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family home done before
Sherman burned it down. And this," she pointed to the fork, "is
some of my family's old silver they buried in the back yard before
fleeing Georgia."
    Mr. Jacks eyed him and Santa just smiled in
return. "Sorry Mr. Jacks, you'll just have to be nicer next year to
get a present." With a wink he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to
Mrs. Wyatt's cheek.
     
    Santa made his way through the crowd,
greeting people and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. He saw Jake
and Marcy Davies over in the corner talking to their neighbors.
    "Ho! Ho! Ho! Tell Santa what you want for
Christmas little girl."
    Marcy looked at him and smiled softly,
"Santa already brought me what I wanted." Her eyes twinkled as she
looked at her husband and back to Santa. "But, there's someone over
there that would love to see you."
    Santa looked across the room and found who
Marcy was pointing at. He grinned and then leaned down for a kiss
before heading across the room.

Chapter Nine
     
    Tammy excused herself from the always-peppy
Pam Gilbert and went to the little half bath downstairs. She
slumped against the wall and looked up to see her reflection in the
mirror. She was exhausted and it showed. She had studied her ass
off this semester and found out that it earned her an A in the
class.
    Of course, she was so broke now that she
couldn't even buy a Christmas tree and the man of her dreams was
out there enjoying the attention of every single woman in town.
    She ran her hand over her short pixie-cut
hair. Her blonde hair shined and her makeup was flawless, but she
couldn't compete with the Belles, or Kandi. Kandi had her older
paws on Pierce while her husband got plastered on the Roses' apple
cider. Tammy reached down and pushed up her small breasts. It was
no use. She'd never have the attributes Pierce was so drawn to. No
wonder he never paid her any attention.
    Tammy pulled down her tight red sweater to
make the most of her cleavage and then smoothed her hand over her
short black skirt. Maybe Santa had a man for her in that bag of
his. Well, it was no use moping in the bathroom. She plastered on a
fake smile and opened the door, smacking right into Pierce as she
walked out. She reached out to steady herself and grasped his
arm... his big, strong, muscular arm. Her other hand came to a rest
on his stomach. She felt the ripple of a six-pack underneath his
shirt and couldn't help but take a moment to enjoy the feel. He
smelled like the outdoors, especially hay. She took a deep breath
and wanted to curl up into him.
    "Oh! Sorry. I didn't see you," his deep
voice said, interrupting her daydream.
    "It's okay. Merry Christmas, Pierce."
    "Merry Christmas to you too, Tammy. Excuse
me for a second."
    Tammy sighed as she watched Pierce walk past
her to see Jasmine, the head of the Belles, who was standing right
behind her. She felt tears begin to sting her eyes. She'd been
pining over him for two years now and maybe she just needed to
admit to herself it wasn't meant to be.
    "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Tammy tried to smile as the
jovial Santa came over to her. "This can't be little Tammy
Fields!"
    Tammy thought for sure she'd cry now. She
felt Pierce turn and look at her and she just knew Jasmine was
laughing. She'd always be 'little Tammy.’ It was the curse of being
so short. It didn't matter that she was a runner and had a trim
body. Nope. Because she was just over five feet and had the good
fortune to have smooth skin, people always thought she was so much
younger than her twenty-four years.
    "Little Tammy has turned into one hot woman
now!" Santa boomed, followed with a loud laugh.
    Tammy looked around and noticed that most of
the people around her, including Pierce, were now looking at her.
She felt her face turn red with embarrassment at Santa's bad joke.
No one saw her as hot. They saw her as a little kid they liked to
pat on the head.
    "Do you mind if Santa can get a gift of his
own? After all, I've been a very good boy this year."
    "Um, okay?" She had no