Chapter 11
The morning hours at the candy shop flew by along with the gusts of wind that swirled outdoors.
Lunchtime came and went, and the only thing Noel found time to eat was leftover fruit from last night.
The fifty cinnamon rolls disappeared within an hour, and she could proudly say she never indulged.
Instead she burned calories racing around the shop doing everything from showing customers to the candy of their liking to sweeping up an entire box of malt balls that somehow got spilled to working the cash register when Mrs. Madelyn needed a break.
Mrs. Madelyn preferred to work the front counter because it allowed her to sit on the stool for the most part which kept the pressure off her knees that came with working the floor.
She knew Noel’s young body could handle the bending, random ladder climbing, and walking countless laps around the maze of candy barrels and bins.
She nearly had to force Noel to sit on the stool up front while she devoured the sandwich she brought for lunch.
Her husband packed it for her knowing a busy day lay ahead. He always did sweet things like that.
Levi and Laney nibbled from the fruit bowl here and there as they showed the younger customers around the store, tackled random projects Noel and Mrs. Madelyn needed help with, and ran up and down the stairs a hundred times like usual.
They also made sure each kid who entered the shop received a hand-delivered miniature candy cane from the basket near the tree or the one by the front door depending on where they were when they noticed them.
“Have you seen my Santa hat?” Noel figured she heard this question ten times today as the kids ran around the store, mostly helping but also playing.
When they got hot or tired of wearing the decorative hats, they ended up in the most random places.
Thankfully, Noel hadn’t had to ask them to slow down many times, and in each missing item situation, one of them or Mrs. Madelyn found the hat.
The kids weren’t the only ones asking questions.
“Do you think we are busier than last year’s Black Friday?
” Noel asked Mrs. Madelyn on more than one occasion.
She knew a steady stream of customers meandered through the store, but she made a pact with herself not to be distracted by looking at the sales numbers throughout the day.
Instead, she would wait for the big reveal after closing.
“It’s hard to say, but I know I have rung up a lot of customers,” Mrs. Madelyn answered optimistically.
The afternoon hours seemed to move like the fast-forward feature on a television as Noel cut and weighed countless slices of fudge while tackling other random tasks that popped up.
She loved giving children samples of the fudge that looked or sounded best to them, and then watching their eyes light up like the Christmas trees their families decorated this time of year.
Many of the kids wanted to keep the tiny spoons, but the downside to their excitement about the miniature utensils was having to collect them from the most peculiar places in the store.
However, there was always an opportunity for a positive spin, and the one for this dilemma was that Levi and Laney enjoyed having Where’s Waldo hunts to see who could find the most. On the other hand, neither of them wanted to clean the mirage of fingerprints off the glass display case, so Noel often found herself with the window cleaner and paper towels in her hands.
The Christmas tree needed watering daily, and that didn’t click in Noel’s brain until late in the day. The kids filled a water pitcher in the kitchen sink, and she followed behind, wiping up a trail of droplets they left in their wake.
Throughout the day it brought Noel joy to see so many familiar faces, even ones she saw just yesterday at the Thanksgiving feast, as well as to meet new customers.
Some she hadn’t seen frequently enough to recognize, and others said this marked their first visit to the candy shop.
She made an effort to tell every customer how much she appreciated their business whether they purchased a handful of candy or walked out with bags full in each hand.
Everyone seemed so full of energy, and Noel imagined hearing Christmas music for the first time of the season and seeing the store decorated for the holiday may have had something to do with that.
She received numerous compliments on the tree, the icicle lights, and the window displays.
The mayor’s wife stopped by for her favorite pie and promised to order more for upcoming festivities.
The jolly woman threw more parties than anyone Noel ever met which delighted her because she regularly ordered pies, fudge, candy, or an assortment of all of these goodies.
Just today Noel wrote down a handful of orders for the lady including one for the book club and another for her bridge group.
