They returned to the store, and Carter cleaned up the shattered gnome remains while Lula went back to manning the tables out front. By the time the parade started, Lula had sold all her dolls and given away the last of the cookies. She and Carter put the tables back in the store room, grabbed blankets from upstairs, and snuggled on her front steps as the marching band shuffled past, playing holiday songs, cowboys and cowgirls rode down the street on horses decked out for the season, and brightly lit floats rolled slowly by.
And later, they went upstairs and made love as the moon rose above Lonesome Point. Outside, the first snowfall in four years dusted the desert like powdered sugar, making every ordinary thing seem a little bit magical, but inside Lula’s cozy apartment, two people who were meant to be were making their own magic.
Lula and Carter had found their happy beginning, and for them, every day to come would be a place for more everyday miracles.
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