Page 27 of No Business Like Snow Business

“I can, usually!” He steered the car to the edge of the road and put it into Park. “Okay, so I guess I’d rather talk about this in the car than anywhere there are people around.”

“What? Why?”

“To...” He waved his hand. “I don’t know. I would just prefer there are no witnesses to my humiliation, I guess.”

“What humiliation?”

“The humiliation of being turned down by you!”

“What?” I blinked at him. “Harvey, I kissed you. Why would I turn you down after that?”

His eyes grew large. “You wouldn’t?”

“No.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or throttle him. “I know I’m only in town for a short time, and if you’re not interested because of that, then?—”

I didn’t get a chance to finish, because suddenly I had a lap full of Harvey Novak. And, let me tell you, there really wasn’t enough room in the passenger seat of a compact hatchback to have a lap full of anyone.

“Ow,” I said, as he kneed me in the ribs.

He hit his head on the ceiling. “Oof. I didn’t think this out very well, Sterling.”

“I can see that.” Laughing despite the jab of pain in my side, I helped to gently extricate him back to his own side of the car. “Are you okay?”

He rubbed his head and showed me a rueful smile. “Yes. Are you?”

“Never better.”

And I was surprised to discover it was the truth.

Harvey offered to drop me off at the hotel after we’d met with Travis Jones, but, despite having probably a thousand emails to catch up on, I declined.

“I was thinking of checking out the arts and crafts,” I said, and it wasn’t a lie. When was the last time I’d done something for no purpose other than the vague thought it might be enjoyable? The idea of picking up some homemade tchotchke, the kitchier the better, and giving it a home on my sterile bookshelves back in New York amused me. My apartment was clean, minimalist, and neutral-toned; it was everything Christmas Falls was not. I hadn’t even chosen the splashes of color or the artwork on the walls. My designer had, gushing about balance, and form, and the way the pieces drew the eye. I’d bet something from the Arts and Crafts Fair would draw a lot more eyes a lot faster.

“It’s awesome!” Harvey said, his eyes bright with enthusiasm. “It’s a great place to get your Christmas shopping done.” And then he raised his eyebrows. “Well, maybe not yours.”

“It sounds perfect.”

“Is Christmas Falls working its seasonal magic on you, Sterling?”

“Well, I haven’t been visited by three ghosts yet, but I can only assume that happens tonight.”

Harvey laughed.

In truth, I was feeling a little rattled since we’d spoken to Travis and learned about Gabe Baum. The possibility of finding out that Freddy’s story had an unhappy ending just like Gabe’s felt very real, and I was surprised at how much the idea unsettled me, and how much I didn’t enjoy facing it. I’d never been one for retail therapy outside of Berluti, but the distraction of shopping for Christmas trinkets to offend my apartment’s beige sensibilities was suddenly very appealing.

When we got back to the museum building, Harvey and I walked in together. There were people heading in and out of the Arts and Crafts Fair, the tinkling melodies of Christmas music accompanying them. At the door of the museum, an elderly woman in a hot pink puffer jacket and lime green pants was sticking a sign to the door. She was thin and a little stooped, and looked as though a stiff breeze would knock her down. She had a long gray plait that reached halfway down her back, glittery tinsel threaded through it. She turned to face us as we approached, andwhen she saw Harvey, her face cracked with a smile, her wrinkles deepening.

“Thereyou are!” she exclaimed. “I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer. I have to go and get some flour from the store, so I was just putting up a note.”

She gestured to it. It was the same sign I’d seen my first time here, and it was written in the same spindly handwriting:Back in 5 minutes.

Martha looked frail enough that she wouldn’t even make the front steps in five minutes, let alone the nearest store and back.

Harvey pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. “I don’t have any missed calls.”

“Are you sure?”

Harvey blinked and nodded. “Yes. If you’d called me, it would show up on my screen, even if I didn’t answer.”

---