Page 96 of Brandt's Rule
“Who do you think?” he teased.
“Bailey?!” Tempest asked excitedly.
“Yep.”
“I have to get a phone so she can call me,” Tempest said.
“You really do,” Brandt answered.
“And Hellen isn’t going because she’s on one of her camping trips, checking out the area she’s responsible for.”
“Sounds nice,” Tempest said.
“I have to say, she might have chosen the best career of any of us. Getting paid to wander around the wilderness.”
Tempest was smiling, but was mainly looking out of the window and wasn’t overly talkative.
“You good?” Brant asked.
“Mmhmm. I’m fine. Just thinking of my family and the holidays coming.”
“You’re going to miss them.”
“I really am. But I’ll see them soon.”
They drove along in silence for a few moments before Tempest started talking. “One Christmas before I was born my grandfather learned about Santa Claus and how he wears a red suit and travels all over the world giving gifts to the good little girls and boys. He and my Uncle Destroy decided to be Santa Claus for our community that year. My grandmother made salt-dough ornaments, and my Uncle Destroy cut down enough trees to gift one to each family in our community. One of the women had knitted my grandfather a red knit hat, so he pulled it on and he and Uncle Destroy flew from one end of Whispers to the other, giving everyone a Christmas tree and an ornament for the tree.”
“That’s the grandfather that’s a gargoyle, a feared General right?” Brandt asked, laughing.
“Oh, yeah. Picture bluish-gray skin, a bright red knitted hat balanced between long pointed horns, and poor Grand Papa has trouble speaking clearly along with being a little more gruff than is socially acceptable, landing in everyone’s yards shoving a tree and a homemade salt-dough ornament at them before growling Happy Christmas and flying away.”
Brandt was laughing, the thought of Tempest’s description filling his mind. “I’m sure they appreciated it. They knew him, right?”
“They did. And actually he brought loads of money to Enthrall and asked him to go buy gifts for everyone so that everyone would feel valued that year.”
Brandt stopped laughing and looked over toward Tempest again. “That says a lot about his character.”
“It does. And you have that same quality. It’s one of the reasons I admire you so much,” Tempest admitted.
Brandt reached out and waited while Tempest placed her hand in his. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. He didn’t handle flattery well, but his mate telling him what she admired about him was something new altogether. He found he liked it.
A short while later they were pulling into the fairgrounds, parking the truck and walking toward the main gate. “This is where all the festivals around here are held.”
“I’ve never been to one,” Tempest said.
“You’re going to love it. We’ll get foot-long corndogs and funnel cakes and hot chocolate, and ride whatever rides you want to and see the Christmas Tree exhibit.”
“Christmas Tree exhibit?” she asked.
“Yep. There are dozens and dozens of Christmas Trees decorated in all kinds of different ways.”
“Oh, I bet they’re beautiful!”
“They are. We’ll see those. We could even pick out some decorations for our tree.”
“We don’t have a tree.”
“We will. We’ll get one and start collecting our decorations like my mom did. Each one she puts on her tree has a special memory attached to it.”