Page 35 of Once Upon a Winter
“What if Jessica won’t take it back?” Laura asked, her breath fogging up in the chilly air.
“Let’s hope she does,” Cooper replied, shivering slightly.
“I mean, she did warn me it was enchanted, but I thought that was just part of her sales pitch.”
“If she doesn’t take it back, we’ll just have to dispose of it some other way.”
Feeling defeated, she smirked. “How? A silver bullet?”
“Don’t be silly. We’ll put a stake through its heart.” His mouth twitched at the corner.
Laura wanted to share his amusement, but she couldn’t. “But if something happens to it, we don’t know what will happen to us.”
Cooper cast a pointed look her way. “You’re just making my point. We need that thing out of our lives.”
Laura understood what he was saying, but he hadn’t really addressed her concern. But they’d arrived in front of the store, so she set those thoughts aside. The window display twinkled invitingly, yet all Laura could feel was the uneasiness gripping her stomach. She glanced at Cooper, who offered a reassuring smile.
“Ready?” he asked, his hand on the door.
“Ready,” Laura confirmed, returning his smile.
The bell jingled softly as they entered, and Jessica looked up from behind the counter, her silver hair catching the light. She arched an eyebrow, clearly not surprised to see them.
“Laura, Cooper,” Jessica greeted them, her voice cool yet somehow welcoming. “Nice to see you! What’s this?” She fixed her eyes on the package.
Laura felt relieved to set the box on the counter and have it out of her hands. “This snow globe is… too much.”
Jessica’s brow furrowed. “Too much? How so?”
“It’s making things happen.”
“Things?” Jessica’s deep-blue eyes flickered with curiosity.
Laura nodded. “Things I didn’t ask for. And not just me. My sister was a little upset and said something she didn’t mean, and the snow globe made her wish come true. At least it didn’t do permanent damage, but there were broken bones. Well, one bone. Her big toe.”
Jessica’s face seemed to be stuck in a curious squint.
“But think of the possibilities. It’s scary.” The more Laura tried to explain, the less sense she seemed to make.
Cooper said, “It’s disrupting her life and mine in the process.”
Laura said gently, “We were hoping you’d take it back.”
Jessica said, “I don’t understand.”
Laura was desperate. “Please.”
Laura and Cooper exchanged looks, then Cooper said, “Look, I don’t believe in this stuff. To be honest, it sounds a little out there. But I can’t deny stuff has happened. Laura’s sure it’s the snow globe.”
Jessica shook her head as if confused.
Returning the snow globe was harder than Laura had thought it would be. “It kind of grants wishes, except they’re not really wishes.” When Jessica didn’t seem to register any understanding, Laura continued. “Do you ever talk to yourself? No, you probably don’t, but I do. It sounds crazy. But sometimes, I just voice my thoughts out loud without thinking. But since I got the snow globe, random things that I say seem to come true but not in ways you’d expect.”
“Such as…?”
Laura winced. There was no way around it; she needed to give at least one example, no matter how nutty she sounded. “Well, when I first brought it home, I set it on the mantel and noticed there was a guy outside the little house—which looks surprisingly like my little house, I might add. Anyway, I was just being silly. I said something about how I wished Santa would drop a hot guy like that down my chimney.”
She winced again and looked at Jessica. “I mean, people say things like that, don’t they?” She shrugged.
