Page 3 of Daddy’s Little Christmas Miracle

“No need,” I reassured him. “It’s Christmas, which means the whole town will make sure your stay here is as comfortable as possible. The last thing they want you doing is paying for something like this. I’d have the entire town out for my head if I tried to collect payment from someone in need.” He chuckled as he shook his head at me.

“Yeah, that sounds like everyone here,” he commented as I opened up the door to the living space. “I guess some things never really change." The way the man spoke made him sound as though he was a local, but I, like so many other people down in the bakery, didn't recognize him, meaning that he couldn't possibly be a local. Seeing the perplexed look on my face, the man frowned. "Is something wrong?" Snapping out of it, I shook my head.

"No, of course not," I told him with a kind smile as I held the door open for him. "You'll have to forgive me for the mess. Even though this place is livable, I've never really had much need for it. I can come by later and get it cleaned up and everything for you." Much to my surprise, the man shook his head as he took in his surroundings.

"No need," he reassured me. "In all honesty, this place looks just like it did the last time I was here." Confused, I turned to look at him.

What on Earth was he talking about? Had he truly been here before? He didn't look familiar. Shaking my head, I looked at him, trying to think of the most polite way to ask my question.

"You've been here before?" I asked, and he nodded in response, his facial expression calm and well composed.

"My mother used to own this living space," he explained, a sad look in his eyes as he spoke. "When she was getting ready to move into the nursing home down the road, she sold the apartment so that she didn't have to worry about anything going wrong while she stayed there. She said some nice young woman had paid a fine price for it, too. Practically paid for everything Mother needed until…" He paused, and I lowered my gaze.

That explained everything, and I felt terrible for having not realized it sooner. The man standing next to me was Connor Lanceton, the man who had moved to the city around the time I was born and left his mother, Patricia Lanceton here in town by herself. No one blamed him for what he did, but everyone felt terrible for what had happened to his mother.

Patricia Lanceton had gotten pneumonia and died last week, and the entire town had gotten together to celebrate her life. I especially felt bad because, on the day she died, I had to cancel my weekly trip to visit her and offer her the cookies I had made her, but my own car had broken down and was also waiting for Joel to step in and save the day. Now that she was gone, I felt as though I was being punished for not going to visit her.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," I finally told him, lowering my gaze as the guilt started to settle in. "I can't imagine the pain you must be in." Rather than getting upset like I had originally expected at the mention of his mother, Connor turned to look at me and shook his head.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's me who owes you for everything you did for her," he informed me as he gave me a soft smile. "She always called me up after your weekly visits and bragged about how good you were to her. Your visits really made a difference to her, and I'm indebted to you." I smiled a little at the praise and shook my head.

"There's no need to thank me," I reassured him. Realizing that I was stalling, I continued. "I kept everything up and running, so you should be able to shower, use the electricity, and everything. I'll be downstairs in the bakery if you need anything between now and eight at night." After receiving a nod in acknowledgement from him, I turned around and made my way down the steps and back into the bakery, wondering why my chest was hurting as much as it did.

CHAPTER FOUR

Connor

As much as Mother had liked the girl who had bought her old apartment, I couldn't find it in my heart to talk to the girl after seeing the way she had gotten upset when she realized who I was. The fact that I rarely visited Mother, even when she lived on her own, upset me enough, and I felt even worse when I saw the way the woman had gotten upset. It made me feel even more guilty than I already felt.

It took a few days, but, two days before Christmas, I finally got some good news from Joel, the local mechanic. He said that he found the parts that he needed in order to fix the vehicle and could have it done by Christmas Eve, which was a huge relief. The last thing I wanted was to stay here for Christmas and ruin everyone's holiday.

The first two days, I stayed upstairs, completely alone in the apartment Mother used to live in, and I mostly cleaned, doing everything I could to distract myself from everything that had been happening. However, after the second day of being bothered by all the townsfolk, who claimed to be there strictly to offer me food or anything else I could possibly need, I quickly realized that they weren't going to leave me alone unless they saw me out and about. So, after caring for the practically abandoned apartment, I finally ventured down to the bakery and coffee shop.

"Good morning, Mr. Lanceton," said Kara as soon as she saw me. "I hope you slept well." I forced a gentle smile as I nodded in response, still cautious of the woman who had been so kind to Mother.

"I did, thank you," I replied as I looked around.

Oddly enough, even though it was about lunch time, the shop was empty, and she was practically alone. Normally, by this time of day, the shop was bursting with life, and there should have been a line. As I looked around, I turned my attention back towards her.

"So, Joel informed me that I should have my car fixed by Christmas Eve," I continued, and I saw the way she paused as she risked a glance over her shoulder at me from the table she was cleaning. "As soon as he fixes it, I'll no longer impose on you." She turned to look at me, a strange look on her face as she considered this.

"You don't have to leave right away," she reassured me politely, sounding worried as she spoke. "That is unless there's someone else you're supposed to meet for Christmas. Otherwise, you can stay and celebrate with my family and I. We have plenty of room." As tempting as her offer was, I shook my head immediately.

"It's not that I don't appreciate the offer," I protested, but, after seeing the look on her face, I realized that no words could ever undo the damage done to her by the other townspeople all her life.

I knew the story about how her father had cheated on her mother the Christmas she was born. Her mother had been so upset that she had actually planned on leaving town that same night, but, as soon as she got to the town limits, she went into labor and had to be rushed back to the hospital, where she died during childbirth. While her father had called her his Christmas miracle that year, everyone believed she was a curse.

Normally, this would have been chalked up to superstition, but, over the next several years, everyone who tried to leave town on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day always seemed to suffer some sort of mishap. Normally, it was vehicle trouble or bad weather, so no one ever died, but they all tried to blame it on the poor woman standing before me. So, during the holidays, people refused to come or go through town for fear of getting stranded.

Even though I had never met her until this point, I actually felt sorry for the woman. It wasn't her fault that she had been deemed the Christmas Curse, especially with how kind, polite, and well mannered she was. In all honesty, she was what I would have considered the perfect Little if she were one. If she ever left this town and made her way to the city, she could make any Daddy a very happy man.

I couldn't deny the fact that I had been attracted to her since the beginning. She was tiny in comparison to most women I had met, and her piercing blue eyes matched her long, blonde hair perfectly. If she were to dress in footie pajamas and braid her hair in pigtails, she would have been all the more perfect. However, seeing as how most people didn't know about Daddies and Littles, I didn't want to say anything abd scare her off.

"I think I would prefer to leave as soon as I can," I finally admitted out loud, making up my mind. "The less I impose on you and the rest of the town, the better I'll feel. I already feel like I owe you so much after everything you did for Mother." She looked disappointed despite her brave smile.

"You don't owe me anything," she reassured me as I headed towards the front door. "In all honesty, it's the least I could do for you." When I didn't respond, she continued. "If you change your mind, my offer still stands. No one should be alone on Christmas." Hearing her words, I froze, finding myself conflicted.

They were Mother's words, and they were the words I had been raised by. Mother had always lived by those words, and I felt all the worse for letting her down and making her spend Christmas alone for so long. Not wanting to be rude, I nodded and gave Kara an appreciative smile.