Page 121 of Booked for the Holidays
“Took you two long enough.”
My attention slides from Theo’s face to the right. Greta’s there on her scooter, smiling at us.
“Wow, okay,” I laugh as I slide down Theo’s body and fold my arms across my chest. “So much for being discreet.”
“A kiss in the middle of a crowded park is not what I would call discreet,” she counters. Her eyes move to Theo. “Glad you finally realized what I meant. No need to search for something that’s been there the whole time.”
“You’re right, Greta. I’ll admit you know everything,” he says, arm around my shoulder. “I’ll listen better next time.”
“You look better with a smile on your face,” says Greta. “Happy for you two. You’re next,” she adds, pointing at Chandler.
My best friend bursts out laughing. “Yeah, and hell will freeze over, too.”
“Never say never,” the older woman says. “I have a feeling you all will have a lot to celebrate tonight.” With a wink, she drives off, horn blaring to disperse the crowd in her way.
“Ambiguous as always,” I say to Chandler and she rolls her eyes.
“Alright folks!” Jamie walks onto the stage, waving to the crowd. “How’s everyone doing? We’re so lucky to have Jacqueline Muller, head ofTravel Livinghere to announce our competition winners. We had an enormous outpouring of interest from readers and viewers online. Additionally, thanks to your spectacular designs, the prizes have changed slightly. Third place will now receive compensation, a total of $50,000. Second place will win $100,000. Which means first place will win $200,000.”
I almost crush Theo’s hand with how tight I’m gripping his fingers.
“Without further ado,” Jamie says. “Here’s Jacqueline.”
A hush falls over the crowd. I’m afraid to even take a breath.
“Thank you for inviting us to your lovely town. We’ve spent a lot of time here the last two weeks, watching you all put together displays and decorations. We are so proud of all your hard work. The magazine and our sponsors felt the hard work should be compensated fairly. This was very, very difficult to judge, but we felt like the top six locations stood out a touch above others. In third place is Sarah’s Flowers and Men’s Warehouse.”
I drop Theo’s hand to applaud, grinning as Sarah and Bryson, the two owners, make their way to the stage.
“Shame he’s wearing a shirt,” Chandler whispers in my ear and I giggle.
“In second place is Pottery House and Lavender Boutique.”
Shit.They were the ones with the ballerinas. If that was second place, we don’t stand a chance. My hope in our dreams begins to falter, and I swallow.
“There was a lot of conversation surrounding our first place winner. When we walked through all the stores, there was only one that evoked a sense ofhomewhen we stepped inside. Elaborate decorations are nice, sure, but sometimes we need to take a step back and realize it’s not how much we spend, but how we spend it. When I saw the tagline for this particular group of stores, it made me so happy. It made me want to dash back to New York to see my kids and husband. So much so, I canceled my flight tomorrow and I’m taking the last one out tonight,” Jacqueline chuckles. “Home for the holidays, wherever it might be and with whoever it might be. Congratulations to A Likely Story and Gardner’s Hardware for being our grand prize winners!”
FORTY-EIGHT
BRIDGET
The world is no longer moving.I pinch the inside of my wrist, trying to make sure this isn’t a dream, that this isreally freaking happening.
And then the noises begin. A rousing round of applause and cheers. Clapping and screaming, hooting and hollering. Music playing and off-key singing.
I’m swept into Theo’s arms and he’s spinning me around, a jovial glint to his eyes and a wide smile on his mouth.
“You did it, baby,” he whispers. “I’m so proud of you.”
I shake my head, a sob falling from my mouth and joining the other sounds around us. “I didn’t do anything. We did. We all did.”
It takes some direction and corralling, a solid ten minutes of gentle pushes and clasps on backs before our group finally files onto the stage. It’s all a blur, a mix of handshakes and flowers, laughter and flashes of cameras. A large check gets put in our hands and we pose for photos, smiling brightly and wiping away our tears. Jacqueline gives me a hug, pulling me aside to tell me how moved she was by our design. She also tells me she’s going to be the one to interview us in January and said she’d be in touch about a future collaboration featuring indie-bookstores throughout the country.
My hands are shaking too violently to hold onto anything, and I delegate Bradley as the official check holder. He takes his duties seriously; the first thing he does is jump off the stage, crowd surfing with the large piece of cardboard marked with $200,000 over his head.
“What the hell?” Chandler laughs, hugging me tight. “How did this happen? Did we really just win with home photos and painted decorations?!”
“Yeah,” I answer, squeezing her tight. “We really did. Thanks for going all in on a silly bookstore with me.”
