Page 40 of Snowflakes and Sparks

The ringing stopped and I smiled. Finally.

“Now it’s you,” Alex said with a laugh. “Can’t anyone leave us alone for two minutes?”

I got my phone out of my bag and looked at the screen. “It’s Addy.”

Alex took his phone out of his pocket and frowned. “She tried calling me as well.”

“I’d better pick up then. It might be urgent.” A feeling of unease filled my stomach. Why was Addy calling me at this hour?

I accepted the call with trembling hands. “Hey, Addy. Is everything okay?”

“Something has happened to the store. I was here to drop off the last two cakes for the Winter Walk tomorrow and I wanted to use the spare key you gave me, but when I approached the front door, it was wide open and, and, well—”

“Slow down, what’s wrong?”

“I think you’d better come down here,” she said. “You have to see this to believe it.”

Chapter Fifteen

“I’m so sorry, Suzie.”

Addy was holding the door open for me and threw me a pained look. Alex and I had raced over to the store as fast as we could without endangering the delicate load of snow globes in the back.

“Don’t be. None of this is your fault. If anything, I’m lucky that you noticed before things got even more out of control. I don’t understand why someone would do this, though.”

The current state of the store brought tears to my eyes. The seven cakes that Addy had brought over earlier for the Winter Walk were all ruined. I had left them on the counter, each in an airtight plastic container, thinking nothing could happen to them while I was away with Alex. It’s not like I left a box of gold out in the open. Plus, this was Old Pine Cove. The town wasn’t exactly known for its high crime rates.

Each cake had been smashed to pieces. Big chunks of cake and crumbs were spread out over the floor and over an entire table full of Becca Loveheart’s books. I couldn’t sell those anymore, let alone have them signed.

The plastic containers lay open on the floor, next to my Christmas tree. Or at least, what was left of it. It looked like the tree had exploded, sending shards of broken baubles in all possible directions.

And then there were the ten milk cartons we were going to use for the signing. We’d promised everyone a free cup of hot cocoa. All the cartons been cut open and stomped on, causing the milk to go into every nook and cranny.

How was I going to explain this to Kate? And what about the book signing and the Winter Walk? People would be arriving in less than twenty-four hours. I couldn’t possibly ask customers to make their way through aisles filled with glass, milk and cake crumbs, now could I? My stomach churned at the thought of cancelling everything.

“What kind of person would do something like this?” I repeated, more to myself than to the others.

“The kind that hates cake,” Alex said. “And Christmas.”

“Or me,” I said, trying to fight back the tears I could feel pushing their way through. “Christmas is ruined.”

Addy shook her head. “Oh no, it isn’t.”

“But look at… this! All the cakes everyone put so much love and energy into are smashed to pieces by someone who’s got to have an arm like a wrecking ball. What am I going to tell the people who signed up for the Winter Walk?”

Alex picked up one of the containers and put it on the counter. “Addy’s right, you know. It’s not ruined until it’s over. We still have, what, about twenty hours to make things right again? That’s plenty of time to fix this. We’ll both help you, right Addy?”

“Of course,” Addy replied. “That’s what friends are for.”

“I’d be more than happy to bake new cakes,” Alex said. “I’ll also make a call to the police department, ask if they can go around the neighborhood. Maybe some of the neighbors saw some unusual activity tonight that can lead us to the person responsible for this.”

“And I can help you clean this mess up, Suzie,” Addy said. “Oh, and we should take some pictures for insurance purposes.”

Alex nodded. “Good thinking. What do you say, Suzie?”

“I don’t know, it’s late and I don’t want to be a burden. Don’t you have to get back to the inn?” I asked Addy.

“My staff’s covering for me.”

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