Free Secret Santa: A Bluegrass Series Novella by Kathleen Brooks Page A

horse. She hadn’t been around a horse in decades. She held
on for dear life, even though the horse seemed content to just
stand off to the side of the road and watch the world go by.
    Paige’s truck roared to life. She drove it
out of the ditch and parked next to Kenna’s M6. What a sight: a
brand new M6 next to a rusted, blue, Chevy pickup that had to be
fifteen years old. Paige gracefully jumped down from the cab and
walked over to her.
    “Thanks. Now we have room for the little guy
to be picked up. I wonder how he got out?”
    “I'm just glad we didn’t hit him.”
    “This is part of the Ashton Farm, and
unfortunately they've been having a lot of problems recently.”
    “Ashton, as in Will Ashton?” Kenna couldn’t
believe it. She hadn’t even pulled into town and she had just found
the person she was looking for.
    “Yes. The family owns and runs it. You know
Will?”
    “I used to. I haven’t seen him in seventeen
years.”
    “Are you here to visit them?”
    “No, I'm here to interview with Tom Burns
for the assistant district attorney job.”
    “That’s great.” Paige was so excited for her
that Kenna couldn’t help but smile. She stepped forward and
scratched the forehead of the large horse.
    “Actually, I'm glad I ran into someone from
the town. Can you tell me a good place to stay? I couldn’t find any
hotels online.”
    “That’s because there aren’t any. You’ll
want to go see Miss Lily Rae Rose. She has a bed and breakfast.
Just continue straight and make a left at the first stop light you
come to. She’s in the big white Victorian. And, if you’re looking
for a good place to eat, Miss Lily has two sisters, Miss Daisy Mae
Rose and Miss Violet Fae Rose, who run the Blossom Cafe. Great
place to eat some chocolate after a close call like this!” Paige
laughed and Kenna couldn’t help but like her. This was a woman
after her own heart!
    “Thanks a lot. I'm guessing you're from
Keeneston. What do you do there?”
    "I have a store on Main Street named
Southern Charms. I have all local made products. Everything from
statues, paintings, jewelry, clothes, painted wine glasses, to
cookbooks.”
    “Sounds amazing. I'll have to stop by.”
    “We should have lunch together. I can be the
official welcoming party!” They both turned to the sounds of a
diesel engine and saw a massive truck with a horse trailer come
around the corner from the direction Paige had come. “Ah, good. Now
we can get this boy home.”
    Kenna stood back as three men jumped down
from the truck and with an apple helped convince the horse to get
in the trailer.
    “Thanks for the help with him. I look
forward to our lunch. It was great meeting you and welcome to
Keeneston,” Paige said as she and Kenna walked to their cars.
    Kenna’s legs had finally stopped shaking
when she slid into her car. Pulling out after Paige, she headed
into town, wondering what her new home would be like.
     
    * * *
     
    "Just shoot me now," Kenna thought as she
squeezed her eyes closed. She slowly opened them, hoping against
all odds the scene before her had changed, but to her utter
despair, it was the same scene she had just driven upon. Kenna had
pulled her M6 to the side of the road and stared at the town before
her with a critical eye. She was sitting on the edge of Main Street
and could see the other end of what she guessed to be downtown just
two stop lights away. The town was straight out of Mayberry, she
thought. She couldn’t help but start whistling the theme song to
the Andy Griffith Show as she looked around her new hometown:
perfect trees lining both sides of Main Street, American flags
waving from every light post, and the people wandering down the
sidewalk seemed to know each other since they were tipping their
hats and smiling to each person they passed by.
    Kenna had spent the last eleven years in the
Big City. So when she took a deep breath that lacked pollution and
listened to the honking of cars that were strangely not