Page 110 of The Holiday Grump
Noelle opened the door to her shop and poked her head in. “Grace! It’s me. I have news!”
I heard a female voice say something inside, and Noelle pulled me into the store, closing the door behind us.
A small light was set up on a picnic blanket in the middle of the floor. The entire shop had been turned into a small indoor camp, with mattresses and pillows, a portable hot plate, and bottles of water. How on earth did they cook without running water? The whole setup made me think of a zombie apocalypse, with the last remaining humans hiding in abandoned buildings.
Grace was a small, bright-eyed Korean woman with long black hair and a sophisticated white-and-beige outfit. Nothing about her said “zombie apocalypse.”
“This is Fredrik,” Noelle told her, then turned to me. “And this is my friend Grace.”
She shook my hand, her eyes assessing me. “She’s in love with you.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m in love with her.”
Grace turned to Noelle, her eyes a little sad. “You’re not coming with me after all?”
Noelle burst into tears. “Please don’t hate me! I’m messing you around, and you came all the way here.”
“It’s okay.” She nodded, her eyes cast down.
I pulled Noelle into my arms.
“Do you have to leave right away?” I asked Grace. “Can you stay for Christmas?”
“I have to get to Bar Harbor for Sunday, and no buses are going because it’s Christmas. The last one leaves tomorrow. And I have to find someone else to take Noelle’s place. They’re expecting two servers.”
Noelle tensed against me, wiping her eyes. “What if you can’t find anyone? Do you lose your job?”
She shrugged and pulled out her phone. “Let’s see what they say. I’ll message them now. We’ll probably hear back tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about the bus. Noelle can take my car and drive you. I’d do it myself, but I’m not supposed to drive at the moment. Get your things. You’re coming to my house. I don’t want anyone sleeping in here. This is depressing.”
“Oh, Grace, please! It’ll be so nice!” Noelle cast a pleading look at her friend. “His house is huge.”
Grace raised her eyebrows. “I guess I should check you out. Make sure you’re good enough for her.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed.
Great. Now I’d invited her parents, her sister,andher best friend. I was starting to worry there wasn’t enough snow-pushing in the world to save me from all the awkward peopling this Christmas, especially when I wasn’t allowed to do anything strenuous.
We bundled into the car, Grace sliding into the back seat. On the way to my house, my phone pinged. Noelle was driving, so I checked the message.
Jackson: You need firewood or fire starters? We’re clearing a tree that fell on the road, and there’s a lot here.
“What is it?” Noelle asked.
I relayed the message to her, and she perked up.
“Do they have pine cones? We’ve been looking at craft tutorials with Grace, and there was one for pine cone fire starters. They burn in beautiful colors!”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to ask?”
“Yes! If I’m staying here, I want to drop off Christmas presents for everyone! I’ve been making things, but I don’t have enough, and those pine cones would make such cute gifts.”
“What do you need for them?”
“Beeswax, I think. Maybe some colors.” Her shoulders sagged as she slowed down to turn toward the road leading to Locke Heights. “Not the easiest things to source, I guess. Forget about it.”
“Jackson uses beeswax for restoring wood. He’d have lots of it.”
