Free Jennifer Robins by Over the Mistletoe Page B

papers. She greeted them with a smile. “I have the papers ready, Mr. and Mrs. Devon. If you’ll have a seat in the room over there.” She pointed to the same room they’d sat in last time. “I will be right with you.”
    She walked away, leaving John and Andrea seated at a round table. John kept running his hands through his hair. “I hope those movers will be done unloading before dark. They have a deadline, you know. I think it’s nine at night.”
    “Don’t worry so much, John. You always do this. You worry about things before you know for sure. They know what they’re doing.”
    Rosemarie returned with the papers and set them in front of John. “Here you are.” She handed him a pen.
    Once the papers had been signed, Rosemarie gave them the keys to the house. She then reached down behind the table and brought out a beautiful bouquet of flowers. “I wish you happiness in your new home. If you need anything, please call me. My phone number is on my card. Thank you again.” She shook their hands and walked them to the door, waving as they got into the car and drove away.
    “Wasn’t this nice of her?” Andrea admired the flowers. “I bet everyone in this town is like that. I think we’re going to be happy here.”
    “You’re probably right. It’s a big change from Chicago.”
    They drove to the house, laughing and talking about the wonderful life they were going to have there. They found the movers busily unloading the van. Rosemarie had opened the door for them earlier. The men were hustling along at a fast pace, anxious to finish for the day.
    Andrea got out of the car and started to instruct the movers where she wanted the furniture. “Be careful with that coffee table, it’s very old. I got it from my grandmother.”
    “Hey, Andrea, these guys will do just fine without your help. Just tell them where to put things and forget the history of every piece.” John gave the men a wave, and they all laughed.
    “Give me a hand, Andrea,” John called out to her. The back seat of the car held boxes of odds and ends from John’s office. “We can put this stuff up in the bedroom for now. I have to sort through it before I take it to the new office.”
    When everything had been unloaded, the driver asked John to sign a paper, and the movers left. It was nine o’clock at night and they had to be off the road by ten.
    Hungry and tired, John broke open a box of cookies and started to munch on them. “Want some?” he offered, holding the box out to Andrea.
    “No, I want to get some of these boxes unpacked so we can shower and go to bed sometime tonight. The towels and bath things are in that big box over there. How about taking it up the stairs for me? I’ll get some of the kitchen things out so we can at least have coffee in the morning.”
    For the next few hours, they unpacked boxes and moved furniture around. By eleven, they were both exhausted and ready for a shower and bed.
    After they crawled under the covers, John looked into Andrea’s lovely brown eyes and tucked a strand of her long, brown hair behind her ear and away from the deep dimple on her right cheek. He kissed her goodnight and held her close.
    John had to report to the office early the next morning, leaving Andrea alone with the chore of unpacking the rest of the boxes and putting seasonal items away in the attic. She struggled to get the boxes up the two flights of stairs to the attic. She couldn’t imagine why there still was so much left after she’d thrown away as much as she had while packing. John was such a pack rat. He had so many prized gems he wouldn’t part with.
    Finally she managed to get them all up to the attic. Having set them in the middle of the floor for later distribution to both sides of the attic, she went down to the patio to take a break. She sipped a glass of iced tea, the warmth from the sun embracing her as she looked around at the trees and flowers in the yard. She took in a deep breath of the clean air