Mary stood on the sidewalk in front of the Whistle Stop Café, watching the parade go by. Snow clouds hovered overhead, but the weather was clear as the parade marshals rolled past on a big fire truck driven by Marshall’s friend Donny. The town council members smiled and waved at the crowd, and all of them wore boutonnieres. The mayor did too, and she was ahead of them waving from the passenger seat of the ambulance. The ambulance driver let out a short screech from his siren and people cheered. These first responder vehicles were at the front of the parade on purpose. In the event they were needed for an emergency, they couldn’t afford to be hemmed in.
People swamped the sidewalks on both sides of the street. Mary occasionally spotted Dennis and Itzel strolling along, while encouraging parade patrons to stay back from the road. Parents held their children on their shoulders, and lots of kids waved Mary’s Clark Creek flags. Mary saw Gerald and Geraldine across the way in front of the Taverna Italiana, and they fluttered their programs in hello. Marshall appeared behind them, sending her a thumbs up.
Her walkie-talkie crackled in her pocket and she took it out. It was Evan’s voice, asking “How’s it going out there?”
“Really great,” Mary answered. “The marching band just went by, along with your mom, and then the parade marshals.”
“Itzel?” Evan asked.
“Here, boss,” she said, her connection crackling. “Looking good over in parking.”
Dennis chimed in on the channel. “Gazebo looks clear. Most folks have bought their tickets and gone on to Main Street. Oh, sorry,” he added with a chortle. “Christmas Avenue.”
“How’s it going with you, Santa?” Mary asked Evan.
“Just about to board my sleigh.”
Mary made her way through the crowd to peek at Santa’s workshop and the animal adoption tent, which was waiting and ready for the animal carriers to be unloaded from the trucks. She turned around and saw the portable library truck approaching. It towed along huge candy cane and book balloons and had a big banner on either side of it saying: Home for the Holidays and Reading.
The flatbed truck from the Feed & Seed had large snowflake balloons anchored to its sides and carried bales of hay surrounding a painted nativity scene, complete with a life-size rendering of a donkey and sheep. Mary carefully crossed Three-Notched Pass, then strode by the fairgrounds so she could cross over to the other corner on Main Street and go back the other way.
She heard bells ringing and peered above some taller heads to see the church bus coming with its bell ringers. All around her, people looked happy, and Mary was happy too. Her heart felt full to the brim with the joy she saw on people’s faces. There was nothing like the wonder of a Christmas parade.
Her walkie-talkie crackled again. This time, it was Helen. “We have an update on ticket sales. Two thousand so far.”
Evan whooped on his end and Mary’s heart gave a hopeful leap.
“How are the souvenirs holding up?”
“All out of flags,” Helen reported. “Mostly out of magnets. Still a bunch of coasters.”
“T-shirts?” Evan asked, and Mary almost wished he hadn’t. At the same time, she wanted to know.”
“We’ve moved a few.” Helen exchanged words with someone beside her in the gazebo. “Ten.”
Mary’s stomach clenched.
“Dennis and Itzel?” Evan asked. “Things still good?”
“Yes, sir!” Dennis said.
“That’s a roger,” Itzel quipped, like she’d been practicing.
Mary got out her phone and removed her right glove, entering the new data from Helen. Two thousand times five dollars was ten thousand dollars. Good. The pertinent souvenirs only cost two thousand, so that was a nice profit on ticket sales so far. Part of those net profits would go to the town and the other portion to parade entries. But only ten T-shirts? She’d forgotten to ask if any of those were budget sales, so she picked up her walkie-talkie.
“Helen,” she said, above the parade noise. “It’s Mary. What were the proceeds from those T-shirts? Were any of them discounted?”
“Let’s see.” Helen asked someone else the question, then got back to Mary. “One hundred thirty dollars. That’s the total. Eight sold as the sales package, two individuals.”
“Okay, thanks!” Mary said, knowing Evan had heard this. She frantically scanned the crowd, mentally willing more people to appear.
Then suddenly, something weird occurred. A big line of trucks and cars moved down Three-Notched Pass from the highway at a slow pace. Mary didn’t know why this was happening, but she’d take it. If these were more folks coming to the parade, she’d welcome them with open arms.
The first vehicle turned on its blinker and veered into the parking lot. Then, the next one did too. The traffic was heavy, so moving slowly. A guy rolled down the window of his SUV and shouted to her. “Mary!”
She turned around, recognizing him as Sam Singleton. His lively wife, Angie, sat beside him in the passenger seat. A cute dark-haired boy with big dark eyes sat in back. Beside him was a baby seat, holding a toddler girl with curly dark hair. Next to her, a much older woman with reddish-brown hair wore a stunning printed scarf and colorful parrot earrings. She grinned, her dark eyes sparkling. “Feliz Navidad,” she said in a light Spanish accent. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas.” Mary returned the greeting before shouting happily. “Sam! Angie! Hey.” She smiled at the older woman. “You must be Angie’s grandmother.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Pepe!” the little boy said. He patted the baby on her head. “This is Magdalena!”
