In the Community Room at Mary’s Memory Care, Marvel was sitting at one of the five circular tables scattered around the space used as the activity room and lunchroom.  At the table meeting with her was Pastor Paul and Lou Barber. Together, they are reviewing the final steps of their project.

  “You know what is interesting about this project is that we are officially doing this on a three-point front,” Marvel spoke excitedly.  “Who knew this could bring everyone in town together?”

  “I think someone did,” Pastor Paul commented.

  “Well, let’s see what is left to be done over here,”  Lou tried to bring the other two back to the topic at hand.

  “Okay, Louise, we will get back to it,” Marvel scolded and then smiled at her friend. “I understand the school busses will be here at 6:00 in the evening to take people to the Catholic church.  I have only seven residents who are well enough to go with us, so the remainder of the seats are available for the others.  We are setting up this room as a meeting place before we go to all who want a treat.  The treats, of course, will be coming from Barber’s Bakery.”

  “Great!  It sounds like we are on track over here,” Paul replied with a grin.  “I can’t believe this is happening.  It is really happening.”

  “God is good, Pastor!” Marvel reminded him.

  Paul smiled and simply nodded his head.  He looked at Marvel and then at Lou, who was simply grinning at him.  He jumped with a start as he remembered something.  He suddenly rose and waved for Lou to come with him.  Without saying a word, he headed toward the door and the two women rose from their chairs.  Lou started to walk toward but turned to look at Marvel while walking backward and shrugged her shoulders.  Before Marvel could say anything, Lou mouthed silently to her, ‘I don’t know’.

  “Goodbye Pastor!” Marvel called to Paul.  He simply waved back as he continued toward the door.

  When she walked through the door, Lou hurried to catch up with Paul and asked him,   “What’s going on?”

  Paul kept walking a few more strides allowing Lou to catch up with him.  He was looking down at the ground and when she was stopped beside him, he said, “I haven’t told them.  I forgot to tell them.”

  “What do you mean, Paul?”  Lou quietly asked him.

  “I haven’t told them yet,” he looked up at her intentionally looking into her eyes.  She looked back into his eyes trying to see what she needed to see.  All she could see in his eyes was fear.  Fear of what, she did not know.

  “Hey,” Lou started to respond. “What are you afraid of?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Listen to me.  You are lucky.  You have a lot of friends who believe in you and your idea.  Who knows what will happen?  No one.”

  “God knows,” Paul interrupted her. “I don’t want to fail Him.”

  “You are not failing Him,” Lou responded more sternly.  “And besides, it is not too late to tell them.  Let’s go into the woods together.”

  They walked silently out of the parking lot and onto the shoulder of the road.  The pastor was a half-step ahead of Lou as they trudged forward.  The air around them was crisp and cold enough to cause their breath to become slight wisps of smoke.  Filtered sunlight peeking through light gray clouds cast their shadows on the right side of the path they were following.  Lou stepped forward to join him, side by side.

  “Have you ever heard this?’ she began to say. “Do not lead me because I may not follow.  Do not follow me because I may not lead.  Walk beside me…”

  “And be my friend,” Paul interrupted her as he kept walking forward.

  “Yes, and be my friend,” she finished her sentence.

  They walked in silence again as they continued walking around a bend in the road that arched to their right.

  “Yes, I have heard that before,” Paul spoke causing tiny puffs of smoke to rise into the sky and disappear.

  “So don’t shut me out,” Lou answered him.  “What’s wrong, Paul?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing? I don’t believe you.  Please Paul, I want to help you.” Lou pleaded with him.

  As she waited for him to respond, she looked up from the road to see what was ahead of them, and she saw a figure with a yellow jacket.

  “Is that Kristy?” she asked Paul.

  He looked up from his feet and saw the figure in the jacket remove the hood that was covering her head.  The blond curls of her hair were set free and moved slightly in the breeze.  She waved at them.

  “Yes, that is Kristy,” he answered Lou’s question.  He waved back and quickened his pace.

  Lou waved, too.  She matched her pace to Paul’s to continue to walk beside him.

  “I wonder what she is doing here?”  Paul asked aloud.

  “I was wondering how she got here.  Didn’t we see her singing when we left town?” Lou asked him.

  “I don’t know.  She is mysterious,” he responded to Louise,  “I sometimes wonder who she is?”

  “Me, too,” Lou agreed with Paul.  “This interruption does not stop our previous conversation.”

  “Previous conversation?” Paul questioned her as he looked down at his feet.

  “Of you telling me what is bothering you,” she reminded him.

  The gap between them and Kristy was getting smaller as they continued in silence.  When they finally joined the woman in the yellow jacket and stopped in front of her, Kristy jumped and embraced Paul in a tight hug.  She finally released him, she stood for a moment just grinning at him, and then she hugged Lou.  Paul seemed to be a little brighter after being embraced and Lou looked from him to Kristy.  She seemed to ne waiting for something to happen.

  “So,” Paul spoke first. “what are you doing here?”

  “I was waiting for you,” Kristy responded and then turned to gaze at Lou. “and you, too.”

  “Waiting for us to do what?” Lou asked, testing her.

  “To do what needs to be done.  Paul knows what to do.  I am glad he is finally sharing it with someone, and I am glad that it is you he is sharing it with,” Kristy answered her cryptically. “Shall we go?”

  Kristy snaked her arm through Paul’s and reached her other hand toward Lou. The baker paused for a moment and then reached out to grab the hand offered her.  Kristy pulled her forward to stand beside her and looked from one to other, and they stepped into the woods.  They walked side by side for a short distance until a path appeared ahead of them forcing them to a single file with Paul in the lead, Kristy, and Lou.  They hiked in the slow winding trail through bare trees and tall brown stalks of grass. 

  It was difficult for Lou to see where they were going but she was trying as she weaved side to side, leaning around the two people leading her.  The trees appeared to be thinning and she could now see a clearing ahead of them.  A trail of smoke was slowly rising above the trees and Lou became aware of the scent of bacon frying.  She looked around Kristy to see what was ahead of them and through the trees she could see a circle of tents surrounding a small fire.  A man stood there, looking down at it.  When the three of them entered the clearing, Paul stopped on the edge of the circle and Kristy continued to walk to the left, and Lou stepped up next to Paul.   The flap from a tattered tent opened and a small boy emerged form it.  He stood, looked around and when his eyes found them, he cried, “Pastor Paul!”

  The man at the fire looked up from his reverie then and followed the boy running toward them.  When he saw them, he turned to watch the embrace of Paul and the young man.  He grinned and bent down to fuss with the bacon frying in the pan sitting on the edge of the fire.  Lou wondered what was going on as other flaps opened, and more people walked into the circle.  Some were saying greetings to Paul and others simply smiled. 

  “Where’s your partner?” the man said as he stood up.

  “She’s over here,” a woman said, standing arm in arm with Kristy.  The woman in the yellow jacket waved at the man. 

  Paul stepped toward the fire and the man.  Lou remained where she had stopped, watching, and wondering how everyone knew each other.  She watched the two men shake hands and exchange pleasantries.  The group of people, including Kristy, gathered around them and they were chattering among themselves when Paul turned toward her, beckoning her to come forward.

  She approached and a small gap spread before her and she joined them.

  “This is my friend Lou Barber and she is the owner, and baker, of Barber’s Bakery and it has been her pastries you have been enjoying the past couple of weeks.  Lou, this is Marcus and, well, the gang.”

  Marcus held out his hand toward her and Lou extended hers, and they shook hands in silence.

  “So,” he began. “You are the person who made those wonderful doughnuts, huh?”

  “I guess so,” Lou smiled at him.  “I am glad you liked them.”

  “Did you bring any with you?” another voice asked, and the crowd laughed.

  “No, sorry.  I will next time.  I promise,” she laughed back.

  “Actually,” Kristy interrupted, and all eyes turned toward her.  They watched her reach deep inside her coat pockets and pulled two bags from them.  The words ‘Barber’s Bakery’ are printed on the two white bags.  The children screamed and ran toward her.  She laughed, turned, and ran toward the nearby trees being chased by the giggling youngsters.  The adults remaining in the circle watched the scene unfold and smiled to themselves.

  “So,” Marcus said turning to Paul.  “Why are you here, Pastor?”

  Paul looked at him and then down to his feet.  Lou stepped closer to him and raised her arm to give him a slight hug.  She looked around the circle and her eyes met Kristy’s who was watching from the far side of the assembly.

  Paul sighed, looked up at Marcus and around the circle at everyone there, and said, “I forgot to invite you to an event…”

  ***

  It was quiet in the store and Samantha was enjoying the stillness sitting on the stool behind the counter.  A Styrofoam cup, half filled with cream tainted coffee, rested on top of counter.  She was reading a book, the “Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes”, a compilation of short stories of the master sleuth.  The bell jingled and she looked up to see Father Dooley enter the store.

  “Good morning, Father,” Sam addressed the cleric.  “How are you doing today?”

  “Oh, I am doing well,” he said as he passed her toward the coffee corner.  After he prepared his beverage, he returned to the counter, set his cup beside hers, and looked into the doughnut box.

  “One Long John left.  Sold!” he stated reaching in and extracting it.  “So how’s it going?”

  “Well,” Sam leaned forward, set her book down and raised her cup from the counter.  I think we are ready out here.  The display shelves are set up behind you and the racks are in place, too.”

  James turned to look in the direction she had noted and saw a half empty store.  It looked like the snack products were crowded together toward the counter and the back of the store completely clear of, well, anything.  The overhead lights above that area seemed brighter because nothing was there for them to shine on.

  “When will it be filled up?” the priest said as turned back to face Samantha.

  “I guess you need to ask Michael,” she answered him.  “He and Abe are out by the dock.”

  “ May I go back there?” he asked.

  “Why do you even ask?” she scoffed at him. “Of course you can.  Go!”

  James Dooley smiled at her, picked up his Styrofoam coffee cup, and walked toward the coffee corner.  He turned at its corner and pushed open the door that was between the coffee and refrigerator units.  He entered into a different situation than the quiet one he left behind him.  The dock was busy.  It had been reconfigured from its original layout.  From where he stood, on his right, the rear of the refrigeration units were the only structures that remained in their original positions. On the other side of them were pallets and shelves filled with the items meant for the Mini Mart.  However, on his left, everything had changed.  Three huge tables were constructed and were placed side by side with enough space between for people to stand next to them.  Stationed in front of each table are two shopping carts. Just beyond the table farthest from him closest to the dock are two huge cardboard boxes and there is a shopping cart next to each of them.  At the dock, a delivery truck of dairy products was backed up on his right.  To his left, a car was backed in next to the dairy truck and its trunk was open.  Abe was working with the delivery truck driver to empty it and on the left a few teenagers were busy unloading the trunk of the car of large plastic bags.  Standing above the dock, was Anna and she was giving instructions to the group at the car.   Mike surprised him as he emerged from the closet behind him.

  “Hello, Father.”

  “Mike!” the startled priest responded.  “You surprised me.”

  “Sorry,” Mike patted his friend on his back.  “What do you think?”

  “Amazing!  It really is amazing.  Paul is going to be so happy,” James commented on the activity before him.  “Is that Anna Dell?”

  “Yep,”  Mike simply replied.

  “How is she doing?”  James asked him in a hushed tone.

  “Well, she has kind of took over running this aspect of the staging area.  She hasn’t really talked to me much.  I know she is living with her father but is going to go back to her aunt after New Year’s to finish school.  I think she is going to apply or transfer to Columbia to start next year.  Lou might know more.  Anna has been talking to her a lot more than she has to me.”

  “And have you heard from Richard?” the priest asked him.

  “Actually, all I can say about him is that he seems a lot happier.  He has an idea to use the side lot to start a Farmer’s Market in the spring.  He has been talking to other local farmers to see if they would agree to participate in it,” Mike looked at James.  “Who would have believed this would be happening?”

  “I know of someone,” James said as he placed an arm around Mike’s shoulders.  “And she sings on the corner of your lot.”

  Mike shook his head in agreement. 

