Page 1 of Daddy’s Little Christmas Miracle

CHAPTER ONE

Kara

“Alright, I have two peppermint mocha lattes and a half dozen of chocolate chip banana muffins to go?” I called out as I looked around at the bustling room around me.

Everyone here in town loved Christmas, so it wasn’t even the fact that it was rowdy or chaotic in the dining room of the bakery and coffee shop I now ran. For so many of the people in town, coming to Moe’s Coffee Hut was a Christmas tradition, especially now that school was finally out for the winter holidays. Things had been a little awkward when I moved to this new building, but, as people always did when change occured, the townsfolk had taken to the new location rather well. In fact, outside of the occasional forgetful person who completely forgot we were no longer restricted to the tiny kiosk at the mall, I didn’t have any problem at all with expanding Moe’s Coffee Hut.

Moe was my father, and he had retired an absolute hero in the eyes of the townsfolk. Originally, after graduating high school, he had joined the Marines, and he served for a total of twenty years, earning himself an honorable discharge when he finally retired. Returning home a hero, he had married my mother, and I was born in less than a year despite his age. While Mother hadn’t survived childbirth, I was well cared for all thanks to Father.

When I finally graduated culinary school, Father surprised me by retiring from the coffee shop, leaving everything in my care. All around town, everyone had grown concerned about the seemingly uncertain fate of Moe’s Coffee Hut, the tiny kiosk that had arguably served the best coffee in town and helped keep the mall alive all these years. When I realized just how small it actually was, I knew that the first thing I had to do was expand and get a better location.

Main Street was the best place in town real estate wise. It’s where all the traffic came through at least once, and there were already many successful businesses like Ghepetto’s on the same street, making it all the more popular. With the school and library just a block or two away, I knew I had to do whatever it took to get onto Main Street and officially put Moe’s Coffee Hut on the map. While many called me crazy and told me not to bother, even Father admitted that I had done the town a load of good.

"Right here!" called out a young woman who was right around my age. Her long, brown hair shined in the light as she made her way to the counter to pick up her order, and I found myself frowning a little as I watched.

"You're Lana, right?" I asked when I saw the strange look on the faces of the regulars. Not seeming to notice the way everyone but I was staring at her, she gave me an embarrassed smile.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked, sounding a bit self conscious as she spoke. Realizing that too many people were spreading rumors about her, I shook my head.

"No, not that," I reassured her, ignoring the looks of the other patrons. "I thought you looked familiar from another order you placed the other day. I like to try to recognize regulars based on their orders. It keeps business running smoothly." She blushed a little in embarrassment as she nodded.

"Well," you got it right," she reassured me. "Well done." As she gathered her items, I shrugged.

"So, how's Roger?" I asked, trying to make small talk. "Is he still in a bit of a foul mood?" Lana stopped and shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know," she said as she looked back up at me. "I never knew him very well before his mother took off the other day, so I don't know what he was like before I met him. However, I know everyone loves these muffins, so I'm off to a great start, right?" Not wanting to burst her bubble, I nodded at her, trying to encourage her.

Everyone knew that Roger was a regular grouch, even when his mother was in town spreading the Christmas cheer everyone loved so much. No one really blamed him, either. After the way some out of town girl broke his heart last year, everyone was certain that he would always be like this. Seeing this new girl return to town and try to cheer him up had everyone somewhat hopeful, but no one believed she would be successful.

"I better get going," Lana said with a polite smile as she finished getting ready to leave. "See you tomorrow bright and early!" With that, she hurried out the front door of my bakery, balancing her order carefully in her arm as I looked back towards her car.

Everybody appreciated her efforts, even if they all seemed futile as she dealt with Roger, who acted like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas mixed with Ebenezer Scrooge himself. The fact that Franny continued to have him play the part of Santa Clause at the mall's Christmas Wonderland had a lot of people skeptical of her ability to pull it off yet another year, but, when Lana started working as Santa's Helper, his mood did seem to improve. Now that I had officially met her outside the town gossip and rumors that had been flying around ever since she arrived, I actually felt as though we might actually get a chance this Christmas.

I was one of the few people who believed in Christmas miracles. After all, I was born on Christmas Eve almost twenty-four years ago, and Father always claimed that I was still born until he begged for a Christmas miracle after having lost Mother. He swore up and down for years that, as soon as he begged for a miracle, I suddenly gasped for air and started to scream.

Being a Little with no Daddy who was about to hit the age that most Daddies would consider too old to be a proper Little, I was growing more nervous by the day. All I wanted more than anything, even more than I wanted to run Moe's Coffee Hut, was to finally find love. No more lonely nights at home, preparing for another soul sucking day. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with someone by my side.

"Excuse me," called out someone from the cash register. "I think I'm ready to order." I frowned as I turned to look at the cash register, confused by the fact that I hadn't seen or heard anyone approach.

"My apologies, sir," I began as I hurried to greet him. "What can I get started for you?" He sighed as he looked from the menu above my head to me.

"Can I get a cup of black coffee and a peppermint chocolate muffin, please?" he asked, his face cold and worn from the winter weather we were experiencing. "Also, do you know if there's a tow truck available? My car broke down about a mile down the road."

CHAPTER TWO

Connor

The woman at the counter looked both concerned and confused by my request, and I knew that things were about to get a lot more complicated. This definitely wasn't my day, and all I wanted was to head back home to the big city and be done with it all. In fact, I wished that it was last week and everything was normal.

It had taken the nursing home here in town an entire day to reach me to inform me of Mother's passing. They said that she had died of complications due to pneumonia, but, after visiting the home and seeing the condition she had been living in, I wanted to blame them for everything. The heat had gone out the week before leading up to her illness, and the whole building felt like the Snow Queen's ice palace in that stupid little fantasy story. Now that everything was supposedly settled, and she was laid to rest, I was exhausted physically and emotionally, and I wanted nothing more than to go home and spend my first holiday alone.

That was until the engine block apparently froze and messed up my vehicle. I had barely made it a mile outside town before the car gave out, trapping me here until I could flag down someone who had been kind enough to drive me back to town. Outside of that, he warned that he had to go back to his farm and recommended that I come in here and get warmed up while I waited for help.

"I'm sorry," the cashier said as she blinked, snapping herself out of her trance. "I think I might have misheard you. Did you just say that you were stranded outside town?" Trying desperately to maintain what little patience I had left, I nodded in response.

"Yes, that's accurate," I told her, my voice as cold as I felt. "I need to get it towed to the city and would like to order while I wait." Before the woman could respond, an older man approached me from behind and clasped his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry to say it, son," he wheezed as he tried to catch his breath, "but the tow truck is only able to deliver vehicles to the local mechanic. The city is too far for us to make the trip, especially in the weather." My heart sank as I turned to look at the man, hoping that he was pulling my leg.