Read The McRae Series 01 - Twelve Days Sam and Rachel for Free Online Page A

one.
    A moment later, Zach came whizzing around the corner. He'd found a set of Matchbox cars her nephew left behind and was on his hands and knees racing in a circle through the house—the hall, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, and back to the hall. Every thirty seconds or so, he came through like a whirlwind, and this time, he zoomed into Sam. Still on his hands and knees, he looked way up at Sam and said, "Sorry."
    Sam took a breath and let it out slow. "It's okay, kid."
    "Can I ask you somethin'?"
    With a pained expression on his face, Sam said, "Sure."
    "Have you been bad?" Zach asked quite seriously. "Is San'a mad at you?"
    Rachel started to laugh. She couldn't help it. Sam stared at her, a dazed expression on his face. She couldn't tell if he was really mad or if it was something else. But she stopped laughing.
    "Not that I know of," Sam said finally.
    "Has he told you something he hasn't told us, Zach?" Rachel asked.
    "Uh-uh. I haven't talked to him yet, but I wanna. Can we do that? Do y'know where he's at?"
    "I do," Rachel offered. "Santa's coming on Saturday. There's going to be a parade and everything. It goes right down this street. We can't miss that."
    "I gotta tell him some stuff," Zach said seriously.
    "We'll make sure you get to talk to him," she said. "Why do you think Santa's mad at Sam, Zach?"
    " 'Cause Chris'mas isn't comin' here."
    "What?"
    "We saw all the lights and the trees 'n' stuff on all the other houses. They're all ready for him. But I guess he's not comin' here. No Chris'mas."
    "Oh." Rachel laughed again, realizing the problem. "It's the first day of Christmas, isn't it?"
    Zach looked puzzled. "I thought it wasn't comin' for another couple o' weeks."
    "I mean today's the first day of the town's Christmas festival. It's something special we do here," Rachel said. "Come and see, and I'll explain."
    They went to the window. The children crowded in around her, and she found she liked the press of little bodies all around her, the sounds of awe in their voices, and the way Zach had his nose flat against the cool pane of glass and laughed as it fogged up. Then he touched the little triangles of blue trim around the edges.
    "Somebody colored 'em?" he asked.
    "Something like that," Rachel said.
    She painted glass herself at times, but this she'd ordered special from a company in Wisconsin to match what had already been here when she restored these windows as best she could. At one time, she'd loved the way the pretty panels seemed to frame the world outside.
    She looked carefully and really saw, for the first time maybe in a long time, that world outside the walls of her house. Thousands of twinkling lights gleamed back at her. Every house on the street was all decked out for Christmas but hers. It was the first day of Christmas, and she and Sam had ignored it.
    "Baxter has a Christmas festival," she explained. "The Twelve Days of Christmas."
    "Who's Baxter?" Sam asked.
    "The town, Zach." Rachel laughed a bit. "It's famous for its old-fashioned Christmas festival, our own version of the Twelve Days of Christmas, except ours lead up to Christmas instead of starting on Christmas Day. We take the holiday very seriously around here. Especially in this neighborhood."
    Sam and Rachel lived in a five-square-block area known as "the district," a place full of old Victorian houses, most of which had been lovingly restored. Many of them had been used as models in her grandfather's work, as well.
    People came from all over to see the Christmas of Richard Landon's creation, and now Rachel had unwittingly violated a tradition that was practically sacred. She and her neighbors took pride in putting up an elaborate display of lights and seasonal colors for their own enjoyment and the town's visitors. Many of them would be strolling and riding through "the district" to look at all the lights over the next twelve days. Everyone was ready, except her and Sam.
    "We just forgot, Zach. That's all," Rachel