  “Father, would you like a close-up view of what we are doing?”

  “Sure would,” James responded as the two of them began to walk across the room.

To be continued…

Marvel Johnson pushed the door to enter Kerls’ Gas Station and Mini-mart and witnessed a bevy of activity inside the store.  To her surprise, Samantha was behind the counter with a coffee cup in front of her.

  “Sam!” Marvel screamed and raised her arms at the same time.  Sam screamed in response, hurried from around the counter and the two women embraced in a healthy hug.  After the two finished rocking each other, they walked arm in arm back to the counter.

  “So how is it going in here?” Marvel asked her friend as she turned to watch Mike and Abe at the far end of the store.

  “Well, you can see everything is a mess.  Those endcaps have not been moved in decades, if ever.  They have removed them from three aisles but have two to go.  I am struggling trying to figure out how to condense the space left to accommodate all the product lines we offer,” Sam explained.

  “Can I help you?” Marvel offered.

  “Sure, that would be great.  Come around here and take a look at my sketches.”

  Mike was on the floor in front of the fourth aisle to be deconstructed.  He placed a crowbar at the base of the endcap and started to jam the tool beneath it.  Abe returned at that moment, reached over Mike, and pushed up on the structure.  Through their combined efforts, the endcap creaked upward finally releasing its grip from the tile floor.

  “That was easier,” Mike said to Abe. “It only took us four times to learn how to do this, but we finally figured it out.”

  “One to go,” Abe responded. “Let me put this one with the others.” He grabbed the endcap with both hands and lifted it away from Mike. 

  Mike crawled to the last and final endcap, straddled it, and began to push the crowbar beneath it.  Abe returned and, together, they removed the last piece.  Mike stood and followed Abe into the back room.  He watched Abe place the end cap next to the others and turn to face him.

  “I hope that’s the last hard thing we have to do,” Abe sighed.

  “Probably not,” Mike laughed.  “What is next anyway?”

  “I guess we need to clean the floor where these came from,” Abe leaned against a sink in the corner.  “Or remove the next sections of each row in order to put these back.”

  “I think we should do that first and then we clean the floors before we put the end caps back,” Mike offered.

  Abe nodded before he spoke, “I hope this is worth it, Mike.”

  Mike looked at his friend and nodded.  “It will be.  Let’s take a break.  I will go talk to Mom about clearing those shelves.”

  He left Abe and returned to the front of the store.  He stopped at the coffee stand and poured himself a cup of it.  Sipping from the Styrofoam cup, he headed toward the counter.  No one was there.  He turned to lean back on the counter and looked out the window.  His Mom was with Marvel just past the doorway.  She had her arms crossed and her hair was blowing in the wind.  She looked cold.  Marvel laughed at something Samantha had said to her and she laughed along with her friend.  Mike took another sip from his cup and drew his attention to the corner of the lot to the woman swinging her bell and singing.  Her hair was blowing in the same wind and the hood from her bright yellow jacket was down around her neck.  Mike wondered who she really was.  How did she know so much?

  The car with the teenagers arrived at the same time but instead of driving by, it turned into the store lot, and stopped next to her.  Mike put the cup on the counter and started toward the front door.  The car doors opened, and three guys and two girls emerged from inside it.  As Mike opened the door to walk out, his Mom and Marvel had turned to watch the assembly on the corner.  The five teenagers had surrounded Kristy and they could hear them talking to her.  Kristy laughed and the young adults laughed with her.  As if on cue, they spread out behind her.  Mike could see Kristy through the gaps between the five people and saw she was smiling.  She nodded and turned toward the street.  He could see her head nod and her bell beginning to keep a beat and the ensemble began to sing, “Jingle bells, jingle bells…”  The sound of the acapella choir now replaced a solo voice and it blended, rose, and spread out into the sky.  It was a wonderful new sound.  Who knew these kids could sing.  Abe joined the three astonished people standing outside the door of the Mini-mart who were looking back and forth at each other.  Marvel was jumping up and down, Samantha had her hands over her mouth giggling and Mike simply smiled.  He noticed the door to the bakery open and a few people walked out, including Lou.  Aaron, the barber of the Barber Shop emerged from inside his place, too.  All of their attention is on the choir on the corner of his parking lot.  As the last refrain ended, the sweet sound of their song was replaced by applause from the audience surrounding them.  The teenagers laughed, jumped up and down and hugged each other.  Kristy eagerly joined them. 

  Aaron started to chant from across the street, “More, more, more.” 

  The cluster at the bakery joined him, “More, more, more.”

  Clapping now, Mike, Samantha, Abe, and Marvel joined the new song, “More, more, more.”

  The choir huddled together for a few moments and then spread out again as they had before and this time they started to sing, “O come all ye faithful…”  The audience began to applaud and scream with delight in response and they finally quieted to hear the concert.  This time, people who were inside City Hall came outside.  A few people who heard the screams from the grocery store stopped next to Aaron to listen to the tune.  As that tune ended, another round of cheers rose up from the impromptu audience.  The choir again jumped up and down with Kristy.  This time, when they separated, the kids returned to the car and eventually the car squealed out of the drive and back onto the road, wildly blowing the car horn.  As it zoomed into the distance, Kristy watched the car for a moment then resumed ringing her bell and started to sing what was becoming her theme song, “Joy to the world…”  The people that were outside listening, returned to the inside of wherever they came, and Mike continued to look at Kristy as his group reentered the store.  He pondered something that was on his mind and approached the bell ringer.

  “Hi,” he said as he stopped next to her.

  She paused her singing but kept ringing the bell.  “Oh, hi!”

  “That was awesome,” he told her.

  “It was, wasn’t it?  And guess what?” she giggled to him.

  “What?” Mike played along.

  “They will be back,” she squealed. “Isn’t that good news!”

  “It is,” Mike answered her.  “Kristy, just who are you?”

  She smiled and stepped forward and asked him, “Who do you think I am?”

  He paused and looked at her.  They stood in silence for a few moments before she spoke again.  “Be patient.  All will be clear soon.”

  A blue car turned into the drive and paused next to them.  The pastor was reaching across and rolling down the window.  “How’s it going?”

  “You missed the concert, Paul,” Mike told him and left Kristy to approach the car.

  “We had a choir today,” Kristy added, still ringing her bell.

  “Really?  I am sorry I missed it,” Paul said sounding disappointed.  “Let me park the car.”  He rolled the window up and pulled forward to a space in front of the store door.

  Mike looked at Kristy who just stood there smiling at him.  He smiled back, shook his head, and strolled toward the store.  Paul was waiting for him beside his car. 

  “I just came by to see how it’s going,” Paul stated as Mike joined him.

  “Well, let’s go inside and take a look,” Mike replied as he nodded his head toward the door.

  Upon entering the building, they came upon a cluster of people huddled around the counter.  The two men walked up unnoticed and they looked at each other and smiled.

  “Ahhhhh!” Mike screamed and the crew in front of him jumped at the sound.  Paul started laughing so hard that it seemed to keep going on forever.

  “Michael!” Samantha scolded her son. “That, was not funny.”

  “It was, Mom.  It really was,” Mike replied as Abe playfully punched his arm.  Marvel was shaking her head at him, but she was smiling.  Beside her, the pastor’s laughter turned into coughing and Mike bent toward him.

  “Are you all right, Pastor?” he asked him and placed a hand on the bent over shoulder.  In response, Paul raised a hand in the air.

  “Let me catch my breath,” he finally sputtered as he raised himself up and placed his hands on his hips.  “Whew, ah, that’s better.  Oh boy, that was funny.  I have not laughed like that in a very, long time.  Thanks, Mike.”

  “Thanks Mike?  That was mean,” Samantha stated looking back at her son.

  “Maybe,” Paul said to her.  “But it sure was funny.  So, how’s it going?”

  The group re-huddled at the counter to surround the store map Samantha had drawn for the occasion.  Abe was positioned on the far side of the group and he just happened to glance up and look out the window.  Kristy was in her spot on the corner, but she was talking to someone.

  “Hey, who’s that?”

  The group looked up and looked out the window.  Robert Fuller was standing next to Kristy and they were talking.  For once her bell was silent as white puffs of smoke rose up as they spoke to one another.  She stepped closer to him and reached out and placed her hand on his arm.  He bent closer to her and gestured at himself as he spoke.

  A light green car turned into the driveway and paused at the corner.  They could see Father Dooley stretch across  and roll down the passenger window of his car.  Kristy stepped forward and bent down to talk through the window.  Robert Fuller stood there watching the exchange of conversation in front of him.  Kristy stood up and looked up at Robert.  She was smiling and Robert bent down to look into the car.  Puffs of smoke emitted from him and they could see the priest nod inside.  Robert said something else then stood up and tapped the top of the car.  Kristy bent down again and waved.  The priest rolled the car window up and drove up to the store.  Robert and Kristy returned to talking to each other.

  James entered the store to see five sets of eyes staring at him.

  “Hello?” he said to the group.

  “Okay,” Samantha spoke first.  “What was that all about?”

  The priest was at the counter removing his gloves and sighed.

  “Kristy smiled and said hello and asked me if I knew Robert Fuller.  I said yes.”

  “No, it was more than that,” Marvel noted for the witnesses.

  “Well, I wasn’t finished,” he continued.  “I said yes that he is a member of my congregation.  She seemed pleased and asked me if he was a regular attendee and I said, no.  She then asked me if I asked him why not?  I said no to that.  Then she said, why not ask him now.  So I did.”

  “Really?” Paul asked him.  “What did he say?”

  “That was interesting.  He first said hello and asked how I have been.  I said fine and then I asked how he was doing, and I asked him.  He said maybe.”

  “Maybe?  What does that mean?”  Abe asked disappointed.

  “I don’t know,” James replied.  “I just don’t know.”

  Silence filled the room and hung there for a few seconds as the group looked at each other.  Abe finally shrugged and the moment concluded.

  “We were about to review the floor plan,”  Paul told his friend as he leaned back on the counter.

  “We are shortening the aisles to free up space opposite the counter.  We are going to put up some shelving units on that wall over there,”  Sam pointed to the far wall.  “We have to figure out how we want the rest of the space organized.”

  “What about a staging area?”

  “We have to do it on the dock because we cannot move the refrigerator units,”  Abe answered.

  “I was going to the hardware store to get some lumber to build stalls back there,” Mike reported.

  “It sounds lie we are well on our way,” Father Dooley remarked.  “Will we get it done on time to meet our plan?”

  “There’s still is an awful lot to do,” Samantha sighed.

  “Don’t worry,” Marvel said to her friend.  “It will all work out.”

  “Hey, look outside,” Mike told the group.  All eyes turned toward the front window.

  On the corner, Robert Fuller was still talking to Kristy when she turned and placed her bell into the black kettle.  She walked back to Robert and placed her arm through his and they strolled across the street.  When they walked in front of the bakery, the door opened, and Lou emerged.  She watched the couple continue toward the Candle Factory and then walked across the street. 

  The blue car returned and drove onto the lot followed by a second car.  The two cars drove next to the store out of sight.  Lou was walking toward the door when she was joined by several young adults who strolled from the side of the building.  Lou said something to the group, and someone replied, and they all laughed.  They came into the store giggling and chattering to each other.  They filtered across the doorway and window front as Lou stepped through them.

  “So how’s it going?” she asked as she stopped at the counter.

  “Okay,” Mike replied as he kept his eyes on the crowd at the door.  “You?”

  “Just fine,”  Lou replied.  “Why don’t you ask them what’s up, Mike?”

  “Okay,” Mike said and stepped around the counter.  One of the boys stepped forward, obviously representing the teens.  Mike recognized him as the one who had leaned out the window to yell at Kristy.  “So, what’s up?”

  Before he received a response, the bell over the door jingled again.  The door opened and Richard Dell entered, followed by a young woman who stood beside him.

  “What’s going on?” Richard asked as he looked over the crowd in the store.

  “Kristy told us what you are up to and you needed some helping hands,” the young man answered Richard’s question. “My name is Eric and here we are.  How can we help?”

