Page 11 of A Christmas Spark
Imogen hesitated, running her fingers over the shiny frills for a moment longer. “I’ll think about it,” she said. “I saw a Christmas-themed shop just across from this one as we were walking over. Let’s go over there and look for some ornaments for you, and I’ll decide what I want to get.”
“Okay.” Vanessa glanced at the pile of clothing Imogen was holding. “Should we wait on all of that too?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Imogen pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s so easy to go crazy spending this time of year. I should probably think about what I really want to get her, and what she needs. We’ll come back,” she said decisively.
She and Vanessa put the clothes back, before heading out to the Christmas shop that Imogen had seen. They could hear the music coming from it before they even got to the front door—a lively rendition of “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”. Vanessa bobbed her head playfully to the music as they walked in, and Imogen laughed, elbowing her playfully.
“Look at you! Totally in the Christmas mood now. You would have hated this when we first met.”
“I’ve fully assimilated,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “I’m full of Christmas spirit now. So full of it, in fact, that now I have a budgetjustfor Christmas decorations for my apartment.”
“How do you like your new place?” Imogen asked, picking up a sparkly unicorn ornament and turning it to catch the light. She thought that Katie would love it, and they could use a few new ornaments for the tree.
“I love it,” Vanessa said enthusiastically. “It’s so cute. You know, I used to have this super luxe apartment overlooking the harbor, all modern and sleek, and it was gorgeous. But I was never there, and I never really made it a home, you know? This new place is really small, and there are a few issues with it here and there, being in an old house, but I love it. It feels so cozy. Every time I come home, it feels like it’s mine. I honestly can’t wait to buy a house here eventually, and I never thought I’d say that.”
Imogen grinned. “I love that you’re so happy,” she said, bumping her shoulder against Vanessa’s as they walked through the store. She knew it had taken a while for Vanessa to find a place of her own. Fir Tree Grove wasn’t exactly flush with vacant apartments and houses for sale—people who lived in the towntended to stay in the town. Vanessa had stayed at the Hearthside bed and breakfast for a few months at first—with Christopher generously giving her an extended stay rate—and then at her grandmother’s for a month while she waited to be approved for the apartment. Imogen remembered the process very well, she’d spent plenty of nights chatting with Vanessa, easing her worries about moving home and how difficult it had been to find a place. But once one had opened up, all that patience had paid off.
Vanessa’s new apartment was a lovely little one-bedroom in a historic home that had been converted into four apartments. Imogen had been blown away by how perfect it was when she and Jackson had helped Vanessa move in. There was a view of the backyard flower garden from the tiny kitchen, big windows in the bedroom that let in a lovely breeze when it was warm, and old wooden floors that Jackson hadn’t been able to stop talking about how fantastically restored they were. All in all, it was a charming little place.
“I want lots of greenery for decor, I think—” Vanessa paused in front of a rack of Christmas t-shirts, bursting into laughter. Imogen came to a halt behind her, peering over her shoulder. “Oh my goodness.” She laughed. “This would be so perfect for Jackson.”
It was a red t-shirt with “Overload of Christmas Spirit” printed on the front in a curling Christmas-green script, with a large arrow pointing upward toward the wearer. Imogen snickered as she read it. “It really would be,” she agreed.
“I was such a Grinch when I first visited, and he’s always been so all-in on Christmas, even more so than the rest of Fir Tree Grove. He’d love it.” Vanessa checked the sizes, pulling out a large. “I can picture his face when he opens it.”
“I can picture him wearing it at the diner.” Imogen smothered another round of giggles. “You know he would.”
“Hewould!” Vanessa paused, her giggles fading, and then she reluctantly slipped the shirt back onto the rack.
“Wait, no! That’s perfect, what are you doing?” Imogen frowned, and Vanessa let out a sigh.
“We said we weren’t going to do gifts for each other this year,” Vanessa explained. “It’s our firstrealChristmas together—last Christmas we were still in such an early phase, and I was figuring out moving and all of that—and our one-year anniversary. We just don’t want to put any pressure on each other to make it all perfect. We decided making time for each other and just enjoying the season would be better than worrying about whether or not we picked the ‘right’ gift for each other, and putting a bunch of emphasis on that part of it.”
Imogen chewed on her lower lip. “That does make sense,” she conceded. “I get it. And that’s actually really sweet. But the shirtisperfect.”
“It is. But we agreed, so… I have to stick to it.” Vanessa reluctantly gave the shirt one final glance, and then headed in the direction of a display of garlands.
For the next hour, Imogen helped Vanessa pick out decor for every room of her new apartment: garlands for the living room and doorways, an assortment of red and silver and gold ball ornaments for the tree, a handful of cute rustic ornaments like a sheep wearing a big velvet bow and a glass cluster of holly berries and leaves, and even some tartan dishtowels and placemats for her kitchen. Vanessa paid for it all and collected her bags, and then glanced over at Imogen.
“Well, where to next? Did you decide on what you wanted to do for Katie’s clothes?”
“I really can’t decide,” Imogen said. “I love that little dress so much, but it’s really impractical. I don’t know. I think maybe I should wait and see what Katie wrote on her wish list for Santa.Maybe ‘Christmas party dress’ is one of the items, and that’ll make my decision easy!”
Vanessa laughed at that, and hooked her arm through Imogen’s. “Smart idea,” she agreed. “Let’s go get some coffee and figure out where to go next, then.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The delicious smell of pot roast and herbs filled Mabel’s small, cozy cottage. She’d put on a roast with carrots, onions, and potatoes to slow-cook while she was at work, along with a bundle of sage and thyme and rosemary for flavor, and now she couldn’t wait to dig in to dinner.
Her new little roommate couldn’t wait either, from the way she’d had to scoop the tiny kitten off of the counter the moment she’d walked in the door, after catching it sniffing around the hot slow cooker.
She stood back, hands on her hips, and admired her handiwork. While she’d waited for dinner to finish cooking, she’d spent the time transforming a small corner of her living room into what she hoped would be a little paradise for her new kitten. She’d put the plush pillow that she’d bought at the general store perfectly positioned beneath the window, where the sunlight would stream in during the day and warm the spot, and the kitten could hop up on the windowsill and survey the outside if she wanted to. Next to it, she’d put two small dishes with a scoop of tuna in one and water in the other, and a few small cat toys that she’d bought as well. There was a catnip mouse, a bunch of feathers, and a ball with a jingle bell similarto the one that now hung off of the little tabby’s blue and green plaid collar inside.
She’d probably gone a little overboard, Mabel thought, looking over the whole setup. But how could she not? The kitten was adorable, and after it had been freezing outside for goodness knew how long, she thought he deserved a bit of spoiling.
“What do you think?” she asked the kitten, who had immediately pounced on the feather toy and rolled onto her back, kicking her back feet happily as she chewed on a feather. “Five-star accommodations, am I right?”
The tiny creature—who still needed a name, Mabel reflected—looked up at her with enormous greenish-yellow eyes and made amraowsound through a mouthful of feather. Mabel let out a sigh, shaking her head with amusement as she watched the kitten roll into the side of the pillow, narrowly missing the bowls she’d set out.
