrilled. The handmade ornaments she’d purchased from a local crafter almost two years ago had been taking up space in the storage room for far too long, and now, they’d be decorating a tree in Buffalo that had lost a lot of ornaments in a recent snow storm. Still, she’d be happy when she was done boxing everything up so she could get the ornaments in the mail and get back to enjoying the season.The sound of the bell on the front door let her know her first customer of the morning had arrived—at least, that’s what she was assuming from her view of cardboard and bubble wrap. While part of her was glad to be leaving the cramped work space for a few minutes,
Christmas Memory Chapter 43
“It’s snowing. Hard.” Memory stood next to the front window of her shop, watching the snow plummet to the earth like the down of an angry goose.“It’s fine,” Ellie assured her, straightening the items behind the cash register. “Caroling is better with a little snow.”“This isn’t a little snow. Look at it, Ellie. It’s practically a white out.”Ellie chuckled. “Honey, just because you don’t like to sing, that doesn’t mean you should let it ruin your evening. You haven’t had much time to see Dak at all this week, and if I recall, he’s not going to be here too much longer. You should probably spend your time wisely.”Memory pulled herself away from the window and checked the clock again. It was a quarter till 5:00. She’d be locking up soon, heading home to eat dinner and put on as many layers
Christmas Memory Chapter 44
She knew she wouldn’t have too much time to get ready, so she’d laid out her outfit the night before. Layers were the key to keeping warm, and she’d be wearing plenty of them. She wore thick leggings under her jeans, two pairs of socks and snow boots, and layered her shirts. Deciding she’d get too hot inside if she went ahead and put her thick red sweater on, she touched up her makeup, switched her earrings, and sprayed a little of the vanilla scented perfume she’d gotten for Christmas last year behind her ears. Satisfied that she looked presentable, Memory headed to the kitchen.Her dad was still singing as he stirred a pot on the stove. The aroma of chicken soup made Memory feel all warm inside. “Hey, Dad. How was your day?”“Any time my boss says go home it’s snowing, it’s been a good day.” Bryce chuckled. “How was yours?”“Good.&rdq
Christmas Memory Chapter 45
“Remote starts are awesome,” she said as he stomped his feet off.Bryce chuckled. “I wish I had one. Let’s give it a minute to warm up.”The snow was still coming down. Memory stood at the window and watched the neighbor’s Christmas lights turn the white flakes to a multitude of colors, reflecting on the conversation she’d had with her dad earlier. Was it fair for her to tell him to acknowledge his feelings when she wasn’t ready to face hers?“Ready?”“Yeah.” She’d have to ponder that idea later. Making sure her coat was zipped up all the way, she followed him out the door, securing the lock behind her.“It looks like it’s let up some,” her dad said, opening the passenger door of his pickup truck for her.“Not enough,” Memory muttered climbing in and hooking h
Christmas Memory Chapter 46
“Can we please not talk about the donation?” Dak asked.“Oh, yeah.” She shrugged and took a step back, like it wasn’t a big deal, like she wasn’t about to ask if that number was accurate. The fact that he hadn’t corrected Kirsten or denied it made her realize it had to be. While it was easy to imagine what Kim could do with that much money, Memory let herself think for a few moments about what it would be like to have it herself. She could fix the roof on her grandma’s house and do all of the other repairs, hire someone to work in the shop with her so she could concentrate on the website, and even afford to send her dad and the rest of the family on a nice trip. Not to mention new tires for her car....“Are you okay, Mem?”She realized she was staring at nothing and blinked a few times. “Great—yeah, I’m fine.” She found a reassuring smi
Christmas Memory Chapter 47
Dak didn’t bring her coffee or lunch on Friday. He didn’t text her or stop by to see if she needed help with any boxes. Ellie let her mope for the most part, not saying anything about it, only patting her on the back on occasion or stroking her hair. Memory couldn’t blame him for giving up. Every time he’d tried to let her know he was interested in getting to know her better, she’d slammed the door in his face. She’d spent half the night lying in bed trying to figure out exactly why that was. Even if she didn’t agree with what she thought he might be planning to do with a house in her town, did that make him a bad person? Of course not. So what was she afraid of?“You know,” Ellie said at half-past four, “sometimes letting things out through our own mouths can trigger something in our brains we haven’t considered before.” She was straightening a shelf while Memory dusted the counter.
Christmas Memory Chapter 48
Finding a parking spot in one of the public lots at 5:45 on the night of the parade was impossible, so Dak had parked along a side street several blocks from the square. He was in such a rush to get there before the parade started, he almost locked his keys in his car. With them safely tucked in his pocket, he hurried down the sidewalk, along with a crowd of other people who were running late and had to park far away. He hoped to find Memory and her family before the grand marshal reached the square. Off in the distance, he could hear a marching band and knew he was almost out of time.All four sides of the square were lined with people pressed together to get a good view, as was the route approaching the square for several blocks, where the parade would pass first. He imagined the side where they would exit was also busy. Dak took a deep breath, glad he’d made it this far before the event started. He could see a red convertible in the distance slo
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