Page 118 of Snowbound Surrender

“Christmas Eve?” Miranda and Randall answered at the same time. They exchanged a look, then burst into laughter. They’d been holed up in the bucket for an entire week and lost track of time.

“We’re on our way to a Christmas Eve party at the church,” Teddy told them. “That’s when Starla insisted we check to see if you wanted to come.”

“Like I said,” Starla explained, “I thought you were staying at the hotel, but when I went over there to fetch you, they told me you’d never checked in.” A contrite look came over her. “I’m sorry I was so busy with my own concerns that I didn’t have a chance to check on you sooner.” Her contrition switched to teasing. “Then again, I’m not.”

“Well are we gonna stand here all day freezing our grillies off?” Frank grumbled, “or are we gonna get on over to the church.”

“The church, definitely,” Randall said as their group started down Main Street toward the church. He leaned closer to Miranda and murmured, “I need to talk to the reverend about arranging a certain service as soon as possible.”

CHAPTER 10

Miranda’s mindswam with ideas as she and Randall headed down the snow-packed road toward the church, arm in arm. “A restaurant!” Her breath formed icy crystals in the air. “I think we could do it. We could really do it.”

“Of course we could.” Randall turned to her with a broad grin, clutching her arm tighter. “I’m beginning to think that between the two of us, we could do anything.”

She giggled at the thought and continued walking. The world around them was bright and fresh with moonbeams and the promise of the future. The closer they came to the church, the more people they met clomping through the snow. Miranda hadn’t been in the mood to make friends with her new neighbors since arriving in Mistletoe, but with Randall by her side and the Christmas moonlight shining down on them, she found that she wanted to know everyone.

“Miss Clarke.” Everleigh Walsh, the reporter who’d tried once to strike up a conversation with her at the general store, met her as they entered the church. “I’d almost forgotten about you. Did you weather the storm all right?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Miranda turned to beam up at Randall. “It actually turned out to be quite a pleasant experience.” Shehugged Randall’s arm and faced Everleigh again. “I don’t think you’ve met my fiancé, Randall Sinclair.”

“No, I haven’t.” Everleigh extended her hand to Randall, who shook it in the most gentlemanly manner. “Everleigh Walsh.”

“It’s a pleasure, Miss Walsh.” He peeked at Miranda, then went on with. “I look forward to getting to know you better, and to serving you and your friends at the new restaurant Miranda and I will be opening.”

Everleigh’s eyes widened. “A restaurant?”

“Yes, we’re converting the Holey Bucket into a fine dining spot.” Miranda could hardly keep her giggles to herself. It was far easier to pretend that this had been the plan all along, that nothing untoward had happened in the last week, and that life was as normal as normal could be. She wondered how many of her other friends and neighbors spent their lives pretending things for the sake of appearance.

“I’ll have to do a story about that, once you’re ready,” Everleigh said. She caught sight of something deeper in the church and turned to go with a quick, “If you will excuse me.”

Miranda let her giggles out at last. Randall joined her, shifting to hold her hand. “Well, that was easy.”

“Of course it was easy.” She started walking further into the happy, chattering crowd of Mistletoe townsfolk. “It’s the advantage of people not knowing you well.”

“And not being able to see through walls,” he added in a teasing whisper.

The two of them laughed together. That drew the attention of the young woman standing nearby. Miranda had met Dr. Shannon Callahan briefly when she’d arrived in town. It was encouraging to see the surprising, female doctor all smiles now. Those smiles also alerted Miranda to the fact that the party they’d just stepped into wasn’t just a Christmas party, it was acelebration of Dr. Callahan. Miranda put two-and-two together, the healthy faces, the relief, the celebratory spirit.

“Has the measles epidemic ended?” she asked Shannon.

“Thankfully, yes,” Shannon replied. She blinked. “The last of the quarantined patients went home a few days ago. Didn’t you know?”

Miranda exchanged a sheepish look with Randall. “We were snowed in at the saloon.”

Shannon blinked from Miranda to Randall. “You…oh!”

“Dr. Callahan, may I introduce my fiancé, Randall Sinclair?” Miranda said before anything else could be.

“Oh.” Shannon’s surprise resolved into happy understanding. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sinclair.”

“And you as well, Dr. Callahan.” He paused before saying. “A woman doctor. How unusual.”

Shannon gave him a look as though he didn’t know the half of it. “If you’ll excuse me, it looks like I’m wanted.” She waved and then hurried off.

“I think I like this little town of yours.” Randall slipped an arm around Miranda’s back, tugging her closer. They still hadn’t had a chance to take off their coats, but it hardly mattered.

“I think I like it too,” she replied. “And something tells me they aren’t the sort to go prying into every little detail of each other’s lives.”