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“Surely so”

“I said likable Not lickable”

“You said lickable”

He did his best to keep a straight face “You’d think with those elongated ears you’d have better hearing”

She touched one of her pointy ears “You’d think”

“So maybe I’ll just thank her for your costume that’s lit up my day so far”

McKenzie reached up and touched her hair “That would be accurate, at least”

“All the other was, too” Before she could argue, he grabbed her hand and held it as they resu toward Bev’s Beauty Boutique

The as a little chilly, but overall the weather was a fairly ia

“Oh, goodness, look at you two,” Bev gushed in her gravelly voice when McKenzie and Lance walked up to the shop Lance had met her at a charity function a time or two over the years he’d been in Coopersville A likable woman even if he did always have to take a step back because of her smoky breath

Bev and a couple other wo the remainder of the parade pass

“Cecilia, you outdid yourself, girl! McKenzie, you look a older than she was, ran her gaze over Lance’s trousers, jacket, and big Christmas bow tie He’d borrowed some fake ears and a nose tip from the community center costume room from a play they’d put on several years before “I’ia asphalt in mid-July”

McKenzie laughed out loud at the woman’s assessment of him Lance just smiled and thanked her for her hoarse compliment

“You do look a,” Cecelia praised her friend “Even if I do say so myself” She pulled out her cell phone “I want a picture”

“You took photos this ,” McKenzie reminded as her friend held her cell phone out in front of her