Page 8 of Everything Christmas

Was the order-spouting, surly man of a moment ago the same one who’d sat in her kitchen and politely sipped lemonade? Surely she hadn’t imagined his sexy smiles and soft laughter, or his mild teasing. What had happened to him?

This morning, he’d been gruff and rude—a total jerk. Who did he think he was, speaking to her that way?

Despite his boorish behavior, her body had awakened at the sight of him in uniform. It stirred further, listening to his deep, resonant voice even while barking orders.

But her slutty-behavior aside, she hadn’t made a peep of protest, just stood there and took what he dished out. Jeez! It wasn’t like her to be such a doormat.

At the roaring of an engine outside, Merry stood on tiptoe and peeked out her half window to see what it was. Having donned a black jacket and helmet, Reese, straddling a huge black-and-chrome motorcycle, backed out of his garage. She watched as he deftly fastened his chin strap and a moment later, with another engine roar, exited his drive and took off down the street. Except he did it at a notably slower speed than his lead-footed lady friends.

Dropping flat-footed, she rested her suddenly warm cheek against the coolness of the door. Gorgeous, made of muscle, a cop, and a motorcycle man... She was so screwed. But she reminded herself that he dated tall slender models and didn’t seem to like her very much. But a short, curvy girl could still dream.

It took the hall clock chiming eight times to penetrate her Reese-induced brain fog. “Holy Christmas! I’m late.”

Hurrying up the stairs, she rushed to shower and change. Her shop opened in an hour and she had a ton of things to do beforehand. Black Friday was less than two months away, which was practically tomorrow in the retail world. She couldn’t waste a single precious second daydreaming about hot guys she’d never have if she wanted to be ready.

Chapter Four

For a retail shop owner, Black Friday weekend was the very best and worst of times. The best, because for some, it was when the business finally turned a profit for the year. The worst, if the ads and promotions and window display didn’t bring shoppers into the store as expected. Merry was lucky that for her it had always been the former partly because it was also the start of the holiday season, which is what “Everything Christmas,” her year-round holiday store was all about.

It was also the worst, but only because it was a madhouse the entire long weekend. This was the weekend many people liked to decorate. Trees flew out her door, fat and skinny, flocked and pre-lit, tabletop to twelve feet tall, and bags upon bags of ornaments and decorations went with them. Although her bank account was happy, her feet ached, her back hurt, and her cheeks were sore from smiling from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for three days straight. Therefore, the Monday after Thanksgiving was a regularly scheduled, well-deserved day of recovery. And boy oh boy was she looking forward to it.

Located near Gatlinburg in the Great Smokey Mountains, Pigeon Forge was one of Tennessee’s best tourist destinations. There were great outdoor activities like hiking and camping, plus boating at nearby Douglas Lake. It was also the home of Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s own amusement park, as well as other attractions like water parks, western dinner shows, and country music theatres. But one of the main attractions was the shopping. There were rows and rows of outlet malls, and her little store was smack dab in the middle of them all.

Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Merry picked Pigeon Forge to relocate to because of the ten million visitors that came through the area every year. Having a niche business would worry other entrepreneurs, but not Merry. She loved Christmas. Everything about it made her happy—the sights of the festive decorations, Christmas songs playing 24/7 on the radio, and the scents of the season, from evergreen to cinnamon and spices, to fresh baked goods. And while some might dispute it, for Merry, people seemed nicer during the holidays, despite the stress.

In her store, she got to experience that year-round and it never got old. It was true that the holiday rush carried her business through the leaner months, but since she’d expanded into online sales and moved to a new location, she had maintained a steady business even in the offseason. But she had to dedicate her time and attention to the peak sales season between September and January. It made her dreadfully busy this time of year, but she loved that, too.

Since inheriting her parents’ business after their deaths two years ago, she had been going nonstop. She hadn’t had many days off, let alone a vacation in all that time. The payoff was finally being able to afford her own place. No more roommates and rentals or nosy landlords for her. As a homeowner, she was now free from all those hassles.

Her day off today was out of necessity. After four months, she had to finish moving in and stop living out of boxes, especially since she was perpetually tripping over the ones in the hall. She started early and worked through lunch. By late afternoon, her progress was marked by the pile of cardboard boxes at the end of her driveway. She even hauled out some of the crap the previous owner had left in the garage.

Not having access to a truck, she called We-Haul to pick it up. She had been lucky to get the man on the phone and to find out he was available today. He said he would be by around four o’clock to haul it to the recycling center and dump.

As she dragged out another load to add to the heap by the street, she saw Reese drive up in his big four-wheel-drive truck. She waved and smiled, trying to be friendly despite his obvious animosity. He spared her a single glance which turned quickly to a frown as he passed, nothing more.

She smiled as she remembered her mother’s philosophy, “kill ’em with kindness and it will eventually pay off.” Not this time apparently.

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