Catching a glimpse of a legendary all-white reindeer is supposed to bring good luck.
Not for Georgia Greene.
As Georgia makes her way home for Christmas, a white reindeer dashes across the road in front of her, causing her to crash her car into a...
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Felix
This is it, Felix thought. It was all coming together at last.
Hugo Beaumont, the famous hotelier, seemed genuinely interested in the prospect of buying the farm. From what he had said, it seemed that Hugo had been on the search for this exact sort of property, a place that would suit his vision for a remote, rustic lodge. And Felix had to say, the Nissen farm fit that description pretty darn well.
He could only hope that Hugo agreed.
But, despite his excitement, there was something else lingering at the back of his mind. The prospect of having the farm no longer in his hands felt strange, like he was giving away a crucial part of his childhood, of himself. But he reminded himself that his memories weren't in these walls, these things. And it was his memories that haunted him the most.
There was no time to worry about it. He had things to do, many things before Hugo arrived. He had told Felix that he would come sometime around noon. That was just under an hour away now. Felix and his mother had already cleaned the rooms on the upper floor. Now his mother was off scrubbing down the kitchen while he went to the gift shop to tidy it up as best he could. As he pictured the shop in his mind, his stomach was in knots. He doubted there was enough time to conquer the mess that was in the storage room.
But as he entered the shop, his anxiety eased. In the day and a half that Georgia had been let loose in here, she had made many improvements. Now not only was it tidy and organized, but it was pretty, too. She had taken what little was left in the area and made it actually look good—she hung more decorations and got all the clutter out of the way. In particular, she had taken the scattered leftover merchandise and arranged them just so as to draw the last few eyes that would pass through. He reached out and touched the ornaments that sat beside the till, thinking of the pretty things that hung in the tree that Georgia had arranged for his mother...
In such a little amount of time, Georgia had done a lot for this place.
Amongst the artful display of ornaments, there was a pretty beaded star made out of gold and silver and wire. Felix picked it up, watching as it twisted in his hand, sparkling in the light. Something about it made him think of Georgia—may be the shade of silver, like the bright gray in her hazel eyes. Maybe he'd give it to her as a parting gift, as a way for her to remember her own time at the farm... Or maybe the reindeer she'd admired.
But the reindeer was gone.
Maybe she'd already taken it with her. That made Felix sad. He wished he'd been the one to give it to her.
His ear perked at the sound of a strange fluttering. It grew louder by the second until Felix realized it was the beat of a helicopter rotor.
Hugo was here—early, no less.
He pocketed the star and headed out to meet him.
On the porch, Felix could see the helicopter in the distance, flying low over the hills. He ran along the porch, ignoring the cold. He ran past Georgia's car, parked off the side of the house, and headed for the best place on the farm for the helicopter to land. There was a spot by the barn that was good and clear and flat. He stood in the center of it, waving to the helicopter so the pilot would know where to go. As the helicopter neared, he backed away, giving the spinning blades a good breadth.
