Merry's Christmas: Two Book Set (Amish) by Susan Rohrer Page B

read.
    Ollie crowded in to see. “What’s it say?”
    Turning the note away from her brother, Tara quietly read its text:
     
    Merry,
     
    I hope you’ll forgive my overreaction. Please continue to follow your heart. I can see you have a good one. And the more I think of it, the more I realize just how much I need you.
     
    Daniel
     
    Ollie’s tired eyes widened. “Is that like a love letter?”
    “No, dopey,” Tara explained. “He’s just apologizing for flipping out over the whole china debacle. He’s just—” Tara interrupted herself, a sly expression forming. “You know...with just a little help, it could be...”
    Tara grabbed her dad’s pen, the same one he’d used to write the note. Carefully mimicking his handwriting, Tara inserted a “ Love ,” before her father’s signature.
    Ollie watched, agape. “Love, Daniel? I’m telling.” Ollie started to leave, but Tara firmly yanked him back.
    “You tell and I tell you were down here,” Tara threatened. “Besides. Maybe if we do a little something to encourage him to like Merry, he might forget all about Miss Boring Face. It could be our gift to him, a secret. You like Merry, right?”
    Ollie nodded. “Yeah, so...”
    Tara slipped the note back into place in the drawer. “So, pinkie swear,” she said, extending her little finger.
    Never before had Tara offered to share such a confidence with Ollie. It felt good to him, like he was included in her life in a whole new way. “Our Christmas present to him, together?” he queried.
    Tara nodded in affirmation, waiting for his agreement. Ollie hooked his pinkie to his sister’s with a mischievous grin, sealing their holiday pact.

 
     
     
     
    six
 
     
    M erry scurried into Daniel’s study. Though she’d worked hard and late the day before, she’d awakened at dawn, invigorated by the second chance she’d been given. Her mind brimming with ideas, Merry pulled off her coat and draped it on the back of Daniel’s desk chair. Dutifully, she slid open the Christmas drawer to check for instructions.
    Reflexively, Merry tingled all over. Whereas she’d expected a simple list, instead there was a nice note card with just her first name written on the envelope.
    Merry pulled out Daniel’s note and read. That he’d told her he was sorry said a lot to her, but it meant all the more that he had gone on to affirm the goodness of her heart and to say that he needed her. It was hard for Merry to imagine, but there it was, written in his hand. Yes. He actually acknowledged that he needed her. Merry had felt many things in her life, but needed hadn’t really been one of them. She had felt extraneous, overlooked, even needy. But being needed was an entirely new sensation. “ I need you ,” she read aloud, taking in the sound of it.
    Suddenly, Merry noticed how the note had been signed. “Oh,” she gasped. “ Love, Daniel ...?” Merry’s hand flew to her mouth as she examined Daniel’s signature. She had sensed that their conversation the night before had been something of a breakthrough. She knew he had lit a spark in her, but what she hadn’t dared dream to consider was the possibility that the feeling could have been mutual.
    Each time Merry had entered Strong Bank & Trust, it had felt different, but this fourth time had been the most strangely wonderful of all. How had this all come to be , she mused. As she sat waiting for Daniel to check her receipts, she replayed the events of the previous days, savoring every detail, leading up to the note signed Love, Daniel . It hardly seemed real to her, but there he was, receptively cordial, light years out of her league according to Arthur and yet, it was his affectionately signed card she prized in her pocket.
    As Daniel counted out Merry’s cash advance, she took in his darkly handsome features with freshly stirred interest. He had a very strong jaw and the tiniest bit of gray just at the top of his sideburns. She enjoyed the sound of his