Welcome to Christmas, Texas: A Christmas Network Novel Read online

  Lana reached out and traced the scroll work. “Whoever did the restoration did a fantastic job. This looks new and like it was carved out of one piece of wood.” It wasn’t possible that the entire trim encasing the door on three sides was one piece of wood, but she couldn’t find the seams.

  Janis smiled. “This inn has been owned by my family since it opened. We’ve done our best to keep it up.”

  “You’ve done an excellent job.” She’d grown up doing house walk-throughs with her mother analyzing the layout and potential sales price. “Is there a car rental company in town?”

  If the town was as small as she thought, it wasn’t likely. Based on what she’d seen so far, it was tiny.

  “No, but I can give you a ride to wherever you need to go.” She nodded. “After I get you settled in, I’ll give Sammy a call. He runs the local garage. He can tow your car in and take a look.” Janis’s eyes appraised Lana. “Besides your feet, you don’t look like you got hurt in the accident.”

  “Actually, I don’t feel that bad. I’ve never been in an accident before. Apart from some neck and shoulder pain, I’m good.” She rubbed her neck. It was sore.

  “I still think I should call Doc Janssen over. We don’t have a hospital or anything, but Dr. Janssen’s the best.” She grinned. “He’s also my best friend’s son so I know he wouldn’t mind.”

  Lana shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine.”

  The elevator stopped on the second floor. At least she assumed it was the second floor since from the street it had appeared that the building only had two floors.

  “If you say so.” Janis unrolled the metal door and again waited for Lana to go first. “The Welcome Suite is the door at the end of the hall.”

  Lana headed toward the double doors at the end of the hall. The hallway was nice and wide, and the ceilings were high. Heart of pine floors made it seem sturdy and homey. They were the type of floors that would look the same in a hundred years as they did now. “I love the floors. You can’t find craftsmanship like that anymore. It’s a shame.”

  “My father is a carpenter. He helped build the inn.” Janis’s voice held nothing but pride. “Are you a realtor or something?”

  “No, my mother is a realtor. I grew up in the business. I own an advertising firm.” She’d always loved old buildings while her mother preferred modern, clean lines. Wait, Janis’s father had helped build the inn. But Janis couldn’t be more than thirty-five. Even if her parents had her late in life, the math didn’t work out.

  “Advertising, that sounds interesting.” Janis tried to sound interested, but she didn’t quite pull it off.

  Lana laughed. “Advertising isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but it pays the bills.”

  Janis opened the right side of the double doors and stepped back.

  Lana’s jaw nearly bounced off the floor. “It’s beautiful.”

  A huge carved mahogany four-poster bed was piled high with a mountain of pillows. The rich, deep red down comforter looked yummy-soft and warm. There was a huge red covered window seat in the semi-circular bay window that looked out into the inky night sky. Two overstuffed, dark brown leather armchairs were stationed in front of a huge flat screen TV mounted on the wall across from the bed. The same elaborate wooden scroll work was in the crown molding and the baseboards.

  The only thing that made his room unappealing was the overabundance of Christmas decorations. There was enough red tinsel draping the walls to cover the White House Christmas Tree three times over. Ornaments hung from the tinsel and figures of Santa and his elves cluttered every available surface. And there were four Christmas trees, one in each of the room’s corners. “I guess Christmas, Texas is known for their Christmas Spirit. This makes Hallmark Christmas Movie sets look sparse and incomplete.

  “The bathroom is through there.” Janis pointed to another set of double doors. She pushed them open to reveal a huge white subway tiled bathroom with a VW Beetle-sized clawfoot tub—and silver tinsel draped everywhere. There were red and green Merry Christmas bathmats and a matching toilet lid cover.

  It was only one night. She could survive one night in the overly Christmas-y Christmas Tree Inn.

  “That tub is huge.” She bent down and ran her hand along the top. “I can’t wait to jump in. It looks original.”

