Chapter 102 Miracle and Diego agreed to meet on December 27th...

After agreeing with Diego to meet on December 27, Mary chose to jump out of the window.

It's not to show off, but because I'm in a hurry.

She took out the small notebook from her pocket and put a tick behind the three words "little dinosaur".

Tonight is Christmas Eve. Johnny has been acting like a spoiled child since morning, trying every possible way to pester Mary, completely disrupting her travel plans.

Mary was a little troubled at first, but when she saw the dependence and tears that were about to fall in Johnny's eyes, she softened her heart again. She even almost had the bad idea of ​​not going out to give gifts and just staying at home with Johnny.

It wasn't until the sky turned from white to black and the planned time was pushed back by almost ten hours that Mary promised not to go anywhere on Christmas Day and to give all her time to Johnny. Then she ran out with her bag on her back to give everyone some belated gifts.

She first went to Lilith's little house, but her hopes were dashed.

Not only was Lilith not there, but there was also a family that looked like homeless people.

Leaning against the wall, Mary peered through the dirty glass window. She saw them, all dressed in rags, sitting by the fire, hugging each other for warmth. The poor child had no shoes on, and even as his feet were about to dip into the fire, they were still completely pale.

Seeing that the wood they used for heating was almost burned out, Mary picked up some firewood for them and placed it at the door, and put a few US dollar bills underneath.

Tomorrow is the day when Santa Claus will appear. I hope they can regard these as early holiday gifts and use them with confidence.

After finishing these tasks, Mary followed her memory and walked to a pub with a public telephone. Perhaps because there was always a crowd of drinkers, the pub was brightly lit, looking particularly warm amidst the row of closed shops.

Mary pushed the door open and walked in, inadvertently ringing the bell on the door frame. The bell rang clearly, waking up the drunk people. They raised their glasses in Mary's direction and started drinking again.

The bartender was wiping his glass. Seeing Mary approaching, he raised his eyelids slightly and asked, "Want a drink?"

"No." Mary shook her head and handed over a few coins. "I want to use your phone."

"Go ahead." The bartender casually pointed to his left rear with his right hand and continued his work.

Mary avoided the guy sleeping on the floor and dialed the number she had memorized but never dialed.

“Beep—beep—”

“Beep—beep—”

Are you not at home?

Or were you busy with something else and didn't hear it?

Mary tried to relax her frown and pressed the dial button again.

“Beep—beep—”

“Beep—beep—”

The mechanical echo seemed like a sigh of pity, which slowly dimmed the light of expectation in Mary's eyes.

The main purpose of her gift giving this time was actually for Manden Tim.

If Johnny extended a hand to her when she was in the most difficult time, then Manden was the one who really pulled Mary up.

It’s just that cowboys don’t stay in one place for long.

If they don't meet this time...the next time they have time to meet, who knows when it will be...

Mary pressed the button relentlessly, but this kind of thing could not be accomplished by sheer perseverance.

The expected thing did not happen during the long wait. When Mary failed to call for the ninth time, the bartender stood quietly beside her.

"Sorry..." Mary forced a smile, "I know I didn't give enough money, I'll make it up now."

The bald bartender, who was as strong as a bear, shook his head silently and handed over a glass of beer.

"For me?"

"Yeah." The other party nodded concisely and said in a muffled voice, "Happy holidays."

Holding the amber liquid, she carefully took a sip of the wheat-scented beer, and managed to taste a lingering sweetness from the bitterness: "Thank you, thank you..."

The bartender didn't respond to her, and it was unclear whether he heard her or not.

When she dragged out the conversation as long as possible and finished the whole glass of beer without any response from the other side, Mary had no choice but to give up. She stood up, took out another dollar bill, quietly put it into the bartender's pocket, and walked out of the pub.

She did what she had to do and now has no regrets.

As expected... being a cowboy is hard...

Mary remembered the melancholy on Manden's face, and she couldn't help but feel sad for this man who had no place to go.

I hope there are such kind people somewhere else who can give him a drink.

Mary looked down at her watch. The hands on it were already pointing to ten. If she didn't hurry up, Johnny would definitely be worried.

So she took a shortcut and hurried to Diego's house. Fortunately, Edie had not returned home and was sleeping soundly in the maid's room. Mary gently placed the gift she had bought in advance on her bedside.

When she was about to leave, she thought about it, took out a gift specially for Diego from her bag, and then ran up.

…

Exhaling the white air from her mouth, Mary slowly walked back.

From time to time, she touched the necklace hanging around her neck, which was very beautiful and matched the rubies on her earrings. She felt inexplicably... strange.

