Page 64 of The Affair
“Haven’t you noticed all the holiday commercials on TV?” she asked, her face filled with amusement.
“Not really. I’m more of a Netflix girl.”
“Okay, then you must have seen the decorations popping up in stores?” she prodded.
“Yeah, but that’s mostly the big-box stores. Nothing local.”
Her arms folded across her chest. “The drugstore down the street has an entire aisle of Christmas decor up.”
I didn’t know why, but I gasped. Like an old woman in the presence of evil. “In October? But what about Halloween?”
She laughed at me but pressed on, “You’ve got to catch the customers while you can, Elle. Especially in a store like this where a lot of people are tourists just passing through. Plus, people are starting to plan and decorate earlier and earlier every year. It would pay for you to think ahead too.”
I hadn’t ever thought of it like that. I’d always been a firm believer in sticking to one holiday at a time. But that was based on my upbringing. In our house, we’d never put up the Christmas tree until well into December, and you never threw up a Halloween decoration before October 1. But this wasn’t a home.
This was a business.
“Well, I guess it’s worth a try,” I said, making that smile of hers grow two times larger.
“Exactly.”
“You want to help me set them up?” I asked, moving to the other side of the counter to stand next to her.
“Of course!” she replied with enthusiasm.
We began digging in, placing groups of mugs on the counter—some with koozies, some without. Others went on furniture throughout the store, but we tried to keep it closer to the front since these items tended to be impulse buys.
“So, where is your assistant today?” Candace asked as she worked her magic on a display near the front windows.
“Oh, um, he called in sick. He has the flu.”
“The flu, huh?” The way she saidflumade me feel like she was trying to insinuate something.
“Yep,” I answered vaguely.
“Wasn’t the store closed on Saturday?” she asked, still moving around mugs. Honestly, I thought she was just placing them in the same formation over and over, so she could continue this conversation.
“Yep. I had at the flu too. I think it’s going around. Have you heard?”
Finally, she turned around, facing me as I fiddled with a particularly cute Santa koozie. “Okay, spill.”
“Spill what?”
Her mouth curved into a knowing smile. “This store hasn’t closed unexpectedly in forever—”
“Yes, it has. My dad’s funeral,” I pointed out.
She gave me a sideways look, throwing her arms across her chest. “Besides the death of a loved one,” she amended. “This store has not closed for any reason whatsoever.”
“I told you,” I said, “I had the flu.”
“So, where was Sawyer? He couldn’t keep the shop open?”
My lips pressed together, and I watched her study me until, finally, her eyebrows rose in surprise. “You guys hooked up, didn’t you?”
“What? No!”
“Your cheeks are turning bright red!”