To be continued…

The idea was wholeheartedly accepted by the three individuals who were asked to participate to the point that they agreed to meet at the bakery Sunday evening.  Mike parked his car in the space directly opposite the front door of the agreed upon meeting place and turned the ignition off.  As the car’s engine stopped, he sat in the car and listened to Kristy singing across the street.  She was singing “Away in the Manger”.  He leaned his head back on the head rest and started humming the tune along with her.  He had an interesting weekend so far.  His mom arrived home yesterday around mid-morning.  He had been scurrying around overdoing the vacuum when the front door opened, and she walked in.  When he saw her, he dropped the handle of the upright machine, marched over to her, and gave her a big hug.  She had returned his embrace, finally letting go and holding him at arm’s length.  She looked at his smiling face and suddenly wrapped her arms around him a second time.

  “Welcome home, Mom,” Mike spoke first.

  “Thanks honey.  It is good to be home,” she said and turned back toward the door.  She had left her rolling suitcase in front of the coat closet.  She pulled her tan coat off, unwrapped the burgundy scarf from around her neck and stuffed it inside of one arm of the coat.  She opened the closet and hung the coat inside before turning back to face him.  She smoothed the sweater she was wearing and asked him, “So what did I miss?”

  “Where’s Uncle Billy?” Mike returned her question with one of his own.

  “Oh, he will be back shortly.  He is getting gas.  He will leave early tomorrow morning,” she said as she walked to the couch and sat down. “Mike, Michael, who’s the girl?”

  At first, he laughed before he explained to his Mother the mystery of Kristy.  She had listened intently and asked confusing questions.  He answered all of her questions but in the end, he drove her to meet Kristy.

  As he drove into the lot of the Mini Mart, Kristy was chatting with Uncle Billy and her bell was going up and down keeping time to the tune she had been singing.  They had exited his car, and when they approached her, Kristy waved.  Mike waved back but his mother did not.  She just kept walking toward the bell ringer.

  “Hello, Samantha!” Kristy stopped ringing her bell and wrapped her arms around his mom. “It is so nice to finally meet you.  Your husband says hello!”

  The air around them seem to freeze.  The sunlight got brighter as Kristy released Samantha.  Kristy smiled at her and said, “I just know.”

  Shaking himself from the memory, Mike opened his car door, the dome light flashing on, and stood outside the car.  He waved at Kristy, who waved back.  He closed the door and headed to the door of the bakery.  The night air was crisp and clean and the candles from the lamplights cast flickering shadows on the sidewalk before him.  As he opened the door, the bell above it jingled.

  “Come on in.  We are meeting in the kitchen!” Lou called out.

  He walked around the counter and opened the door behind it and walked through the entrance into the core of the bakery.  All of the lights were on and the sweet smell of something baking from one of the ovens filled the room.  Lou was standing in front of it and turned her head around to see him.

  “Oh, hi,” she swiveled her head back around to face the oven. “Cookies.  I thought they would go well with our gathering.”

  He smiled as he walked to the table closest to her office where a carton of milk was placed next to plastic cups.  He smelled coffee brewing from somewhere else in the room.  Six chairs were placed at the corner of the table, three along one edge and three along the other one.  At each place, Lou had placed a small pad of paper and a pencil.

  “Wow,” Mike proclaimed as he removed his coat.  “Do we have a seating chart?”

  “Very funny,” Lou answered as she removed the cookies from the oven.  She took out two trays, one filled with Snickerdoodles and on the other, chocolate chip cookies.  She placed them on a rack that was standing next to the ovens.  “Coffee is in the office and there are mugs there next to it.  Oh, throw your coat on that table.  Hopefully, the others will follow your example.”

  He did as he was told and choose to sit in a chair.  He watched her as she  went about her tasks of turning off the oven, removing her apron and throwing it on the table beside his coat.  She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail which now she reached back to release her hair and fell past her shoulders. She used her hands to comb through it when she noticed him watching her.

  “What?’ she asked finishing with her hair and dropped her hands to her hips.

  “Hey, would you like to go out to dinner with me after work tomorrow?” he asked her in response.

  “What?’” she dropped her hands and walked toward him.

  “Yeah, we could go up to Columbia,” he continued. “What do you say?”

  “Well,”  she sat in the chair beside him. “Sure.”

  The bell jingled and voices of two men talking filled the space around them.

  “We are in the back.  Just come in the that door behind the counter,” Lou called to them still looking at Mike.

  “Wow!  Is this where all the magic happens?” Father Dooley exclaimed as he entered the room with his friend Pastor Paul.

  “Yessir!  Welcome to the real center of Barber’s Bakery,”  Lou said as the two men entered.  She watched them remove their coats and throw them on top of Mike’s.

  “Cookies!” Paul said as he rubbed his hands together, stepping toward the cooling racks.

  “They are cooling,” Lou told them.  “Come sit down.”

  The door jingled again, and Abe walked into the room like he had been there a hundred times.

  “I love the smell of this place.  It always smells like something just came out of the oven,” Abe said as he placed his coat on the pile on the table.

  “It smells that way because I baked cookies, Abe,” Lou told him as she watched him walk behind her to sit in an open chair.

  “Wait,” Mike started to speak to Abe.  “Abe, have you been back here before?”

  “Yes.  Haven’t you?” Abe replied to his boss and friend.

  “Well, no.  This is my first time.”
 “Mine, too,”  Jim Dooley added.

  “Me, too,” the Pastor raised his hand as he spoke.

  “Well, I guess I am the lucky one,” Abe summarized and looked at the others.  He was sitting at the corner on the edge along the oven wall.  To his left sat Lou and next to her left, sat Mike.  To Abe’s right, was the empty chair then Father Dooley and Pastor Paul on the end.

  “All we need now is Kristy,” Lou stated.

  “When I came in, she was singing,” Mike informed the group.

  “Us, too,” Paul spoke for the two clerics.

  “Well,” Abe began.  “She was talking to Richard Dell when I arrived.”

  “The farmer?” Mike asked Abe.

  “Yep.”

  The jingling of the bell over the front door interrupting the conversation in the bakery.  Kristy’s voice was heard as it was speaking to another person who remained silent.  Two individuals walked into the room.  Kristy was leading the farmer with her.

  “I think you need another member to this team.  Forgive me, Paul, but I was telling him about the idea, and he offered to help so I brought him along,“ Kristy explained as she removed her coat and threw it on the pile.

  “Sure,” Paul agreed as Lou rose to her feet and opened a nearby closed door next to her office.  She disappeared inside and came back with another chair.  Closing the door, she handed the chair to Paul, and returned to her chair. 

  Kristy scooted past her, stopping to bend between Lou and Mike and whispered, “Way to go, you two.”
  Richard did not remove his coat but followed the blond woman past Mike, Lou, and Abe, to sit at the corner next to Father Dooley and Abe.  Kristy continued around them and sat in the chair next to Paul.

  “Smells like cookies,” she said.  “The gang’s all here.”

  “Okay,” Paul began.  “Shall we pray first?”

  The group nodded except for the farmer who simply bowed his head.

  “Okay,” the pastor began to pray. “Almighty Father.”

  “Wait!”  Kristy halted him.  “I think we should help Richard first.”

  “What do you mean?” Mike asked her. “Help Richard first.”

  “Richard, you need to ask for advice in order to help you make the right decision.”

  Richard Dell shifted uncomfortably in his chair staring at the table.  The room was silent as the others waited for him to explain.

  “My daughter Anna ran away this past August,” he began and the people around him began to talk at once.

  “Since August?” Mike yelled.

  “That’s three months,” Abe said.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Paul said.

  “I am your priest.  Why didn’t you tell me?” Father Dooley asked and then the room fell silent again.

  “Do you know where she is?” Lou quietly asked him.

  “I think so.  I think she is with her aunt who lives up near K.C.”

  “That’s good,”  Abe stated.  “I would hate to think of one of my kids out on the street somewhere.”

  Richard looked at Abe and nodded.

  “How do you know?” Paul asked him.  “How do you know she is with her aunt?”

  “He talked to her yesterday,” Kristy noted.

  “Well, what did her aunt say?” Mike asked the farmer.

  “She said that Anna missed me but doesn’t want to talk to me,” he spoke with a quivering voice.

  “Hhmm,” Father Dooley started to say. “What do you want to do?”

  “I think you should go get her,” Abe stated out right.

  “I think she will call you when she wants you,” Lou suggested.

  “Have you prayed about it?” Paul asked him quietly.

  The farmer looked up as the others around him went silent and waited on him.

  “No,” he quietly said looking directly at Paul.

  “Maybe you should,” Paul suggested looking at Richard and waited for a response.  When receiving none, he continued by asking, “Do you want us to pray for you?”

  Richard looked around the room at the people who were waiting on his response.  On his left, Abe was leaning back with arms folded across his chest.  Mike had his hands folded in front of him and Lou had turned in her chair to face him.  On his right, next to him, Pastor Paul, like Mike, had his hands folded in front of him.  Father Dooley was turned at an angle looking at him and at the far end was Kristy, grinning broadly and her green eyes seemed to glow.  All were waiting for him to say something, but he did not know what to say so he simply nodded ‘yes’.

  “Okay,” Paul said to him and then to the others. “Let’s start again.  Shall we pray?”

  All heads bowed down.  Lou placed her hand on Mike’s arm, and he looked at her for a moment before closing his eyes.  Abe leaned forward in his chair.  Father Dooley crossed himself and folded his hands together. Kristy continued to smile, and she listened.

  “Almighty God,” Paul began. “Thank you for being here.  We ask you simply to help Richard and his daughter Anna decide how much they love each other and what to do to be together whether that means to far apart or close at hand.  Help them find peace.  Bless those sitting here as we begin a new adventure in Candlelight.  May we make you happy.  In Christ’s name, we pray.”

  “Perfect,” James squeezed the arm of his friend. “I couldn’t have done better myself.”

  The others laughed as they shifted their chairs closer to the table.  Mike reached for the milk and a glass from the center of the table and Lou rose to retrieve the cookies.  Abe took his pencil and started doodling on the paper in front of him. 

  “How should we start?” Paul asked the group.

  “Well,” James answered. “why not begin by telling us your idea and we will go from there.”

  Richard was sitting with his hands still folded in front of him suddenly rose from his chair, knocking it over.  Abe jumped at the clatter and the others stopped to look at the farmer.

  “What’s up, Richard?” Mike asked rising to his feet.

  “I got to go,” Richard announced as he started walking around the table.  “I’m sorry.  I do want to help.  I will help but I have to go.”

  His walk turned into a jog as he turned the corner around Kristy toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” Paul called out after him.

  Richard did not answer when they heard the bell over the front door jingle.

  “I know where he’s going.”

  All eyes turned to gaze at the blond-haired woman sitting, broadly smiling, at the end of the table, and waited for her to continue.

  “He is going to get her back.”

To be continued…

Mike walked across the street to the bakery after his shift ended Wednesday evening.  As he entered the quaint shop, the smells of fresh baked bread wafted over him.  Lou was leaning on the glass case that displayed cookies and cupcakes, smiling at him.  She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and she wore her usual white apron that simply stated, “I’m the Boss Around Here”.  It was splattered with colors of dark brown, cherry red and lemon yellow.  Beneath the apron, she wore a dark blue, short sleeve t-shirt.  He shook his head.

  “You know it is getting cold out there,” he stated as he approached her.

   “It’s hot in here,” she did not move but kept smiling.

  “You are telling me,”  Mike slyly grinned back.

  “Hmmm,” she stood and crossed her arms as Mike took her place leaning on the display case.  He watched as she leaned back against a counter behind her on which her cash register rested.  Next to it was a coffee maker and it was not like the one he had in his store.  It was a Bunn 12 cup, with two 2 upper warmers, one lower warmer with a hot water faucet Coffee maker with an attached water line.  The coffee pot was empty.

  “Why in the world do you ever come across the street and have my coffee?” he asked her again. 

