Page 45 of Snowflakes and Sparks

“I know it sounds crazy, and that you’ve got a life in California.”

“I honestly don’t know what to say to that,” I said. “It does sound tempting though.”

“You don’t have to say anything. At least not for now.”

Leanne put two bags on our table. “Two grilled cheese sandwiches. Enjoy,” she said. She even threw me a smile.

“Will you walk me to my car?” I asked Alex.

“It would be my pleasure.”

We settled our bills and then went out and crossed the street, stopping at my rental car.

Alex leaned in and kissed me, slowly, like he wanted to taste every inch of me, and I let him. How would I ever be able to turn my back on this blooming connection between us?

“We’ll make this work. Somehow. We’ll find a way. I promise,” I whispered and got into my car.

As I drove off, I could see Alex in the rearview mirror, getting smaller with every passing second until he was completely out of sight. A gut-wrenching feeling settled inside of me. Was this how I was going to feel next week when we would inevitably have to say goodbye to each other?

I was looking forward to returning to my familiar life, yet deep down I hoped Kate’s applicant turned out to be a bad fit and that she would ask me to stay in Old Pine Cove much, much longer.

Chapter Seventeen

Ididn’t have any time to think about a possible future with Alex for the rest of the afternoon. In fact, I didn’t have a spare minute to think about anything but work. The reading and signing had drawn hundreds of people to Got It Covered, which was a lot more than I’d expected. I was lucky to have Addy there to help me. She handed out hot cocoa to the people waiting outside until they could squeeze themselves through the door and get in line to get their hands on Becca’s new book. Thank goodness I had plenty of copies in the stock room, since the person trashing the bookstore had ruined so many copies.

I manned the register and rang up book after book, while Becca smiled and talked with every single customer and posed for pictures. We worked together like a well-oiled machine.

At half past three, Hugo made his way through the crowd, something I had to applaud him for. Everyone thought he wanted to cut in line, but he’d been smart enough to hold his press credentials in the air so his pathway to the door was wide open.

“This is the busiest I’ve ever seen a store in this town,” he told me, his eyes sparkling with delight. “Do you mind if I interview a couple of people for the local paper and the website?”

“Of course not. I’m sure almost everyone here is more than willing to answer any questions you have about the event. If you hang around for a while, you might even get the chance to have a short conversation with Becca Loveheart.”

“Thank you, Suzie. I’ll be sad to see you go when your colleague takes over. Diane told me they’ve found someone.”

I frowned. “She did? Well, I’m afraid that information isn’t one hundred percent correct. They are working on it, but nothing is set in stone yet.”And it’s none of Diane’s business either what happens to the store.

Hugo let out a laugh. “You know what they say, always double-check your sources or you’ll look like a fool. We both know Diane’s information can often be taken with a grain of salt,” he added with a wink, then set out to find a couple of people to interview.

Now Diane was spreading so-called facts about the new store manager? It was like that old witch took pleasure in the fact that I would be leaving soon, the way she loved to rub my nose in it. What had I ever done to spite her apart from ruining Christmas a decade ago? It was ridiculous that a septuagenarian with red nail polish and ridiculously perfect coiffed hair could make my blood boil like that, but I couldn’t help myself. If only I could tell her I’d be just as happy to not ever have to see her again either.

“They’re here,” Addy called out to me, rushing inside.

I tried to see who she was referring to, but all I could see was a delivery guy struggling to get through the customers lining up.

“I’m sorry, who are you talking about?”

“The calendars of course!”

With all the kissing that had been going on, I had totally forgotten that the calendars would arrive today.

“Do you want to do the honors?” Addy asked while putting one of the boxes on the counter.

“I totally do.” I took a pair of scissors and let it slide through the packing tape. Excitement rushed through me as I opened the box to reveal the calendar. There it was, in all its glory.

I took a copy and leafed through it. Alex and I looked like a Hollywood couple, all sparkling and smiling.

“Are those for sale? Because if they are, I want one,” said a forty-something woman who was waiting for her book to be rung up.

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