Page 72 of All I Want is You this Christmas Final

“Yeah, he looks great. Tammy did an awesome job making him look the part. Are you going to make a wreath?”

“I am.” She held up the paper sack she was carrying. “It’s for Jared. The Christmas décor at his house is incredibly lacking.”

Anna Beth laughed. “The cookie jar you got him is adorable.”

“Oh, you’ve been to his place?” Karen asked.

“Yeah, I went over there after we went sledding. Jared let me borrow some clothes because mine were wet.”

“Interesting. Well, it looks like they’re ready for us to go in and start creating. You can tell me more about what’s going on with you and Jared while we make our projects.”

Anna Beth followed behind her aunt and Karen into the tent. A long table was set up with metal wreath frames. They walked around to the other side and sat down. Anna Beth realized they flanked her on either side.

She pulled out her supplies, putting it in piles to better organize it.

“Hi, Mrs. Claus!”

Anna Beth looked up to see Carly waving at her enthusiastically. She waved back and obviously satisfied, Carly dragged her mom out of sight.

“Mrs. Claus?” Sarah asked.

She closed her eyes. “I’ll explain later.”

“Does it have anything to do with our new Santa?” Karen prodded.

Anna Beth’s cheeks warmed.

Karen grinned and started wrapping a green ribbon around her frame. “Interesting. Very interesting.”

Twenty-Three

Jared kept moving different muscles in his face as he walked out of Santa’s Shack and headed towards the tents. The heavy prosthetic nose and beard made his face sore and itchy and although it had been removed, his face hadn’t fully recovered.

The tree lighting ceremony kicked off in fifteen minutes and then everyone headed over to the Community Center for the stocking raffle and dinner. He pulled out his phone and shot Anna Beth a text.

Where are you?

It didn’t take long for her to respond.

At the Ornament Creation Station.

I’ll be right there.

Jared weaved his way through throngs of people, most of them heading in the opposite direction toward the tree to get the best spot. He stepped into the ornament tent, surprised to find his mother sitting next to Anna Beth and Sarah. He wanted to head straight for Anna Beth and give her a kiss, but wasn’t sure if public displays were on or off the table. He settled for laying a hand on her shoulder and giving her a squeeze.

“Hey,” he said.

Anna Beth leaned her head back to look at him, smiling. “Hi.”

“How is it going?”

“Great. We’re about finished.”

“Hello, Jared,” Sarah said.

“Evening, Sarah. Mom? You going to say hi or are you too busy for your favorite.”

His mom didn’t even look his way, too busy concentrating on her ornament. “Hi, honey. Did you have fun at the North Pole?”