Holly Jolly Dreams (Mistletoe Meadows #5)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“Wait a second, you are the Secret Saint?” Roland McBride slammed the tree down in the back of his pickup and stopped what he was doing to stare at his brother-in-law.

It was almost midnight, and there wasn’t a whole lot of light from the dim pole lights in the tree farm parking lot, but he could clearly see his brother-in-law, Judd, nodding.

“Yeah. I had the torch passed to me by someone who wishes to remain anonymous, but yeah. I was the Secret Saint, and your sister and I did it for a while.”

Roland nodded. It didn’t surprise him at all that his sister had been involved in it. She was a kind and caring soul, which was part of the reason she’d become a doctor.

“But with getting married and with Terry and me taking on more responsibilities and we thought that children might come…” Judd smiled a little bit, and Roland wondered exactly what that meant. Could Terry and Judd be expecting?

He supposed they’d announce it when they felt like the time was right.

In the meantime, he listened as Judd continued.

“If you’re not interested, that’s fine. It just seems like you’re perfect for the role.

You’ve got tons of connections, and of course, Terry and I would help you.

With her job as a doctor, she sees all kinds and hears a lot.

She was a great help to me before I passed the torch. ”

“You’re talking like you’re not the Secret Saint anymore. Is that right?”

“That’s correct, but it’s not up to me to give the identities of the people who are doing it now. Just know that their situations have changed, similar to mine, and they need to step back. We can all continue to do it, but it would be nice to have someone who would totally take over.”

Judd didn’t say it, but what he really meant was someone who was single, who didn’t have a lot of family responsibilities, who had some extra money and no children or wife to spend it on.

Roland understood. And it frustrated him a little bit. But Judd was right, and he couldn’t argue with that.

“No, I’m definitely interested.” Maybe this would give his life some purpose. He felt a little bit like he was drifting lately with all of his siblings finding love and getting married.

Of course, there was Isadora, who had found love, so she thought, had three children with her love, and then had her husband cheat and leave her. He supposed she wasn’t quite in the same boat as he was. At least she had children and had the opportunity to experience marriage.

“I don’t want to push you into anything you don’t want to do,” Judd said as he lifted another Christmas tree and put it on the back of Roland’s truck.

Roland ran the family Christmas tree farm and got most of his income from that, although he did work as a handyman the rest of the year.

“No, I’ve got to say that it’s an honor to be chosen. I really feel that it is, and I’m flattered you think that I can do it.”

“We definitely think that you can. We know that you can. But it does take up an awful lot of one’s time, and while I know that you have the love for other people that the job requires, it can really cut into your Christmas season.”

Another reason why it would be best for the Secret Saint to be a single person, Roland was sure, although Judd did not say that.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

“If you need some time to think about it, that’s fine.”

“No, I don’t need to think about it. I’m sure this is something I definitely want to do.

” Again, he thought it might give his life some purpose, give him the feeling that he was getting up for something.

Lately, things had just been—not exactly in a depressive state, but he just wondered what the purpose was.

Why was he living? Sure, he had nieces and nephews he loved to spend time with, and he felt like he was as good an uncle as an uncle could be, but was that really all there was going to be to his life?

Mistletoe Meadows was not exactly a huge town, and if he hadn’t already found his lifetime love, there wasn’t a whole lot of opportunity for him to meet someone new.

He really wanted to do something with his life, to have some kind of significance other than being the baby of the McBride family.

“A lot of times, we find our purpose in serving others. You already do that as an uncle, and Terry and I have often commented on how selfless you are with your nieces and nephews.”

He hadn’t realized that anyone had noticed, and he certainly hadn’t done it for notoriety.

“Well, thank you, although I certainly didn’t do it for attention or accolades. But there definitely is a certain satisfaction in doing kind things for others, especially when it requires a sacrifice from oneself.”