  This had become their routine.   He watched Lou shake her head, turn her back toward him and reach back to untie the apron.  She moved it above her head and flip her ponytail, placing the apron on the counter beside her.  She fumbled with some thing in front of her and when she turned, she held two plates that held his favorite treat ever, cheesecake!

  “Wow,” Mike exclaimed in surprise.  “What is the occasion?”

  “Does there have to be an occasion?” she replied setting down the plates on the display case and handed him a fork.

  “No.  Of course not,” he said as he took the fork from her and carefully pushed it through his treat.  He raised it slowly, examining it and carefully put it into his mouth.

  Louise watched this display, waiting for a comment from the blue-eyed man before her.  Those eyes closed as he seemed to be savoring his first bite of cheesecake.  When they finally opened, those eyes were smiling and the mouth below it slowly smiled, too.

  “Good?” she asked.  She took her fork and joined him in eating cheesecake.

  “That is the best cheesecake ever.  Did Louis make it?” he teased her.

  “No,” she put her last forkful into her mouth.

  “Millie?  I did not think she knew how,” he placed his fork on the empty plate before him.

  Lou smirked at him as she took the plates from the countertop, turned, and walk to the far end of the counter where she placed them in a buss tub that was hidden from view.  She continued around the side of the case and walked to where he was watching her.

  “I knew you made it the whole time,” he said.

  “Sure,” she leaned her hip against the case as she stopped before him.  “Are you looking forward to your Mom coming home?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.  “I just am not sure what she is up to, you know.”

  “What do you mean?” she continued questioning him.

  “I don’t know.  It’s just a feeling,” he answered.
  “Where’s your shadow?” Lou asked as she stepped closer to him

  “I don’t know,” he said as he mimicked her by leaning his hip on the case.  “Robert Fuller came by right before I came over here and she walked away with him.”

  “Really?”

***

It was Friday morning and Pastor Paul Brown is walking from his front door on the path to his car sitting in his driveway.  The air is chilly on this late November morning.  The sky was beginning to brighten and ii is a bright, clear blue.  He had just finished his morning routine with a little different train of thought, he had a purpose.  He had been silently laughing inside as he recalled the week past.  His friend, James, consistently harassed him about his “date” with Kristy.  He did not give him a ghost of a clue, either.  But now, here it was, the big date.  He chuckled as he pulled open the car door, sat down and placed his Bible on the passenger seat, and closed the door.  He placed the car key into the ignition, turned it forward, and the engine rumbled to a start.  He almost jumped when he remembered that he was going to have a passenger in the passenger seat.  He took the Bible from it, half-turned and placed it in the back seat.  He then placed the car in reverse and eased out of the driveway.

  As he approached Kerls’ Gas Station and Mini Mart, he saw her standing on the corner.  The hood to her yellow jacket was pulled over her head and she was hopping from one foot to the other.  At that moment, she turned her head and instantly waved at him.  He began to brake, slowing the car to a roll as he steered into the mini mart lot.  Kristy stepped to the car, opened the door, and settled into the seat beside him.

  “Good morning!” she exclaimed. “It is a beautiful day.  Thanks so much for asking me to come with you.”

  “I do appreciate you coming and everyone at Mary’s Memory Care will appreciate it, too.  Everyone loves Christmas Concerts,” he responded to her as he placed the car into first gear, eased off the clutch, and steered the car back onto the road.

  “Well, I love to sing,” Kristy said. “It is a good thing you are doing with the residents, Paul.  There is not many of them who have family nearby.  They are alone in more than one way.”

  “Sometimes, I wonder though,” he replied somberly.  “I wonder of it matters.”

  “Of course, it matters, Paul,” Kristy turned in her seat to look directly at him. “Everything matters.  Everything you do in this life determines your next life.  Trust me.”

  He turned his head and looked at her for a moment before speaking, “Okay.  I think I do.  I do trust you, but I don’t know why.”

  She turned back to face forward and looked out as Paul turned left on the next road.  They drove silently for what seemed an eternity to Paul. 

  “I look forward to seeing Marvel again,”  Kristy said breaking the silence.

  Paul looked at her a second time. “How did you know we would be seeing her again, Kristy?”

  She turned her head at him and just grinned.

  As they looked out the front window, Mary’s Memory Care could be seen on the right.  Surrounding the building was a wooded area with a small pond behind the facility, and a small parking lot stood on the side of the rectangular structure.  Paul turned on his turn signal to enter the parking area.

  “Paul,” Kristy quietly said. “Can we travel down the road for just a bit before we go to Mary’s?

  He slowed and without looking at her, he steered back onto the road.  He drove and passed Mary’s Memory Care building turning the vehicle on a slight curve toward the left.

  “Stop and pull over here, Paul,” Kristy instructed.

  He did so and when the car stopped, she opened the door, and looked at him.  She grinned again and nodded for him to follow her.  He turned the ignition to off, opened his door and exited the car.  Kristy was waiting for him on the other side and she started toward the nearby woods.  He fell in behind her when she stopped and waited for him to catch up.

  “Have you ever heard this poem,” she said to him.  “I don’t know who I am quoting, or if it is even a poem at all, but it goes like this:  Do not follow me for I may not lead.  Do not lead me for I may not follow.  Walk beside me and be my friend.” 

  She reached out her hand to him.  Paul stepped forward and took it.  She squeezed and they walked on.

  “Where are we going?” he asked her as the came upon the edge of the wood.

  “You mean, you really don’t know what is in here?” she asked raising her feet as she walked.

  “No, I don’t know,” he replied stepping in the same manner as she was doing.

  “Well then,” her voice brightened a tad. “I will not spoil the surprise.”

  Hand in hand, they continued deeper into the wood but instead of the trees getting thicker, they were thinning out so Paul could see a clearing in the distance.  To his astonishment, he was beginning to see a small ring of makeshift tents surrounding a small fire with smoke rising into the air.

  “Who are they?” Paul asked her as they drew closer to the group.

  “I am not sure.  Shall we find out together?” she remarked as they stepped into the center of the ring and stopped next to the fire.  “Hello?”

  A tent flap of the dwelling closest to Paul slowly raised and dropped again.  A woman stepped through the tent opening and she was followed by a small child.  She was wearing a red, hooded sweatshirt, zipped to her neck but the hood was down.  She had tangled auburn hair, and sad, dark brown eyes.  A dark blue, calf length skirt emerged from the bottom of the sweatshirt and she wore tennis shoes that were untied.  The child held on to the bottom of the skirt and they could now see that it was a little boy.  When she stepped out, other people emerged from other tents that surrounded the circle.  A stirring of leaves from beyond the circle revealed a few men walking toward them.

 “I’m Kristy and this is Pastor Paul,” she introduced themselves.  “How can we help you?”

  “What do you mean?” the woman asked guardedly.

  Paul stood there speechless as Kristy continued to speak for them.  “I think it is obvious that you need help.”

  “What do you want from us?” a man asked from behind them.

  “Nothing,” Kristy turned to face him.  “we just want to help you.  Right, Paul?”

  Paul looked at Kristy struggling to know what to say so he offered a drastic prayer in his head – oh God, help me – when he spoke, “Right, we just want to help.  What do you need?”

  As they exited the woods, Paul and Kristy walked back to the car silently.  When they sat inside and closed the car doors, a conversation began.

  “How can we help with all of that?” Paul asked her.  “What did you get me into?”

  “Don’t worry, Paul.  You will make it happen.” Kristy replied.  “You will come up with a great idea.  Shall we go sing?”

  Paul looked at her incredulously, turned the key and started the car.  He pulled the gear shift into first gear and turned the car around to return to Mary’s Memory Care facility.  They turned left into the parking lot and turned into the space closest to the front door.  As they left the car and began to walk to the front doors, they resumed their conversation.

  “It is going to be a great idea, Paul,” Kristy reassured him as Paul continued looking at his feet.

  “Really,” he stopped in his tracks causing Kristy to stop, too.  “What might that idea be?”

  “Well,” she grinned at him. “I certainly don’t know.  It is your idea silly.”

  His face fell in astonishment and they stood looking at each other.

  “Excuse me,” Marvel’s voice interrupted them.  “Are you going to come inside?”

  “Yes!”  Kristy squealed and wrapped her arms around the woman who had asked the question. “I am so excited to see you!”

  Paul simply stared as the two women began to talk to each other as if they were best friends.  They seemed to forget all about him, and he followed them inside the building.

  Paul was sitting in the back of the great room where the residents participated in activities, ate their meals.  He was listening to Kristy sing and lead them in a Christmas Concert.  The idea came to him early in the concert and his mind raced through details throughout the celebration.  He went through the motions of having punch and cookies afterward and he hurried Kristy through the parking lot and into the car.

  “What’s going on?” Kristy asked him.  “Did you enjoy the concert?”

  “I have an idea!” he cried in response.  “What? Yes, I enjoyed the concert, but I have an idea!”

  Kristy smiled at him and quietly said, “I knew you would.  What is it?”

  “Not yet,” Paul returned the smile she gave him back to her.  “Too much to do.  I need to talk to some people first.”

  “People?” she asked as they turned into Kerls’ Gas Station and Mini Mart.

  “Let me buy you a drink,” he offered as he turned off the vehicle

  They entered the building together wearing smiles and looked up to find Mike, Lou and Father Dooley huddled at the counter, looking toward them.

  “Good,” Paul stated, still smiling. “You are all here.  I need to tell you about my idea!”

To be continued…

Mike and Abe were working in the store and were catching up on each other’s life events over the past week.  Outside, Kristy was at her place at the corner of the driveway, her bell keeping rhythm with her tune of the moment…’What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Who…”

  “Boy, she does have a beautiful voice,” Abe interrupted his own story of the family dinner discussion the night before. “Hey, Mike, have you heard from your Mom?”

  Mike smiled before he responded and looked up from the countertop he was wiping with a paper towel.  Abe, Abraham Miller, worked for his parents from the time he had come into town.  He had brought his wife, Amber, and baby Rosie to town on a whim and a prayer, and simply walked into the store and talked to Dad.  He started the next day.  Mike came home from school to a crying baby as they shared their home for three months before the Millers found a small apartment in the next town about 5 miles up the road.

  “She called me last night,” Mike began to share with Abe. “And told me she was going to be back next weekend.  She was mysterious in a way.  She said she had been thinking and had made some decision.”

  “Well, good,” Abe stood up from the floor where he had been stocking shelves. “I miss seeing her.”

  “Me, too,” Mike said as he straightened the box labeled “Barber’s Bakery” that he kept right next to the cash register.  It contained doughnuts and of the dozen it had started with, there were now only two.  Lou established a price of $.50 a doughnut and left a jar beside it to collect the fees.  This morning, Kristy had one, he had one, and the others were sold to those who had stepped inside when they were getting gas or picking up a cup of coffee on their way to work.  In the jar, he had exchanged the $5 in coins with a five-dollar bill.

  His store was beginning to get more visitors since the blond-haired woman began singing in front of it.  She had become a curiosity as cars would slow and roll down their car windows to listen for a few minutes.  The teenage group came by every day and the same guy would yell out at her.  They did not stop but would yell and drive on.  The few patrons to the shops across the street would pause before entering the doors to those establishments.  Some would shake their heads before they would go inside their destination, others would turn and listen to her sing.  Parents shepherded their children in front of the bakery, careful to keep them from crossing the street to see her.  She always sang joyously and loud.  Boy, she could get loud.  Her voice, though pleasant, had the ability to pierce through glass, wood, and concrete.  It sometimes sounded like she was singing inside the store.  He would look up expecting to see her and he would see her standing on the driveway corner.

  In the week since she appeared in his store, there has been a cast of people who seemed to regularly visit him, well, her.  He thought about that a moment.  He was definitely seeing more of Lou.  Besides deciding to offer doughnuts for sale, they were starting to flirt with each other more and he was beginning to consider asking her to go to dinner with him.  Early every morning, Lou would cross the street, stop where Kristy stood and open the doughnut box.  He would watch them through the windows as puffs of smoke would escape their mouths as they talked and occasionally laugh.  Sometimes they would look his way and laugh when they saw he was watching them.  They would wave and he would wave back at them.  Lou would break off and continue into the store.

