“Wonderful.” She pointed toward the front door. “I noticed a coffee shop across the street, but I haven’t been there yet. Is it any good?”

  “Cupid’s Coffee. My favorite.”

  “At first I thought Cupid’s had to do with Valentine’s Day, but then I started to wonder . . . is it by any chance related to Santa’s reindeer?” she asked as they crossed Main Street.

  He chuckled. “So you’re just figuring this out?”

  “Well, I’m starting to put two and two together. I mean there’s Dasher’s Deli and Comet’s Drive-In.”

  “And there’s Blitzen’s Bakery, Vixen’s Hair Salon, Dancer’s Shoe Store, Rudolph’s Restaurant, and, let me think . . . oh, yeah, Donner’s Dress Shop.” He grinned as he opened the door for her. “The Chamber came up with that plan a few years ago. There was some friendly competition over the Rudolph name, but the Chamber head flipped a coin and it all worked out in the end.”

  They’d barely gotten their coffees and settled into a table by the front window before Krista began to pepper him with questions. He finally held up his hands to stop her. “Okay, let me field those one at a time. For starters, it is feasible to use the spaces that have already been abated. But only if the contaminated spaces are completely sealed off. And that should be fairly easy to do.”

  “So we could get right on it then? Sealing off the unsafe areas?”

  “I don’t see any reason why not. If Payne is too busy, I can send a couple of guys over. As soon as tomorrow morning, if that’s helpful.”

  “Really? You’d do that?”

  “Absolutely. I’m a big fan of Christmasville. I’d hate to see this put the nix on it. Everyone has really been looking forward to setting up the shops and stations indoors this year. Some people, including my dad, have been working for months on decorations and props and things. This weekend was supposed to be the beginning of setting it all up. It’s no wonder the committee was upset.”

  “I know.” She nodded. “And I realize they only had a week to get it all put together. Believe me, I understand their frustration. Martha Morgan pounded that into me this morning.” She told him about informing the committee. “The hard thing was not being able to tell them why. They were so mad at me—I’m sure they wanted to tar and feather me and drive me out of town.”

  He laughed. “That’s not a very Christmassy attitude.”

  She frowned. “What about my concerns for the rest of City Hall?” she reminded him. “The library and city offices?”

  “We need to ask the maintenance team about the building’s heating system and how the ducts are laid out. That’s a legitimate concern, Krista. But even if the ducts are connected, it shouldn’t be difficult to seal off the first floor. It might mean no heat down there until after the abatement, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Even for Christmasville. People will be dressed warmly since part of the festival is outside anyway.”

  “And it’s supposed to be the North Pole. So it should be cold.”

  “That’s right.” He grinned.

  “So do you think they can hold Christmasville as planned?”

  “I honestly don’t see why not. If everything’s sealed off. And if the doors are locked so no one can get into them. It should be okay. But while I’m meeting with my inspector this afternoon, I’ll run the whole thing past him. He’s head of the Building Division so he should know the answers.”

  Krista was so relieved she felt like hugging him. “I really, really appreciate this, Conner. Anything you can do to get Christmasville back on track is fabulous. The committee and the whole town will be grateful. I didn’t want to be the Grinch who stole Christmas.”

  He chuckled. “No, the new city manager playing Grinch would not sit well with anyone.” Krista asked a few more of her questions and mentioned her concerns, but before long it was time for him to get up to the Building Division. They returned to the top floor of City Hall, then shook hands and parted ways.

  “How did it go?” Pauline asked Krista.

  “Your son is a wonder.” Krista unbuttoned her coat. “Any word from Payne yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “What did Winston want? Did he have that budget report?”

  “He wanted to talk to you, but he didn’t say a word about the report.”

  “I’m going to call the mayor now.” Krista opened her office door. “I don’t want to be disturbed.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Pauline made a mock salute. “I’ll hold ’em at bay.”

  Krista told Mayor Barry the latest news. “It’s probably premature to give the committee the green light yet,” she said finally, “but it looks good. Conner’s talking to the head of the Building Division right now.”

  “That’s great to hear, Krista. Will you call me as soon as you hear back? I’ll notify the committee.”

  Krista hung up then went to work reading through the city charter and a mountain of other documents that she’d requested Pauline round up for her. She wanted to understand the ins and outs of Winter Hill. The only document missing was the budget.

  It was getting close to five when Conner stuck his head into her office. “I’ve got some answers,” he told her.

  “Come in.” She set down the report she was studying.

  “Rod, the head of the Building Division, agrees that we should be able to seal off the areas affected with asbestos or lead. We invited the head of maintenance up to meet with us and it looks like we can shut down the heat on the entire first floor. They’ll put some space heaters in the restrooms when the temps drop too low.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “I just gave Owen Payne a call. He’s busy with a big abatement project over at the window factory and he was happy to hand off the first stage of this project to my guys. We’re busy too, but I think if I bring my whole team in tomorrow, we can finish it up in a day. The Christmasville volunteers can start setting up as soon as Sunday. Then Owen, or whichever contractor is chosen, can do the full abatement sometime after Christmas.” He smiled. “How’s that sound?”

