Page 29 of Fire and Ice
“I’ve never been in here.” Grady held open the door for Chelsea to walk through.
“I adore this shop.” She smiled and waved at the owner. Grady followed her in, and she introduced him to Ashlyn.
After they greeted the store owner, Chelsea and Grady went their separate ways, in search of gifts.
She had her brothers and sisters to shop for, and she always managed to find something fun for each of them. Every year, she also exchanged gifts with Kyra, and Chelsea hoped she could find something cute for her closest friend.
She browsed the shelves and made her way to the Disney collection. Anneka loved Disney, especially Minnie Mouse. Chelsea smiled when she spotted the display. An eighteen-inch-tall figure of Mickey dressed as Santa with a bag of toys stood next to Minnie, who held a wrapped gift.
“Perfect.” Chelsea picked up the sculpture and carried it to the front counter and smiled at Ashlyn. “I’ll set this here while I do a little more shopping.”
“It’ll be here for you.” Ashlyn set it aside.
Chelsea roamed the shelves and came to the Hallmark display. She paused in front of a dalmatian ornament, the dog holding a sprig of holly in his mouth. “Should I get it?” she whispered to herself. She had only dated Grady a few times, and they didn’t have a committed relationship. But the dog was adorable and small, and she didn’t think it would hurt to give him a little gift.
Grady was nowhere in sight, so she found a box with the dalmatian and carried it to Ashlyn. “Please hide this.” She kept her voice low. “I don’t want Grady to see it.”
Ashlyn gave a conspiratorial smile and put the ornament box beneath the counter. “I’ll set it aside for you, and you can come back later for it sometime during the week.”
“Perfect,” Chelsea said just as Grady approached them. “Thank you, Ashlyn.”
Grady set two boxes on the countertop. “This takes care of my mom and dad. Three brothers, six sisters, and some nieces and nephews to go.”
“Big family.” Ashlyn started scanning the boxes.
“Yep.” Grady turned to Chelsea. “Find anything?”
She nodded and gestured to the Mickey and Minnie sculpture that Ashlyn had set aside. “That’s for Anneka. That leaves DeAndra and the boys.” She smiled at Grady. “You must send a lot of packages to Seattle every Christmas.”
Grady blew out his breath. “It gets harder every year. Before you know it, there will be fifty nieces and nephews to think of.”
Chelsea laughed, and Grady grinned. “You’re laughing, but I’m not kidding.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I have to keep up the reputation as ‘the fun uncle.’” He pulled out his wallet. “Once I have my own kids, I won’t be able to afford all the other rugrats in the family.”
“How many kids do you want?” Chelsea blurted out the words before she could stop them, and her cheeks burned.
He smiled, a spark of both amusement and interest in his gaze. “Two, three? Certainly not as many as all my brothers and sisters and I.” He turned it back on her. “What size family do you want?”
She tried for a casual shrug. “About the same. Probably three, but no more than four.”
“Yeah, four would be enough of a handful.” Grady opened his wallet, and Chelsea waited as he paid for his gifts with cash.
Images of having a family with Grady stayed in her mind. She could see him as a father, and she knew he would be a good dad. Her face warmed again, and she pushed the thoughts aside.
He tucked his wallet into his back pocket and took the bag handed to him. “Thanks, Ashlyn.”
The store owner took care of Chelsea next and gave her a knowing smile. “See you soon.”
Chelsea thanked her and gripped the handles of the paper bag with the store’s emblem that Ashlyn had given her.
She waved goodbye to Ashlyn as Grady held the door open, and then Chelsea stepped out onto the sidewalk. The cool air brushed her cheeks and teased tendrils of hair around her ears.
They paused in front of Chelsea’s Closet, and she gave a pleased smile as she looked at her own display window. Elegant dresses in red and green, worn by stylish mannequins, stood amongst large red and gold ornaments with corkscrew streamers. Red and green bows decorated multiple packages of a variety of sizes, which were placed to the sides of the mannequins. Artificial snow framed the window, and it looked like a fancy fairytale ball.
“I think this is my favorite display.” Grady flashed her a grin. “I’m partial to the store owner.”
Chelsea laughed. “Why don’t you come in? I’ll introduce you to Chantilly.”
“Maybe I can find something for my sisters.” He sighed. “I’m hopeless with buying gifts for them, but I do my best.”
