Joe and Ezra smiled at each other, then Ezra turned and came down the ladder.
“You know, Ezra,” Joe said as he spotted him down to the ground, “it’s not going to be the same around here without you.”
Ezra turned to Joe and Katie. “Well, it helps that the new mayor won by a landslide.”
Michelle paced her response. “Stop. Saying. Landslide.” He’d said it so many times that it was already getting old.
Katie leaned in. “Wow!”
Ezra propped his arm on the ladder casually with a told-you-so look on his face.
Michelle rolled her eyes. “I was the only one running.”
“Well, that’s just because nobody wants to run against the woman who had the best plans on how to run a town,” Joe spoke matter-of-factly.
Michelle’s face flushed. She’d put in a lot of work to pull that town project together. She wanted to earn the trust of the town, and even running unopposed, it had been important to her. She was honored to have been voted as the first woman mayor of Evergreen. Michelle turned to Katie. “She also had the previous mayor’s strong endorsement,” she said about herself. “That helped. Thank you, Ezra.”
“You earned it,” he said. “I’m leaving Evergreen in ever-capable hands.”
“Thanks.” Michelle cocked her head with a playful smile, then pointed her finger toward the banner again. “Okay, you two. Can we take this side up a little bit?”
Ezra started back up the ladder.
Michelle turned to Katie. “I’m sorry. You needed something.”
“Oh, I just need a phone charger. But congratulations, Madame Mayor.”
“You can call me Michelle. It’s fine.” She glanced up at the banner, and then back to Katie. “You said your name was—”
“I’m Katie. Nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Katie. Phone charger. Right. You’ll want to visit Daisy’s Country Store. It’s located just across the square. They sell everything: phone chargers, wool socks, souvenirs, you name it.”
Ezra shouted down from atop the ladder again. “Is it straight enough now?”
Michelle and Katie both tilted their heads up. In unison, they both leaned to one side, slightly off-kilter.
“Well, if it was too perfect,” Michelle said with a shrug, “it wouldn’t be charming.”
Both Joe and Ezra stared at her, puzzled.
“Don’t give me that look,” Michelle teased. “It’s good enough. Ezra, aren’t you supposed to be packing?”
“No, but I do have an Evergreen Historical Society meeting at the Kringle.” He climbed to the ground. “Got to run. Nice meeting you, Katie. Enjoy your visit.”
Katie waved and gave him a thumbs up.
“Thanks, Ezra.” Michelle turned back to Katie. “Oh, Katie. The store is right there.” She pointed to the flowered sign just up the road. “Lisa can help you with that phone charger.”
“Thank you so much.” Katie headed for Daisy’s Country Store with her luggage still in tow.
Michelle was glad tourists were already starting to arrive. The recent magazine article had the Evergreen Express booked to capacity every day, and she’d seen more day-guests than they usually had too.
The first year Michelle had helped with the Christmas Festival had been back in high school. It’d been part of the Future Business Leaders Association project she’d started, and the school still continued filling that role. Every year, she’d been on the Festival committee, but the last two years she’d chaired the whole thing. Even with having to move locations, they’d been able to have a successful event. But this was her first year as mayor, and she wanted more than anything for it to be the most special Christmas Festival so far.
Across the square, Hannah Tinker stood on the sidewalk out in front of Daisy’s Country Store, snuggling a chunky brown-and-white chihuahua mix in her arms. Lisa, the store owner, played with the soft ears of an adorable tricolor Shih Tzu-Yorkie mix.
Allie—or Dr. Shaw, as many people called the local veterinarian—went through a long list of instructions on the care and feeding of the two homeless dogs Lisa had graciously agreed to take care of while Allie went zipping off for the holidays to meet up with her fiancé, Ryan, and his daughter, Zoe.
“A Shorkie? Now, that’s just fun to say.” Hannah lifted the dog she was holding into the air. “And what are you?” The dog’s tongue lolled out of his mouth.
“No designer breed for that guy.” Allie pushed her brown hair over her shoulder.
“Well, he’s cute anyway. You don’t even need a cute breed name.” Hannah didn’t mind fighting for the little guy’s honor.
“I hate to leave these guys.” Allie seemed a bit frantic about leaving the two senior dogs behind at Christmas before matching them with forever families. “I thought for sure I’d have them adopted by now, but it’s just harder finding homes for older dogs.” She reached out and patted the dog’s head. “This is a terrible time for me to leave.”
“No,” Hannah said. “It’s not.” This wasn’t the first time Hannah had seen her childhood friend stress out about leaving Evergreen. The last time, it’d all worked quite perfectly with her meeting Ryan and falling in love, but Allie seemed to have not considered that leaving town might mean another stroke of good luck.
“Fine. You’re right. Okay, Lisa, this is Brutus that Hannah’s holding.” Allie pulled a blue pill bottle from her ski jacket. “Now. Brutus has a touch of arthritis in his front paws, but I brought you a prescription. I’m putting it in your pocket.” Lisa lifted her arm, giving Allie access to the pocket. “The directions are on the bottle.”
“Got it.” Lisa flashed an over-serious look, followed by a playful glance toward Hannah and Brutus.
“Now this guy…” Allie rubbed the head of the bluish-gray dog snuggled in Lisa’s arms. “Max here has a clean bill of health, but he needs a lot of snuggles.”
Lisa rocked her new furry friend in her arms. “Well, I have lots of cuddles to give you, Max.” She kissed the top of the old dog’s head, then shifted her attention to Brutus. “I hope both you guys are going to love being with me for the holidays. I’ve never been a foster mom.”
Allie pressed her hands to her hips. “But if you need anything while I’m away, Dr. Myer’s in—”
“Montpelier,” Hannah and Lisa sang out.
“We know.” Lisa said Allie’s next sentence for her. “He’s looking after all of your patients.”