Reese waved as Mayor Sissel exited Re-Tail and slumped down against the cabana wardrobe Sissel had just put up for sale. Cyrus looked up from the ranch table he was renovating, shooed Rolf out of the shop, then helped her up and to a chair.

"What's up? You look like Katrina after Valentine's Day."

Reese sighed. "It's nothing, Cy. Go ahead and finish that table."

"No way. I know when something's up, and this isn't the 'nothing' you say it is," Cyrus corrected, crossing his arms.

"It's always the same, night after night!" Reese blurted out. "Sissel comes in with his load of beetles and fish and walks away with three hundred thousand Bells! I can't afford to keep giving him that much, not with the market in the state it's in. I'm barely breaking even on collector sales! There's no way we can pay off our shop before the deadline."

Reese was interrupted by a knock on the door to Re-Tail. Cyrus glanced at Reese, and when she nodded he opened the door. Tom Nook stood outside.

"Tom! I completely forgot. Come on in," Cyrus said, holding the door open. Tom smiled as he entered.

"It's quite all right." Noticing Reese, Tom furrowed his brow. "Are you okay, my dear Reese? I can come some other time."

"Now's fine." Reese sounded strained.

Cyrus shook his head. "I'll take care of it, dear. Come on." As he supported Reese through the door to the back, Cyrus said, "Give me a moment, Tom."

After a minute, Cyrus came back out. "How is she?" Tom asked.

"She's falling asleep. She'll be okay. So, what's the damage?"

"Well, the five-year contract is almost up," Tom explained, sitting down and pulling out a mess of papers.

"I know, I know," Cyrus grumbled. "You know what's going on, Tom. The seller's market is in the hole. We haven't managed to break even since the Harvest Festival. We have to pull from the meager savings we have in the bank to just make the difference."

"I know, Cyrus. But a lot can change in two years."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I drew up an extension. A two-year extension on your contract, I mean. Same interest rates, same everything."

"I… I don't know, Tom," Cyrus sighed. "We didn't get close to paying everything off during the five years, even with that huge market jump two years back. I can't see how we can do it. Maybe with thirty extra years, but not two."

"Well, think about it," Tom suggested. "A whole lot can change in two years, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. You said that. Fine, where's the paper?"

"Are you sure you want to sign?"

"'Course I'm sure. Reese would be heartbroken if we lost the shop."

"All right, if you're sure. Here's the paper."

Cyrus scribbled his signature and handed the form back to Tom. The raccoon gathered up his papers. Cyrus walked Tom to the door, and after the raccoon had said goodbye, Cyrus closed the door.

"We need some sort of miracle…"

Tom was sitting at his desk in the real estate office going over the papers for the Wilson contract. There was a knock, and he looked up to see Sissel enter the office.

"You know, you could have waited," Tom said wryly.

"When have I ever waited?" Sissel asked, playful smile on his face.

"True. Sit down.

"Thanks."

"What do you need?"

"Can I see the Re-Tail loan papers?"

Tom blinked. "…What?"

"I want to see the papers for the loan Reese and Cyrus have."

"Well… you can't. Not without their permission."

"Then can you tell me something?"

"We'll see. What is it?"

"How much do they still owe?"

"Two and a half million Bells exactly."

"You're kidding, right? My house never had that big of a loan!"

"Your house came to a total of seven and a half million, you know."

"Hmm, true. I had forgotten that. All right, here," Sissel said, handing Tom an envelope.

Tom raised an eyebrow.

"It's a check for three million. I'm paying off their loan."

"Is this like when you got Sable's inheritance for her? Is this just for the fun of it?"

Sissel shook his head. "Reese and Cyrus have been here since I arrived. I know times are hard, and I don't help matters that much by dragging in loads of beetles. It's a Christmas present."

"So it's exactly like with Sable."

"No. Well, not for the fun of it. Remember, Sable asked me to find out anything I could about her parents. The inheritance just happened to come along with that. This is because our community needs Reese and Cyrus. If they leave, our economy plummets. Their shop is one of our tourist attractions. I just can't stand by and not do anything. If I have to reach into my account to help them, I will. Not only that, they're my friends."

Tom smirked. "You'll go bankrupt one of these days."

"Eh, not likely. I've got a nice three billion in the bank. Don't worry about it. So, can their loan be called square now?"

Tom pushed a few buttons on his desk calculator. "Indeed. The total, for both the loan and various fees involved, is two point seven million. I'll send the leftover three thousand back to you."

"Sounds good. And keep this secret until I let them know, will you?"

What if they come in with a payment?"

"Take it, then give it back after."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Your hare-brained schemes never work, but fine."

"this is not a hare-brained scheme!" Sissel complained, but there was a smile on his face.

"Everything you do is hare-brained, Sissel."

"I ought to chuck you out of town, Tom. But then Sable would hate me."

"So Sable saves my hide."

"Sissel laughed slightly. "Yep!" He rose from the chair. "Remember, Tom. Please don't tell them." He turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to Tom. "On second thought… Are you able to access their savings account?"

"If it's related to their contract, I can."

"Can you put the extra three hundred thousand in the account?"

Tom looked questioningly at Sissel. "Why?"

Sissel spread his arms wide. "Why? It's Christmastime, Tom! Do I need any other reason?"

The raccoon shook his head, smiling. "No, of course not. I can do that for you, Sissel."

"Excellent. Thanks, Tom."

"No problem, no problem at all. Oh, are you coming over for the Christmas party? Sable has her seven layer chip dip waiting on the counter, and Mabel's planning on making fresh cherry knots for everyone."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I may, however, be bringing guests, if you know what I mean." Sissel winked.