  “Perfect. Thank you so much.”

  “Great. I’ll let you get back to it then.” He frowned at the stacks of paperwork. “Looks like you’ve got plenty to do.”

  “Just trying to get up to speed.” She thanked him again and then, as soon as he left, she called Mayor Barry back, sharing the good news. Then she closed up her office and went to pick up Emily. But for some reason, Laurel’s mother didn’t act very pleased to see her as she let her into the house. “The girls should be down shortly.”

  “Thanks so much for having Emily.” Krista smiled brightly. “I know how much she’s been looking forward to it. I hope she was no trouble.”

  “Emily was fine,” Jessie said crisply.

  Krista glanced around the large foyer, noticing that it was already decorated for Christmas. “Your home is so beautiful,” she said. “I love Victorian architecture.”

  “Thank you.”

  Krista studied Jessie’s rather grim expression. “Is something wrong?” she asked. “You seem upset.”

  “Oh, well, I just heard the news.”

  “News?”

  She folded her arms in front of her. “That you’ve informed the committee we can’t use the first floor of City Hall for Christmasville. And you, being new in town, probably don’t realize what a blow that is for us.”

  “Wow, word travels fast. But you haven’t—”

  “Some of us have been preparing for months and it’s just so—”

  “Excuse me, Jessie, but you haven’t heard the latest news.” Krista explained about the plan to make some of the building useable. “It’s just that some of the spaces aren’t safe for occupancy. And I’m sure that you—or anyone else on the committee—wouldn’t want to endanger children.”

  Jessie blinked. “No, of course not. But no one mentioned that. Everyone just assumed the new city manager was exercising her authority.”

  Krista pursed her lips.

  “But we were obviously wrong.” Jessie smiled as the girls came clomping down the stairs. “Forgive me,” she said quietly.

  “Do I have to go home?” Emily asked Krista.

  “Of course you have to go home.” Krista smiled stiffly. “But I don’t blame you, honey. Laurel’s house is very lovely.”

  Emily pointed to the garland decorating the stair rail. “I wish our apartment looked Christmassy too.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you do.” Krista forced a smile for Jessie. “We’re not even completely unpacked yet.” She helped Emily into her parka. “But maybe if we get everything put away this weekend, we’ll find some Christmas decorations to put up.”

  Emily brightened. “Can we put our tree up too?”

  “It’s not even Thanksgiving,” Krista reminded her.

  “I know, but lots of people have Christmas stuff already.”

  Krista thanked Jessie as she ushered her daughter out the door. “Well, we’ll see,” she said as they went outside. “Right now I’m hungry. I thought maybe we’d get some dinner at Comet’s Drive-In.”

  “Yes! Yes!” Emily jumped up and down. “But first I want you to come see the Christmas House.”

  “Christmas House?”

  “You know, the one we watched getting moved.” Emily pointed next door.

  “Oh, yes, I nearly forgot about that.” Krista peered over to the darkened yard. “But I don’t see any lights on, and it’s too dark to see anything right now.”

  “Laurel and I got to see it when we came home from school. They already got it painted and it’s so pretty. The outside is red and green—like a real Christmas House.”

  “Red and green?” Krista opened the car door for Emily. “I’m not sure I’d like that.” It actually sounded rather garish. Krista wondered what the neighbors would think.

  “And the inside is getting all fixed up too,” Emily continued as Krista started the car. “They let me and Laurel walk through the whole house. There’s a big fireplace in the living room. It got kind of cracked when they moved it, but an old man was fixing it all up. And the floors are shiny wood. And they were making the kitchen all pretty and new. And Anna’s grandpa was there too. He was painting one of the bedrooms. It has three bedrooms, Mama. We’ve never had three bedrooms before.”

  Krista chuckled. “We don’t need three bedrooms. Two is plenty.”

  “But if we win the house, you could probably find something to do with another bedroom.”

  “We’re not going to win the house,” Krista told her.

  “We might win it.”

  “I honestly don’t see how.”

  “But I’ve been praying we’ll win it.”

  Krista took in a slow breath. She didn’t want to crush her little girl’s dreams, but she did want Emily to be realistic. “I don’t know much about the contest, honey,” she said slowly. “But I suspect that city employees are ineligible.”

  “Ineligible? What’s that mean?”

  “That means that I’m probably not allowed to enter the contest.” Krista turned into the lot for the drive-in restaurant. “But let’s not worry about that now.” She distracted Emily by asking what they should order. Then as they waited for their food, Krista told Emily about their Thanksgiving invitation. “Pauline and Roy are Anna’s grandparents,” she told her. “And Anna will be there too. But the best part is the kids.”

  “There’ll be kids there?” Emily asked hopefully.

  Krista explained about the baby goats. “I guess there are a lot of them.”

  “I’ve always wanted to pet a real goat,” Emily declared. “And baby goats are even better.”

  Krista felt that, for the moment at least, she’d managed to set her daughter straight. Without too much pain. Emily would discover soon enough that some dreams truly were impossible . . . some hopes just too big. Life inevitably held disappointments. It was inescapable. Hopefully not too much in the near future, but eventually. But for now they had a new red car and a delicious dinner at the drive-in. Not bad for their first week in Winter Hill.

