Chistmas Ever After by Elyse Douglas Read Free Book Online Page A

said.
    Jennifer nodded. Mrs. Wintergreen held her arm and skated alongside her until they arrived safely at the gazebo and sat down.
    “Are you sure you’re all right, my dear?” Mrs. Wintergreen asked.
    “Yes, probably just bruised…nothing serious.”
    Jennifer looked at Mrs. Wintergreen’s placid face, studied her alert eyes and saw a comfortable reliability and assurance in them. She noticed her clothes: a red and green ski cap, with embroidered reindeer and children; the woolen red scarf tied loosely around her neck, the burgundy sweater and Little Red Riding Hood cape over her shoulders, the emerald skirt and antique-looking ice skates, with sparkling runners.
    “Who are you?”
    “Someone who wants to give you a Christmas gift.”
    “No,” Jennifer said, abruptly, “I mean, who are you, really, and where do you come from? I’ve never seen you around town before, I mean until the other day in my shop.”
    “Well…, Jennifer, people often look at me strangely when I tell them who I really am. So I don’t tell them.”
    “I’m looking at you strangely now. It’s more than a little strange when someone follows you around like you’ve been following me.”
    Mrs. Wintergreen folded her hands in her lap and looked straight ahead. Just as she was about to speak, Jennifer said, “And don’t tell me you’re some kind of Christmas angel!”
    “Oh, no! Although I wanted to be when I was a little girl.”
    “So?”
    “Well, I’m what you might call... a kind of Christmas Spirit.”
    Jennifer nodded, rapidly, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Okay... okay...”
    “It’s difficult for some people to believe that we exist.”
    Jennifer narrowed her eyes. “Well I can’t imagine why,” she said, sarcastically.
    “At Christmas, happiness, hope and love are needed the most, Jennifer. So, I, and others like me, come to help out from time to time.”
    Jennifer sighed and looked away. “I see. And where are you from?”
    “Well, you could say I’m from right here. I mean, in a sense, I’m always here.”
    Jennifer shut her eyes in impatience. “Okay, let’s not even go there. What did you say your name was?”
    Mrs. Wintergreen leaned toward her. “I introduced myself to you earlier today, Jennifer, when I came to your shop. I’m Mrs. Frances Wintergreen.”
    “Well, that’s a very cheery name. Wintergreen sounds very... holiday-ish, doesn’t it?”
    “Yes, Jennifer.”
    Jennifer looked away, irritated, watching the snow blow and drift. “Well, isn’t that nice.”
    “Of course, you don’t believe in me,” Mrs. Wintergreen said, shrugging.
    “No!” Jennifer said, emphatically. “No, I do not believe that you’re some kind of Christmas Spirit. Forgive me, but I stopped believing in Santa Claus a long, long time ago,” Jennifer said, lifting her hand and then dropping it helplessly in her lap. “Do you have family nearby or someone I could call, maybe a therapist, a hospital?”
    Mrs. Wintergreen laughed. “You can see why I don’t often tell people who I am, Jennifer. I almost always get the same response.”
    “Look, I would really appreciate it if you’d just leave me alone.”
    Mrs. Wintergreen looked deeply into Jennifer’s eyes. “Jennifer, it was your request that brought me here. You’re the one who asked for help, the day after Thanksgiving, remember?”
    Jennifer shifted, anxiously. “Look, Mrs. Wintergreen, I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I think this joke has gone on long enough. I do not believe that you are some incarnate Spirit of Christmas, and, unless you can show me some miracle, I’m going to ask you, very nicely, to stop following me.”
    Mrs. Wintergreen looked at Jennifer knowingly. “I’ve been watching you for some time, Jennifer. It was I who sang to you that night, when you were closing the shop. Remember? You thought it was coming from the CD player. You checked the CD player and it was turned off. That same night, at home, when you were working on