“Come to my Christmas party,” Lauren invited Valerie. “It’s my one-year anniversary. Christmas dress-up attire and be ready to have loads of fun. Loud music. Laughing. Holiday cheer.” She fished an invitation from her purse and pressed it into Valerie’s hands.
Valerie couldn’t believe her luck. She’d stepped inside to talk about dog treats and been invited to an actual holiday party. She clutched the thick cardstock. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” Lauren glanced at Charlotte before adding, “If you want to drag a handsome man under my tree while you’re there, I’m all good with that.” She giggled as she grabbed the gift off the counter. “Should I tell Ethan to expect you?”
Valerie stared down at the paper, where an image of Santa pointing to the date sent a spike of worry through her system. “This is two days away.” She ignored the question about Ethan and hoped that Lauren would let it go too.
Lauren nodded. “We got married on Christmas but decided to celebrate early.”
“Smart.” She tucked the invite into her purse.
“Okay, I’ve got, like a billion things to do today, so thank you for wrapping this.” She pointed to the gift as she spoke to Charlotte. “And I’ll see you in two days. Ta ta!” She wiggled her fingers as she hurried out of the store.
Charlotte leaned on the counter. “Don’t let her teasing bother you. She’s a bundle of fun, and you’ll get used to all of us giving each other a hard time. It’s how we say we love you.”
“I’m not too worried. I grew up with people who know how to give someone a hard time.” She smiled at the thought of her uncle and his rough edges.
“But you looked so worried,” Charlotte hedged.
Valerie chuckled. “I was mentally combing through my closet to see if there was anything appropriate for Christmas dress-up. If not, I need to add shopping for a dress to my list.”
Charlotte relaxed. “I’m sure you have several things. You dress so cute.” She pointed to the tasseled wrap. “Speaking of dressing things, how did you like the decorations I sent over?” Her eyes dropped to the bag. “Any returns?”
“Not a one,” Valerie declared. “Let me show you some pictures.” She pulled out her phone and scrolled through. Charlotte gobbled up the images, drawing the phone closer to her nose and enlarging different parts to see details. She sighed happily.
“I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.” Valerie put her phone away. “Did Ethan happen to talk to you about the doggie treats I make?” she asked hesitantly. “He said he might, but I wasn’t sure…”
“He did. Do you have some with you?” She glanced at the gift bag hopefully.
Charlotte’s interest gave Valerie the shot of courage she was looking for. She pulled out the top three treats; a tree, a stocking, and a snowflake. She’d taken some extra time decorating them with colored white chocolate instead of the plain white she used for Tanya and Tucker. They were more festive and fun than usual. Which meant she felt guilty and had to make Tanya and Tucker’s all cute as well. The effort was worth it, though a sense of pride filled her as she presented them to Charlotte.
Charlotte oohed and aahed. “They’re so cute!” She stepped around the counter and considered it from the customer’s side. Off to the right was a display of Christmas bath bombs. She moved those down a shelf. “I wish I had a sign for them, so people would know they are for dogs. They’re so adorable kids would eat them without thinking twice.”
Valerie had been quiet the whole time Charlotte was thinking, but she piped up now. “They’re organic, so kids could eat them. But I used chicken flavoring, so they might not like them.” She dug in the sack. “I made a little sign. You don’t have to use it. I was playing around with logos and stuff.”
In truth, she’d spent several hours lost in the process of coming up with a logo she liked. It was more complicated than she thought possible. She wanted to stay true to her country roots, but most ranchers didn’t want to buy their dogs gourmet treats. Her clientele was dog moms and dads who treated their pets like family. People like her aunt and uncle. She finally settled on a paw print inside of an oval. It reminded her of a belt buckle but was cuter. Her uncle would never wear a buckle like that, but her aunt would buy it because it was adorable.
“I love it!” Charlotte exclaimed as she put the sign and the treats on display. “I’ll buy this batch and see how it goes. Here.” She handed Valerie her phone. “Put your name and number in here so I can call you for more.”
“Do you think you’ll sell them all before Christmas?” Valerie typed quickly and hit save.
“I do.” Charlotte brushed off her palms and stood back to look at her handiwork.
Valerie stared in awe. Her treats were stacked and displayed in such a way that they looked even better than before.
“We have a section for decorations for pet lovers, and it’s always bare by Christmas. I never thought of including things to stuff the stockings with, though. It’s great that these are hand-made and unique to our store.” She blinked and made a face like she’d said something wrong. “Of course, if you want to expand to other outlets, I understand.”
Valerie considered the courage it had taken her to come into this store–and she’d met Charlotte before today, and Ethan had put in a good word for her. Cold-calling another shop seemed like a big step. Besides, she wasn’t sure other people would like them as much as Charlotte thought. This Christmas was about trying new things and getting out of her comfort zone–she hadn’t specified how far out she needed to get. “I’ll see how these sell first.”
“Okay. But if you change your mind, let me know.” Charlotte paused. “You know, we could put them online too.”
Valerie gulped audibly. An online retailer had been in her great big-too much for me–possibilities are endless–daydreaming session.
Charlotte waved her hands as if erasing the pressure she’d just laid on Valerie’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about that right now. If you have some time, and the equipment, take pictures. But no pressure, okay?”
“Pictures? I can do pictures.” Valerie stood tall. She had a lot of experience with a camera. After her parents died, she spent a year driving a small motorhome across America, photographing whatever beauty she could find. It was lonely–which is what she’d wanted. She wanted to fall into the identity of an orphan and embrace it.
Over that year, she learned that color and interesting things hadn’t left the world with her parents but that there was hope, love, majesty, and God’s hand in every vista and valley and every minute of the day. She’d had to go looking for it because the grief had shrouded her in a veil of sadness.