  The strangest visitor is Robert Fuller.  He had not been seen out of his house for a long time.  Since the previous Thursday, Mike has seen him twice.  The first time was on Saturday and he was walking across the street from the direction of his factory.  He was wearing a blue stocking cap and as he walked, his head was focused on Kristy singing in her selected space.  He paused at the bakery storefront, in front of the window display, directly across the street from the caroler.  He stood watching her when the teenage filled car drove by, stop, and yell at her.  Kristy sang on and as the car drove off, she noticed him.  Mike could only see the back of her, but he knew she was continuing to sing, and she waved at the man in the parka.  In return, Robert Fuller turned in the direction from which he had come and walked away from her.

  The next time Mike saw Robert Fuller was yesterday and this time he was walking from the opposite direction toward his factory.  Again, he paused in the same spot as he had on Saturday and watched Kristy sing.  Again, Mike watched Kristy wave and just like Saturday, Robert Fuller walked away.

  Farmer Dell stopped by more often, too.   Not only when he would fill his truck with gas but other times, he would walk to Kristy.  Mike could see that they would simply be talking for a few minutes and then the farmer would walk back to his truck, get in and drive away. 

  Father Dooley’s pale green Chevy Impala turned into the driveway and pulled up beside the store.  He came inside, bought a cup of coffee and as he paid for it, he asked, “Well, what do you think of her, Michael?”

  “Well, Father, she can sing,” Mike offered as an answer.

  The priest turned and leaned against the counter to look in Kristy’s direction.  She was singing “O, Little Town of Bethlehem”.  He looked over his shoulder at Mike before asking his follow-up question.  “Yes, she can sing but have you wondered why she is singing here?”

  Before he could reply, Pastor Paul’s light blue car turned into the driveway and it paused next to Kristy.  She stopped singing and walked to the passenger side window.  She leaned in and they heard her muffled laugh and then step back as the car rolled slowly to the fuel pumps.

  The priest sipped from his Styrofoam coffee cup and repeated his question, “Why is she singing here?”

  Paul came into view from the back of his car and was heading toward the front door.  He wore a winter hat of the kind with ear covers that could be strapped and fastened beneath his chin.  They were not now with the ear covers folded up with the strap snapped on top of his head.  As he pulled the door open, the bell jingled above him.  When he saw Father Dooley and Mike watching him, he smiled.

  “Good morning, Paul,” the priest spoke first.

  “James!  Hello.  I didn’t expect to see you,”  Paul came forward and embraced the priest. “Good morning, Mike.  I am going to grab some coffee.  Whoa, doughnuts. I am going to get me one of those, too.”

  Mike smiled at him and watched him walk to the coffee pot.  He looked back at Father Dooley who returned to leaning on the counter and he was watching his friend with a small smile fixed on his face.  When the minister returned to join them, the priest turned to face him.

  “What?” Paul asked and looked from James to Mike.  “What’s going on with you two?”

  “Me?” Mike exclaimed. “I got nothing.  Abe and I are restocking shelves.”

  Abe had silently returned to the aisle he was working and was listening in.  Paul turned and noticed Abe for the first time.

  “Hi Abe,” he simply said. “How are you?”

  “I am fine, Pastor.  You?” Abe replied as he carefully opened a box.

  “I was until now,” Paul answered and returned his attention squarely on his friend the Father.

  “We saw you talk to the girl,” Father Dooley smiled.  “What gives?”

  Paul laughed and reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet.  “Nothing, it’s nothing.  She attended church Sunday and she thanked me for the nice worship service.  I thanked her.  That’s all.”

  “Really?” the priest smiled at him. “That was all?”

  Mike remained silent and watched the scene unfold before him.  He watched as the pastor first look at his wallet and open it slightly.  He looked up at the priest.  At first, he remained silent and then he smiled.  He looked at Mike and there was a twinkle in his eye.  He winked at Mike and turned toward his friend.

  “Well,” he started to reply.  “there was more but I don’t know if I could trust you.  Both of you.  All of you,”  He said as he looked at Abe.

  “C’mon,” the priest started to beg.  “I’m a priest.  You can trust me.”

  Abe had risen from his knees and had joined them at the counter, too.

  The pastor noticed him and stepped back to include Abe into the circle.

  “I have to have your word not to tell a soul,” Paul looked from one person to another and when all of them had nodded in agreement, he revealed his secret.  “I asked her out.”

  “What?” the priest questioned.  Abe patted him on his back and Mike smiled knowing that he was the most aware of the secret.

  “When?” the priest asked another question.

  Before responding, Paul restarted reaching into his wallet and looked up at Mike.

  “How much do I owe you?” he asked avoiding the priest’s questions.

  Mike looked at his pump display, he answered him, “Gas and coffee $10.50.”

  “And with a doughnut?” he asked.

  “That goes in the jar, 50 cents,” Mike explained.

  “Paul!” the priest was begging to know more.

  After he paid for the gas and placed 50 cents into the jar, he removed the last doughnut, and turned to answer his friend.  “We are going out next Friday, and you will have to ask her where we are going.”

  The four of them, the Pastor, the Priest, Abe, and Mike, all turned to look through the window in Kristy’s direction.  What they saw was another surprise. Robert Fuller was standing next to her and the two of them were talking.

To be continued…

Richard Dell was driving his golf cart following the long, gravel path to his barn.  He was going to spend the day working in it.  His great-grandfather, Leon, raised the barn.  Well, he coordinated the raising of the barn.  He had help, back then, by his neighbors, the McTavish’s and the Compiseno’s and the Mollerus’.  The story he had been told about it was that particular year, the four family fathers, Ron McTavish, Chris Campiseno, Tom Mollerus, and his grandfather, Leon, decided that they would erect barns on their farms.  It was fascinating to learn that they pooled their money, planned in the winter, began in the spring, and have the last one up in the fall.  And they did it!  And they worked their farms, too.

  “Amazing,” Robert said to himself as he drove to his barn, Leon’s barn. It was the last of them to be completed. Great-grandpa was pretty clever going last because he must have known that the learning curve would be at its peak and he would have the best of the structures.  All their farms were basically, vegetable farms.  They grew corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelons. One piece of property on each farm was dedicated for wheat that they rotated with soybeans and those fields were used for the basis for their financial growth.  The barns were built for those who worked vegetable farms.  However, the group had decided to include a row of three stalls in case any of them wanted to own any livestock.  They were all built the same, smooth wooden floor, three stalls, approximately 48 ft. square.  As you enter the 12 ft. high, 12 ft. wide doorway, you are walking on 12 ft. wide aisle flanked by three 12 ft. wide stalls on the left and, in Leon’s barn, open space to the right. He decided not to have livestock, like the others eventually did, and he used the open space to store major equipment.

  Robert steered the golf cart beneath a small window that was stationed to the left of the barn doors.  He stepped off of the cart and walked around the back of it and paused in front of the doors and looked at the barn.  Leon’s barn was painted forest green even though they are traditionally cherry red.  The roof looked like an inverted “V” and it seemed taller than it really was.  It was covered with dark gray asphalt shingles. A white cupola was placed in the center of the roof to allow limited light in, but it was there to provide air to flow inside and heat to escape the building.  The door consisted of two 12-foot-high, 6-foot-wide sides that open separately, and swing out.  The two doors are cherry red with a white border and a large white “X” on the front of each one.  Robert stepped forward and swung open the door on his left.  He then walked over and pulled open the right side. 

  He then stepped inside the barn and reached into his jacket, removed his work gloves, and pulled them over his hands.  He looked down the aisle at the rear of the barn.  There are three massive anchor beams that held the roof in place and the inside structure is formed around it and it seems as though it was a tunnel.  In front of him, his pull wagon sat with its hitch resting on the ground.  His tractor, a John Deere Generation II with its driver’s cab settled on top of it.  His combine was still attached to the tractor as it was last used to harvest his corn.  The planter rested on the floor nearby. 

  To his left, in the stall closest to him, were three rows of box shelving that were stacked on top of each other and held various sizes of lumber.  The top shelf was meant for 2 x 4’s, the middle, 4 x 4’s, and the bottom held 4 x 8’s   He used them to repair fencing. An aisle split this stall in half and two large cabinets that held small tools, like hammers and screwdrivers, stood to his left.  Scraps of wood and a variety of tools were scattered on the floor in the aisle.  In the corner, just beyond the cabinets, rolled sections on chicken wire were stacked.  Two wooden sawhorses stood facing one another directly across from the entry to the stall.  A 2 x 4 was placed across the top of them.  A variety of saws hung from pegboard to the right of the sawhorses, just past the end of the box shelves.  His goal today is to tidy up and clean this stall.

  At first, as he began to work, his thoughts were of nothing, but they eventually turned to those of his Anna.  She was so darn independent.  Maybe because she had to be growing up without a mother.  She had to face and make decisions by herself.  Yes, he was there for her and tried to help her when she did reveal problems to him.  Yes, he was not comfortable that she wanted her own car.  He worried about her being out by herself.  He was protective when she started to date.  He really did not know all of her friends, but he knew she had a best friend, Erin, who she ran to when things got tough.  Erin was nice enough to him.  She was pleasant and answered his questions.  She had supper with them and helped cook, set the table, and even insisted on saying grace.  Erin, he decided, was a pretty nice kid.

  The stall floor was clear of debris, all the tools in its cabinet but not put in their places yet, the scrap lumber was thrown into a small cage that sat to the left of the sawhorses.  He walked out of the stall and entered the stall next to it.  In this one, he opened a cabinet, selected a push broom and a mop, and pushed the door shut with his knee.  He continued into the rear of the stall to a large sink.  In the sink, a large bucket attached with wheels waited to be filled with water.  He complied by turning the water faucet jetting a steady stream of water into it.  As it filled, he added a liquid soap suitable to be used on his wooden floor.   When the bucket was adequately filled, he turned off the flow of water and lifted the bucket to the floor.  With one hand, he placed the mop inside of it and pushed the bucket with the mop handle.  The push broom he dragged behind him as he left the stall and returned to the first one.

  He dropped the mop handle to the ground and used the push broom to sweep the floor before mopping it.  After he pushed the unsettled dust from the stall to the barn’s main floor, he leaned the broom to the side of the stall and bent to pick up the mop handle from the ground.  As he did so, a thought came to him and he began to speak aloud to himself.

  “Erin!  I wonder if she knows exactly where Anna is?  She is her best friend, after all, and you tell your best friend everything, right?   Why didn’t I think of that months ago?  I think I still have her phone number.  Do I? Sure I do.  I think I do.  It’s up at the house.”

  By now, he was hurriedly mopping, shoving the mop left and right, up, and down, into the bucket, move the bucket, back to the floor and repeat.  When finished, he returned the mop into the bucket, pushed it back to the sink, dumped the water, and left the bucket in it.  He also left the mop next to the bucket to dry and went to return the push broom to its cabinet.  He hurried back to the golf cart, leaving the barn doors open.

  As he pushed the accelerator to the floor of the cart trying to urge it to go faster, faster, he tried to remember where he had put Erin’s phone number.  He was hoping and praying he wrote it in his wife’s old address book.  He had tried to keep up with new addresses and phone numbers of their friends and families, but he soon became uninterested in that practice.  He just hoped he had done so this one time.  He stopped the vehicle directly at the bottom of the three steps up to his backdoor. He leapt past them and entered the kitchen of his home.  On the edge of the back of the stove stood a small wicker basket that held a variety of trinkets and a small address book.  He reached in and removed the thin booklet and focused on the alpha tabs that ran down on edge of it.  His thumb separated the tab marked “E” from the pages.  His eyes hastily scanned the names written on the sheet of address blocks and there at the very bottom scrawled “Erin, Anna’s friend” and the phone number.  He was so excited, he nearly dropped it.  Clutching it, he hurried to his wall mounted phone, dialed the number, stretched the cord to the kitchen table and sat down in the closest chair.  The sound of ringing in his ear began.  It rang once.  It rang twice.  He groaned.  It rang a third time and then…

  “Hello,” a voice spoke to him.  It sounded like her, like Erin.

