Page 35 of Snowflakes and Sparks

“Well, thank you,” I said, clutching the paper under my arm like an old man.

“Are you nervous?”

“About the paper?”

Alex grinned. “About the Winter Walk. You haven’t heard?”

I racked my brain for some vital piece of information I was clearly missing, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“We’re completely sold out. This has never happened in the fifteen years we’ve been organizing the Winter Walk. I think your author event might have something to do with it.”

“Sold out?”

“We’re trying to see if we can accommodate more people. There’s a waitlist and everything. Everyone’s so excited. Georgia and Delilah are even baking extra cakes so that there’ll be enough for everyone. The whole town is bustling with excitement and it’s mostly because of your great ideas.”

“That’s amazing. Although I’m not sure I can take all the credit. Becca Loveheart was going to do a signing anyway, regardless of the Winter Walk.”

“But you came up with the theme and tied it to the signing. It was genius.”

“I wasn’t nervous before, but I sure am now,” I said with a laugh.

“Well, I’ll be off then. I’ll see you tonight. Call me if you need any additional help.”

I looked around the bookstore. Where was I going to fit all these people? The store wasn’t big enough to host a more than sold-out event.

“I might take you up on that offer. We need to rethink the seating, the placement of the food tables, the acoustics.”

“Tell you what, I’ll come back later today and help you. That way, you won’t have to stress out about it and you can focus on making that author feel right at home in our town. Leave the details and logistics to me.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” I said and pulled him into a tight hug. My sudden move made it clear that I was delirious from the news he had just given me.

I let go of Alex and he shot me a roguish grin. “There is one other thing we have to settle. It’s about the Snow Ball.”

“Yes?”

“Since my girlfriend ran away last year and you’re here all alone… Well, we can’t show up at the Snow Ball as two lonely people, right? I feel like we should stick together.” He paused for a moment and then continued. “Suzie Stonebrooks, do you want to be my official date to the Snow Ball tomorrow?”

A fluttering feeling made its way through my belly. I didn’t get asked on dates a lot, especially not by a hottie like Alex. “I would love to be your date.”

“Good,” he said, and he walked out of the door.

My excitement was too big to be contained, so I ran upstairs and did a little living room happy dance.

Things were looking up. Better yet, things were looking extremely bright. The sold-out event might’ve been an unimpressive achievement if it had taken place in our L.A. store, but it meant a lot for a small branch in Old Pine Cove, especially this close to Christmas. Kate would love it.

And then I’d also scored a date with Alex. He had suggested going together before of course, but it wasn’t official up until now. The familiar mixture of fear and excitement swirled through me. I let out a nervous laugh. I was going to go to the Snow Ball with the most handsome man in town. It sounded unbelievable, yet it was true. I would have a fairytale night before heading back to Los Angeles next week, and I just couldn’t wait to savor every fleeting moment.

***

“And this is where you can sign the books. We’ll make sure people form a proper queue and there will be someone to keep an eye on how long they spend talking to you. We were thinking two minutes per person, tops.”

Becca Loveheart nodded and smiled. “That all sounds perfect to me.”

Addy had dropped her off at the store half an hour ago. My hands kept shaking and my voice came out all high-pitched, but I hoped Becca was happy with what she saw.

“Do you have any additional questions?”

“I do. Where do you keep the wine and can we have a glass right now?”

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