A Christmas Miracle. Anna Adams

until you feel better about handling the business and the new loan.”

      “You could, and I appreciate the offer, but you have a life with Hugh. I’ll call you if I have questions. I’m so glad to see you, but I feel guilty that you’ve come all this way, and ended your vacation early.”

      Her mom grinned. “Don’t. I’m not sure Hugh and I are vacation people. Remember, all you have to do if you need help is call me, and I’ll be on my way.”

      Katherine reached out and squeezed Fleming’s hand. “I’m a little worried that you’ve committed to this because you feel as if you owe me the store. You don’t. It was my dream, not yours.”

      “It’s part of all the Christmases we ever had, Mom. Part of the thread of my life. I want the store. And someday, if you and Hugh come home to this house, after he retires, you may be so bored you’ll want the business back.”

      Katherine laughed. “I can’t actually deny that.” She sat, tucking her napkin in her lap. “I’m glad I came.”

      “So am I. Stay a day or two, and we’ll visit, if Hugh doesn’t mind. You always restore my faith in myself.”

      Faith that Jason had shaken, not because he was cruel or meant to hurt her, but because he was, himself, a pragmatic, practical businessman who’d shown her she’d been complacent and trusted the wrong person.

      * * *

      JASON WAS WALKING to a lunch meeting when he saw the chalkboard on an easel outside Mainly Merry Christmas: “Make a Blissful Ornament. Papier-mâché. Classes Inside.”

      He lifted both brows. Not a bad idea. Something for parents and children to do together. Something for Christmas.

      A gust of wind burned his eyes. He tried to imagine living here, being part of this community. It was easier to imagine his sisters and brother having families. Bringing some sort of Macland tradition back here with the kind of marriage his grandparents still kept alive.

      But his grandparents were the exception, not the rule of Macland marriages. No one in his family would be coming back here. And he wouldn’t be staying.

      He sped up, his feet eating up the sidewalk. Thoughts of his mother and her note came to mind. She was family. He hadn’t even tried to see her.

      She hadn’t tried to see him, either, when he’d needed her most, but suddenly, for the first time in a long time, he wondered why. It wasn’t that he’d love to forgive and forget, but a guy who spent most of his life uncovering answers to troubling problems shouldn’t have been so content to just let the years slide by.

      Something about the holidays must be getting under his skin. He glanced at Fleming’s sign again.

      A car slid to the curb at Jason’s side. A luxury SUV. A man rolled down the window.

      “Jason, I thought that was you. Glad I made it in time for our appointment.” Gabe Kaufman, a client who happened to be driving from Knoxville to Asheville, climbed out of his car. “I’m glad you could see me.”

      Jason felt for the phone in his overcoat pocket. “I’ve got your files. Let’s talk.”

      He walked the guy over to a little restaurant behind the square. A server seated them at a linen-covered table, brought a silver carafe of coffee and unobtrusively served a five-star lunch while they discussed Gabe’s trading business. They finished the details about the same time dessert arrived, a chocolate mousse confection that took Jason’s mind off work for the first time since they’d sat down.

      “What are you doing out here?” Gabe asked. “It’s a cute little place, and I can’t believe you have access to dining like this.” He looked around the smoke-scented, low-beamed room. “But why have you buried yourself in the Tennessee mountains at this time of the year? You don’t even have convenient access to an airport.”

      Jason allowed himself a small smile. Gabe was an important client, but they weren’t such close friends that he’d be sharing his family’s business with him. “I lived here when I was a kid. I’m just home for a visit.”

      “Seriously?” Gabe made a big show of his disbelief. “I never knew that. I thought you were Beekman Place, born and bred.”

      “I spent most of my childhood there, but my roots are here.” Nothing had ever sounded more foreign to him. Or less true. He’d never had roots. He didn’t need roots like most of mankind. He needed the next challenge. “Everyone goes home once in a while. What are you doing in Asheville for the holidays?”

      “The music scene,” Gabe said. “My oldest daughter plays a violin. Well—” he swallowed hard “—apparently, it’s a fiddle now. If I could tell you the money I’ve paid for lessons... But she suddenly loves bluegrass, and she heard there was good music here. My wife wanted to spend some time away from the city where there was a chance our phones wouldn’t work.

      “And you know what? She succeeded. Here I am, and my phone is useless at the place where we’re staying. The wife did a little recon trip ahead of our family holiday, and she chose this chalet where she couldn’t get reception anywhere on the grounds.”

      Jason laughed, commiserating. “No one understands a guy who can’t relax.” Women just assumed such men ran from one place to the next to avoid commitment. Like Fleming... But no—he had to get her out of his head. “Has your family gone to Asheville ahead of you?”

      “We’ve been there a few days, but they came with me today. They seemed to think I might get distracted and not show up back at our equivalent of a desert island.” Gabe’s smile was wry, as if he was only about half as impatient with his downtime as he was pretending to be. “I dropped them back at that little holiday shop. Can you imagine anything as hopeless as running a store devoted to Christmas year-round? I might beat myself to death with one of the ceramic Santa Clauses in the window.”

      To his surprise, a surge of irritation stiffened Jason’s spine. “It does all right for business,” he said, as if there were some good financial reason for him to lie about Fleming’s store being in the peak of good fiscal health.

      “Yeah? You know the people who run it? Maybe the snow and the ski resorts put visitors in mind of Christmas. So how do people keep busy up here in summer?”

      Good question. Jason had no answer. His mind went blank, as if he didn’t know how to have fun. He usually worked. For fun, he’d started flying lessons last summer. One year, he’d done some work in Hawaii and dived in the clear waters every free moment he could find. “What do you do anywhere in summer? Whatever’s available, I guess.” He glanced at the discreet crowd of would-be customers milling quietly by the door. “We might be taking more than our allotted share of time here.”

      He dropped a wad of cash for lunch on the table and stood, leaving Gabe no choice but to follow. On the street, Jason put out his hand to shake his client’s. “It’s been good seeing you. Study the files I emailed you, and call me with your questions.”

      “Oh, no, you don’t. You’re not running out as if you can’t afford a few minutes off the clock. Come down to the little store with me. I want you to meet my wife and girls.”

      Another great idea. Fleming had made her position pretty clear during their last uncomfortable meeting. Jason made a show of checking his watch. “I don’t know...”

      “Forget it.” Gabe pounded his back as if they were old football teammates. “The global economy won’t collapse if you take your eye off it for a few minutes.”

      Without ever actually agreeing to go, Jason found himself walking with Gabe to the store. He even stepped in front of his friend and opened the door, which was wreathed in hand-drawn candy canes.

      Gabe entered ahead of him, but stopped so suddenly Jason thudded into his back. Then he caught sight of the chaos. The door was the only clean thing left in Mainly Merry Christmas.

      Three girls and two small boys, all covered in white goop,