After eating, they stacked the supper dishes in the sink to save for later and bundled up for the short drive into town for the parade. On the way there, Eve heard the boys whispering in the back seat and she swiveled around from the passenger seat to look. They had the catalogue open and were pointing and murmuring, “I want a gun and holster set like that!”

“We can pretend we’re the Lone Ranger!”

“You brought the Wish Book with you? To a parade?” she asked in astonishment. The boys stared at her as if she’d asked a silly question.

“Did they really?” Audrey asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. “You’ve been studying it all afternoon, Bobby.”

“I know, Mummy, but I might forget to tell Santa something I really, really want.”

“We’re gonna just show him everything instead,” Harry added.

“You cannot sit on Santa’s lap with the entire Sears Wish Book in your greedy little hands,” Eve said.

“Why not?”

“Please, Mummy?”

“Well, for one thing, Santa Claus brings toys to a lot of other children besides you two,” Eve said, “and the things you’re asking for would fill his entire sled.”

“He can make lots of trips, Mommy. He has all night.”

Eve glanced at Audrey and saw her trying to hide a smile.

“Besides,” Harry continued, “Santa only brings toys if you’re good, and there are lots of kids at school who aren’t being good.”

“They’ll get coal in their stockings,” Bobby said solemnly.

Audrey found a parking spot near the village square, and as the boys tumbled out of the back seat, Eve spotted the catalogue peeking out from beneath Harry’s jacket. “The Wish Book stays in the car,” she said, yanking it out and tossing it onto the seat.

“But, Mommy . . .”

She shut the car door. “If you can’t remember everything on the list, maybe it’s because your list is too long.”

A huge Christmas tree stood in the picturesque town square, waiting for the mayor to throw the switch and light it up at the end of the parade.

“When are we going to get a Christmas tree?” Harry asked.

“Maybe this weekend. We’ll cut one down from Uncle Tom’s farm like we did last year, remember?”

Audrey’s late husband’s childhood friend Tom Vandenberg had been like a father to both of the boys, and he also held a special place in Eve’s heart. In fact, he’d hinted more than once that he’d like to marry her and be more than just a father figure in Harry’s life.