Page 70 of The Christmas Cookie Crush

“Oh, you know. Just … life.”

She studies me for a moment, her lips pressed together, but she nods like she’s decided something. “Right. Well, maybe this willhelp with that.” Sitting next to me, she opens the folder. “I’ve been running numbers and looking over the store’s growth the last few years. I know Mom and Dad have always said you could come home and work in the store after graduation?—”

“But you can’t afford to have me work full time?” I cut in, a well of dread flooding my gut. I thought she said this wasn’t going to be bad.

Clutching my wrist, eyes wide, she shakes her head. “What? No! The opposite, in fact. I was going to see if you wanted to be my assistant manager.”

“What?” I freeze, stunned, staring into her eyes, making sure she’s not trying to pull some kind of prank. Not that Sarah’s ever done that to me—that was Dylan’s thing. But … assistant manager?

“Look.” She points at the papers in front of her. “I know you’ve mentioned wanting to find a job in Portland after you graduate, and maybe I’m wrong, but it never seemed like you were particularly excited about that. But more that you just didn’t see a real place for you here, living at home and working part-time at the store. But it doesn’t have to be like that. I can pay you a decent salary. Enough that you don’t have to live with Mom and Dad unless you want to so you can save money. You’d be making as much as I did when I became the assistant manager before Mom and Dad mostly retired from the store. We haven’t had one since then, but between the town’s growth, the increasing tourism, and the addition of other seasonal decor, I need more help than hourly employees can provide. I need someone with some ownership.”

“Why not just promote one of the people you already have working there?” I ask, my voice little more than a croak. WhenSarah came and stared at me from my open door, this wasn’t what I was expecting at all. “Why me?”

Now she peers into my eyes, her face perplexed. “What do you mean, why you?”

I throw my hands in the air. “I know what everyone thinks of me, Sarah.”

“What are you even talking about?”

My brows raise. “You’re really going to make me spell it out?” When she just keeps staring at me blankly, I go on. “Fine. I know I’m just a screw-up, okay? I’m unreliable and take too long to make decisions, then I bail on things before they’re even done.”

Her head jerks back like I just slapped her, like I said those words about her instead of myself. “Uhh, I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but none of that is true.”

“Really? How many times did I bail on an elf shift and make you cover for me?”

She looks all around the room. “Um, I don’t know? But it’s been ages since the last time. And you were what? Sixteen? Seventeen? Like, it’s not that deep, Nora. You were a high school kid acting like a high school kid. Since then, you went to college?—”

“Where I took an entire year to settle on a major. I went through three before finally picking psychology!”

“Right. And then you did the fast-track degree plan, so you’re still graduating early.” She looks at me like she’s boggled by the things coming out of my mouth.

“Yeah. But I’m not going to grad school.”

“So?”

“So what am I supposed to do with a psychology degree without grad school?”

She flicks the papers in her hands. “That’s what I’m saying. You’ll be the assistant manager. You understand people really well, and your psychology degree helps with that a lot. You handled the ChristmasFest schedule like an old pro. Mom kept me up to date. I didn’t do half as well when I was doing that.”

I snort my disbelief, but she ignores me.

“Seriously, Nora. Iconstantlyasked Mom for help when I did it, especially at the start. To the point she got so frustrated that she asked why she even gave me that job in the first place. That’s when I started trying to do it on my own more. But you just grabbed it and ran and made it work. That’s why I know you’ll be perfect. Iwantto work with you. I know you have options, and I’m not expecting you to answer immediately. I just want you to know what the real option here is before you make a decision. And believe me, no one still sees you as the dumb teenager doing dumb teenager things you seem to think you are. I did dumb things as a teenager, too. Everyone does. It’s part of growing up. You’re smart and capable and responsible when you need to be. You’re my top pick for assistant manager, and not just because you’re my sister, though that certainly doesn’t hurt.” She wraps an arm around me and drops the folder in my lap. “Think about it, okay? You don’t have to answer right away. Take a few months. I can wait a while longer. But I’d like to have someone in place and fully trained before next fall.”

“Uh, okay,” I whisper, hoarse.

“Seriously, though,” she says as she stands, looking down at me with her hands on her hips. “Whoever’s got you believing you’re a screw up is a dick.”

“Dylan,” I croak. “He told me I’d be setting Austin up for heartbreak if I stayed with him since I’m leaving and don’t want to live in Arcadian Falls.”

Her eyes grow wide and round, then she sucks in a deep breath. “Right. So. Yeah. I stand by my earlier statement.” She shakes her head, eyes narrowing. “Want me to get him for you? I’m still his big sister. I can still make him suffer.”

That makes me laugh, and she lets out a relieved breath. “Seriously, though,” she continues. “Is that why you’re sad? You let Dylan get into your head, and you broke things off with the guy you really like?”

At my nod, she sighs and flops back down on the bed, rubbing my back. “Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to push for an answer, but what do you think of my idea? About you being the assistant manager?”

“Uh … I’m still in shock, honestly.”

She chuckles. “I kinda gathered that.”

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