Page 8 of Snowflakes and Sparks

The local supermarket had everything I needed, except for the sheets, but the cashier was kind enough to direct me to a shop that sold bed linen. Sure, the stock hadn’t been updated since 1950, but the sheets they sold were clean and that was all that mattered.

As the store owner rung up my floral sheets, the lady in red came walking in.

“Good evening, Milly,” she said.

“Hi, Diane,” Milly answered.

Then Diane gave me the once-over and frowned. “You again.”

“Yes, hi,” I replied with a close-mouthed smile.

She stepped closer. “I never caught your name, dear.”

I cleared my throat. “It’s Suzie.”

She kept staring at me and I didn’t know what the appropriate response was. Should I stare back? Make a run for it? Call the psych ward?

“You. It’s you, isn’t? Oh my word, it’s you.” Diane’s shouting voice pierced the air and pinned me right in my place. She walked over to me and pricked one of her wrinkled fingers in my chest. Her red fingernail looked weirdly terrifying.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said.

She put her hand on her hip. “Don’t play dumb with me, missy. I knew I’d seen you before.”

She turned her attention to Milly and dramatically pointed her thumb at me like I wasn’t even there. “She’s the one who ruined Christmas all those years ago. This girl right here is the reason we had to move the Snow Ball from the tent to the community center. Now she’s here to take over the bookstore. What if she does it again? Ruins everything? I think I need to sit down for a moment.”

Diane grabbed the edges of the counter and Milly quickly shoved a chair her way, eying me suspiciously.

“You’re the girl who crashed young Alex’s truck and ruined the snow globes for the charity auction?” Milly asked.

Ouch. Way to rub it in, Milly. Why did everyone around here seem to have such a good memory?

“Yes, but I’m not here to ruin anything. That incident you’re talking about, it was ages ago. I was a kid back then. Believe me, I’m not here to cause any trouble whatsoever,” I said, holding my hands up.

Milly took me by the arm and guided me to the far end of the store. “Honey, don’t worry about it. Diane can get carried away sometimes, but she means well. Just make sure not to ruffle any feathers and you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks,” I said, not daring to ask what feathers shouldn’t be ruffled to stay away from Diane’s pointy red fingernails.

“This town thrives during Christmas and the snow globe auction, well… it’s been a tradition for more than twenty years. Some people don’t like change, you know? This town has a very tightknit community. Outsiders aren’t always welcomed with open arms.”

I nodded. “I didn’t do any of it on purpose.”

“Of course. You wanted to impress young Alex. Teenage hormones, am I right? I remember what it was like.” Milly squeezed my arm and blushed.

“Right,” I said.

I too remembered what it was like to be so consumed by hormones that you couldn’t trust your heart any longer. The things I’d done in the name of love were embarrassing to say the least. It didn’t help that I always fell for the wrong guy. The married ones. Or the ones who you thought were going to keep a toothbrush at your place, only to find out they already kept one at another girl’s apartment.

“Well, thank you for the sheets,” I said, and Milly waved me off before returning her attention to Diane, who was still sitting on the chair with a wild look in her eyes.

When I got home, I piled everything into the boxes I’d found in the storage room of Got It Covered. I filled one box with trash and one with stuff that I didn’t know what to do with. I would have to ask Alex about it later since he was in charge of renting out this place.

Once the entire kitchen was scrubbed, I made myself a cup of coffee and took a seat in the armchair near the window overlooking the street. Thick flakes of snow fell down and created a fresh layer of white powder on the window sill.

If only I could’ve covered my past mistakes in a thick layer of snow. The way Diane had reacted seemed way over the top to me, but then again, this town thrived on Christmas festivities and snow globe sales. Maybe coming back here had been a mistake after all.

I sighed. At least I was here to work with books, the one thing I loved doing most in the world. So what if I now lived next door to Alex and thought about what he was doing in there?

I put my cup of coffee down and shook my head. I had to stop these ridiculous thoughts from consuming me. The only reason I was here was to manage a bookstore, not to pick up where I’d left things ten years ago.

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