Sam leaned out his SUV window. “Sorry we’re running late. There was a big backup on our end. Heavy snow on the mountain. People had to wait until the streets were cleared. I hope we haven’t missed it?”
“No, not at all. Things are just getting started.”
She glanced behind his SUV and saw more people coming, and more after them. The sedan right behind Sam’s SUV carried two older couples, who smiled and waved. She guessed they were Angie’s mom and her new husband, and Sam’s dad with his girlfriend.
She smiled at Sam and Angie. “I’m so glad you and your family made it safely.”
Pepe had a question. “Has Santa come yet?”
“Not yet,” Mary answered, grinning again. She couldn’t believe this good fortune. It was just like Itzel had said. Nothing was over until it was over. Look at all these people coming to her parade!
“Woo!” The child turned to his great-grandmother. “Lita! We haven’t missed him.”
The older woman smiled sweetly at the boy. “Yes. I heard.”
Mary couldn’t wait to get on her walkie-talkie to share the news.
“Hey, Helen,” she said happily. “Prepare yourself for more ticket sales.”
“Yay!” Itzel chimed in. “We seem to be getting a second wave. We’re moving into overflow parking now on Nash’s farm.”
“Yup,” Dennis said from his vantage point. “Starting to see them. Lots more folks headed for the gazebo ticket line.”
Mary squeezed through parade onlookers, hearing excited yapping sounds coming from the trucks carrying the precious-looking rescue animals. The mascot dogs majestically rode shotgun in the passenger seats of the first two trucks. A big tabby cat pressed his paws up to the passenger window of the third truck, pawing at the glass. And a fourth truck followed.
“Look, Daddy!” a child said. “That kitty’s waving!”
Mary glanced up at Chloe’s sweet face, seeing she sat on Nash’s shoulders. She’d nearly bumped into them when passing by. “Great parade,” Nash said.
“Thank you! Hi Nash, Chloe. So fun to see you here.”
Chloe waved a tiny mitten. “Hi, Miss Mary.”
Nash nodded toward the trucks from the animal rescue. “Bet that adoption tent will get a lot of business today.”
Mary held up her gloved fingers and crossed them. “Here’s hoping!”
She inched toward Maple Street, spying the stream of newcomers across the street squeezing their way toward the town square by inserting themselves behind the last row of parade watchers and the festively adorned storefronts. Though Main Street businesses had already decorated for Christmas when Mary got here, they’d gone the extra mile in dolling themselves up with more decorations ahead of the parade.
The bake shop float went by, covered with all sorts of yummy-looking Christmas cookies, including gingerbread boys and girls, all of gigantic proportions. Mary worked her way toward the town square, arriving just as Santa’s “sleigh” turned onto Main Street. The sleigh was actually Jesse’s tractor, but he’d done a really good job decorating it to look like the real thing before he’d gotten ill. Evan smiled and waved at the crowd.
Mary looked up to see a camera crew positioned across the road, taping the whole parade. It seemed to be made up of teenage kids, but then she saw a truck on the far side of the town square near the library, which appeared to be from the local TV station. Excellent.
She peered up and down Main Street, spotting an official-looking guy with a shoulder-mounted camera trailing after a female reporter wearing boots and a sleek winter coat, and talking into a microphone. Wheee! We’re making the news!
“Ho-ho-ho!” Evan shouted in a deeply jolly way. “Merry Christmas!”
Mary’s heart warmed. Evan was trying so hard, and he really did make a great Santa, after all. He dug into his Santa bag and tossed a rolled-up T-shirt into the crowd. Then another. “Ho-ho-ho! Merry Christmas, everybody! Merry Christmas!”
When people realized what he was doing with the T-shirts, they gave Evan their full attention, leaping to catch the T-shirt missiles he lobbed through the air. One landed near Mary, and a young boy almost trampled her foot trying to grab it. “Oh sorry, Miss Mary!”
She saw it was Joe. He unrolled his T-shirt and showed it off to his brother.
“Cool,” Spencer said. “I want one.”
“I saw them for sale on a table by the tickets.” Joe nudged Spencer. “Come on, let’s go ask Mom and Dad!”
Mary stared in amazement at Evan, who watched the crowd and the group of children playing recorders angled out the windows of the school bus in front of him.
Better not pout, I’m telling you why…Santa Claus is coming to town!
Mary could almost hear the lyrics in her head as the kids played their tune, some of them more accurately than others. After a couple of high-pitched screeches, she noted a few grown-ups trying not to wince. They were goodhearted about it, though, and pasted on appreciative grins.
She was grinning too—to beat the band.
And then it started snowing.
Small white flakes twirled down from the sky and Evan ho-ho-hoed even louder. He scanned the sidewalks, looking to the left and then the right. Mary waved and his smile sparkled beneath his fake white beard when he saw her.
He reached into his Santa bag and tossed out more T-shirts, and people started hollering.