  “It is.” Janis pointed to a set of recessed shelves beside a carved vanity table. The table held a small, but fully decorated Christmas tree. “There are plenty of towels, and in the armoire,” she pointed to a massive armoire carved into the back wall, “there is plenty of room for your clothes.” She backed out of the room and stopped at the double doors. “I’ll leave you to your bath. Feel free to stay in the tub as long as you like. I’ll bring your stew up and leave it on the bedside table. Enjoy.” She stepped out of the room and closed the doors behind her.

  Lana turned on the water and picked up a baseball-sized bath bomb from a red and green striped glass bowl full of them on a small round wooden table next to the tub. She sniffed the bath bomb. It smelled like gardenias, her favorite, and tossed it into the tub.

  She hadn’t made it to Fredericksburg to the charming bed and breakfast she’d found online, but this was even better. The Welcome to Christmas, Texas sign had been right. She was right where she was supposed to be—for tonight.

  Chapter 2

  Sheriff Nick Van De Berg pulled up to what looked like a Lexus wrapped around the Welcome sign. There had been an accident. He hadn’t gotten a call about it on the radio. He got out of his city-issued Chevy Tahoe and made his way to the driver’s side window. Rain sliced down from all directions. He pulled his black Maglite out of his belt and shown it inside the car. All he saw were airbags.

  “Hello, anyone hurt?” He knocked on the window.

  There was no response.

  He tried the door handle and amazingly, the door opened. It wasn’t locked. He showed the light around. There was nothing but airbags. He sniffed the air. The scent was something familiar, but he couldn’t exactly place it. Gardenias … maybe? He inhaled deeply. Yes, definitely gardenias.

  The girl he’d dated his senior year at Texas A&M had loved gardenia body lotion. And he’d loved watching her put it on. He shook his head. For him, she was the one who got away. He’d broken up with her because he couldn’t bring her back to Christmas. She would have hated living here, and he couldn’t live anywhere else.

  Thunder shook the Lexus.

  He stood and closed the door. He needed to find the driver. She—based on the gardenia smell he was going with a she—might be hurt or lost or both.

  He went around to the hood and touched it. Cold. So, this hadn’t just happened. Come to think of it, how had it happened? They didn’t get visitors to Christmas. To say that it was in the middle of nowhere was an understatement.

  He walked back to his Tahoe and got behind the wheel. He picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button on the side. “Nadine, it looks like there’s been an accident with the Highway 16 welcome sign. I need you to run a license plate for me.”

  They’d dispensed with all of the standard police codes as Nadine couldn’t seem to remember them. She was a super sweet lady, but 10-4 was way out of her wheelhouse.

  “Someone had an accident in the city limits?” Nadine didn’t try his patience on purpose, he was almost sure.

  “Looks like it.” He tried to sigh quietly, but sighs were anything but quiet.

  “Anyone we know?”

  “No, that’s why I need for you to run the license plate.” Since he’d already sighed, he rolled his eyes.

  “Okay Sheriff, what’s the plate number.” Nadine’s voice was finally all business.

  He read off the plate number.

  “It looks like it’s a company car. It belongs to LDG Marketing out of Austin.” It sounded like she was shuffling papers which didn’t make since because everything she needed was on the laptop computer in front of her.

  “Has anyone called in a car acciden
t?” Where was the driver?

  “Nope.”

  He waited for more, but it looked like Nadine was finished.

  “I’m going to drive around and see if I can find her.” The Guadalupe River that surrounded Christmas was rising fast.

  “You don’t think she got carjacked or something? What if she’s lost in the woods and gets eaten by a bear?” Nadine liked drama. If there wasn’t any around, she’d just made up her own.

  “We don’t have bears. It’s more likely that she walked to town.” He reminded himself that having Nadine as dispatcher was better than not having a dispatcher at all. Since everyone else worked at the local plant, there wasn’t a lot of talent to pull from for jobs that weren’t part of SC Industries.