  “Erin?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Really?  This is Erin?”

  “Who is this?”

  “Sorry,” Richard started over.  “It’s me. Richard Dell, Anna’s dad.”

  “Oh, hi, Mr. Dell,” Erin laughed through the phone line.  “I am so glad you called.”

  “Really?” he asked.  “Why?”

  “I hate keeping secrets, Mr. Dell. I really do.”

  “Do you know where Anna is?!”  he practically leapt up from his seat.

  “I do.  She is safe,” Erin hurriedly spoke.  “And she misses you.  She told me if you called me that I could tell you where she is and how to reach her.”

  “Where is she?  Why didn’t she call me herself?” he asked her best friend.

  “First, you do know Anna.  She is quite bull-headed and independent.  You raised her.”

  “Yes, you are right, and I do know what she is like if you challenge her.  I applaud you for being her friend,” Richard responded more calmly than before.

  “You got a pencil?” Erin laughed.

  The name and number were indeed of her Aunt Trisha and now he dialed that number.  The phone was answered at the first ring.

  “Hello.”  It was Tricia.

  “Hello, Tricia. How are you?” he answered her.

  “Richard, is that you?”  Tricia asked him.

  “It is.”

  “I don’t think this is a good time,” Tricia told him.

  “Well, I just found out from her friend, Erin, that Anna is staying with you.  Can you tell me how she is?” Richard softly said to his sister-in-law.

  “She is doing pretty good,” Tricia’s voice softened. “She has a job.  She is there now.  She goes to the junior college nearby and she is paying for it herself.  Her Mom would be proud of her.”

  “She is and so am I,” Richard agreed with her.

  “Really?” Tricia asked him.

  “Erin says Anna misses me,” Richard answered the question.

  “Really?” Tricia responded.  “You wouldn’t know it by me.”

To be continued…

Pastor Paul Brown sat in his office at his desk.  His sermon notes were in a nice, neat stack before him.  He was sitting in a recline position, resting his head on the top of the black leather upholstery of his chair, staring up at the ceiling.  In his heart, he was praying for strength but in his mind, he was wondering why he was here today.  He simply did not want to be there.  He leaned forward causing his chair to sound its familiar squeak as he came to rest upright behind his desk.  The desk itself was a simple one, a small one that had two drawers on either side of the space where his legs fit beneath it.  There was a drawer that was imbedded in the desk at the same level as his stomach and it contained a compartment for a few pens and pencils.  The larger area within it was bare except for a small stack of ruled paper.  He used that for notes.  The drawer was now closed, waiting to be opened and ready to be used.  On top of the desk, beside his sermon papers, a stapler was on the right side and a pen was laying on his left, Paul being left-handed.  Above the pen, a Bible sat, unopened.  An upright picture frame was stationed on the left corner of the desk that displayed a picture of his family and next to it in another frame was an artist’s rendering of Jesus.

  Paul rose from his chair and walked around it to small wardrobe in the corner of the room next to the only window that let light into it.  He opened the wardrobe, reached inside, and extracted his pastoral robe.  As he pulled it on, he faced the wall behind his desk.  It was filled with a bookcase that held very few books, Paul was not much of a reader, but centered in another picture frame was his diploma from Central Methodist University and in another his pastoral credentials.  He zipped the robe up to his chin and reached back inside the wardrobe, pulled out a stole that he placed around his neck and carefully smoothed it down either side of his robe.  Determined now, he went to his desk, picked up the papers and the Bible, and left the room.  Turning right and walked a short distance, he entered the narthex directly opposite the entryway into the sanctuary.  He examined it and it thrilled him as it did when he first saw it.  The room was of moderate size, the walls painted a light blue, the ceiling peaked mirroring the outside structure, and wooden pews, covered in long red cushions that fit each bench perfectly.  They were placed into two sections with one aisle that split them.  There were enough spaces to seat 150 people but these days only 25 to 30 worshipped there. 

  Six large windows were on either side of the seating space that allowed natural light to spill into it.  On the wall behind the altar, a large cross with the insignia IHS centered in the middle, was mounted.  The altar itself held a small vase of flowers on the left side and a large Bible, open to Psalm 23, was center stage.  Two pulpits were in front of the altar, placed carefully on either side of it.  The pulpit on left as you look at it from the listeners point of view, was where he stood to speak his message every Sunday and the one on the right was the for the liturgist.  Behind the liturgist seat were three rows of chairs where the choir was positioned when they sang their anthems every Sunday.
  As he stood looking into the sanctuary from the narthex which was nothing but a large hallway meeting place where the congregation could gather before and after the service to meet and greet each other.  Two tables were placed there and on one of them the Worship bulletins stood in a neat stack, waiting for the ushers to pass them to patrons as they entered the sanctuary.  The second table held pamphlets and items for people to learn about a variety of social services available throughout town.  A new pamphlet was available announcing a speaker, Rachel Musgrove, who was invited to discuss end of life services on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. and it was sponsored by the United Methodist Women of Candlelight.

  The sound of a door opening to his right caused him to turn to see who was entering the building.  It was the head usher, Gene.  He climbed the ten steps of the stairway to the narthex.  If he had chosen to go downstairs, he would have gone down to enter the Fellowship Hall and the rooms that were used for Sunday School classes. 

  “Good morning, Pastor,” Gene extended his hand and Paul grasped it in response.  He nodded as the handshake ended.

  “Is everything ready to go?” Gene asked.

  “Yes, yes, it is.  Well, at least I think so, now that you are here, Gene.”

  They both laughed at each other and Paul walked into the sanctuary, not stopping until he was at his pulpit.  He set his papers of his sermon on top of it and his Bible on top of them.  He opened his Bible to Isaiah, chapter 52, verses 7 through 9.  It was a good way to start the Advent season and he wondered how many would listen to its message.  Oh, he shrugged to himself, they will hear it, but they won’t listen.  He left the Bible open as he sat down in the chair that was placed beside the wooden podium.  The chair faced the choir loft and the twelve empty chairs that were waiting to be filled with the cast of its members.  They would be empty today as the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the choir, traditionally took the day off.  The reason was simple as many of them left town to visit family outside of Candlelight.

  He looked at his watch and read 7:45.  In fifteen minutes, the service would begin.  He looked at the cross above him to his left and he began to silently pray.  As he stared at the cross, a voice interrupted him.

  “Pastor Paul,” the voice said. “Pastor Paul, are you all right?”

  He smiled as he recognized Marvel Johnson.  She was to be his liturgist for the morning.  She was the current manager of Mary’s Memory Care Center.

  “Good morning, Marvel,” he began to apologize to her. “I was just thinking about my sermon.”

  “I am sorry,” Marvel smiled back at him. “I just want to go over the service agenda with you.  I am assuming that I will do the usual stuff, the welcome, the hymn introductions, invite the ushers to collect the offering and you will do the prayers, the sermon and the benediction, right?”

  He nodded in agreement and she smiled and crossed the few steps to her chair that sat opposite him.  He then looked out at the congregation for the first time .  The usual people were in their every Sunday seats; the Jones family in the fifth pew on the left, the Jenkins’ family, all seven members stretched across the second pew directly in front of him, Lynn and Lynette sit on the end of two pews opposite of each other with their walkers standing in the aisle beside them.  Gene and Mark Smith stood at the entrance with worship bulletins in their hands, waiting to greet people.  Several more people arrived and spoke briefly to the two ushers and walked down the aisle to sit down.

  The pianist, Marsha Erbst, began to play a tune to inspire everyone to prepare to worship.  He was getting ready, too.  He smiled and nodded to people as they waved to him.  He heard the door open and someone step up the stairway.  He watched as Gene and Mark smile to greet the person when he spied a yellow jacket.  He could see the men, one reached out to help a woman take off her coat and the other hand her a bulletin.  It was her.  She was wearing a bright red dress, long sleeved, and she wore work boots that were loosely tied. Her blond hair bounced as she walked down the aisle to the very front pew where she sat right in front of him.  She looked directly at him and smiled.

  His mind was swirling, and he was both surprised that she actually came and terrified that she actually came to hid worship service.  Marvel stood as the last note of the prelude echoed around the sanctuary and began.

  “Good morning!”

  “Good morning,” the congregation responded in unison.

  “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” Marvel continued.  “Welcome to Candlelight United Methodist Church…”

  Paul returned to his thoughts and tried to regain his focus.

  “I see that we have a visitor this morning.  Would you mind introducing yourself?” Marvel just asked the woman in the front row.  She smiled at Marvel, rose to her feet, and turned to face the others in the room.

  “My name is Kristy and I was invited to worship with you today by Pastor Paul.  Thank you for being here.”

  As she sat down again, he smiled at her.

  “Thank you, Kristy,” Marvel continued and readdressed the congregation.  “Let’s stand together, as we begin the Advent season, and sing “Pass It On” as printed on the insert of our bulletin.”

  “Good song!” Kristy exclaimed and jumped up at the same time.  “I love that one!”

  The crowd giggled as they stood to join her, and Marsha began to play the introduction to the tune.

  Paul stood with them, but he was watching Kristy, who was not using the printed lyrics in the bulletin , and they began to sing, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.  And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing…”

  As the song progressed, it became clear that one voice rose above the rest of them.  It was coming from the visitor.  It was joyous!  It was uplifting.  It was beautiful.  Paul had stopped singing as did the rest of the congregation until, at last, they were listening to a solo.  Kristy sang as Marsha continued to accompany her.  She was in the last stanza, “I’ll shout it form the mountaintop, Hey World,” she shouted and continued. “I want the world to know the Lord of Love has come to me and I want to Pass It On.”

  When she finished singing, the congregation still standing, simply grinned in response.  Paul began to clap, and the others followed his lead.  Kristy looked at him and her smile was brighter than the sun as she stood up and down on her toes.

To be continued…

  “…O night, divine, o night when Christ was born.  O holy night.”  She ended the tune and as the last note settled around them, silence once again surrounded them.  He opened his eyes to see a face that radiantly smiled at him.

  “That,” he began to speak, “was beautiful.”

  “Thanks, Mike,” her voice was gentle, and her eyes softened a bit. “That holy night was the beginning of a life well spent; wouldn’t you say?”

  Mike studied her face a bit.  He was softer today than yesterday.  He did not respond to her directly but thought about what she just said.

  “Mike, you are going to have a great day.  I want to get back to it, okay?”  she smiled.

  “Sure, don’t let me stop you,” he turned toward the storefront but remembered something and circled back to where she stood.

  “Kristy, I forgot.  I have an employee…”
  “An employee, Mike?  Abe is your friend,” she cut him off.

  “How do you know that?”  Mike asked her.

  In reply, she simply cocked her head to one side and smiled.

  “Anyway,” Mike continued.  “I haven’t told him about you yet and he doesn’t come in until Monday.  He is scheduled to open the store.

  “Don’t worry, Mike.  I got you covered,” she winked at him.

  He smiled and turned to the storefront once more.  Kristy started singing again following up “O Holy Night” with a Christmas jingle, “On the Rooftop”.  He shook his head smiling to himself. 

  He had just finished his morning routine and sat on his stool waiting for the coffee to finished brewing.  Outside, Kristy had stopped singing and he looked her way and saw Lou laughing and talking to her.  Lou was handing her a thermos and a bag which Kristy stared into and started laughing .  He watched as she reached in and removed, what looked like a doughnut.   Still laughing, she took a bite that was followed by a squeal of delight and she hugged Lou.  Lou was laughing, too.  She was wearing a dark blue sweater vest.  The vest was unzipped and a red, flannel shirt was beneath it.  Her dark hair flowed down her back and a breeze tossed it slightly.  The embrace ended and Lou retrieved a bag from the ground beside her that Mike did not notice until she did that, and she turned toward the door.  She noticed him looking at her and she smiled and waved.  He rose to meet her at the door.  He held it open for her and she stepped inside.  As he shut the door, she unexpectantly caught him with a hug.

