Page 1 of A Christmas Spark
CHAPTER ONE
The beginning of the holiday shopping season at The Toy Chest had gone off with a bang.
Quite literally, in fact, Mabel Stewart thought as she gathered up a toy pop gun that a child had managed to get out of its packaging while she was distracted. Vanessa Stewart, her granddaughter, had been out running an errand for her, so there had only been one set of eyes to watch all of the mischievous kids running around the toy store.
She couldn’t say that she really minded though. She loved running the toy store year round, and loved thinking of ways to make every season something special for the adults and children alike who came through the doors, with decorations, seasonal specials, and exciting new toys for every time of year. But the Christmas season was far and away her favorite, and always had been.
With the pop gun safely back in its packaging, Mabel took a deep breath as she finished rearranging the last of the toys that were in disarray from the long day. There were several dolls sitting on the wrong shelves, some Lego boxes turned the wrong way, and the nutcrackers still needed to be set up properly. She had planned to get that display done that morning, but there hadbeen such a rush that she hadn’t managed it, even with Vanessa helping as well.
Just then, the door opened, and the small bell over it chimed. Vanessa walked in, pushing a piece of auburn hair out of her face with one snow-dusted mitten as she set down the box of garlands that Mabel had asked her to go to the Holly and Ivy Market to pick up.
“Here you go,” she said with a smile. “Should we stay late to get these put up tonight? I know you wanted to finish the nutcracker display as well?—”
“No, we’ll do it tomorrow.” Mabel waved her off. “I know you have a date with Jackson tonight, and I wouldn’t want you to be late.”
Vanessa blushed a bit. “I’m sure he’d understand, if it’s something for the shop?—”
Mabel clicked her tongue. “Now, that’s the former workaholic in you coming out. I’m not your old boss. You’re going to clock out and go home to get ready for your date, hear me?” She wagged a finger playfully at Vanessa, and Vanessa laughed.
“Okay, boss,” she said teasingly. “I’ll do that.” She nudged the box of garlands under the counter, clocked out on the computer there, and then waved to Mabel as she headed out to where her car was parked out back.
Mabel watched her go, a fond happiness washing over her. She’d run The Toy Chest for a long time—decades, at this point—and it was her pride and joy. For years, after her husband passed away, she’d run it alone. She’d missed him terribly, of course, but after a while, running the place on her own had come to feel like second nature. She had stubbornly resisted hiring any help, always saying that it would be harder to teach someone how she liked things done than to just do them herself, and told herself that she liked the solitude.
The truth was, she’d thrown herself so fully into the toy shop because she’d felt isolated. Her only child had died years before in a terrible car accident, and with her husband gone, she didn’t have any family who were still alive or who had stayed in contact with her. She’d had all of her friends in Fir Tree Grove, of course, who were like an extended family, but it wasn’t the same. Not exactly.
Then she’d hurt her wrist playing a prank on her friend George. She’d sprained it badly enough that, finally, she’d been forced to admit that she really needed help. So she’d called her granddaughter, Vanessa, who she hadn’t spoken to in years, and asked her to come out for a holiday visit. Wonder of wonders, Vanessa agreed, promising to come for a few days to reconnect with her grandmother. Once she’d arrived, Mabel had filled her in on the rest of the story—that she’d hurt herself, and really needed both time with her granddaughter, and help for the Christmas season.
Things had been rocky at first. But once again, Vanessa had agreed to stay and help, and the rest was history. Now, Mabel thought with that same warm fondness still filling her chest, she had everything she could want and more.
Now her granddaughter lived in Fir Tree Grove, and they spent time together every week, both working at the shop and outside of it, connecting and sharing stories and talking about anything and everything. Mabel loved hearing all the gossip that Vanessa picked up around town, and she loved hearing about the steadily growing romance that had flowered between Vanessa and Jackson, the rugged, cheerful owner of the Snowdrift Diner who had fallen for Vanessa pretty much the moment she’d walked into town.
This time of year, especially, she was grateful that Vanessa had grown to love working at The Toy Chest. She had always enjoyed running the toy shop, but it got incredibly busy duringthe Christmas holidays, between local customers and tourists eager to do their Christmas shopping at an old-fashioned, nostalgic store. She’d long since come to admit that she needed Vanessa’s help, and she was very glad to have it.
She was also tired, and more than ready to go home for the evening, so she finished straightening the display of dolls, then reached up to fix a few boxes of toy furniture for dollhouses. As she straightened them, she felt the shelf that they were sitting on wobble, and frowned.
Maybe the nail just needs to be pushed in further,she thought, peering more closely at the shelf. There were kids tugging and pulling on these shelves all day, it was entirely possible a nail had come loose. She tried to adjust the shelf, pushing it in, but the nail seemed fine. The shelf itself just seemed a bit unstable.
“Is everything alright?” Vanessa’s voice coming from the back room startled Mabel, and she jumped. “Be careful with those shelves,” Vanessa teased. “You wouldn’t want to hurt your wrist again.”
Mabel rolled her eyes playfully at her granddaughter, remembering the cover story she’d made up to hide the prank that she’d played that had actually been the cause of her hurt wrist. “What are you still doing here?” she asked, looking at Vanessa curiously. “I thought you were headed out for your date.”
“I left my keys.” Vanessa spun them around one finger as they jingled merrily. “Dropped them behind a stack of the boxes in the back room. I got that fully organized today, by the way. All of the shipments are organized by the date they should be put out onto the shelves, the sale signage is all neatly stacked, and the decorations that we still need to put up are in their own spot.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Mabel said with a grin. She glanced back at the shelf. “As for that, I think it might just need a slight repair. But—” She stifled a yawn, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth. “I think we’ll deal with that another time. It’s been a long day. Don’t be late for your dinner,” she added, climbing down from the stepladder. “I’m done closing up, so I’ll follow you out.”
Vanessa smiled, pocketing her keys as she waited for her grandmother. Mabel looked over everything one last time, and then headed toward the back door, letting Vanessa step outside first into the cold, crisp night.
Mabel paused just as she stepped outside, breathing in a deep lungful of the wintry air. She looked back through the open door into her shop, and smiled, that wave of gratitude filling her again. She was grateful for her shop, for the wonderful town that she lived in, and for her granddaughter. Still, she thought with a small pang in her chest, it felt like something was missing. She couldn’t place what it was, but it felt like there was a small hollow space, one that she didn’t know how to fill.
Shaking her head, she closed the back door and locked it. She was tired, she thought, and feeling extra nostalgic.
It was just the tired musings of an old lady, she thought, and nothing more.
“Lift it a little higher—there you go.” George Lowery, owner of the Merry Pines Christmas tree farm in Fir Tree Grove, gave the tree he was helping to load up one more push as he and Christopher Holcomb, owner of the Hearthside Cottage bed and breakfast, got it into Christopher’s truck. It was the last pickup of the night, and he was ready to head out for the evening.
He enjoyed the Christmas season as much as anyone else in Fir Tree Grove, especially since there was a sense of satisfaction that came with the season’s tree pick-ups. The trees had been carefully grown and nurtured, and now they would bring joy and festivity to the town for the remainder of the season. It felt like a job well done, and he liked that.
George tied down the last of the cords securing the tree to the bed of the truck, and patted the side of it as he looked back at Christopher. Christopher gave a quick, sweeping glance to the large tree in the back of his small pickup truck, and frowned.