  “Okay, well, I hope you find her.” Nadine yawned. “I’ve got to put the kids to bed. Just holler if you need something else.” She also ran dispatch from her dining room table. He was thankful for her … he was pretty sure.

  First, he went to the two low water crossings that were the only ways to get in out of town. About five feet of water covered both of them. With the eleven inches of rain they’d had so far, the water was bound to hit flood stage before the storm let up. He didn’t find the driver, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been there. The visibility was about a foot in front of him.

  Next, he began searching the city streets in a grid pattern starting west and working his way east. Thirty minutes later, he’d searched every single street. As he drove down Main Street for the second time, he pulled in front of the Christmas Tree Inn. Was it possible that the driver had walked all of the way to town and checked into the inn?

  He ran up the steps and dinged the metal reception bell sitting on top of the front desk. Janis came out of the kitchen door carrying a tray with a steaming bowl on top. “What’s up?”

  “Did a customer check in who walked into town?” He would have taken the tray from her, but he knew from personal experience that Janis didn’t like help from anyone.

  “Yes, and I’m taking her this stew. Poor thing was drenched and told me she’d had a car accident. I offered to call Dr. Jansson for her, but she refused.” She headed to the elevator.

  “Is she okay?” He made his way to the elevator too. He should get her accident statement while it was fresh in her mind.

  “She told me she was okay. Told me that all she had was shoulder and some neck pain.” Janis struggled to open the metal grate of the elevator door.

  “I got that.” He rolled it open. “I need her accident statement.”

  “You going to have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, she’s in the tub.” Janis stepped into the elevator.

  “Did she seem impaired at all?” He really needed to see if she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

  “You mean like drunk or something?” Janis waved that away. “No, she seemed like a nice girl who was freezing.” Janis pushed the second-floor button with her elbow as he closed the door. “I think you should question her tomorrow. It’s late, and she’s tired.”

  “It can’t wait.” He was firm. Police business was police business.

  His walkie-talkie crackled. “Sheriff, it’s Nadine.”

  Who else would it be?

  He pulled it out of his belt. “Go ahead.”

  “DeeDee Bright just called, and a big bus of senior citizens on their way home from the casinos somehow crossed into the city limits off of State Highway 87. They tried to turn around because they figured out that this wasn’t Fredericksburg and got stuck. Their back tires are under water.”

  “I’m on my way.” He put his walkie back in his belt as he turned to Janis. “The people in the bus are going to need a place to stay.” He stepped out of the elevator and glanced around for the stairs.

  “I’ll be ready.” She waved it off. “I’ve got it. Go save those people before it’s too late.”

  “I’ll let you know how many to expect.” He took the stairs. Every second was precious. The water was rising fast and could sweep the bus away at any moment. He ran out the front door taking the front steps two-at-a-time.

  The walkie squawked as he jumped into the Tahoe and slammed it into drive. “Is something going on with the outer markers? We’ve had two breaches tonight.” Nadine sounded concerned. “Want me to have Leon drive out and see if they’re broken?”

  “Yes, but tell him to turn around if there’s any water over the road. No use taking chances. Can you call Chris and have him drive the school bus over? We’re going to need to transport those people to the inn.” The rain had brought more excitement than they’d had in a long time.

  Five minutes later, he pulled up to the bus. The lights were flickering on and off inside. DeeDee Bright, who ran the local preschool, stood in front of the bus with her flashlight waving it around like she was trying to guide an airplane in on an aircraft carrier.

  He went to the bus’s front door and banged on it.

  The door shushed open, and an elderly man who could be seventy or seven hundred waved from the driver’s seat. “I’m Ned. We’re trying to drive the bus out, but the back tires keep slipping.”

  “I’m Sheriff Van De Berg. The back tires are completely covered in water. We need to get these people off this bus right now.” He climbed up the stairs into the bus.

  “What?” Ned leaned into Nick like he couldn’t hear him.

  Nick yelled, “Everyone off the bus. Now.”

