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Say You’ll Stay
Chapter One
Shaye Harper stared at the crowd on the street. She’d grown up in a small town, so she was used to the quirks, but something very strange was happening here.
“I don’t get it,” she said aloud.
“It’s a 5K run.”
She turned toward the voice and saw a guy about her age smiling at her. As her head barely came to his shoulder, she would guess he was six feet tall. Cute, with big brown eyes, wavy brown hair and an easy smile.
“I understand the 5K part,” she told him with a laugh. “It’s the antlers that have me confused.”
“It’s Christmas in July. Every year on July 5, the three-week celebration launches with the 5K Reindeer Run.”
“Christmas in July?”
“Yeah. We take our holidays very seriously here in Wishing Tree. Especially Christmas.”
She glanced back at the participants, most dressed in shorts and T-shirts, all wearing reindeer-antler headbands. They ran or walked through the center of town. Crowds lined the route.
Now that she looked more closely, she could see the signs on several of the stores. They were very holiday-centric, with names like Jingle Coffee and Santa Baby Boutique.
“But it’s July,” she said. “Yesterday was the Fourth of July.”
She would know: she’d spent a very lonely afternoon and evening by herself in a motel just outside of Spokane. Travel for one was not the thrill she’d hoped it would be.
The cute guy smiled again. This time she noticed he had dimples. She’d always been a sucker for a guy with dimples. Thank goodness she was just passing through, otherwise she would be tempted to flirt with him. Flirting often led to liking, and that led to trouble—at least, in her world. The only guys interested in her were disasters. Sad but true. Therefore, the only way to keep herself safe was to avoid men—especially men with yummy eyes and cute dimples.
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No. I’m from a small town in Iowa.” She looked at the last of the walkers, heading out of the town square. A square that was, oddly, round. “We have our traditions, but no one ever wears antlers.”
“Christmas in July is a big thing for us,” he said. “Like I said, it starts with the 5K, then we have the holiday bake-off, the tree-lighting at 10:00 p.m. on the fifteenth, the Sparklefest Ball, and finally the classic car show. That’s on the twenty-fifth, the last day of the celebration. There’s a big parade, too.”
“With Santa?” she asked as the people around them started drifting away.
“Of course.”
“Seriously? You have a Santa in a parade in July?”
“Christmas in July.”
“Sure. Why not. But why is the tree-lighting on the fifteenth? Why not tonight? And what tree do you light?”
“A Christmas tree, of course. It goes right there.” He pointed. “In the middle of The Wreath.”
“The what?”
“The Wreath. It’s like our town square, only it’s round. See all the businesses around it? They’re in a circle.” The smile and the dimples returned. “Come on. You have to admit, it’s charming. I’m Lawson.”
“Shaye. So you’re a hometown boy?”
“Born and raised.” He looked past her. “I’ve seen a lot of the world, and to me there’s no place better than Wishing Tree.”
There was something in his tone: the promise of a story. Not that she knew him well enough to ask what it was. She supposed everyone had past experiences to deal with. She certainly did.
“Are you here with your family?” he asked.
