Farewell Mr. Kringle Page #7

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and wanted to be here.

I'm glad.

- Wait, wait.

- Pull over, pull over.

Oh, of course.

Today's their anniversary.

John basil Wilson

married Betty Anne Clark

50 years ago today...

December 21, 1960.

They were only married

three days before she died.

Okay.

- So you know where he is?

- Yes. I think I do.

Happy anniversary,

sweetheart.

I imagine some people

are all in a dither.

- A little.

- You okay?

We had plans to grow old

together, Betty and I.

That was the dream.

I suppose

it was not meant to be.

She'd be very proud of you.

You're a good person,

Annabelle.

That's why Brian

loved you so much.

Advice from an old man...

Looking in the rearview mirror

is no way to live one's life.

And... you want to know

when it's time to...

Exit gracefully.

What do you mean?

I overheard a boy

the other day,

the one

you were interviewing.

The only children that come

to see Santa these days are...

Forced to do so

by their mother.

They feel sorry for me.

- No, kris.

- That was...

It's all right, Annabelle.

It's time to face the music.

I...I should have quit

years ago.

Kris, what are you saying?

Alert the media.

Santa's decided

to hang up his cap.

This is my last year.

No!

No, you can't, you...

You can't quit.

You can't do this.

No, not... not after everything

you've done for this town,

for the children.

Yeah,

I know what the boy said,

but I also saw

what you did for Amber...

How you touched her heart.

I've made up my mind.

It's what I came

to tell Betty.

And I think she'd agree

that all good things

must come to an end.

50 years is a long time.

Time for Santa to return

to the north pole.

But for now,

there are still

four days till Christmas...

And even an empty post

needs to be manned.

Wonderful all year round.

Mistletoe won't be

the same.

- Come on, you're a lawyer.

- Can't you convince him to stay?

I've never been able

to convince kris of anything.

I should go.

Oh, yeah.

I can't wait to see it.

So Anna,

so you know...

When you're ready.

Thanks.

You know, I think this town

is beginning to grow on ya.

I think

you might be right.

Which is why I have to go.

Hey, will you do me

a favor?

- Give this to kris for me.

- Yeah, sure.

Thanks.

Dearest kris,

sorry to leave

without saying good-bye,

but good-byes are especially

hard for me.

I know you'll understand.

Besides, how does one say

good-bye to Santa claus anyway?

How do you tell him thanks

for restoring a cynical girl's

faith in humanity,

for helping her to realize

that there's still people

who know how to love

just for the sake of loving,

who give unselfishly,

expecting nothing in return?

Well, kris, I'm running out

of card space,

so let me just say in closing

that if a man's life

is measured

by the joy he brings

to others,

then yours is a life

that knows no bounds.

Farewell, Mr. kringle,

and godspeed.

Love, Anna.

Good blog.

Love the Christmas card

motif.

If only you had

finished the assignment.

We all know

how the story ends.

Man dedicates

50 years of his life

to making other people happy,

and then poof...

One day it's over.

Santa retires.

- It's a shame.

- I don't know.

I mean, maybe mistletoe

will...

Turn back

to plain old summerville.

What happened, Anna?

Nothing happened.

Got the story,

and now I'm ready

for my next assignment.

- It's the guy, isn't it?

- Mr. 9.5.

Mark is a very nice guy

who I have absolutely

nothing in common with.

He's why you ran away,

isn't he?

- I didn't run away!

- Uh-huh.

What?

Isn't life funny?

What do you mean?

Love.

Love shows up in the most

unusual places.

Can we please

get back to business?

Sure.

Congratulations.

Because of you,

our website hits

have increased 150%.

- Our readers love the story.

- Good.

I'm glad.

Now, what's next?

- Next?

- Yes, next.

I'm ready for

my next assignment.

- Hello!

- Three days until Christmas.

We are shutting down.

Besides, I think

you've earned a break.

But... what if

I don't want a break?

And you know

I don't celebrate Christmas,

so put me to work.

Assign me something.

I'll take anything.

I won't be picky.

Isn't, uh, Frida the food critic

on maternity leave?

You owe me one more blog

on the kringle story.

After that,

you are on vacation,

like it or not.

Fine.

- Anna.

- Yes.

He called here

looking for you.

- Who?

- Mark Stafford.

I wasn't supposed

to tell you that,

- but I thought you should know.

- What'd he say?

Just wanted to make sure

you were okay.

What'd you tell him?

I told him

that you were far from okay.

Thank you.

- I'm gonna go back to work.

- Mm-hmm.

Okay, so if there's

nothing else...

No, I'm good, carly.

Go home.

Just finishing up.

Some of us are headed

over to O'Malley's

for happy hour

if you wanna come.

- No, thanks.

- I'm pretty wiped.

Looking forward to a hot

bubble bath and early to bed.

- Okay, well...

- Merry Christmas.

You too.

Anna.

Please go home.

You can finish your blog there.

I'm almost done.

Why don't you come over

Christmas Eve?

My family will be there.

We'll have a nice time.

Thanks, Zoe, but, uh...

I already have plans.

Plans.

- Really?

- Yes.

Okay. Well,

if your plans fall through,

we'd love to have you.

Okay.

- Merry Christmas.

- You too.

Oh, leave it alone, wahl.

Hello.

So do you wanna know why

I don't have a dog?

Why don't you

have a dog, Anna?

- 'Cause I'm afraid.

- Afraid?

Afraid of getting

too attached.

And then, um...

One day, you know,

no more doggie.

It's scary,

loving something.

Yeah. How would you know,

Mr. noncommittal?

- Because I...

- Am exactly like you.

I'm afraid of putting

my heart out there,

- afraid of...

- Getting it broken.

Yes.

I've seen too many

heartbreaks,

too many families torn apart,

the pain it's caused.

Look at us, a couple of, uh,

commitment phobes.

What do we do about it?

Well, I guess we...

Weigh the alternative.

- Which is?

- Being alone.

Letting fear of losing love

keep us from ever loving.

"Better to have loved

and lost

than never to have loved

at all," right?

Something like that.

It's just hard to change,

you know?

Yes, it is.

But the truth is...

We don't have a choice.

So what do you say

we change together?

- I'll think about it, okay?

- Fair enough.

- Okay. I should go.

- Uh...

I still have a lot of

Christmas wrapping to do.

Well, then... merry Christmas,

Anna wahl.

Merry Christmas.

Dear bloggers,

tomorrow, Christmas Eve,

the town of mistletoe

will bid a final farewell

to their beloved St. Nicholas.

- Come on, boy!

- Come on.

What are you doing

with the dog?

- None of your business.

- This is city business.

Well, where are you

taking him?

- Back to the pound.

- Todd here's escaped three times.

- Todd?

- The dog's name's Todd?

- Come on, boy.

- Uh-huh.

Personally,

I think it suits him.

Well, I'm looking for

a dog.

Uh-huh. So what kind of

dog you looking for?

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