Page 117 of Hold Me Instead
“Charlie, you’re rambling.”
“Oh, am I? Hmm. Must be because I panicked, seeing your face.”
He chuckled. “Okay, I’ll admit, I was thinking about how it might look.”
Her eyes widened then narrowed in such rapid succession he couldn’t interpret what she was thinking. All she said was, “What, like the local veterinarians supporting their neighbors?”
He swallowed. He was all over the place with what he was saying to her. “I do like hot chocolate, actually,” he said.
She gave him a small smile, not as Charlie-esque as normal, but it was something. “Perfect.” She zipped her coat and tugged on a hat and gloves. “We’ll start there, end with Dorothy’s.” She winked and held open the door for him to follow.
He watched the strands of her hair blow against her shoulders, a soft, thin veil of snow on the ground behind her. Her cheeks were already rosy, her eyes bright behind her glasses. She did a little shimmy of excitement, waving him on, and locked the door behind them.
The biting cold knocked sense into him immediately—for a minute there, he’d started imagining future holidays, and Charlie was definitely in them.
Chapter 33
Charlie
“Wait,so,youmakeyour own soap, with lye and everything? Like,Fight Clubstyle?”
Charlie grinned at the excitement in Zachary’s voice as he surveyed the products on the display table outside The Refill Mill. Magnolia was wrapped in layers, her California blood unaccustomed to the cold weather, evident by her thick turtleneck sweater and scarf, popping out from underneath a heavy wool coat. Her gloved hands were shoved deep into the pockets, her hat pulled as snugly as possible, her curls in a loose braid.
“Yes, we make our soap. These three my boss makes, and mine are right here. I also make these.” She held up small glass bottles filled with a liquid and dried berries. “Natural perfumes. I source the ingredients from urban growers, actually. Not as exciting as the soap, I take it?” she added, grinning at Zachary’s inspection of the bars of soap.
“I mean, it’s all impressive,” he muttered.
Charlie nudged his shoulder. “Maybe Sandra or your mom would like one?”
He lit up at the excuse to buy some. He looked at Charlie. “Help me choose?”
She nodded, ignoring Magnolia’s eyebrow wiggle while they smelled the soaps and admired the raw edges, pressed with dried botanicals or coffee beans. In the end, he picked one for each woman, along with bath fizzers and bubble bath made by other small businesses.
“Now make sure you let them know they can come back and refill these jars when they run out.” Magnolia pointed to the bubble bath as she rang up the total. “Or any jar.”
“If they haven’t stopped by already, I’m sure you’ll see them soon,” Charlie said. “I’ve been raving about your shop to them.”
“Oh, well, thank you for telling his family about us,” Magnolia said, her eyes widening for emphasis.
Zachary gave Charlie a small smile. He opened his mouth to speak, when someone called out his name.
“Oh, wow, hey!” He touched Charlie’s elbow. “I’ll be right back.”
Charlie watched him approach a man and shake hands.
“So. This is kind of a big deal for you two, huh? Going out together, shopping around all the super cute local shops, decked out for the holidays.”
“He freaked out a bit when I suggested it,” Charlie admitted.
“He did?”
Charlie nodded. “He looked like I’d told him his mom wanted me there with them Christmas morning or something super intimate.”
“She didn’t invite you to that, did she?”
“No!”
“That’d be a pretty big deal.”
