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“And you expect me to go out there all by myself and play Santa? Don’t I even get a helper?”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine on your own, Hunter.”
“Oh, no, I’ll need a Santa’s helper. Like you, for example. Then I could play Santa.” Hunter smiled, if playing Santa meant spending more time with Sally, then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.
Sally tensed a little, sensing that her good idea was maybe turning into a bad move. “Hmm, we’ll see. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Come on, Sally. What’s to think about? Unless you’re scared to go out there with me.”
“Of course I’m not scared! But I just don’t see how a helper is necessary. You listen to what the children want and say you’ll do what you can. No promises. That’s against the rules. Then they take a picture and leave.”
“Pictures? They’ll take pictures? But it will ruin my image!”
“Exactly what image are you trying to portray?” Sally asked, feeling that Hunter was teasing her again.
Just as he was going to tell her, the door jingled, and several shoppers came in. “Later,” Hunter promised and went to offer assistance to the shoppers.
Sally watched him smile at the customers and knew he was going to do fine as a salesperson. He seemed willing to guide them through the store. Mary and Ethel must’ve done a good job showing him around.
Suddenly she realized Hunter was signaling her and Sally hurried over to greet the shoppers.
“Can I help?” she asked Hunter.
“Mr Carson’s wife here would like to have some assistance in the men’s department.”
“Certainly, Mrs Carson. How can I help you?”
“I need to buy someone’s present,” the woman said, motioning in her husband’s direction.
“Ah, let’s discuss it over here,” Sally said, leading the woman away from her husband and Hunter. “Do you have anything in mind?”
The lady had plenty of ideas and Sally showed her all the possibilities. When they’d looked at everything, Mrs Carson decided on a small, portable television.
Sally suggested some other shopping the woman might need to do, in case her husband hadn’t finished with his shopping.
“I really don’t feel like shopping anymore. I did my Christmas shopping early for everyone except Mr Difficult.”
“Then why don’t you join me for coffee? That will give them the entire store to shop.” Sally led the way to the break room and fixed two cups of coffee. Then she sat down at the table with her customer and they discussed the goings-on in the town. Sally reminded Mrs Carson about the Christmas Festival and asked if she had any contributions to donate.
“You know, come to think of it, I believe I do. I’m glad you mentioned it, Sally. I’ve got some toys that don’t have any wear and tear. And some clothes, too. I’ll be glad to bring some things to be given away.”
“Oh, good. I’ll—yes, Hunter?” Sally stopped talking as she noticed Hunter standing by the doorway.
“Sorry to interrupt your coffee, ladies, but Mr Carson wondered if his wife is finished shopping?”
“Yes, I am,” Mrs Carson said, smiling at Hunter.
Since Sally had covered the gift Mrs Carson had purchased, all Mr Carson had to do was carry the package for his wife. The couple left the store, both smiling.
“That worked well,” Hunter said as he took Mrs Carson’s place at the table.
“Yes, they’re a very nice couple, old friends of Mom and Dad. I was reminding Mrs Carson about the Christmas Festival. She’s going to donate some things.”
“Who takes care of donations like that?”
“We do.”
“We who?”
“We do. People bring things to the store and we have to sort through them and decide if the donations are up to par.”
Hunter shook his head. “How will you have time to do all that work when we’re so busy with customers?”
“Not take as many coffee breaks?” Sally asked with a smile.
“I kind of like coffee breaks, especially taking them with you.”
Sally was silent for a moment and she sensed something in the air between her and Hunter. “Maybe I’ll just assign the task to you,” she said.
“I think I’ll do better with the customers.”
“You’re probably right.”
“You make that sound like a bad thing.”
“No, I—” She was interrupted by the jingle of the door again. “I’ll go,” he said and got up and walked out into the store. Mary and Ethel could probably handle it, but Sally was glad to have a break from Hunter. Something happened to her whenever he was close and if she wasn’t careful, she’d give him anything he asked for.
Getting up, she went to the back loading dock. “Billy? Are you busy?”
“No, Sally. I’m just waiting for another delivery.”
“I see. Do you think you could go to our storage area and bring down the decorations for the town tree and bring them into the break room.”
“Okay, Sally. Whatever you say.”
Sally sighed. It was so much easier to deal with Billy. He was happy to do whatever she wanted. She relied on him so much, even though he didn’t help out with any customers, he gave her the opportunity to manage the store, without having to worry about what was going on behind the scenes. She could think through any difficulties and figure out what to do, but she couldn’t always do them on her own.
Hunter was a different proposition. Sally almost lost control when she faced Hunter. Not physical control, though she could see that happening. But she couldn’t think straight when she was around the man without really working at it.
She began pacing the break room, trying to think about what else she had to do today. Her cousin, Penny, had promised to donate the Christmas tree for the Festival. Sally would have to get Billy to put a stand on the tree and get it secured in the town center. Then she’d need help decorating it, which would probably take up a lot of her time. She’d have to make sure that the store had enough cover whilst she was busy doing that.
Billy brought in several boxes of ornaments and Sally knew there would be several more, at least. The ornaments were large-size so they would show up on the tree.
“Thanks, Billy, You’re a real help!”
“Okay, Sally.”
Fortunately, okay was Billy’s favorite word. He used it anytime she asked anything of him and she smiled. Too bad Hunter didn’t adapt Billy’s agreeableness.
“What’s causing that smile?” Hunter suddenly asked, stepping into the break room.
“Just a pleasant thought,” Sally said. “Is there a problem out there?”
“No, not really. The ladies said I should ask you, but I think I already know the answer.”
“What’s the question?”
“Do I work on the weekends?”
“Did you have other plans for this weekend?”
“No.”
“Then yes, it would be great if you could work on Saturday.”
“Okay.” He stared at her when a big smile appeared on her lips. “Why such a big smile?”
“I was, uh, thinking of something else.”
“Is Saturday your busiest day?”
“Yes, it is. Also, we should get the town tree early next week and I’ll probably need Billy’s help with that. If we get deliveries, you might need to handle those.”
“Okay. So I’ll need to wear rough clothes then?”
Sally fought the smile that wanted to meet his remark. He had dressed in nice slacks and a dress shirt in the store. She guessed rough clothes meant jeans, which almost everyone who came into the store wore.
“You might want to wear jeans.”
“All right. I can do that.”
“Thank you, Hunter.”
He turned to go back to the main part of the store. She watched him go, wondering what he’d look like in jeans. He had a body that he’d obviously developed through workouts. She felt sure he’d look very good in jeans.
There she went again, her mind on Hunter, rather than her work. She had a lot to do today so they’d be ready for the Christmas Festival. But she really wasn’t in the mood for Christmas.
It would be her first one without her parents.
Billy entered the room with more boxes.
“Put them over here, Billy. We’ll make stacks of them so I can go through them and check on all the ornaments.”
After Billy left the room, Sally took the lid off the top box. Each year, her mother would pack the ornaments to be used the next year. And each year, she, with her mother, had added several ornaments. They made most of them themselves. The large ornaments weren’t easy to find.
The top ornaments, wrapped in bubble wrap, were the new ones they’d made the year before. Those ornaments were in good shape. She smoothed her fingers over her favorite one. She’d made it in November last year, with no knowledge of the events that would follow and ultimately end her parents’ lives.
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