Page 18 of Through the Snow Globe
Rochelle furrowed her brow over her beverage. “Huh?”
“My neighbor paid me a visit last night. She picked up a snow globe of mine and”—Diana made air quotes—“she ‘enchanted’ it. She said I could shake the globe and spend one last day with someone I’ve lost.”
“Sounds kinky,” Rochelle said with an eyebrow waggle.
Diana chuckled dryly. “Mrs. Guzman is the one who needs a referral for a psychologist, not me.”
Rochelle hummed on that thought. “I can refer you both. There’s enough listening ears to go around. And elf ears too.”
“I got a pair of those already, thank you very much. I gave them to Linus before coming here.”
Rochelle grinned. “He’s somewhere in the coma-verse cursing you right now for that,” she said sarcastically.
“Doubtful. The man loves tacky things like that. You should see his array of ties.” Diana thought about the gift he’d gotten for her. “The snow globe was actually a present from him. I found it hidden inside his closet last night.”
Rochelle pulled away from her straw. “Wow. That’s so sweet.”
“It is,” Diana agreed. Linus was ever thoughtful. It was one of the things she loved about him. He was always doing things for her and bringing home little trinkets. “It has a model of our town inside it.”
“Snow Haven? In a snow globe?” Rochelle snorted out a laugh. “That’s ironic considering that this is the town that never snows.”
“They’re saying maybe it will this year,” Diana noted.
“Who’s saying that?” Rochelle asked skeptically. “The same guy who predicted rain all last week when it was bright and sunshiny every day?”
Diana took another sip of her drink. “True enough . . . This is pretty tasty.”
“You want a second one?” Rochelle asked. “My treat.”
“No. One is enough for me. I have to get home in one piece tonight.”
“Now that’s the Christmas spirit,” Rochelle said, offering a smile. “Are you going to Linus’s parents’ place tomorrow?”
Diana watched Sparky move from patron to patron behind the bar. She was a ball of energy. She reminded Diana of Linus in that way. When he was in his toy store, the man was practically one big kid. It was his happy place. And now he was stuck lying on a bed in some dimly lit room, day in and day out. “I told Mrs. Grant I might stop by for dinner and pecan pie.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you won’t?” Rochelle asked, finishing off her drink. “I know you won’t agree to my invitation either, but I’m extending one anyway. Feel free to spend the day with me and my folks.”
“Thank you. But my preference is to skip the day altogether.”
Rochelle reached for Diana’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze before pulling her hand back.
Diana swallowed back her emotions and reached for her pearl earring, giving it a twist as she breathed in and out. “I’m okay. Really.”
“If you weren’t, that would be okay too, you know?” Rochelle gave her an assessing look.
“I’m fine.”
“F-word alert,” Rochelle said quietly, bumping her elbow against Diana’s. “You’re about as bad as a drunken sailor, you know that?”
Diana laughed. Then she took one more sip of her drink and stood. “Time for me to get home.”
“To do what?” Rochelle asked, still looking concerned.
Diana pulled her purse onto her shoulder and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll shake that snow globe after all and see what happens.”
Chapter 6
There was a Christmas gift waiting in front of Diana’s door when she got home. Maybe it was something more from Mrs. Guzman. Another spell maybe? Perhaps this one would suck Diana into the snow globe itself.
