Christmas in Sawyer Falls Read Online Free Page B

next night, with the whole family-it’s not like it was a date or anything. But what if it were a date…she imagined her and Ben, out to a romantic dinner, just the two of them and… STOP IT HANNAH! It was getting harder to control her thoughts so she challenged Andrew to one more game before putting him to bed.
    *
    The next morning, the family awoke to a sunny winter morning. The cold front had passed and milder weather had moved in again. They were going to go to the Sawyer Falls Mall for a little bit of Christma s shopping and for Andrew to get his picture with Santa.
    When they reached the mall, it was more crowded than they had planned so they decided to get a place in the Santa line with Andrew right away. It looked like it would be a long wait and Hannah was thankful that she had brought a small bag for Andrew full of boo ks and games to keep him busy.
    “Now that you have Shadow back, what are you going to ask Santa for?” David asked him.
    “This is my list,” Andrew answered, handing his list for David to look over.
    Tess and Hannah laughed. “It looks like you had no trouble coming up with new ideas for Santa,” his grandmother remarked.
    “And I put the most important one firs t. Mommy knows what that one is .”
    Hannah felt herself blush and peeked over her father’s shoulder at the list. It was written in Andrew’s adorable seven year old handwriting, with invented word spellings and pictures added for emphasis. Listed at number one were the words ‘New Daddy’.
    “Maybe you should move that one down the list, Buddy, I don’t think Santa can bring that to you.”
    “San ta can do anything!” Andrew exclaimed, reaching into his bag for a Christmas picture book to look at.
    Standing in line , Hannah glanced around at some nearby stores. There was a window display of mannequins wearing pretty cashmere sweaters and it made her wonder what she had in her own closet that she could pull out for tonight. Not that she wanted to impress Ben, of course, but he had seen her so far in her teaching clothes and sweats, so she wanted to wear something nice. But what?
    She decided it wouldn’t hurt if she looked around in a few stores. It had been so long since she’d bought anything new for herself and she was just standing in line, anyways.
    “Say, Mom, would you mind if I left Andrew in line here with you and Dad while I check out a few stores? ”
    “Sure, dear. I thought you said you were done shopping, though?”
    “I am. I just…was thinking I might b u y something for myself to wear tonight.”
    As soon as the words were out of Hannah’s mouth, she worried that she’d regret admitting that. She wanted to play it down and didn’t want her mother to think she was excited for their dinner. Because she wasn’t. Well, maybe just a little bit.
    Her mother’s face broke out into a wide grin. “Oh, yes! That’s a great idea! Get something really nice and maybe some new jewelry to match.”
    Hannah just smiled and shook her head as she walked away. “Ok, I’ll see what I can find. Just text me when it’s almost Andrew’s turn. ”
    “ Ooh, and you look really good in blue! Maybe you should try to find something in blue!” Tess called after her.
    It took her less time than she thought it would. At first she wasn’t sure exactly what it was she was looki ng for, she didn’t want a dress; that would look like she was trying too hard. It wasn’t a date so she didn’t want to look like she was on one. She got lucky at the first store she tried where she found a beautiful midnight blue ruffled sweater with a silver lace tank to wear underneath. She smiled to herself thinking her mother would be tickled to find out she’d chosen something blue.
    At the counter, the cashier asked her if she’d like any matching jewelry to go with her purchase. Despite her mother’s suggestion, she hadn’t even thought about it, but now that the cashier brought it up, she hesitated and took a glance at the