“Dammit. I was afraid of that.” I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Okay, I’ve got to go try to convince Penelope to help me out. Thank you, and sorry for waking you up early on a Saturday. Tell Charity hi for me, and we’ll see y’all soon.”
“See ya, Evie.” I hung up with Kevin, took a deep breath, and then punched in a number I dreaded dialing.
“Hello.” It was Mrs. Harris’ voice on the other end of the line. I was hoping she would give me Penelope’s number, since I didn’t have it for obvious reasons.
“Hi, Mrs. Harris, this is Everly Chase. I need to get in touch with Penelope. Is there any way you can give me her number?” I suppose I could have gotten it from Kevin, but I didn’t want to link anything back to him. Who knew how Penelope would react when she heard it was me on the other end of the line?
“Oh, hi, Everly. How are you?” Penelope’s mother was warm and caring, and she owned the salon in town where Maddie worked. She was so unlike her daughter that I wondered how someone as sweet and kind as she was could have given birth to Penelope. If they didn’t look exactly alike, I’d have thought that Penelope was adopted.
“I’m all right, Mrs. Harris, but I really need to speak with Penelope. It’s an emergency.”
“Oh no, Dear. Hold on a minute. She came over this morning for Saturday breakfast.”
Yes! I thought to myself. My luck was changing. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too bad with her mom around.
“Hello.”
“Hey Penelope, this is Everly.”
“I know. Mom told me.” Short and to the point. So far, so good.
“I hate to ask, but I need a huge favor.” She had no idea how much I hated to ask.
“O—K—”
“One of my clients forgot to pick up the marriage license for their wedding tonight, and I need someone in the clerk’s office to open the courthouse to get it for me. Would you help me out?”
I was met with silence on the other end of the line. She wasn’t going to do it. My heart sank for my clients. I sighed. They could always do the ceremony now with their family and friends, then go back to the courthouse on Monday to get legally married, but that would postpone their honeymoon, and they were supposed to be heading to Aspen after the wedding tonight.
“Hold on.” I sucked in a breath, hoping she was going to let me into the courthouse. Penelope paused for a moment, then said, “If I do this, I want something in return.”
Inwardly, I groaned. “What’s that?” Please say money. I could handle a few hundred dollars—piece of cake, but I had a feeling she wanted something she knew I would say no to.
“Your brother,” she said shortly. “I want a date with Noah. I can’t get him to give me the time of day, though. I’ve tried to get his attention, but he’s oblivious.”
He wasn’t oblivious. He just made me a promise a long time ago and kept it. When we were in high school, Noah was two grades ahead of me, and all the girls in my grade were in love with him. He asked me about Penelope one day, and I begged him not to date her. I made him a promise. She and I hated each other, and I did not want him dating someone I couldn’t stand to be around. Noah made me that promise, and he kept it. In fact, he only dated women outside of Santa Claus, Indiana, now.
“I’ll talk to him,” I gritted out as sweetly as possible.
“No dice, Everly. I want a phone call from him confirming a date before I interrupt my Saturday to doyoua favor.” She stressed the word you with a small sneer. Our distrust and dislike were definitely mutual.
“Fine, I’ll call him now. Give me your number so I can give it to him.” She rattled off the number and I wrote it down before quickly saying goodbye and hanging up.
One more call stood between me and getting the license for the Carters. I just had to get ahold of my brother and arrange a date between him and my high school nemesis. No big.
3
Xander
My first thought when I woke the next morning, was that it had been a long time since I’d slept so well. My second, was that I had never been in a town that took Christmas so seriously before. Opening my eyes, I stared at the life-sized snowman that sat in the corner facing me. It went well with the flying reindeer hanging on the wall above where I’d slept. The entire room was decked out in the holiday theme, and while I thought they went a little overboard, a part of me kind of liked it. It had been a long time since I celebrated Christmas. I hadn’t even put up a tree since my adoptive parents passed away. It looked like the few days I would be spending in Santa Claus, Indiana were going to make up for that.
Deciding it was time to get moving, I threw back the Mr. and Mrs. Claus comforter and slid from bed. After a quick shower, I headed downstairs to find something to eat before I went to meet up with Noah Chase to check on the bus.
I followed the sounds of voices and laughter into a large dining room area, where several people were gathered around a long table that was covered with eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and so much more. Several gazes swung my way when I pulled out a chair next to Tom, and I sent them a smile before I sat down.
“Good morning!” Mrs. Roop sang out as she breezed into the room with a plate full of toast in one hand and a coffee pot in the other. Carefully setting the plate down in the middle of the table, she began filling mugs full of the dark brew that smelled freshly made. “Glad you both made it down for breakfast. It was so late when you arrived last night, I wasn’t sure if you would.”
Glancing at my watch, I grinned when I noticed it was just before ten. “I wouldn’t have missed it, Ma’am. This looks amazing.”