Page 427 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“Are you ready for this?” she asked.
“Are you?”
Tinsely leaned forward and peered through the doors. A smile curled her red lips. “Born ready. The retail sector is my original stomping ground. You on the other hand?” She looked up at me and her eyes twinkled with mischief. “You were bred for lavish offices and the finer things in life. Let’s see if you can handle a day in the field.”
I laughed and followed her inside. Christmas music sang through the speakers, but I couldn’t quite hear all the lyrics over the rush of customers’ voices as people moved through racks, pointed at sparkling jewelry in display cases, chased after their children, and checked items off their shopping lists.
“A day in the field? That’s a little dramatic, isn’t it?”
Tinsely stopped walking in the middle of a wide aisle. The store stretched out before us, seemingly never ending as it stretched all the way back to the shoe department. “Hardly dramatic. This is where the real work happens, Chadwick. All your success? It is directly dependent on the people working these floors helping your customers. Let’s lend them a hand. It’s the Christmas thing to do.”
I smoothed the lapel of my suit jacket. “Lead the way, Tinsel.”
Either she didn’t hear me use the nickname that usually made her blood boil, or she was so thrilled to be back in her neck of the woods that it didn’t bother her. She led me down the aisle toward the middle of the store. Adjacent to the café and lounge was a long row of checkout counters. Over the heads of the cashiers were crystal chandeliers that reflected off the wall of mirrors behind the registers.
Tinsely led me behind the cash register and smiled at a young man with a nametag that said Charlie.
“Hi, Charlie,” Tinsely said cheerfully. “Do you mind if we borrow your register for an hour or so? I want to give Chadwick here the lay of the land. To save customers time checking out, would you mind greeting them in the line and offering to take the hangers off any clothing purchases?”
Charlie nodded almost frantically as he backed away from his register. “Yes, yes of course.”
Tinsely patted his shoulder and let him go, and she and I stepped up behind the register. Under our feet, a thick black rubber mat felt strange beneath my dress shoes.
Tinsely knitted her fingers together, extended her arms forward, and cracked her knuckles. “It’s been a while since I rang through a sale.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
She clicked through some buttons on the touchscreen register display. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s just like riding a bike, you know?”
No, I didn’t know, but I nodded anyway.
A line had formed, and Tinsely motioned with her hand and a friendly smile for the next person in line to come forward. They were a young couple, barely twenty, both bundled up in their winter clothes. The young woman had two gift boxes in her hand with the lids open, revealing genuine leather gloves.
Tinsely took the boxes and marveled at them. “Wow, these are beautiful. Are they for yourself or a Christmas gift?”
The young woman smiled and tucked her hands in her pockets. “They’re for our parents.”
Ah, so not a couple. Brother and sister then.
Tinsely scanned the barcodes on the bottom of each box of gloves and placed them in front of me on the counter. She nodded pointedly at the paper bags hanging on the inside of the counter. I picked an appropriately sized bag and placed the gloves inside.
“Do you two usually go shopping for your parents together every year?” Tinsely asked as she navigated the register system. Finally, she pulled up the tender page.
“Every year,” the brother said, and his voice made me realize he was much younger than I thought, probably closer to sixteen.
Tinsely grinned. “Oh my gosh, I love that. Traditions are what really make it feel like Christmas time, don’t you think? Eighty-six seventy, by the way.”
The sister took out a debit card and began the payment process while her brother answered. “And eggnog.”
Tinsely laughed as she tore the receipts, stapled them together, and tucked them in the bag. “Eggnog, huh? Don’t tell me you’re one of those weirdos who likes eggnog with their coffee.”
He laughed. “Maybe.”
Tinsely made eyes at his sister and whispered, “There’s something wrong with him.”
The siblings laughed, thanked Tinsely for her help, and called Merry Christmas over their shoulders as they left.
Tinsely looked up at me with a proud curl of her lips. “See? Muscle memory.”
