Page 39 of Mechanic’s Christmas Match

“Remember the one you did for poor Ryder Joseph?” Ana said, trying to hold in her giggles.

“Poor nobody,” Valerie said briskly. “Ryder Joseph was a bully, plain and simple.”

“Well, that was clear from the dragon on the pile of lunch money you made for him,” Mal cackled.

“He paid me good money for that bully dragon, even after he saw it,” Valerie said thoughtfully.

“I guess he didn’t want to seem like a bully and a cheapskate,” Mal said, then covered her mouth, as if she couldn’t believe she’d been so bold.

“It was probably just other people’s lunch money anyway,” Valerie said, shaking her head.

Ana laughed good and hard, relieved and happy to be here with her friends.

“I still have mine,” Mal admitted. “He sits on my dresser.”

“Valerie was right,” Ana said. “Your dragon had a chef’s hat.”

She tried not to think about her own. Valerie had pictured Ana as a mama dragon, overrun with tiny dragonets.

“Still a couple of babies shy on yours, Ana,” Valerie said, as if she’d read her mind. “But you’ve still got plenty of time.”

“Theo has as much energy as all of them, I think,” Ana said brightly.

“Do you know your mom brought him in here and he ate an entire corn muffin?” Mal asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

“Oh, he burned it off too,” Ana told her. “She told me they walked all the way to the rose garden on the college campus, even though there aren’t any roses blooming. He wanted to have a look at them anyway.”

“He’ll be a police detective one day,” Mal predicted.

“Or a mystery writer,” Ana said.

“He’ll be the mayor of Trinity Falls,” Valerie decided. “Mark my words.”

“That’s a good job for a detail-oriented person,” Ana allowed.

“If there still is a Trinity Falls as we know it,” Valerie said quietly.

A shiver went down Ana’s spine and she met Mal’s eyes.

Valerie wasn’t usually so morose. Ana was usually the one who feared anything in her cozy life changing.

“By this time next year, that highway will be in,” Valerie went on, with uncharacteristic sadness.

“It could be a good thing,” Mal offered. “It could bring new people, and they might love this place even more than we do.”

“Maybe,” Valerie said, shrugging.

“I like things the way they are too,” Ana admitted. “But change can bring good things with it sometimes. Think about the open-air market.”

“It’ll be nothing more than a glorified rest stop next year,” Valerie sniffed.

“That’s why it was built,” Mal said. “It will be the most beautiful, welcoming spot for travelers on the whole highway. And maybe some will want to stick around and see what else we have to offer.”

“You sound like the town website,” Valerie said. But a half-smile appeared on her face anyway.

“Sometimes websites can be right,” Mal teased. “And new faces can be a good thing.”

“Speaking of which,” Valerie said, her eyes on the door.