Page 40 of The Christmas Cottage
“I’m glad you did too,” Vanessa whispered. He was standing close, and she hoped he would kiss her, there on the balcony with all of the lights of Fir Tree Grove twinkling beyond them over the snow, and the air filled with the scent of fir from the tree next to him.
When he leaned in, his lips brushing over hers, she thought she’d never been happier.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Mabel pushed through the front door of Holly and Ivy Market, glancing around the shop. She had decided to make a quick trip that morning to pick up some last-minute decorations for the Santa and Mrs. Claus event. A few of her garlands were in need of replacing, and she wanted new tablecloths. By now, decorations would be starting to sell out, and she knew that if she wanted to get anything else new or fun for the event, she’d need to buy it as soon as possible.
Plus, it was nice to just be able to go out and run an errand without needing to close up the shop while she did it. She wouldn’t have expected Vanessa to be able to run things all on her own when she’d first come to town—she’d asked for help, not for Vanessa to be able to take over—but she’d taken to the job even better than Mabel had thought.
She was incredibly proud of her granddaughter for having learned everything so quickly, and she was proud of herself for being able to let go enough to give Vanessa the reins for times like this. She’d always had a hard time letting anyone else be in charge, but if anyone was going to be, it would be Vanessa.
Honestly, she thought, Vanessa was a natural. She was good with organization, good with customers, and handled the fast-paced holiday business extremely well. It would be even harder to hire someone to help after Vanessa left, because Mabel wasn’t sure who could live up to her hard work.
She walked through the aisles of the market, browsing greenery and flowers and a row of Christmas tablecloths, as well as the new wrapping paper they’d gotten in. There was an assortment of adorable small porcelain gingerbread houses that she couldn’t resist, and she put them in her basket to add to the window decorations.
As she headed to the register, unpacking her purchases out of the basket, she saw Cindy fixing a display. She waved to her, and Cindy set down the snowmen she was arranging, smiling brightly at Mabel before coming over.
“I see you got your tree.” Mabel gestured to the large tree in the front window of the store, decorated with white Christmas lights and rustic birds all over it. There were wooden cutouts of birds, felted birds, porcelain birds—every possible kind of bird ornament, along with holly berries, pinecones, and small tufted nests. “I like the theme this year. It’s really beautiful.”
She struggled to keep her expression neutral, trying not to think of how the tree must have looked out on the lot, strung with elf decorations… or how George’s face must have looked when he saw it.
“Isn’t it lovely?” Cindy enthused. “I told Neil that we should pick out next year’s tree this year again, just like we did for this one. It’s the best tree we’ve ever had. But oh my gosh…” She dropped her voice. “You won’t believe what we found when we went out to the Christmas tree farm to pick it up. Someone hadsnuckonto the lot anddecoratedit! And just our tree! They must have decided to do it to just one as some kind of joke, and just happened to choose ours.”
Mabel managed a look of surprise, complimenting herself internally on pulling it off. “Really? The tree was fine, though?”
“Oh, yes.” Cindy waved a hand dismissively. “It wasn’t anything damaging. It was really funny, actually. There were these horrible-looking, garish elf decorations strung all over it. They’d have been terrifying to see in the dark, but they were so funny when we found it. We all had a good laugh over it. George was a bit miffed, of course. Whatdoeshe have against elves anyway?”
“I couldn’t possibly say,” Mabel murmured, trying to keep her mouth from twitching into a grin. “I’m glad you got it all sorted though. It looks beautiful now.”
“Isn’t it? Well, I’m glad to see you. Merry Christmas!” Cindy chirped, going back to her display as the girl at the register handed Mabel her bags.
Mabel managed to keep herself from grinning all the way until she stepped out of the market, and then she couldn’t hold it back any longer. Her prank had gone off flawlessly, and she wondered if George had any idea that it was her. Worth the sprained wrist, she decided. It had been loads of fun, and sheknewhe would be trying to puzzle out who might have done it.
She went into the store through the back, setting down the bags of decorations in a chair to go through later, and headed out onto the floor. The first thing she saw was Vanessa, ringing up a doll and a set of clothes for a customer, with a bright smile on her face and quick fingers. She looked relaxed and happy, and it made Mabel’s chest feel warm to see it.
Vanessa looked at home. Mabel knew there wasn’t a chance that her granddaughter would stay for good, but she could see that Fir Tree Grove suited her. She hoped that at the very least, she’d have a closer relationship with Vanessa, after this. She’d started to find it hard to imagine life without her granddaughter in it again.
“How was the shopping?” Vanessa asked, as the customer left. They were in the lunchtime lull now, and the shop was briefly empty.
“It was good. I grabbed a few extra things. How was your date?” Mabel asked, and Vanessa’s cheeks instantly turned pink.
“Fun,” she said quickly.
“Just fun?” Mabel probed a little, and Vanessa’s blush deepened.
“It was really nice,” she admitted. “He planned this whole thing for us, where we got to go onto the tree farm after dark, and pick out a little tree for my room back at the bed and breakfast. He thought of everything—snacks to eat while we decorated, boots and gloves for me to wear while we got the tree… although you know about the boots, don’t you?” she added, her tone teasingly accusing. “He said he got my shoe size from you.”
“Well, I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t know,” Mabel teased back, and Vanessa laughed.
“It turned out perfectly,” she said. “We decorated the tree and talked and had wine and hot chocolate, and it was honestly the best date I’ve ever been on. I told him I wouldn’t mind doing it again if we had time, but with the Santa event, I don’t know if we will. I can’t stay too much longer,” she added. “I know Russell is starting to get antsy. I haven’t been keeping up with my work for him as much as I should have.”
“You’re technically on vacation,” Mabel reminded gently, and Vanessa let out a small, breathy laugh.
“I’m the only one who doesn’t take vacations. I don’t think he sees it that way. But we don’t need to talk about that,” she added hurriedly. “I had a wonderful night last night. And today is shaping up great. Show me what you got at the market!”
As they headed to the back room for Mabel to show her, Mabel couldn’t help thinking once again that she wasn’t surehow she was going to go back to her life in Fir Tree Grove without Vanessa there.
And, she thought, she had a feeling that a certain diner owner would prefer not to lose her either.