Before, she just thought that the things Kaz gave her were just nice-looking, but now, they have inexplicably become a mark that cannot be shaken off.

She lost Johnny's necklace, and Diego gave her another one. She always felt that Johnny would be unhappy. But... she liked this necklace. If she hid it because of Johnny, would she lose herself, as Jero said?

These two things, which were cold in the cold wind, became hot potatoes at this moment. Mary couldn't pick them up or throw them away.

It’s not so much that she likes these things, but rather that she likes the joy that wells up in her heart when giving them.

Forget it, just wear them properly, she won't hide them.

But... she would try her best to forget Kaz, and also asked Kaz to forget her.

Mary casually found a place to rub off the thick snow on the soles of her shoes. In the silence, she seemed to hear the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground.

Who's going out so late?

Mary looked up curiously and saw a brown horse running towards her in the distance.

That horse...

Mary involuntarily moved closer to the middle of the road. In the hazy night mist, she saw the outline of a man.

What is that... ?

Mary's heart began to beat irregularly with excitement, and the horse, which was taller than a human, had overcome many obstacles and came to Mary.

"Mr. Mandon!"

The moment she screamed, the handsome man grabbed Mary with one hand in a flash and pulled her in front of him with just one arm.

The horse did not slow down, and the biting cold wind blew in Mary's face. Before Mary could be happy, she was wrapped tightly in Manden Tim's cloak.

"Don't worry, let's go back to the tavern first and then reminisce about the past."

After saying this, Manden Tim grabbed the reins and turned around gracefully, leaving a series of heroic horse hoof prints in the clean snow.

Mary put her arms around Manden's neck for balance and felt that the holidays were indeed full of miracles and magic.

She wanted to speak, but after being filled with wind and snow, she buried her face in Manden's chest.

She felt the man's chest vibrating because of his laughter, which made her cheeks itch and began to heat up involuntarily.

Mary didn't know if it was because the horse was running too fast or for some other reason, but she felt like she had just sat on it and was about to get off.

Looking at the tavern they had stopped at before, Mary was about to dismount when Manden picked her up like a princess. "The snow is wet and cold. You must have caught a cold from looking for me today. Let me carry you inside."

"Hmm...Okay."

Perhaps she hadn't expected that Mary, who had always felt uncomfortable talking to him before, would be so generous in accepting his kindness. The corners of Manden's lips curled up slightly, revealing a very gentle and handsome smile.

Mary thought Manden would push open the door and go in, but unexpectedly he went around and came to the back door of the tavern.

Seeing Mary's confusion, Manden opened the door with his key and explained, "I helped the manager here before and dealt with a drunken scoundrel who refused to pay. To thank me, the manager gave me the second floor of the tavern for free, so I brought you here so that we can talk."

"Were you there when I called?"

"I'm sorry, I hadn't returned home at that time. I was on my way back because I had just solved a case, so..." Seeing the apology on Manden's face, Mary jumped down from his arms and stepped on the stairs, "Then how did you know that I called you and found me?"

Manden patted Mary's head and replied, "Because after you left, the bartender made a few more calls. Maybe God wanted us to be together. When he was about to give up, I got home and heard the phone ring."

"But the bartender doesn't know where I am?"

"That's something I can guess. I'm a cowboy after all, Mary." Manden maintained a gentle and gentlemanly demeanor as he answered Mary's question. "When he told me which direction you went when you left, I knew you weren't going back to Johnny's house. You were probably heading to Diego's."

Although Manden said it so easily, Mary still thought he was very powerful.

They arrived at the second floor. It wasn't large, but the decor was warm and comfortable, and it was kept very clean. Mary wanted to ask Manden why he didn't go home, but she decided to learn to think for herself.

Mr. Manden said that he had just returned home and was so busy every day that he probably didn't even have time to take care of the house. He might not have paid the water and electricity bills yet. So why not just move out?

Mary hesitantly told Manden the answer she had in mind, and received generous praise from him: "Mary, you are so smart. It's been a while since we last met, but I've noticed that you've made a lot of progress. I'm proud of you. But... you only answered half the question correctly."

"half?"

The man took off his hat and gave her an intimate kiss on the cheek. He also took the opportunity to whisper the final answer in her ear: "Because I want to be closer to you, it's that simple."

Mary blushed

She thought she could handle men with ease, but when she saw Manden, she couldn't help but feel shy.

Maybe it's because... Mr. Manden is tall and handsome, and... and he has blond hair.

In order to change the subject, Mary quickly took off her backpack and prepared to take out a few gifts. Since she really didn't know what Manden liked, she could only cast a wide net.

Just as she was about to take out the gift, Manden also took out a small gift box, "Dear Mary, I have a gift for you."