  “Good morning, Michael!” she said as she squeezed him tight and released.

  “Hi,” Mike responded smiling at her.  “What’s up?”

  “Doughnuts!”  She raised the bag and laughed.

***

Paul Brown went across the street to James Dooley’s house deliberately walking up the driveway, the walkway, the two steps to the door.  He knocked on it and waited.  The interior door opened, and his friend was surprised to see him.  He opened the storm door, stepped aside, and invited him inside.

  “Well, what a surprise Paul!  What brings you over this morning?”  the priest asked the minister.

  Paul continued walking into the room he was familiar with and into the kitchen.  James followed him in amusement and watched his friend sit down.  He did not join him at first but instead headed to the coffee maker that was stationed on the countertop next to the sink.  He pulled open the cabinet door above it and removed another coffee cup.  He poured some of the brew into it, refilled his own that was nearby and brought both cups to the table.  He placed the fresh cup in front of his friend and sat down, with his cup in hand, next to him.

  “What’s up. Paul,” his attention refocused from amusement to wonderment.

  Paul smiled and placed his hands around the cup in front of him.

  “Have you been to Kerls’ gas station lately?”  Paul picked up his cup and blew across it in an attempt to cool it.

  “No, I haven’t needed anything lately. Why?” James casually sipped his coffee, listening carefully to his friend.

  “There is this girl there.  She has a tripod with a kettle hanging from it and she is singing Christmas carols,” Paul took his first sip.

  “What?” James exclaimed in surprise.

  “She has a beautiful voice,” Paul continued.

  “Did you stop and talk to her?” James asked, worried.

  “Yes, I did.  Yesterday.”

   “And?”

  Paul looked at James for the first time since he knocked on the door before he spoke, he smiled, “I invited her to church.”

***

Richard Dell rose from bed early as he did every morning.  He was a man of routine.  He found that he had to be to make sure that everything that needed to be accomplished, did.  As went about his chores, two streams of thought kept exchanging in his mind, his daughter and this newcomer, Kristy.  His surprise at seeing her at the gate to the chickens at sunrise had dimmed somewhat after their discussion.  It was a weird conversation and it kept whirling in his mind.

  “Good morning, Mr. Dell,” she had smiled and waved.

  He set down the bucket with the feed that he was carrying for the birds that were milling around his ankles and approached her cautiously.

  “Need help feeding the chickens?” she asked.

  He was at the gate now and in the dim light of early morning, he first looked at her.  She was not very tall, smiling at him with bright green eyes.  The yellow jacket she wore was half-zipped and both hands gripped the top of the gate.

  “How do you know my name?”  he asked in response to her question.

  “Oh, Richard, I know a lot about you.  Let me feed the chickens.  I have never done that before and we can talk as I do it.  What do you say?”

  He looked at her for just a moment and then took hold of the gate, pulling it inward to let her inside the chicken area.

  He remembered watching her walk to the bucket, reach in, pulled out some feed and threw it out and around her.  Their conversation was odd because he found himself listening to her reveal his life to him and when at last, she finished, she brought the empty bucket to him.  She looked at him as she had handed it to him and asked him, “You miss Anna, don’t you?”

  His answer, he remembered, was simple. “Yes.”

  “Well, she is safe and somewhat happy.  But she is missing you.  She misses you.  So what are you going to do about it, Richard?  Think about it and we will talk more later.”

  He paused from plucking eggs from beneath hens and empty roosts and said to himself, “Think about it?  That is all I have been thinking about.  But what do I do?  Anna does not want me to contact her.  She hates me!’”

He uncontrollably fell to one knee, startlingly the chickens, and he began to cry.

***

Robert Fuller emerged from his house, turning carefully to face the door and place the key inside the door lock to lock it.  He was wearing a parka, zipped up to his chin and a blue stocking cap with a bright, red fuzzy ball of yarn on top of it.  He was following some advice from the stranger who came by the day before.  This Kristy character suggested that he needed to get out and walk the town a bit.

  He turned right, heading south, and casually glanced about as he walked.  Directly across the street from his home is the parking lot of the factory.  It was not until he had crossed the street to pass the Mortuary on his right and the fire house on his left when he allowed himself to start thinking about the conversation he had with the stranger, Kristy.  It was more of a lecture than a conversation.  He smirked to himself as it occurred to him that it was a lecture that his mother might have given him.

  “Robert,” she had said.  “You are a sad man.  You used to be so much better than that.  You were nice and shared things.  You laughed a whole lot more.  You need to go outside and see what you are missing out there in the world.  Do that and then we will talk more about getting you better.”

  Getting me better?  What did she mean by that?  His pace had quickened as turned onto the street between the churches.  He shoved his hands stiffly into the pockets of his jacket and held his head down.  It was his life to live any way he chooses, and this life is not worth much without his Annie.  She was the one thing he had that was worth making happy.  All he wanted to do was make her happy.  And he missed her so much.

  A laugh converted his attention from himself to the house on his left.  He was looking at Father Dooley, spying him as he greeted someone at his door.  Robert kept walking as he watched the priest welcome the man inside and shut the door.  He turned right at the corner and started for the main street of town.  He passed the elementary school on his left and remembered going to school there a long time ago.  His favorite time was after lunch hanging out with his friends on the playground.  His best friends were Billy Kerls and Andy Barber.  They did everything together, before school and after school.  They were in Boy Scouts together and he was the only one who achieved Eagle, the highest rank to be earned.  They played football and baseball together in high school.

  Robert looked up from his reverie then and saw that he was passing the barber shop and grocery store.  A strange sound came to him at that time and as he came to the main street, it became clearer.  It was a voice singing and the tingling of a bell keeping pace with the song.  A Christmas song.  It looked to his left and standing on the corner of the entrance to the gas station, he spied the girl, Kristy, swinging the bell that was keeping the beat to the song.  Curious, he turned toward her and as he drew closer, he looked back over his shoulder, checking for cars before crossing the street.

  When she saw him approach, she stopped singing but kept swinging her bell and kept it tingling as it went up and down.  When he paused in front of her, she smiled and shrugged her shoulders in excitement.

  “Hi Robert,” she exclaimed and suddenly jumped and through her arms around him in a big hug.

  He stepped back as she had surprised him but still did not return the hug.  He simply said “Hi.”

  She stepped back and looked at him with smile still on her face.

  “I see you took my advice and decided to take a walk.  The fresh air will help you get going again,” she winked at him with her right eye.  The green of it sparked when she reopened it.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” he asked her.

  “Not just to you, Robert, but to everyone here,” she explained.

  He looked at her perplexed then turned and crossed the street.  As he passed one of the lampposts, he looked up at it.  He noticed a candle inside of it, and it was lit.  He stopped and looked back at Kristy.  She waved at him and began to sing, “O Little Town of Candlelight….”

To be continued…

  “One thing she does have” Mike thought to himself. “She has a good voice.  A very, good voice.” 

  He was in the mini mart, sitting behind the counter, with a ceramic cup was in front of him and a tall plastic cup with a straw rising from it.  An old cash register was resting at the end of the counter.  Below it, encased within glass, were carefully placed rows of penny candy, bazooka gum pieces and trinkets.  Behind and above him, in a fancy cabinet that hung from the ceiling contained rows and varieties of cigarettes.  Fortunately, the cabinet had doors that folded down and covered the choices.  He did not like cigarettes but, feeling very hypocritical, he sold them to those who asked for them.  Continuing past the counter, a soda machine was installed offering Coke products including Dr. Pepper.  The installment held a variety of plastic cups, lids, and straws.  Just beyond that was the coffee area.  He brewed only two types, regular and decaf, in separate 30 cup electric percolators.  Styrofoam cups and lids were stacked between them and a tall container of powdered cream was next to them.  The coffee and filters were stored below it hidden by cabinet doors.  Mike grabbed the ceramic cup and walked around the counter toward the coffee pot.

  The bell over the door jingled as he let go of the lever that emptied coffee from the pot to his cup and turned to see who entered the store.  A man donning a blue baseball cap sporting the Kansas City Royals insignia, looked at him, smirked and nodded to him.  Mike returned his nod, racking his brain trying to remember who he is because he did recognize him.  He watched the man turn and walk down the potato chip aisle.  Mike walked back to his chair behind the counter and as soon as he sat down, the man returned to the counter.

  “Hi, Mike,”  the man’s gray eyes focused on Mike’s eyes, placing a bag of chips on the counter.

  “Hello,” Mike responded.  “Forgive me.  I have been away awhile, and I know I know you, but I don’t recall your name.”

  “Of course.  I get it,” the man continued to glare at Mike.  “My name is Dale Mueller.  I own a farm up the road a bit.”

  “Yes, yes.  You have a daughter Lisa, who I went to school with, right?” Mike responded, offering his hand toward him.

  The man did not move and Mike, feeling awkward, dropped his hand to the counter.  Outside, the beautiful voice began to sing “Jingle Bells”.

  “I have a question for you, Mike,”  Mr. Mueller began.  “Why is she singing on your property?”

  Mike placed his hands and intertwined his fingers together, and concentrated his eyes carefully into Mr. Mueller’s eyes, and asked a question in return, “Why not?”

  “I don’t like what she is doing,” Mr. Mueller repositioned his feet and stood taller.

  “Well, I am sorry, but I like those songs,” Mike continued sitting with his hands folded before him.  He was trying, extremely hard, to contain his composure.

  “She is spouting false hope,” the man continued.

  “I don’t think so.  In fact, I think just the opposite.”

  “You do?” Mr. Mueller continued his staring at Mike.

  “I do.” Mike whispered.

  The bell jingled again causing Mr. Mueller to release his stare at the doorway.  Mike did not release his stare or relax from his position.

  “Hi, Mr. Mueller.  Mike is everything okay?” a familiar voice asked him.  It was Lou’s voice.

  Mr. Mueller turned back toward him and asked, “How much for the chips, Mike?”

  “Fifty-nine cents,” Mike answered him.

  “Too bad,”  Mr. Mueller said as he turned to exit the store, leaving the chips behind. “As long as she sings, you have lost a customer.”

  Mike watched him leave the store and finally looked at Lou who was standing in front of him.

  “Wow,” Mike whispered, grabbing the bag of chips, and opening it.  He first offered the open bag to Lou, who reached inside it and took a chip. Then he replicated her movement and slowly snapped a chip between his teeth. 

  “Who is she, Mike?” Lou asked him, nodding toward the front window.

  “Just a girl.  She came in last night and asked me for permission to set up her stuff.”  Mike said as he turned his attention to the girl singing and ringing her bell.

  “What did you two argue about this morning?”  Lou asked as she turned to follow his gaze.

  “Oh, it was about the bell,” Mike smiled, taking another chip from the bag.  “ I thought 6:30 was a little early for the bell.”

  “But not the singing?”

  “Nope.  I like her singing.”

  Lou turned her head to look at him.  He was looking out the window and the light from it illuminated his face in such a way that it brightened his blue eyes just a shade brighter, his blond hair seemed a bit more golden, and she smiled before she said, “Me, too.”

  Outside, Kristy continued to sing and ring her bell.  As cars slowed, she would wave, and the car would speed up and continue on its way.  Back inside, Lou continued her discussion with Mike.

  “She came into the bakery this morning,” she simply stated.

  “Really?  What did she want?” he asked continuing to crunch potato chips.

  “I really don’t know but she seemed to know an awful lot about me.  Very mysterious,” she commented as she turned toward Mike and took another chip from the bag.

  “Mysterious is a good way to describe her,” Mike turned his attention from the window to Lou.  “Last night, after she and I had talked and I gave her permission, she walked out the door and I followed her.  When I stepped out, she has disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?”

  “She wasn’t there.  I went through the door just a few seconds behind her and looked down both sides of the street and she was nowhere to be seen.  But a funny thing happened, a mysterious thing,” he smiled at Lou. “There were candles in the lampposts, and they were lit.”

