can weâ¦â
âWilliam,â he said flatly, hating it.
âWillie?â Letty said, hopeful.
âWilliam.â
Letty sighed. âWillâs better. Though it is a bit short.â
âLike Meg,â Meg said.
âYou know I like Meggie.â
âAnd you know I donât answer to it. We donât have to call you anything you donât like,â Meg said over her shoulder. âIâm happy to keep calling you Mr McMaster.â
âYou are not,â Letty retorted. âNot over Christmas. And why are you calling him Mr McMaster, anyway? How long have you worked for him? Three years?â
âHe calls me Miss Jardine.â
âThen the pair of you need to come off your high horses,â Letty retorted. âMeg and William it is, and if I hear any sign of Ms or Mr then itâs Meggie and Willie for the rest of Christmas. Right?â
âOkay with me,â Meg said, resigned.
âFine,â William said.
Define fine .
Â
He was expecting hillbilly country. What he got was Fantasia . They sped over a crest and there it was, spread out before them, a house straight out of a fairy tale.
Or not. As he got closerâ¦
Not a fairy tale. A Christmas tableau.
The farmhouse, set well back from the road among scattered gums, was lit up like a series of flashing neon signs. It was so bright it should almost be visible from the next state.
âOh, myâ¦â Meg breathed before William could even get his breath back. âGrandma, what have you done?â
âWe both did it,â Letty said proudly. âMe and Scotty. You like our sleigh?â
The house had two chimneys, with what looked like an attic between them. The sleigh took up the entire distance between chimneys. There was a Santa protruding from the chimney on the left. Or, rather, part of Santa. His lower half. His legs were waving backwards and forwards, as if Santa had become stuck in descent. The movement wasnât smooth,so he moved gracefully from left to right, then jerked back with a movement sharp enough to dislodge vertebrae.
The house was Christmas City. There were lights from one end to the other, a myriad of fairy lights that made the house look like something out of a cartoon movie.
âIt took us days,â Letty said, pleased with the awed hush. âWhen you rang and said there was a chance you couldnât get home tonight Scotty and I were ready to shoot ourselves. Weâve worked our tails off getting this right.â
âI can see that you have,â Meg said, sounding as stunned as he was. âGrandmaâ¦â
âAnd, before you say a word, we got it all over the Internet,â Letty informed her. âScotty found it. It was a package deal advertised in July by some lady cleaning out her garage. Sheâd just bought the house and found it, and she practically paid us to take it away. Some people,â she said, slowing the car so they could admire the house in all its glory, âhave no appreciation of art.â
âBut running it,â Meg said helplessly. âItâll costâ¦â
âItâs practically all solar,â Letty cut in. âExcept Santa. Well, thereâs not a lot of solar Santa Clausâs backsides out there. We havenât quite got the legs right, but Iâll adjust them before Christmas. Still⦠What do you think?â
There was suddenly a touch of anxiety in her voice. William got it, and he thought maybe this lady wasnât as tough as she sounded. She surely wanted to please this girl, Meg, sitting somewhere under her dog.
âYou climb up on that roof again and Iâll give all of your Christmas presents to the dogs. But I love it,â Meg said as the car came to a halt.
âReally?â
âI really love it.â Meg giggled. âItâs kitsch and funny and those legs are just plain adorable.â
âWhat do you think?â Letty said, and she