“Exactly. Terry talks about that all the time in her work, whether it’s saving someone’s life or something as simple as helping bring a child’s fever down. The idea that her work has meaning gives meaning to her own life.”

“Good for her,” Roland said, and he didn’t mean that in an offhanded, flippant way. He really did think that Terry had deliberately chosen her profession for that very reason, because she knew that it would give meaning to her life and help others. Terry was just that kind of person.

“So we can count on you?”

“You sure can. You’ll just have to let me know what to do.”

“Sometimes that’s the hardest thing of all, but Terry and I have a bit of a list of things and people that we’ve noticed around town.” Judd pulled a list out of his back pocket as Roland slammed another Christmas tree onto the back of the truck.

It was just after Thanksgiving, and that was the busiest time of year for the tree farm, sales-wise anyway.

People who came to get their trees came all through the month of December, with Christmas Eve being one of their busiest shopping days.

Judd shook out the paper, and it rattled and crinkled.

Roland took off his glove and grasped the sheet.

They had yet to get their first snow of the season, but the air was crisp and cool, well below freezing. If there had been any precipitation in the forecast, it would definitely have come down as the white stuff.

“Wow. That’s quite a list.”

“Don’t feel like you have to do everything, and don’t feel like you can’t ask for help.

A lot of times, businesses are more than happy to donate if you mention that it’s for the Secret Saint, and you can get other people to ask for you, so it’s not you going around bringing a lot of attention to yourself.

Terry helps, and your mom is really awesome, although she’s slowed down in recent years. ”

Roland nodded. His mother was getting older. She was sixty now, and he supposed that slowing down was normal, although it was hard for him to picture his energetic, perpetually happy mother as anything other than elbows deep in whatever was going on around her.

“So I could go to you?” Roland asked.

“Yes. Me, your sister, your mother. I don’t know that I would ask too many other people, because the more people you bring in, the more chance you have of being found out, and,” Judd smiled, “well, that would not be the end of the world, but it is nice to have that element of mystery. It makes a nicer story and gets people involved and talking. If everyone knew who did it, it would kind of be one of those things that are just the way they are, you know?”

“Yes, I can totally see the value of keeping it a secret.” That wasn’t hard at all. Even a guy like himself could see that.

“All right then, you can take a look at the list. You don’t have to go over it now, because I know you’re busy—you’ve got to get these trees delivered before six—but tomorrow when you have time, take a look at it and see if there’s anything there that you think you can do.

If you need resources, whether it’s money or groceries or building supplies, check with me, and I’ll see what I can do.

I have a network who knows that I work with the Secret Saint, but they know it’s not me.

I’ve been very careful since I stopped to make sure that I am seen while the Secret Saint is on the other side of town doing something.

That way, I’m a great contact person but not someone who is under suspicion. ”

“That’s wise,” Roland said. Judd seemed to have everything figured out, and he had to admit that he was impressed.

They finished loading the trees, and Judd left while Roland got in the truck and spent the next few hours delivering them. By the time he got in, he was too tired to look at the list, although he set it on his dresser.

He lived with his mom, and he felt like he was a blessing to his mom as much as she was a blessing to him.

Ever since their dad passed away, he had helped take care of all of the things outside and the upkeep of the house.

Being that he was a pretty good handyman, he had completely redone their porch and installed new windows when the window seals around the current windows had started to rot out.

He made sure she had plenty of firewood and provided fuel for the backup oil furnace.

He also cleaned the chimney every year and did all the yard and outside maintenance.

He supposed if someone wanted to make fun of him for being thirty and still living with his mom, they could go ahead and do that, but it had always been his job to take care of her and the property after each of his siblings had left.

He kind of liked the idea that it was his responsibility to take care of their mom.

He also felt like he probably knew her better than any of his other siblings, especially now.

But maybe that was the reason why only he seemed to notice that something more than just a little slowing down was happening, at least from what he could see.

Or maybe his position made him worry a little more about her.