A bitter laugh slipped out. “Nothing about this week has gone right. Your news was just the icing on the cake.” She stopped, ashamed of herself. This wasn’t typical behavior for her, but the discouragement had momentarily won. “I’ll be okay. Promise.”
Peering at her through narrowed eyes, he cleared his throat. “Would it be okay if I look around?”
The request was odd considering it had the potential to upset her more, but she gestured her arms wide, granting permission as a form of apology. “Have at it.”
“I appreciate it.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key ring. “You’ll need these for the storage rooms and the upstairs areas. Each key is labeled so you shouldn’t have any trouble.”
“Thanks.”
He walked away, and she turned the sign fromClosedtoOpen. She wiped her eyes and ran a hand over her hair. If this would be her last Christmas owning Mistletoe Mercantile, then she would make the best of it.
Outside, the snow had ceased falling. She took that as a positive sign the storms in her life would also stop. With a clearing head, she realized it wasn’t as bad as she’d made it seem in her head, at least not regarding Christmas dinner and being late decorating. Considering today’s news, those were small potatoes.
Customers began to trickle in. By eleven, it became a steady stream, and Cora wished she had one of her part-timers to help. In the few minute breaks she had between assisting guests, she went down her list of employees, but none of them could make it in on short notice.
It wouldn’t be the first time she managed a crowd on her own. Her only concern was that she wouldn’t provide adequate customer service and she prided herself on delivering above and beyond what other stores offered for service.
All went well until a patron bought a set of glass ornaments—enough to decorate an entire eight-foot tree. Each one had to be individually wrapped for protection. While Cora worked on that, a man wanted to special order stockings with his grandchildren’s name embroidered on them, and a young family wanted a personalized ornament to commemorate their baby’s first Christmas.
Overwhelmed, she worked diligently, praying for the customers to show grace.
She felt something bump against her arm and looked up to see Gabe. She’d forgotten he was exploring the shop.
He reached for the ornament in her hand. “I’ll finish these. You help the next person.”
A protest formed on her lips, but wisdom accepted his help. “Thanks.”
She hurried to the next customer, and had the man write down each name, exactly as he wanted them on the stockings, along with choosing a font for the names. “I’ll have them done for you in an hour. You can browse around, or stop back in. We’re open until eight tonight.”
“I’ll stop in after lunch with my wife if that’s okay.” The man’s white brows wiggled when he smiled. “These are a surprise for her. She’s wanted them for the grands ever since the first one came along. This will be the first time we’ve ever had them all in for Christmas, so I thought this would be a nice treat.”
“That’s very sweet. I’m sure she’ll love them.” Cora smiled, taking a second to watch the man walk away. Customers like him were a large part of why she loved this store. Everybody had a story to share, and she loved hearing them.
With little time to spare, she moved on to the next group. The young mom and dad had chosen one of her favorite ornaments—a bear cub with a stocking cap asleep on a rocking chair. “What’s his name?”
“Aiden,” the mom answer before dusting her son’s head with a kiss.
“We’re leaving town today and with the snow and all, we weren’t sure we’d get here today for the ornament. Thank goodness the snow and wind stopped.” The dad squeezed his wife’s shoulder. “I have an ornament almost identical and knew we had to get Aiden one, but of course, I’d left my wallet in the hotel room that day we saw it.”
Cora listened carefully and made conversation with them while she neatly wroteAiden’s First Christmasand then the year. After the ink dried, she wrapped the rocking horse in layers of tissue paper then stored it in a box. She cashed out the family. “Have a safe trip home. Enjoy Christmas with your sweet boy.”
There was a lull in customers needing assistance, and Cora went to the counter where Gabe continued wrapping ornaments. She didn’t see Grace Tebow, the customer who’d purchased them, anywhere. “Do you know where Grace went?”
Gabe continued wrapping as she spoke. “She ran next door to the bakery and said to take my time, she’s not in a rush.”
“She dropped over a grand on those ornaments. I can’t keep her waiting.” Cora claimed a spot beside Gabe and worked to finish the ornaments. “Thanks for your help. I didn’t expect you to step in.”
He shrugged and tossed a casual grin her way. “What else do I have to do?”
“My part-timer on the schedule for today called out due to the weather and I tried calling in another, but none were able.” She had an irrational urge to prove she could run her business well. “It’s rare that I’m by myself, especially during peak hours.”
“I’m impressed how well you handled it.” He reached for another ornament. “Even with the backup, you took time to speak with each customer and listen to them without rushing them through for the sake of getting to the next sale.”
“If I save a sale only to have another customer leave feeling unvalued, then I’ve failed.”
“That’s an interesting comment from a retail point of view.” Gabe tore a piece of tape from the roll and secured the tissue.
