“Told you. Enjoy it!” Riley urged.
Two wishes, one of them answered in fifteen minutes. That had to be some kind of record. Batting 500—and the more important 500 at that—was pretty darn good odds. She didn’t have a prayer of a shot at being a normal girl, but this year—this year she’d be able to give her brother and sister a real Christmas. One with new traditions and festivities that would make up, at least a little, for the absence of their parents.
Tucking the check carefully into her purse, Tara hurried to work.
~*~
There’s no place like home.
Jace Applewhite took his time crossing the town green, enjoying the sight of the enormous town Christmas tree. The Bradford pears lining Main Street were wrapped in twinkle lights, and the light poles had regimented lines of lit wreaths marching all the way around the green. Beautiful. And with the unseasonably cold weather, it actually felt like winter. Of course, give it a day or two and it’d be 75 degrees. Such was the nature of Decembe
r in Mississippi. His sister Livia and their cousin Jessie had a long-running bet on whether they’d be able to wear t-shirts for Christmas Day.
Jace stepped into The Daily Grind, scanning the faces for his friends. Grad school exams had wrapped a bit earlier than expected, so he’d come on home to Wishful to help with the family business for the remainder of the holiday. He’d head out to the farm and surprise his parents after catching up with the guys.
Across the room, Eli lifted his hand in a wave.
“Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Jace said, pulling him into a back thumping hug.
“That’s what you get for doing the grad school thing, man. Lots of tiny print. While you’re up to your eyeballs in textbooks, I’m out in the good clean air.”
“And how’s the Forestry Service treating you?”
“Can’t complain,” Eli said.
“How’s my cousin treating you? Or maybe I should ask how you’re treating Jessie.”
“He’s whipped,” Zach Warren announced, rising from his chair to repeat the man hug routine.
“As he should be. She’s too good for him. Where are Leo and Reed?”
“Leo’s running the lighting and sound for the community theater’s production of White Christmas, and Reed is in Connecticut with his lady love and her parents.”
“That sounds serious,” Jace observed. “Is there a ring involved?”
“If there is, he hasn’t told us,” Eli said.
“Given the way such news spreads in this town, that’s probably wise. Let me grab some coffee.” Jace joined the short queue at the counter, tapping a finger against his leg in time with the rhythm of the music playing over the sound system. What was that? Charlie Brown Christmas?
“Welcome to The Daily Grind. What can I get you?”
Jace focused on the girl behind the counter. Your number.
Tall and willowy, her sandy blonde hair was piled on top of her head in some updo that left her long, graceful neck bare. His fingers itched to trace it, to see if her skin was as soft as it looked. Her hazel eyes were expectant, and Jace realized he hadn’t said anything. He cleared his throat. “Um, what do you recommend?”
“For light roast today, we’ve got a Nkurubuye from Rawanda. Our dark roast is an Idido from Ethiopia. This late in the day, I’d be inclined to go for the dark. Less caffeine.”
“Really? I thought darker roasts had more caffeine.”
“Other way around,” she said. The name tag on her holly red apron read Tara. “The roasting process destroys some of the caffeine, so the lighter the roast, the more potent.”
Her voice was deeper than he expected. A throaty, rich alto. Talk about potent.
“I’ll have the dark then. Just black.”
Tara punched at the iPad mounted at the register. “Any nibbles to go with it?”
Jace could think of several of her inches he’d like to nibble. Jesus, he really had been stuck in a book too damned long. “No, nothing to eat, thanks.”