Page 1 of Mistlefoes

One

Jill

Grinch Ain’t Got Nothing On Me

I hated Jack Ziglar. My mother would say “hate is such a strong word, and we shouldn’t hate people.” She could say that, but he wasn’t her ex-business partner and, worse, the ex-boyfriend who cheated on her, was he? No, he was not. I held that dubious honor. And as I stared out the window at his latest stunt, one thing was clear: Cherish Cove wasn’t big enough for the both of us. It was either him or me, and the way my financials looked, I was beginning to think the one on the outs was me.

With a growl, I slammed shut the ledger book I’d been using to review the bookstore’s finances and stomped toward the front door. Yes, I used computer bookkeeping, too. No, I didn’t really trust it.

That was the least of things right now because that two-timing coal-licker had placed a sign outside my door directing people down the street for “Real” books. As ifHappily Ever Aftersdidn’t sell “real” books.

I wasn’t sure exactly when he’d placed it there this morning, but it was long enough ago that he was out of sight and recently enough that I hadn’t seen it when I’d been working on the front window display fifteen minutes ago.

Scowling, I stopped three feet from it and glared at the chalked words and the arrow indicating for shoppers to continue down three storefronts toZigzie’s Books.

“He’s at it again,” my assistant, Beya Perkins, said, coming up beside me, steam curling up from the paper cups she carried. She handed over one, and I smelled my daily peppermint mocha from her fiancé’s coffeeshop a block from here, her first—and last—stop before coming into work each morning.

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Well, first…” Swinging sideways, I gave the A-frame, sandwich board sign a hard kick that knocked it over and sent it skittering a few feet. “Then, it’s going into the dumpster.”

“That board looks expensive.” Beya pointed her chin at the collapsed dark wood frame.

“Don’t care. He left it on my part of the strip. He knew it was forfeit.” Jack also knew it would get right under my skin. When he’d made the purchase, he’d probably been gleeful about my likely reaction.

“We could take it inside and write our sales for today on it,” she suggested.

“We have a sale?”

She lifted a brown, smirking conspiratorially. “Don’t we? We still have some chalk markers under the counter from this summer’s craft event, and I can whip up something cute.”

And this was why she was my assistantandbest friend. She knew we needed the Christmas season to sustain us for the rest of the year. Promotions and marketing had brought in an uptick of people. Sales were up a little, but the outlook remained dismal. Revenue wasn’t up enough. More and more, the reality of my situation was hitting home.

I needed to branch outside of Cherish Cove. Or leave it. Or just close up shop completely and work as a barista as I had in college. Okay, that was being dramatic. I had a business degree. I could land an office job, but abandoning my bookstore would break my heart.

“Go for it.Buy two, get one fifty percent off. Today only,” I suggested, thinking on my feet.

“On it, boss.” Crouching with her own coffee held out to her side, she scooped up the wooden sign. I held open the door while she walked inside sideways. She leaned the sandwich board against the counter, then after setting down her cup, she reached into her cross-body messenger bag. “Got something for you.”

“Coffee is enough, Bey.”

“Nah, nothing like that. Here. This. I know you’ve been looking for it.” She handed me a flier with a graphic of Christmas lights forming a border around the page. “I snagged it from Willow Woods this morning. I’m sure she’ll be ‘round to drop more off for each of the local stores to hand out, but I also figured you’d want to see the rules and prizes right away.”

“Oh my gosh. Finally! She waited ‘til the last minute this year, didn’t she?” Taking the sheet, I scanned the top.

Annual Christmas Display Contest!

Open to all Cherish Cove residents.

Top Prize: $2000 plus waived property taxes for the year.

I scanned the rules and found they were the same as every other year with no surprises. I found what I looked for in the fine print, however. Willow had let the new benefit slip when she’d been in here last month, but here was the confirmation:

The winner will be featured in the Cherish Cove brochure available at the visitor’s welcome center and in all hotel rooms in our little tourist beach town.

If I won, I could advertise my bookstore on my feature page. Free advertising for the win—but I just had to do that. Win.

---