"I assume you're referring to Reese and Cyrus. Why aren't they coming?" Tom asked. He frowned at the papers on his desk.

"Not sure. I don't think they've said why," Sissel said, shrugging. "If you ask me, I think they're feeling out of sorts, what with the seller's market dragging on the bottom line. The shop and money problems are icing on the already horrid cake of their life."

Tom looked up. "You don't really think they have it that bad, do you?"

Sissel shook his head. "Nah. They're happy because they have each other. Their livelihood worries them, though, and makes things seem a lot worse. At least, that's what I'm guessing. Don't worry, though."

"You have this plan. I'm not worried," Tom replied.

"Good. Oh, one last thing."

Christmas Eve had come to Ebony Sands. Snow glittered on the ground and housetops, and a general feeling of joviality and goodwill was spread through the air. All of the lights in the town were off, except for the ones at Tom and Sable Nook's home. The entire town had congregated there for the annual Christmas Eve party.

There was only one other place with any kind of light showing: Re-Tail. A flickering, warm orange light spilled out of the windows. In a room off of the main selling floor, Reese and Cyrus were checking their year-end finances. Papers were scattered across a wooden table, two calculators tapped away, three candles burned, and two mugs of hot chocolate sat untouched, wisps of steam still rolling off the drinks.

Reese picked up a pile of papers, tapped a couple numbers into her calculator, then burst out sobbing. Cyrus was at her side in an instant, his calculator, numbers, and papers forgotten. "What's wrong, Reese?"

Reese tried to speak, but her words came out strangled by sobs. She cleared her throat, wiped her eyes, and tried again. "We… we're broke, dear. We can't ke-keep the shop." She broke down crying again.

Cyrus looked over the papers Reese had been examining. He scowled at the papers. It was true, he knew.

"Reesie, look at me." Cyrus only used that pet name when he really needed to get through to Reese.

Reese blinked through her tears to see Cyrus kneeling next to her. He had a gentle smile on his face. She tried to look away but Cyrus took her by the cheek.

"Reese, it doesn't matter. We may go broke, we may have to sell the shop, but as long as we're together, it doesn't matter."

Tears welled up in Reese's eyes. "This shop is our life, though," she choked.

Cyrus shrugged. "Then we'll find a new life. I know you love this place, Reese- I love it, too- but if we have to leave it, we'll get by."

"It's so hard!" Reese fell into Cyrus' arms.

"I know." Cyrus patted Reese on the back, knowing that it would take a while for Reese to come to terms with the idea of losing the shop.

Knock knock knock.

Cyrus started. Helping Reese off of the floor and into her chair, he called, "The door's open!" As he wiped away Reese's tears, he heard the door open and footsteps enter the shop. The door closed, and the footsteps brought the visitor to the side room.

"Do you always leave your door open at night, Cyrus?" Sissel was standing in the entryway to the room, smiling slightly.

"Not always," Cyrus replied, shrugging. "But tonight I felt like changing things up."

Sissel shook his head, still smiling. "Do you mind my intrusion? I came to check up on you and Reese."

"Not at all!" Cyrus exclaimed, rushing to find Sissel a seat. "Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"Thank you, but no," Sissel declined. "I'll be heading to the Nooks' after this. I just wanted to give you two your Christmas gift."

"You really didn't have to, Mayor," Cyrus said.

Sissel held up a hand. "First off, I did need to do this. Second, please call me 'Sissel.' That is what my friends call me, and you are my friends." Sissel unbuttoned his coat and pulled out a thin package wrapped in blue and red paper. "Here you go."

Cyrus accepted the gift with some trepidation. "We didn't even get you a gift, Sissel. We can't accept this."

"The gift you've given me is the devotion each of you has toward Ebony Sands. Please open it."

Cyrus glanced at Reese and, noticing that she was still shaking, tore the paper himself. Inside the package was a manila folder. Cyrus looked at Sissel, who just gestured to the folder.

Cyrus opened it and froze. "Dear?" His voice was slightly higher than usual. "It's the deed to the shop."

Reese started so violently that Sissel feared she'd fall off of her chair. "What?"

"It's the shop deed." Cyrus showed the folder to Reese. She took it slowly, reading the paper inside. Then, just as slowly, her eyes rose to meet Sissel's.

Swallowing visibly, Reese opened her mouth, closed it, and finally asked, "Why?"

Sissel put his elbows on the table and his hands under his chin. "Why, Reese? It is because you need it. I'd heard about your money troubles from Tom. So I decided to do something about it. The two and a half million Bells you had left on the loan have been paid, as well as the various fees. Not only that, a total of four million Bells has been deposited into your savings account."

Cyrus began to say something, but Sissel stopped him. "It was not just me. I paid the loan off and put one million toward your account. The other three million came from the villagers and shopkeepers."

Cyrus dashed at his eyes and swallowed. "Why?" he croaked. "I want to know. Really know."

"We need you two, Cyrus. Ebony Sands would not be the same without you two and without Re-Tail. You bring in much-needed tourism and commerce. More importantly, our community would suffer if you two were to leave. Both of you are friendly and solid stones of our town. I can't imagine what our town would be like without you and Reese."

Cyrus looked at the deed, then at Reese. Reese smiled. Cyrus turned to Sissel. "Thank you, Sissel. I don't know how we can repay you."

"Come to the Christmas party with me. That's all."

Helping Reese off of the chair, Cyrus grabbed two coats. "We'd love to."