I shook my head."I haven't even been inside her store since Angela opened it.I've been too busy with the inn.Eve tries to keep an eye on the stores and restaurants."
"Are you going to let the bookstore open?"Ford signaled a lane change, his focus on the road.
"It complements the coffee shop.Belle will need to have holiday inventory and window displays."
His lips twitched."You wouldn't want a store that didn't fit the theme."
"It is Christmas Town," I agreed as he pulled into the lot for the large toy store.
Ford put the truck in Park."Should we have shopped at the toy store in Christmas Town?"
"If you want to get a lot of items, this will be better.The toy store in town sells specialty items.Think less plastic and more wooden ones.For this, we'll want to get the kids what they want, and it's not fancy."
Ford grinned over at me, his excitement evident."Are you ready to play Santa for the morning?"
His enthusiasm was contagious."Yeah."
Inside, we both grabbed carts and headed for the cars, trains, tracks, action figures, and various play sets.When our carts were full, Ford paid for the items and unloaded them into the truck.Then we returned to the store to get dress-up items, dolls, playhouses, and more play sets.By the time we were done, I was exhausted.
He leaned against the truck."Are you hungry?"
"Starved."I didn't have the strength to fight him on lunch.If I was being responsible, I would have insisted that we deliver the toys and go our separate ways.
He opened the passenger-side door for me."Let's unload the toys at town hall and eat at Merry's Diner."
"That sounds good to me."
I helped him unload everything at town hall.Then we headed to the diner.The bakery was next door, and it smelled amazing.Reina, who owned the bakery, delivered baked goods to the inn every morning for breakfast and dinner rolls and desserts for dinner.
Ford opened the door for the diner, and we slid into a red booth, decked out with garland and twinkling lights.
Ford raised a brow."This is quaint."
"It's been here from the beginning."
An older woman with a red-and-green apron approached us."Natasha."
"Hi, Merry.How's business?"I asked her.
She handed us the menus."It's a little slower than normal this time of year.I hope it picks up with the season."
"I'm sure it will," I assured her."Will you be at the town meeting tonight?"
Merry sighed."I suppose."
She didn't enjoy getting involved with the town events, but I wanted her to feel included."Hopefully, we'll see you there."
Merry nodded."Meg will be here in a second to get your drink orders."
Ford leaned in slightly."Have you had any pushback to your buying the place?"
"The owners who've been around longer aren't as receptive to our suggestions.They are dug in to how things were before.I suspect the previous owners didn't require much of them, and they could do their own thing."
"You have to gain their trust and respect," Ford said as if he was speaking from experience.
I wondered if that was what he was doing at his brothers' business."You're probably right."
"I don't know how you'd handle all of it without help."