“Choose me, Santa!”
“Over here!”
“I’ve been a good girl,” a woman said in way too flirty tones. Mary scowled in her direction, noting she was about her own age and very pretty. Fortunately, “Santa” didn’t hear her, or if he did, he pretended not to.
Instead, Evan caught Mary’s gaze and held it. When he was sure that she saw him, he winked and she went all tingly inside. Evan Clark was one amazing man, and totally full of surprises.
People whistled and cheered.
“Pick me, Santa! Pick me!”
Someone else said, “This is the best parade. Let’s come next year!”
“Look!” another voice shouted. “We’re on Christmas Avenue.”
“Yeah,” his companion chuckled. “Just now noticed that.”
Mary experienced a hopeful lift in her heart and she tightly shut her eyes.
Please, please, please. Pretty please.
Her walkie-talkie crackled. It was Helen.
“Mary?” she said. “Thought you’d want to know. We’re selling a boatload of T-shirts over here.”
Mary fist pumped with both hands and did a crazy twirl-around dance on the sidewalk.
Yes, yes, yes! Yippee! Woo-hoo!
Then she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and answered. “Thanks, Helen.”
She put away her walkie-talkie and looked up to see Evan watching her. She gave him a big thumbs up, and he smiled.
“Merry Christmas, everybody!” he boomed. “Merry Christmas!”
Mary caught up with Evan behind Santa’s Workshop after the parade. He’d just left his tractor at the fairgrounds and was about to take up his post. A line of kids waiting to see him had already formed, and there was another line for the reindeer rides. Leroy and Austin made very good elves. Hordes of people milled about, happily chatting, yet none were rushing to get in their vehicles and leave. That was great. Mary wanted all of them to stay and have lunch. Then go shopping.
Evan dipped his chin when Mary approached him in the parking area. “Looks like the parade was a success.”
She scanned the crowd, her blood pumping harder. Her pulse had been beating wildly ever since she first believed she was going to really pull this parade off. “Yes!”
“What’s the word on T-shirt sales?”
“Your marketing idea worked.” She checked the app on her phone. “Fifteen hundred sales, so far,” she squealed excitedly, “and people are buying more.”
“Nice. What’s the dollar tally?”
Mary checked her phone again. “Eighteen thousand for first and single sales. Eight thousand at cost.”
“Twenty-six thousand all together?” He grinned. “Mary, that’s awesome.”
“I know. I know. Crossing all my fingers and toes, but—Evan.” A family with kids walked by so she quickly amended, “Santa. I think we could do it.”
“You have done it, Mary. Congratulations!”
Her phone rang. It was Judy.
“Fantastic numbers,” she said. “Just saw the update.”
“Which update is that?”
“Donation forms! They’ve been coming in all morning, thanks to that handy ‘Support the Parade on Christmas Avenue’ link you posted on Clark Creek’s town website right under the details about the parade.”
She’d been so tuned in to souvenirs and T-shirts, Mary hadn’t looked at that section of the revenue spreadsheet. She checked it while talking with Judy…and she nearly fainted.
Several people had given ten dollars. Others twenty. Many one hundred. And—oh, wow— at least a dozen donors had given over a thousand dollars each, qualifying them for the Santa’s Circle level.
Evan searched her eyes.
“It’s, uh.” Mary licked her lips. “Judy. She says more donations came in.”
“Are still coming in,” Judy said, “and who are you talking to?”
“Evan.”
“Well, tell him ‘Great job’ too, and Merry Christmas from all of us here at Davenport Development Associates.”
Mary nodded numbly.
“Smart thinking to add that comment box,” Judy continued, “because people are loving this parade. They want to see another one like it next year.”
Mary’s throat felt raw. She was so happy she wanted to cry. “That’s wonderful.”
“A real Christmas miracle, yeah. Congrats on pulling it off! We’ll talk later after the final numbers are in. But Mary,” she said. “They’re only going to get better at this point. Not worse.”
“You, Mary Ward, are a world-class Christmas Consultant,” Evan said when she ended her call. He gazed at her admiringly. “You’ve single-handedly saved this town.”
“Not single-handedly.” She glanced around at the crowd. “I had lots of help. From you, especially, Evan.” She gazed up him. “Thank you.”
Evan’s walkie-talkie sounded and he pulled it out from underneath his tunic.
“Is there a Santa Claus around here?” It was Itzel, but she sounded awfully close, like she wasn’t just on the walkie-talkie. She was somewhere nearby. Evan and Mary looked around and found her standing next to Santa’s Workshop trying to placate restless kids and their parents.
“Duty calls.” Evan shifted on his feet. “I guess I’d better go,” he said, like he didn’t want to. “Maybe we can talk later?”
“Later? Sure.”
He wagged his finger in her direction. “Don’t leave town. Not yet.”
“I won’t.” Her cell buzzed in her hand. It was Judy sending a text.
Just heard from headquarters.
You’re going to Seattle!