Free Spoonful of Christmas by Darlene Panzera

familiar. I’ll be right back.”
    She browsed the Christmas ornaments decorating the six mini tabletop trees lining the fold-out table and pointed to a painted glass ball with a reindeer.
    “Where did you get this?” she asked the seller.
    The woman pointed to another vendor three tents down who sold the same generic ornaments. “Would you like to buy?”
    “No, thank you,” Andi said and returned to Jake and the girls.
    “A change of scenery might be good for you,” Jake said, taking her arm. “Have you thought more about—”
    “Jake! The tree lighting is about to start.” She waved to the girls to throw their pizza-stained napkins in the trash and taking their hands, led them toward the gathering crowd.
    Dozens upon dozens of stainless steel boxed-wire crab pots had been stacked one on top of the other, forming the shape of a giant tree. A golden star lit the top, and the rest of the “tree” was decorated with multicolored lights and hundreds of fishing lures.
    “Looks like it’s at least twenty-five feet tall,” Jake said and scribbled a few lines in his notebook. “Almost as big as the Capitol Christmas tree in Washington, D.C.”
    Andi pointed past the tree to another vendor. “Do you see the bag of presents that guy is holding?”
    “The man by the beach offering Pirate Santa Photos?” Jake shot her a look of sympathy. “Andi, the guy’s legit. Those aren’t the gifts stolen from our shop.”
    “I’m sorry. I keep picturing the foster children having a blue Christmas like in that old TV special, The Year without a Santa Claus. ”
    The Lighted Boat Parade immediately followed. Floating vessels of all shapes and sizes, from dinghies to crabbers, sailed past in single file through the marina. They went out to Cape Disappointment and back, giving people plenty of time to judge which boat’s lighted mast, garlands, and other festive holiday decor they liked best.
    While the red, blue, yellow, and green lights reflected in the dark nighttime water were some of the prettiest images she’d ever seen, Andi’s gaze strayed back toward the vendors, especially to one man selling gifts and ornaments out of the back of an open truck.
    Excusing herself, she left Jake with the girls and made her way toward him. He even had some macaroni angels, similar to the ones she and Rachel had made when they were younger, except with different decorative detail.
    “I’ll make you a deal,” the guy said, giving her a wink. “Two for the price of one.”
    Then she saw it. Her mother’s handmade gray bakery mouse clutching the silver spoon with her initials and the date she’d made it, engraved on the back.
    “How about I call the cops,” Andi countered, “and you explain how you stole this ornament from my cupcake shop?”
    The police questioned the man for fifteen minutes, during which he claimed he’d bought the items from someone else he couldn’t name. Then when some TVs and other high-dollar gifts that had been reported stolen were also found in his truck, the man was handcuffed and taken away.
    “We’ll let you know what we find out,” an officer promised, handing her his card.
    Andi turned to Jake, who had joined her once the cops started closing in. “Can you believe that guy? I hope they get him to confess he’s the Grinch who’s been stealing from us.”
    “I hope so, too,” he said, an urgency tingeing his voice as they walked with the girls back to their car. “But about our move to D.C.—”
    “We didn’t say we’d move,” Andi corrected. “And . . . I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”
    “We have to talk about it,” Jake said, the expression on his face anxious. “The editor of the Post called and said they’d prefer to hire me, but if I don’t give him an answer, they’ll give the job to someone else.”
    Andi stopped walking and met his gaze. “Okay, we’ll make a decision after Christmas like we agreed.”
    “No.” Jake gave her a solemn look.