  “I noticed the candles, too,” Lou commented.

  “Were you spying on me?”  Mike teased.

  Lou crunched a chip between her teeth.

  A loud noise interrupted their conversation and they both returned their attention to the front window.  Outside, a car had stopped in front of Kristy who continued singing.  The car contained a group of teenagers.  A boy was hanging out of the passenger side window, gesturing and his muffled voice reached them.  Mike started around the counter, but Lou was just a step or two ahead of him as they started for the door.  By the time they had reached the confrontation, Kristy had stopped singing but the bell still ringing as she kept swinging it up and down, keeping time to the tune she had been singing.  The boy was continuing his diatribe, “and you are a loser, too.  Why else would you have a kettle?  Are you cooking your lunch?”  From the backseat, three people snuggled together, two girls on either side of a boy snuggled in the middle, erupted into laughter.  The driver said nothing, looking straight forward, waiting for orders from the leader of this pack, the boy leaning out the window.

  When the laughter died down, Mike watched Kristy smile before she spoke, “Would you like to join me, Michelle?  You have lovely voice.  How about you Billy?  Susan? Or is it, Susie?  John?  I know you can sing.”  She then looked directly at the boy who had been teasing her. “Or you, Ryan?  Would you like to join me?”

  Inside the car, Michelle asked the others, “How does she know are names?  Let’s go. Ryan.  Let’s go!”

  Ryan pulled himself back inside the window as he stared at Kristy.

  Kristy was still smiling, and she said to him, “My name is Kristy.”

  Ryan squinted his eyes at her as he instructed the driver, “Let’s go, Johnny.”

  The car squealed away.  Mike and Lou looked at each other as Kristy turned toward them.

  “Oh, hi guys.  I didn’t see you there.”  Kristy stopped ringing her bell.  “I need a break.  Shall we go inside?”  She the stepped toward the store and, Mike and Lou, followed her.

  Kristy headed straight toward the coffee corner and selected a Styrofoam cup from the stack. She placed it on the counter before her and then carefully tore the corners of two sugar packets and poured them into the cup.  She placed the cup before the regular coffee pot spigot and pulled it forward causing the dark brew to empty into the cup.  Behind her the door opened and the bell jingled.

  “Every time a bell tingles, an angel earns its wings – or something like that,” she somewhat quoted as she turned to face the two people who followed her.

  Lou smiled and said, “Something like that.”

  “Are you okay?” Mike asked her as he ignored what was being said.

  “Of course,” Kristy answered, blowing into her cup to cool off the hot drink.  She walked in between the two of them and paused at the counter to set the cup on it.  “Come over here and sit down.”

  Mike and Lou looked at each other, sending questions to each other with their eyes, and walked to the counter.  Lou stood beside the blond and Mike continued to go around the end of the counter to return to his stool.

  “Well, Mike, I expect to see that car, and others, stop like that more often in the coming days.  Do I still have your permission to sing there?” Kristy asked and casually pointed outside.

  Mike looked at her.  The green eyes looked at him, the gaze serious now and he had the feeling that he was being tested.  He nodded affirmatively.  The eyes became more intense and she asked him again.

  “Yes, you do,” he answered, and the eyes seemed to change dramatically and were smiling at him.

  “Who are you?”  Lou asked her when this exchange came to an end.

  “I told you, a friend.  Which reminds me to ask you two – how long have you two been friends?”

  Lou looked at Mike and laughed.  Mike looked down for just a moment before answering the question.  “A very, long time.  I would say all of our lives.  Wouldn’t you say, Louise?”

  Lou, first glared at him for using her full name, then said, “Yes, all of our lives.”

  “Hmmm, then I would have thought you would have some of your bakery items at the store.  I sure would have liked a doughnut,” Kristy picked up her cup.  “What do I owe you?”

  “Nothing.  On the house whenever you need it.  In fact, you can have anything you need,” Mike let her know.

  Kristy grinned at him, toasted her cup toward him and started to the door.  She suddenly stopped and returned to the counter.

  “It seems I am about to have a visitor.  I may stay here for him,” she said and sipped from the cup.

  “There is no one here but us,” Lou noted aloud.

  “Wait just a second,” Kristy turned toward the door.

  A light blue American Rambler was just turning left into the store’s driveway and pulled forward slightly turning to stop at the first fuel pump.  The man stepped from the car, stood, and looked toward the area where Kristy’s kettle stood at the corner of the driveway.  He then stepped away from the open car door, turned and closed it.  The three people inside watched him as he walked around the rear of the car, to the side to open the lid to the gas door and remove the cap that he placed on the roof.  He pulled the pump handle from the pump, inserted it into the car, pulled the lever to begin filling the gas tank.  He paused again and looked at the black kettle hanging from the tripod as he waited for the process to end.  The pump stopped and he reversed the process.  After he replaced the gas cap and closed the lid, turned, and started to walk to the front door.

  As he entered the building, the bell jingled and stepped in to see three sets of eyes staring at him.

  “Good morning,” he said and smiled at them.  He looked at Kristy and smiled at her and said, “I was hoping to see you.”

  “And here I am, Paul,” Kristy smiled back at him.  “My name is Kristy.”

  He nodded and stepped toward the counter where the three stood.  “And how do you know my name?”

  “She seems to know a lot about us, Pastor,” Lou answered for Kristy.

  Kristy laughed, a genuine laugh, and she looked at Lou, then to Mike and back to Paul.  “She is right.  I do and I know more than you will ever know.”

  “Well,” the minister responded.  “I know that you have a beautiful voice, Kristy.”

  “Thank you.  Would you care to join me, Pastor?”

  At that question, Paul laughed.  “No, no, but I have a proposition for you.  I would like to invite you to our worship service Sunday.  Would you please come?  It would be an honor to have you there.”

  Kristy did not hesitate and resoundingly said, “Yes!  I will be there.  Would you like me to come to the first or second service?”

  Paul paused and asked, “How did you know we have two services?”

  Kristy simply smiled, jumped forward and hugged him.

To be continued…

Lou lay in her bed listening to a voice singing “Joy to the World” and the tinkling of a bell, keeping rhythm.  The clear sound drifted into her room and it felt as though she was being hugged, very gently, and it felt good.  She wrapped her arms across her chest giving herself a self-hug and smiled.  It was early still but she decided to get up to get the day started.  Amazingly, the day after Thanksgiving, the bakery was busy as people seemed to want doughnuts and stollens to watch football games on T.V.  She stood up from her single bed that was pushed against the wall across from the door that opened to the rest of the apartment.  She approached the window, pulled the curtain back and looked across the street to see Mike talking to a woman on the corner of the gas station lot.  As usual, he was using his hands.  He had always talked with his hands, very demonstrative, when he was trying to make a point.  He was looking closely at the woman.  The yellow hood had fallen from her head and Lou could see that she had light blond hair that even from the distance between them, she could see that it was curly.  The woman looked calm and she was smiling at Mike, politely listening, and then speaking back to him, puffs of smoke emphasizing the words that were spoken.  Mike turned and made a small circle, hands on hips and returned to face her.  Lou could see him nod to the woman, point his finger at her, turn and head toward the doorway of the store.  Lou watched the woman as she returned to the corner of the driveway entrance to the gas station and stop next to a tripod from which hung a small black kettle. 

  “I wonder what that is all about,” she said to herself.  At that moment, the blond head looked up at her, smiled, and waved.  Lou waved back.  As she dropped the corner of the curtain she was holding, she noticed candles burning in the lampposts.  “Joy to the World, the Lord has come…” the singing restarted but this time without the tingling of the bell.  Lou smiled to herself as she spread her feet, placed her hands on her hips and began to stretch, first to the left and then to the right.  As she got into her morning routine, she caught herself humming with each Christmas tune sang from the clear voice from the street below.

  Lou reached inside the kitchen doorway, flipped the light switch, and instantly the room filled with white, bright light.  As she passed the tables that were centered in the room, she turned knobs of the two fryers already filled with clear, cooking oil, and the two huge convection ovens that stood next to them, to the on position, getting them ready to go for the day.  She walked into her office and flipped that light switch, too, and the overhead light flickered on over her desk.  She walked around it , sat in the chair that faced a window that looked out to reveal the kitchen she just walked through.  In the corner of the office, a coffee maker stood on a small cabinet, and it was beginning to drip coffee into the pot just as it was pre-set to do. The desk had very few items on it.  An alarm clock faced her from the far-right corner that told her the time.  On the opposite corner were two baskets, one for incoming orders and the other, outgoing orders, for the day.  A pen stood upright from one of those fancy nameplate holders and the name on it said “Andy”.  It was her father’s holder.  The pen she used but she was not going to change the name.

  Her attention returned to the window as she heard the tingle from the bell that was over the corner of the front door.  Her eyes were expecting to see one of her two bakers, Millie, and Louis, walking into the kitchen.  Instead, it was the woman in the yellow coat.  Lou rose from her chair and walked through the doorway of the office.

  “Can I help you?” Lou asked stopping at the corner at the table closest to the office door.

  “Hi,”  the woman stopped.  “I’m Kristy, Louise.  Sorry, you liked to be called Lou, don’t you?  For Lou Brock.  Hi, Lou.”

  “How do you know my name?”  Lou’s defenses started to rise to the surface.

  Kristy smiled at her and it seemed to Lou that her bright, blue eyes smiled, too. 

  “Kristy.  My name’s Kristy.”  She had continued to walk to where Lou stood and stopped right in front of her.  “This is really a nice place.  I smell coffee and I would love a cup.  It is a little brisk outside.  Shall we?”

  For some unknown reason, Lou had relaxed and smiled back at this stranger.  She stepped aside and motioned for her guest to precede her into the office.  Kristy walked past her, stopping to grasp Lou’s hand, and making eye contact, they walked into the room together.

  Lou scooted the chair that was placed in the corner to the front of her desk/  She began to walk around to sit at her desk.  Her guest continued to the coffee pot and opened the cabinet doors below the pot and pulled out two ceramic cups.  She removed the coffee pot and filled the cups with the hot brew.  She carefully added two dollops of dry creamer into one of them and brought them to the desk.  Lou watched this exchange from her seat, and she was trying to figure out just who this person was.

  “Two spoons of cream, right?” Kristy asked as she set one cup in front of Lou.

  Lou nodded and Kristy smiled at her.  Lou watched her walk slowly around the office, pausing to look out of the window, to the water cooler in the corner to Lou’s right, and to the copier machine alongside it, and return to the chair placed in front of the desk and sat down.

  “You could do better decorating your office.  Make it your own.  Brighter, homier.  I could help you with that,”  Kristy took a sip from her coffee cup that stated, ‘I’d Rather Be in Bed’.

  “Who are you?” Lou asked, leaning forward.

  “I told you,”  she spoke into her cup.  “Kristy.”

  “No,” Lou removed her hands from her cup and folded them together in front of her nd said a little more sternly. “Who are you?”

  “A friend,”  Kristy took another sip for the cup.

  “How do you know who I am?  I have never seen you in my life,” Lou continued to pressure Kristy.

  “I know a lot about you,” Kristy placed her cup on the desk and leaned forward toward Lou. “I just do.”

  Lou sat back and instinctively folded her arms in front of her.  She carefully stared at the woman sitting in front of her, thinking.

  “Are you with Mike?” she finally asked her.

  “Mike?” Kristy sat back and laughed.  The laugh eased Lou and she uncrossed her arms.  “No, I am not with Mike.”

  “Why are you singing in his driveway?” Lou asked her.

  The bell tingled from the front again.

  “To change Candlelight,” Kristy finished her coffee and stood to leave.  “We will chat more later, ok?”

  “Sure,” Lou stayed seated as Kristy nodded, smiled, and left the room.

  Lou’s eyes followed her through the window as she paused to greet Millie.  She saw them both laugh.  Kristy looked back at her and waved.  She returned the wave.  Kristy watched her separate from Mille and continue out of the kitchen.  Millie walked toward the office, stuck her head inside and said, “She seems nice.”

  The bell above the front door tingled again.

To be continued…