Page 2 of Baking it Merry

Ever.

Okay, maybe she couldn’t say that with any great certainty, but every time she’d ever seen him, he was scowling.

Like he was right now.

And that made her do what she always did—she smiled.

Brightly.

Like she was trying to win a sweet smiling contest.

That just made his scowl deepen before he stepped onto the elevator and went to wherever it was he worked.

Jerk.

But she wasn’t going to let Mr.Grincherson ruin her mood.Today was going to be a great day, and if he didn’t appreciate the little things in life that brought other people joy, then…well…that just made her sad.

“No,” she murmured to herself.“No sad feelings.Not today.”Smiling again, she walked over to see how her booth was coming along before walking around to meet the other vendors.

Kaitlyn Martin owned the soap and candles business.She was married with four kids and her business had started out as a way to make homemade teacher gifts.Now it was making money, but she wanted to test the waters to sell someplace that wasn’t her garage or the local craft fair at her church.Plus, her sister was also going to work at the booth with her so she could pick up her kids after school.

Over at the pet portrait booth, she met Ann Bailey, a retired mother of two who loved to paint and wanted to try her hand at offering her services someplace other than her book club or chair yoga group.

“Ooh…a book club!”Daphne said.“I’ve always wanted to join one, but never could find one.”

“You should think about starting one,” Ann suggested.“I’d invite you to mine, but you’re about thirty years younger than our youngest member.Plus, we spend more time talking about grandkids than we do about the books we’re supposed to read!”She laughed, but then instantly sobered.“Maybe we should do one here!You know there’s going to be lulls when no one’s down here in the lobby shopping.If we maybe picked a book or two a month, it could be a great way to pass the time.What do you think?”

“I love it!Hopefully the others will want to join us.I didn’t get to talk about books to Kaitlyn, but she has four kids, so I’m not sure how much time she has for reading.”

“Hmm…good point.Have you met Marcie yet?She has the cutest jewelry!”

“Not yet, but I’m already fascinated by her talent.I’m not creative that way at all.I’d imagine there're all kinds of tools and soldering and…that’s not my thing at all.”

“I already called dibs on a pair of earrings I saw as she was setting up.I have a feeling I’m not going to make any money here because I’m going to spend it at all of these booths!”

That made her laugh.“I don’t mind supplying breakfast for everyone.I wish I could offer coffee, but there’s a Starbucks literally right on the corner and I knew I couldn’t compete, so…”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big deal if you had a small coffee maker just for yourself,” Ann said.“You know, for your own personal use.And maybe ours.”With a wink, she nodded toward her booth.“I need to finish setting up, but I’m looking forward to a sweet treat to reward myself when I’m done!”

“I’ve got you covered!”And with a wave, she walked over to the jewelry booth and marveled at all the pretty pieces.It appeared that Marcie worked a lot with silver because so many of the pieces were made of silver wire and crafted into a variety of shapes.Some had gemstones, some were just simple designs, but they were all beautiful.

“Hi!I’m Marcie!Are you the creator of that adorable gingerbread house?”

“Guilty as charged!”she replied cheerily.“I’m Daphne.”

“It’s nice to meet you, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to be cursing you soon.”

“Um…”

“I have a feeling I’m going to be eating way too many sweets with you only twenty feet away.I mean…that is pure temptation!”Then she laughed.“All my clothes are going to need to have elastic waistbands before you know it.”

Daphne instantly relaxed.“I want to say that I promise not to let you overdo it, but…”

“Oh, I can’t be stopped,” Marcie joked.“Anything with frosting is a total weakness, so no matter how much I tell myself not to do it, the lure is just too strong.I’ve already made my peace with it.”

Honestly, she had no idea how to respond to that, so she quickly changed the subject.

“Any chance you like to read?Ann—who does the pet portraits—and I were talking about having a book club with our little group.You know, to pass the time when no one’s hanging around the lobby.”

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