Page 33 of A Christmas Spark
“That’s very kind of you,” Imogen said politely, without a hint of flirtation in return. “I’ll let you know when it comes in if I need help. If I decide to get it.”
Vanessa barely suppressed a sigh. She felt more sure than ever that if Imogen could ever figure out that Lincoln was still into her, and if Lincoln could ever get up the nerve to actually, pointedly ask Imogen out again, they’d be great together. They reallyneededto give it a shot, she thought—Imogen was lonely and very much deserving of someone who would give her some of the love that she gave to everyone else around her, and Lincoln seemed like a sweet, polite, caring man who would treat Imogen the way she deserved.
It seemed clear to Vanessa that they both still had feelings for each other, between the way Lincoln looked at Imogen, and the shy way that Imogen couldn’t seem to lookathim most of the time. But she supposed she could understand wanting to avoid all that history. And it could be nerve wracking, dating in a small town. She’d even worried about it with Jackson, at first, before their relationship had felt as solid as it did now. She’d known if they broke up, she’d always see him around, run into him at the diner, at the general store, in random places. It was hard to avoid someone permanently in a place like Fir Tree Grove, and if a breakup was amicable, that was fine. But she could understand Imogen’s reservations. If she and Lincoln broke up again, and it didn’t end well, it could be very awkward.
Especially since he did business with her shop too, and Katie took lessons at the rink. It was all complicated, Vanessa knew.
That didn’t stop her wanting to lock them both in the ice rink together until they figured things out.
They both seemed fine with just being cordial with one another though. And Vanessa knew she had to be careful not to overstep. Imogen wouldn’t want her pushing too far, and she didn’t want to upset her friend.
“Well, I should go pay for this and get back to the rink. See you ladies around. It was nice seeing you, Imogen.” Lincoln waved, heading toward the register, and Vanessa glanced at her friend.
“He’s so nice,” she said as they watched him leave, and Imogen shrugged.
“He’s always been nice,” she said neutrally, but Vanessa noticed that she didn’t seem to be able to meet Vanessa’s eyes as she said it, pointedly looking at the shelf of cookbooks.
Vanessa let it go. Anyone with eyes could see there was something going on, but nothing was going to happen right then.She would just need to subtly drop hints to Imogen now and again, she thought.
“I’m going to go check out,” Imogen said after a moment. “If I keep going back and forth over all these books I’m never going to make up my mind. I’m just going to get her the box set and the first of that other series, and call it a day.”
“Sounds good. I’m sure she’ll love it,” Vanessa assured her friend. “I’m going to look around for a minute more, and then I’ll come check out too.”
She glanced over the shelves as Imogen headed off to the registers, pausing to look at a display table full of new releases. Next to it was another table displaying several special editions for gifts, and Vanessa paused, thinking over her own Christmas list.
It was fairly short—just Mabel and Imogen, really. She still felt odd about not getting Jackson a gift, but after her conversation with Mabel, she knew that her grandmother had been right that it was about the spirit of their agreement. It was important to stick to it, even if she kept seeing things that Jackson would like. And it was sweet that he’d wanted them to focus on each other, rather than things.
Of course, it was right as that thought went through her head that she spied a special edition box set of the adventure novels that Jackson had mentioned loving as a child. These looked different than the ones she’d seen before that had caught her eye and tempted her—with leather covers and a gilded line drawing on the front depicting the boy and his dog. She looked more closely at it, and almost jumped when a voice came from behind her.
“Those just came in yesterday.” A silver-haired lady with cat eye glasses on a pearl string around her neck walked around into Vanessa’s view, beaming brightly. “They’re a perfect gift. Firstedition, and a limited printing run. You’d have to really search to find them again, if you don’t grab them now.”
Vanessa carefully picked up the box set, running her fingers over the gilded edges. “I was just thinking that actually. My boyfriend mentioned reading these as a kid.”
“Well, there you go!” The woman smiled triumphantly, with the satisfaction of someone who loved matching a person with the perfect gift. Vanessa often saw that same look on Mabel’s face. “The perfect nostalgic Christmas gift. Nothing better than something that brings back a special childhood memory.”
Vanessa bit her lip. It was so tempting. But they had agreed… “Actually, we agreed not to exchange gifts this year. We decided to focus on spending time together instead.” She wasn’t sure why she was sharing all of this, except that she felt like she needed reinforcement. Someone to remind her in the moment that she should stick with their promise.
The woman’s eyebrows rose. “Oh! Well, that’s very mature. Though I must say, in my experience, there’s something special about a thoughtful gift that shows you’ve been listening.” She tapped the box set. “Especially one this nostalgic and rare.”
That’s the wrong kind of reinforcement!She winced, looking down at the beautiful set. She could picture Jackson’s face lighting up when he opened it.
“I know that look,” the shopkeeper said with a knowing smile. “You’re tempted.”
Vanessa sighed, reluctantly placing the box set back on the display table. “I am, but I really shouldn’t. We made a promise to each other.”
“Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that break the rules a little,” the woman suggested with a wink.
“Not this time,” Vanessa said firmly, although her fingers lingered on the spine of the top book. “Plus, I wouldn’t want to make him feel bad for not getting me anything in return.” Shelooked up and saw Imogen waiting by the counter, bag in one hand. “I should probably check out, my friend is ready to go. Thanks for showing me these.”
“Of course. If you change your mind, don’t dawdle,” the woman warned her. “I don’t know how long they’ll be in stock.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She would too, Vanessa knew. She kept thinking about them all the way to the counter, and long after she and Imogen left, heading to the diner to grab some lunch before they went back to their respective shops.
But she knew she should keep her promise.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
George glanced at his watch for the second time in ten minutes, then looked out the window, scanning the empty driveway that led to the Christmas tree farm’s office. The Saturday afternoon rush was over, and according to his calendar, he didn’t have any evening tree pickups scheduled, which meant his day would end early. That was a rarity, during the holidays, but he wasn’t going to argue with it.
