Noel’s mother always said the kids needed the extra energy for such a busy day of helping the adults.Noel popped a few pieces in her mouth last night while sorting and placing boxes and even snuck one in this morning.She sure wished her mom and dad were here, dressed in their silly Christmas attire resembling Mr.and Mrs.Claus.The way the candy store had been passed down to her so abruptly hadn’t been the blessing she expected to receive one day.If a positive existed, it disguised itself in the fact that she now spent so much time doing what so many hands once did that it kept her mind occupied.
“Every time the cuckoo clock sounds on the hour, you can eat two more pieces,” Noel reminded the kids.
Levi and Laney glanced eagerly at the old gingerbread house time-telling machine above the mantle.Almost every kid who came into the shop pointed it out in fascination.
“It’s already seven o’clock,” Laney calculated, unwrapping a peanut butter cup and stuffing it into her mouth.
“The first seven o’clock,” Levi added while peeling the foil surrounding a milk chocolate ball.
“A.M.,” Laney said sounding all educated.
“I am glad your third-grade teacher is showing you how to tell time,” Noel noted.
“Daddy taught me first,” Levi shared.
As the kids chewed and swallowed their initial pieces of candy, Noel swallowed a lump that suddenly appeared in her throat.Fletcher’s hands were the ones Noel missed most.She missed them helping in the candy shop, with the dishes at home, and, most of all, touching her.Her husband had a way of making her forget all her worries, even on the hardest of days.He listened to her the same way he touched her, slowly and gently, and as the little hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, she swore she could feel Fletcher’s fingers tracing her skin now.
“Why do you have that look on your face?”Laney asked perplexed.
Noel’s shoulders shuddered back to reality.“What look?”
“Like you seen a ghost?”Laney explained.
“Ghosts are at Halloween,” Levi snickered.“It’s Christmas.”
“It’s Thanksgiving,” Laney corrected.
Noel chimed in.“In the candy shop, today is Thanksgiving as well as Christmastime kickoff, so you are both right.”
Laney’s and Levi’s eyes smiled widely as they looked up at Noel.
“The best day of the year,” Levi reported, unwrapping his peanut butter cup and dropping it into his mouth.
“I’m opening this one next,” Laney reported as she ripped the clear plastic from around a multi-colored mini candy cane.
“Smart girl,” Noel pointed out.“That one will last for a while if you suck on it rather than chew.”
“So will my chocolate,” Levi shared, sticking out his brown tongue.
“You’re silly,” Noel replied.“Make sure the wrappers go into the trash can.”
As she finished the sentence, they snatched up their wrappers like little vacuums and ran to the end of the counter where a wooden barrel lined with an empty plastic bag doubled as a finish line at cleanup time.
A moment later a knock came at the front door, and a pair of eyes cupped by hands on either side peered through the glass.
“Mrs.Madelyn,” Laney and Levi shrilled, and another race ensued to a broad-shouldered lady with wavy white hair and large-rimmed black glasses.
A crisp November morning breeze blew through the doorframe while Levi and Laney temporarily held Mrs.Madelyn there, each wrapped around either of her legs.
She squeezed the balls of their Santa hats as if they might toot like bicycle horns.
“How are my two favorite munchkins?”Mrs.Madelyn inquired through a belly laugh that entered the store before she did.
The children responded quickly by each grabbing a hand.“Come see what we got,” Laney encouraged.
“Yeah, it’s candy,” Levi blurted out.
Elbows rested on the counter, Noel’s palms held her chin while she watched the greeting with a tired smile.
