she could do was make it affordable for her to do the good, and responsible, deed.
With the waiting room finally cleared out, she tidied the examination room, filed all the paperwork, and then checked her list to be sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Everything on her list was marked off, except for Frank.
She glanced over at the goldfish. He was content in his glass fishbowl, swimming among the bright blue rocks and dipping behind the anacharis on those days when Frank was feeling shy.
There’d still be a lot to do when she got home after Christmas. This trip this week was just to sign the lease on her new apartment. Well, that and spend Christmas with Spencer there. They’d be attending a few Christmas parties, and he was excited to show her the city Christmas lights. Then it would be back home to do the final preparations for the big moving day.
She’d done a pretty good job getting the house packed so the movers could come and pick up everything the week before she started her new job. Boxes were stacked in every room of her house, but here at the office… She hadn’t even begun to liquidate all her pet supplies. The new practice wasn’t interested in her bringing any inventory along, so she still had a lot to do.
Finally, there was Frank. He needed be tended to while she was away. She cleaned out his bowl and then put his food in her pocket, then called the Chris Kringle Kitchen to let her parents know she was on her way down with Frank.
Even though the diner was a short walk—just a few stores up the block and across the street—the bitter Vermont temperatures and snow required bundling up. She took off her white lab coat and hung it on the rack. Her grandmother had embroidered her name on this coat as a graduation gift, and she’d worn it every day since. The new practice required that they all wear the lab coats provided for them with the corporate logo, and a couple of vendor patches. The idea of sponsors seemed weird to her, but that was big business for you.
She took her red wool coat down from the hook next to the door and pulled it on, tugging the belt tight around her waist. She lifted Frank’s fish bowl from the desk and hugged it to her body as she left. Using her old waitressing skills, she walked at a slow, steady pace, moving her legs but not her torso or arms so as to not cause a tsunami in Frank’s world on the short trip to her parents’ diner.
“Hang on, Frank.”
Chapter Two
Allie stepped out onto the porch of her clinic, Evergreen Veterinarian Care. She glanced at Frank, then back at the blue-and-white sign behind her. She still remembered like it was yesterday the day she and Grandpa had hung that sign there. It had been a cold, snowy day just like today. Everyone else in town had been home, hunkered down that wintry night. Mom and Dad had insisted on closing the diner early so they could be a part of it, too. They’d stood out in the cold, watching until that last screw had gone into the wall. They’d applauded wildly, but Allie had barely heard them because of their gloves. It had been like watching a silent film, and she was the star.
And now she was leaving it behind. For something new. Something bigger, and different, in the city.
For a moment, she tried to imagine the bustling streets of Washington, D.C., leaving work in her lab coat—not to just walk across the street to check in with her folks. No quiet little block where she knew most everyone by name. Would strangers smile and say hello?
Her throat tightened.
Soon, someone else would take over this office and chase their dreams just like she had. She hugged Frank closer, silently wishing the new business good luck.
She locked the door behind her and carefully navigated the steps down to the street.
A fluffy snowman wearing a top hat stood next to the stairs, waving a welcoming hello to customers, and past that, three lighted wire reindeer, one with a red nose, frolicked in front of the bookstore. Rudolph the well-read reindeer, she amused herself. Those same decorations had been there every year since she’d been back. But she liked the way things stayed the same here in Evergreen. That was all the more reason to make the big change—to experience new things in a new town.
She looked both ways then headed across the street. Frank’s water sloshed against her coat as she twisted to avoid collision with a young man hurrying past with his collar pulled high around his neck to ward off the cold wind.
At the end of Main Street, the town Christmas tree dazzled with colorful decorations. Each year, families added an ornament to the tree that became part of the collection going forward. That connection made the tree seem more personal. Not new was the giant, gold star on top, designed by the shop teacher at the local high school. How would the Evergreen Christmas tree compare to the big, fancy one at the White House?
The town had planted the Balsam Fir in front of the gazebo about ten years ago when a farmer up on the hill, in exchange for the privilege to sell his trees there, had donated it. It hadn’t been a huge tree then, but now it rose to the height of the gazebo. Before this, the town had cut and tractored a tree in each year for the holiday lighting.
Allie zipped past the post office, noticing how many people were lined up with packages to send. She was glad she didn’t have anything to mail out this week. She was carrying her gift to Spencer with her on the plane—that was, if she ever got out of Evergreen.
She glanced at her watch and almost ran into one of the giant red, blue, and gold ornaments that brightened the sidewalk in front of Home Bakery. The door chimed again and again, reminding her of a Christmas handbell concert, as customers came out with bags of freshly baked goods. Business was brisk for the middle of the afternoon.
The three-foot-tall, carved nutcrackers that used to guard Grandpa’s porch now stood sentry in front of Chris Kringle Kitchen—a nice addition in honor of him. All combined, it made for a cheerful sight. She never tired of Christmas in Evergreen.
She pulled the Chris Kringle Kitchen door open and stepped inside the warm diner.
“Joe! She’s here.” Mom rushed toward her, wearing a sweater set the color of a balsam fir, and Dad came through the green-and-white curtain that separated the kitchen from the dining area, catching up to her in long strides.
“Hi, honey.” Dad wore his signature red apron, and he must have been in the middle of cooking something, because he was still carrying a red and white checkered hand towel. This restaurant had been in Dad’s family for three generations, and he was the best cook she knew.
“Oh, Allie!” Carol stopped, tears spilling down her cheeks as she cocked her head as if it would be the last time they’d ever see each other. “My baby.” She lunged forward, pulling Allie in for a hug.
“Mom, this is not goodbye.” Allie gave her dad a pleading look as her mother clung to her neck. “I’m just dropping off Frank. Besides, you promised you wouldn’t cry.”
“I’m not!” Carol swept at her tears and then took the fish bowl from Allie. “I was just…chopping onions.”
Dad snickered.
“I’m going to be home right after Christmas.”
“Mm-hmm.” Carol clung to the goldfish bowl. “And then you’re leaving again right after that…for good. And all I’ll have to remember you by is a goldfish.”
“Maybe I should,