  DeeDee stuck her head into the open door. “I already tried that. The tour company told them all to stay in their seats or they would have to pay a fine. Everyone’s on a fixed income, so no one’s moving.”

  “That’s right,” said a man with bushy eyebrows and overly large glasses in an aisle seat three rows back. “I’d rather drown than pay an extra fifty bucks. That’s highway robbery. They already wouldn’t take my coupon. I’m not paying them an extra dime.”

  The lady across the aisle from him clutched her purse to her chest like she was sure someone was going to steal it from her. “My winnings are mine. No one’s taking a nickel from me.”

  A man at the back of the bus yelled, “I’m eighty-four years old, the average life expectancy for a man in the US is seventy-nine. I’m already living on borrowed time. I got nothing to lose.”

  “I don’t know you. You could be someone dressed up as a Sheriff trying to steal my identity. I’m not giving you my social security number.” This from a man in a window seat on the front row.

  Nick honestly didn’t know what to say. With the exception of his father, these were the first senior citizens he’d seen since moving back to Christmas after college. He remembered seniors being nicer. It was just his luck to have a bus full of budget-minded, angry seniors with a death wish land in his jurisdiction.

  “I’ll contact the tour bus company and make sure they don’t charge anyone the extra money. Also, if you leave with me now, I’ll have them refund your entire ticket price.” He was going to need his father’s help with the tour bus company. His dad was the CEO of SC Industries, and the man could talk just about anyone into doing just about anything.

  A hush came over the seniors.

  “Really? You can do that?” The woman clutching her purse was skeptical.

  “I can and I will.” He pointed to the door. “But only if you all leave with me now. We’re going to take you to the Christmas Tree Inn.” He held his hands up in anticipation of their grumblings. “The town of Christmas, Texas will be picking up the tab for the inn so you don’t need to worry. The school bus should be here any minute to pick you up.”

  The man on his right rocked back and forth a couple of times and finally landed on his feet. “There is no Christmas, Texas. I worked at the IRS for forty years, and I can tell you there isn’t a town in Texas named Christmas.”

  “And yet, here you are. What’s it going to be, a full refund and a free night at the Christmas Tree Inn plus free dinner and breakfast or drowning?” Nick eyed the water. It was rising fast.

&n
bsp; Slowly, the seniors got to their feet. They rifled through the overhead bins and grabbed their belongings. Every single one of them seemed to have five or six small plastic grocery bags full of stuff.

  Nick led them out of the bus. The rain had let up which was good because very few of the seniors were steady on their feet.

  DeeDee used her flashlight to wave them over to higher ground.

  Nick’s brother, Chris, pulled the school bus up next to the Tahoe. He put it in park, opened the door, and stepped down. “Ladies and gentlemen, your chariot awaits.”

  Nick grinned. His little brother was almost as good at talking people into doing what he wanted as their father.

  “Well, aren’t you a cutie pie.” A bottle-blonde woman wearing a light blue flowered muumuu, an oxygen tank, and liver spots walker-ed her way over to Chris. “Are you married?”

  “No, ma’am.” He smiled down at her, charm oozing out of every pore in his body.

  “You want to be?” She winked.

  “Behave yourself, young lady. I can tell you’re a troublemaker.” He helped her up the steps.

  “Delores, what am I, chopped liver?” A man with polyester pants pulled up to his armpits stomped over to the bus.

  Delores opened the window in the first seat and yelled down. “You’re old, Bernie. You could die at any moment. I’m planning for the future.”

  “You’re one broken hip-break away from assisted living, don’t tempt me.” Bernie could hold his own. Good for him.

  “Well, hello, gorgeous.” Chris took the hand of a woman who had to be a hundred and forty if she was a day. “Let me help you up.”

  “Aren’t you a charmer.” She had a hard time negotiating the stairs with her cane, but Chris helped her the whole way.

  He jogged down the steps. “Who’s next?”

  All of the women raised their hands.

  “He certainly is a charmer.” DeeDee laughed. “Always was … always will be. Thank God your parents see through it.”