Calendar Girl 12 - December Read Online Free Page A

a ride by a pubescent ill-informed assistant. Mia, sweetheart, I’m sure if you call Dr. Hoffman, we can clear this up and get back to Malibu before Christmas.”
    “Malibu. Is that where you’re from?” He seemed surprised, as if he thought I’d come from somewhere else.
    “Yeah,” I said, thinking about the missed opportunity of a snowy Christmas. I didn’t want to leave.
    “Well, you’re a long way from home not to do what you came for. My wife is talented, and I’m sure if you visited her gallery and the other local artists, you might find something you’ve been looking for all along. A piece of yourself,” he said cryptically. “Art has a way of doing that. Opening the soul, letting the light in when only darkness existed before.”
    My head shot back. “Are you suggesting I have a dark soul?”
    He blinked slowly. “Not at all. Why would you come to that conclusion?” he asked, twisting my response.
    “On that note, I think we’ll take our leave. Thank you, Mr. Banks, for meeting with us. This whole thing is just…it feels…I don’t know”—I shook my head and pushed my hair off my shoulder—“off, somehow.”
    He stood, put his hands into his pockets, and stared. Again, his eyes traced me, but it still didn’t give me the creeps. It was like when he saw someone that looked so much like someone he knew, a doppelganger. Maddy once told me she’d learned that everyone had a doppelganger, a twin, running around.
    “I hope you choose to stay, Mia. I have a good feeling about you finding something you weren’t intending to find.”
    I laughed. “Are you a fortune teller or something?”
    He smirked “Nope. Just a wise old man.”
    “Old? You can’t be more than fifty.”
    “Fifty-five.”
    “Still, that’s not old. Young at heart.”
    “I think all people are ruled by the heart in one way or another.” He spouted more of his mumbo jumbo that, in all honesty, was odd coming from a retired veteran/architect. “I hope you think about staying. I would consider it a personal blessing if you visited the galleries.”
    A blessing. Now that was a very unique choice of words.
    Wes helped me tug on my puffy winter jacket. “We’ll see.”
    “Yes, I believe a lot of eyes will be opened in the next day or two.”
    I pursed my lips. “O-kay.”
    Wes looped his arm with mine. I turned around and waved at the giant man.
    He lifted a hand and moved his fingers slowly, as if he didn’t want to say goodbye.
    Wes hustled me to the car and helped me get in. Once he got in, he turned and looked at me. “I don’t know about that guy.”
    “He was harmless. I’m going to nail that Shandi for sending us on a wild goose chase. That was not cool.”
    “No, it isn’t. Still, what do you want to do? The camera crew arrives tomorrow night. We have the family coming up the end of the weekend to stay through the day after Christmas. Do you want to cancel and go back home? Christmas on the beach?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
    I pouted and looked at him, blinking slowly.
    His shoulder slumped. “White Christmas?”
    I smiled huge. “White Christmas.”
    “All right, baby. Then a white Christmas it will be! Do you want to do the segment?” he asked.
    Mulling it over, I thought about how I could refuse. Usually, I got to pick my own ideas, but interviewing the local artists wasn’t a bad one. The fans would like it, especially during this time of year when people were feeling crafty.
    “I think we should,” Wes mused. “It would be pretty easy. Visit the galleries, interview some artists, and show the beautiful locale where the art is done. Fits the season.”
    “This is true. Plus, I’m interested to meet this guy’s wife now. Aren’t you?”
    Wes shook his head. “Not really. I feel like we’re about to get a whammy slammed down on us.”
    I snorted. “A whammy?”
    “Yeah. You know, like”—he slapped the dash of the car—“a whammy!” he hollered.
    “You’re a nut!” I