Page 49 of The Holiday Grump
“Jackson,” Noelle said. “He installed the speakers, too.”
At least they got a professional for the job. I let my eyes wander across the transformed space. It didn’t look like my business. It wasn’t mine at all.
I didn’t know where to go or what to do. On Saturdays, I usually hid out at my store just to avoid being invited anywhere else. Everyone knew my store was struggling, so it made sense to keep it open as much as possible.
Noelle’s store, on the other hand, wasn’t open on weekends, possibly because her employer didn’t want to pay for more hours. She’d been busy all week and sold cheap plastic at hefty markups, so the owner must have already made a killing.
“So what do you think?” Noelle asked, her eyes hesitant, like she was afraid of the truth.
Before I even opened my mouth, I knew I was going to hurt her feelings, but there was nothing I could do. I felt cornered. Figuratively and literally. My chest was so tight I could barely breathe.
“It’s different,” I said.
“Good… different?” She blinked.
I looked around me, and an involuntary shudder ran through me.
“Come on.” Felicity yanked me out of my seat, pulled me around a shelf, and pinned me with a look that saidremember what we talked about.“You have customers! You have enough Christmas lights to get everyone off your back. Whether you personally like it or not is irrelevant. Noelle has done all the work, and nobody is asking anything of you. Other than, maybe don’t be an asshole.”
“I’m not being an asshole,” I hissed back. “I let her livehere. I let her decorate. I’ll learn to live with a new doorbell. What more do you want from me?”
“How about athank you? The poor girl was up all night building that silly book tree! She and Kailee spent two nights picking the books and color-coding them, so the tree has that gradient. Did you notice that?”
“What gradient?”
“Exactly! You didn’t even look! I understand that this is a challenging time of year for you, but she doesn’t know that, and it’s not her fault. And if you can’t act like a human being, maybe tell her why. Because I’m not sureIeven know.”
I frowned, a heavy weight crushing my chest. “You know what happened.”
My sister folded her arms. “Clearly, I don’t. Because when Grandma died, Grandpa Charles fell apart, but then he pulled himself together, and somehow, he wasn’t an asshole two years later. It wasn’t permanent.”
But Grandpa Neil had been an asshole all his life. And I was equally related to him.
“That’s because…” The words stuck in my throat and burned like acid.
Felicity patted my arm. “That’s okay. Don’t tell me. But tellsomeone. Talk to someone. I’m saying this with all the love I can muster. You’re becoming unbearable.”
With that, she told Noelle farewell, gathered her coat and purse, and headed out, motioning for Kailee to follow.
Noelle waved at them, then looked at me with a mix of hope and nerves, like she was still expecting an answer to her earlier question.
How could she hold on to hope with someone like me? It would have been easier if she’d stormed out like my sister. Fighting was easier. Anything was easier than this.
Noelle took a tentative step closer, eyebrows raised. “What are you thinking?” The lights gave her dark hair a coppery halo.
She was so pretty I felt ill. Like I was failing. I wanted to be a better version of myself. Someone who could have acted the way Noelle expected. The way she deserved.
But I was the real, damaged version and overwhelmed by discomfort.
I scanned the room, looking for anywhere to retreat to. Anywhere I could sit and wile away the day pretending Christmas hadn’t invaded my safe space. There was none. Not a square inch of my store was left unlit or untouched by her hurricane of seasonal magic.
I took a breath. “Are there any decorations left in your store? Are they all here?”
She let out a nervous laugh. “I got a new shipment yesterday. Mr. Young was over the moon that we’d sold out of so much that he closed another store and put all his eggs, or baubles, in one basket.”
“You’re quite the salesperson.” I meant it as praise, or at least as neutral commentary, but it came out like an accusation.
She visibly recoiled. “It’s easier to sell something people are looking for. If you stocked some popular titles?—”