  9

  After a quiet weekend of getting the apartment in order—and putting up a few Christmassy things—Krista felt ready to return to work. But as she entered the City Hall building, she was surprised to be met by the mayor. And even more surprised to see that the foyer was decorated for Christmas. She was greeted by giant candy canes, draped garlands with big red bows, a family of snowmen, and even a life-sized plywood sleigh.

  “The elves have been busy,” Mayor Barry told her. “Some started setting things up yesterday.”

  “It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas,” she said wryly.

  The mayor chuckled. “That reminds me, I want to bring my boom box in from my pickup. I promised to provide Christmas music.”

  “I’m curious,” she said quietly. “Am I still perceived as the Grinch? Should I be watching my back?”

  His face grew more serious. “As much as I hate to admit it, Krista, you’ve made a bad first impression with some folks. But I’m sure you can remedy that easily enough.”

  “How?”

  “For starters, why don’t you offer to help out with Christmasville? Martha told me that she’d invited you and your little girl to play elves, but that you turned your nose up at it.”

  “Turned my nose up?” She frowned. “I told her I’d think about it.”

  “Same thing—to her.” He smiled. “How about it, Krista? It would be a nice goodwill gesture. And I’ll bet your little girl would enjoy it.”

  “Fine,” she said a bit stiffly. “Tell Martha that Emily and I will be elves for her. Just have her let me know where and when we’re needed, and we’ll be there.”

  “Good for you.” He walked her to the elevator. “And I’ll try to spread the word that you were instrumental in getting this place useable. Did you remember that tonight is City Council?”

  “Oh, that’s right.” She pressed the up button. “Thanks for the reminder.” She knew it was one of the city manager’s many responsibilities to attend council meetings, but she’d hoped they might excuse her for this week. Apparently not.

  Krista greeted Pauline. “Looks like your son saved the day.”

  “He and his crew.” She frowned. “But not everyone is happy about it.”

  “Winston?”

  “Yes, he already came by, expressing his opinion.”

  Krista nodded to her office. “Want to give me a quick heads-up?”

  Pauline followed her in and quickly explained that Winston complained about the fact that Krista had overstepped her boundaries by hiring Conner’s company to begin the abatement. “And you allowed them to do the work without authorization.”

  “Seriously?” Krista hung up her coat. She’d actually wondered about this, but the situation had looked so dire. Winter Hill was a small town—and Christmasville was such a big thing. She hadn’t expected anyone to complain. Well, other than the CFO. “Winston sure seems determined to live up to his Scrooge reputation—and overly eager to shoot down Christmasville.”

  “And you too, I’m afraid.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” She sat down on the edge of her desk. “But what can I do about it?”

  “I have an idea.”

  “I’m all ears.” Krista waited as Pauline explained how Conner’s dad had helped with Saturday’s crew.

  “Roy was glad to donate his time on Saturday,” Pauline continued. “And I don’t see why Conner can’t donate his company’s time too. After all, it’s tax deductible. And lots of citizens donate services and materials for Christmasville.”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful, Pauline. Do you think he’d mind?”

  “I can give him a call and find out.”

  “Thank you so—” She paused at the sound of knocking.

  “That’s probably Winston,” she said quietly. “He said he was coming right back.” Pauline opened the door.

  “Come in, Winston.” Krista tried to sound cheerful. “What can I do for you?”

  He immediately went into a reprimanding speech, exactly like Pauline had just described. Taking Krista to task over Saturday’s work party—holding her personally responsible. “You might be city manager, but you are not authorized to make major financial decisions without approval from the council or leadership team.”

  “Excuse me.” Krista held up her hands to stop his tirade. “You’re jumping to conclusions, Winston. You need to get your facts straight.”

  “And I saw you and Conner on Friday afternoon,” he continued in a sharp tone. “Having coffee at Cupid’s. And on city time too. You were obviously collaborating with him about the abatement contract. Besides allowing unauthorized work, you showed favoritism. You didn’t even consider the other contractors’ bids before making a decision. I plan to take this to the council meeting tonight.”

  “Fine,” she told him. “Do that. And you’ll wind up looking like a fool.”

  He glared at her.

  “Did it ever occur to you that Conner’s abatement efforts on Saturday were a donation? A generous contribution to ensure that Christmasville could continue as planned?” Winston appeared to be speechless, which suited her fine. “Furthermore, as city manager I am allowed to have coffee with a citizen to discuss city-related projects on city time.”

  “Well, what about preferential treatment? You obviously showed favoritism to Conner’s company.”

  “Do you imagine other construction companies would feel slighted to discover they’d been overlooked for the opportunity of donating their time and materials?”

  “What about Owen Payne? Now that you’ve shown preference for Conner, where does that—”

  “The actual abatement can be handled with bids as usual. Conner wasn’t even that interested in that part. He was simply trying to help us out. In fact, he recommended Owen’s company.”

  “Well, I—”

  “While you’re here, do you have a copy of that budget yet?” she asked him.

  “I’ve been trying to work up a financial report for Christmasville,” he retorted. “That’s keeping me pretty busy.”