Page 37 of Snowflakes and Sparks

I let out a high-pitched laugh. “Oh, we’re just friends.”

She ignored my comment. “If he’s as skilled in the bedroom as he is in the kitchen, well… you’re in for a treat, girl.

I shrugged and put a piece of cheese in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to say anything. Not that I didn’t want to, but admitting how I felt to Becca would mean admitting it out loud once and for all and I didn’t know if I could handle that.

Chapter Fourteen

The snow globe factory was located just outside of the town center and employed thirty-eight people. They didn’t only make themed and personalized snow globes, but also offered tours of the factory and had a small snow globe museum. At least, that was the intel Alex gave me on the drive there.

“Hey, Karen. We’re here to pick up the charity boxes,” Alex told the lady at the reception. Her plump face lit up at the sight of him.

“Alex, how good to see you. How are you? Oh, and who is your guest?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

“This is Suzie. She’s running the bookstore for a while.”

“It’s great to meet you, dear. How long will you be in Old Pine Cove?”

“I don’t know yet,” I lied. “Until they find someone to take over the store permanently.”

I hadn’t broken the news about my impending departure to Alex yet and this didn’t seem like the best situation to do it. I’d tell him as soon as we were alone.

“Well, while you’re here, why don’t you take the factory tour? We’ve got one starting in thirty minutes. It’s on the house,” she said.

Alex ran a hand through his hair and shot me a sideways glance. “I don’t know if Suzie has the time right now.”

“Nonsense,” I said. “Last time I was here, I didn’t get the chance to do the tour. I’d love to.”

Alex grinned. “I guess you can put us on the list for the next tour then, Karen. Could you please tell Donald I’ll pick up the boxes after the tour?”

“Very well.” She handed us two tickets. “Enjoy,” she said and picked up the phone to call Donald about the change of plans.

“Let’s check out the museum while we wait for the tour to start,” I said.

Alex led me through a hallway on the right. The ceiling had Christmas baubles dangling from it, all positioned at different heights. We entered a brightly lit lobby area which had an arched doorway leading to the museum.

“After you,” Alex said.

I stepped inside. Row upon row upon row of snow globes lined the walls. A small carpeted walkway snaked across the room into another one.

I stepped over to one of the glass cases.

“Look, this explains how snow globes were invented,” I said. I scanned the text in front of me. “Apparently they’ve been around since the nineteenth century and were patented in 1900.”

As I followed the snaking pathway and learned more about the history of snow globes, I started to understand why people found this factory so appealing. It was as if they had perfected the art of snow globe making.

“These snow globes were all designed manually. Can you believe that?” I said, pointing to a large case filled with the most detailed snow globes I’d ever seen. “The factory here only started using machines in the nineties and even now there’s still a team of people who manually paint certain parts. Isn’t that amazing?”

I walked toward the next case, which was filled with personalized snow globes. “I think I’m going to order one of these. How cool would that be?”

Alex said nothing, but threw me a smile that made my knees buckle.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re adorable, getting all excited about snow globes.”

“I am not,” I said, laughing.

“You are. The fact that you don’t realize it makes you even more adorable.”

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