When the cuckoo clock sounded at five, Mrs. Madelyn finished ringing up the customers in line, and Noel held open the door for each of them. Mrs. Madelyn walked the final customer to the exit where they all stood talking for several minutes with their hair blowing across their shoulders.
While the adults remained occupied, Laney and Levi scurried like little mice down the stairs and snuck into their hideout underneath the cash register. Laney threw a blanket over their heads and held her pointer finger to her lips.
“Stay quiet so we can surprise them,” she whispered excitedly.
Noel pushed the door against the wind, turned the lock, and hurried to the cash register to pull up the sales data on the monitor.
Mrs. Madelyn knew her motive, and she too was eager to see the Black Friday totals.
She stood over Noel’s shoulder as they scanned the list showing the number of transactions, average ticket amount, and all kinds of other helpful data.
However, the figure that interested Noel the most was at the bottom, and when she mouthed it as Mrs. Madelyn read it, her head and heart sank into her hands.
Mrs. Madelyn sighed and rubbed Noel’s back gently. “Oh, honey, it’s just one day,” she reminded her friend.
“It’s supposed to be the biggest day of the year,” Noel murmured beneath her palms.
“It probably was,” Mrs. Madelyn replied looking on the bright side.
“Yeah, but not big enough. I can’t hire anyone to help if sales aren’t up enough even for me to pay myself a decent wage.”
“I’ll be here as much as I can,” Mrs. Madelyn offered hoping to cheer her up a bit.
“The problem is bigger than staffing, and I can’t let you work yourself to death like I’m doing.
” Noel paused for a moment to let her thoughts settle.
“If a miracle doesn’t happen between now and Christmas, I think I will be forced to close the store at the beginning of the New Year,” Noel disclosed.
She couldn’t help but wonder if that was the big news her dad mentioned sharing on their family trip that she missed, and he didn’t make it home from.
“Oh, darling.”
“Levi and Laney will be devastated,” Noel voiced. “I’ll be devastated,” she cried. “I am devastated.”
Beneath the counter, worry crept onto Levi’s and Laney’s little faces. Neither needed to hold a finger to their mouth to remind the other to remain quiet. Each realized the words shared were not intended for their ears.
“Black Friday isn’t just one day of sales, it’s a predictor for the rest of the Christmas season,” Noel reminded Mrs. Madelyn.
Mrs. Madelyn knew that all too well from many years of experience. “Let’s just take it one day at a time, sweet girl, and see what God has in store.”
Eventually Noel and Mrs. Madelyn busied themselves tidying up the shop, and Laney and Levi snuck back upstairs like little elves just in time for Noel to call them down.
“Who wants to sweep?”
“I’ll get the broom,” Laney shouted quickly.
Laney’s enthusiasm after such a long day surprised Noel and actually brought a smirk to her face even after the bad news she discovered at the register.
“Levi, will you help replenish the candy bins?”
“Of course, Mom.”
Noel appreciated her son’s positive response as well. “Thank you both.”
Standing near the Christmas tree, a smile traveled across Mrs. Madelyn’s face as she straightened several branches and ornaments tainted by little hands. She wondered if Laney and Levi could sense Noel’s sadness knowing children had a way of humbling their hearts when adults needed them the most.
By the time cleanup and restocking finished, everyone was zonked, and Noel ended up putting the kids to bed around eight thirty because she knew that Shop Small Saturday would bring in a crowd of locals.
The year-over-year customer count had been down some today, but the average ticket decline worried Noel the most. People seemed to be holding on to their money a little tighter this year or spending it somewhere else.
These thoughts became front and center in Noel’s mind again as she walked out of the kids’ bedroom.
“What are we going to do to help Mom keep the candy shop open?” Levi whispered from his pillow after his mother disappeared.
An inch of light filtered through a small sliver between the door and the frame into the otherwise dark room.
Lying still on the adjacent pillow while facing her cousin, Laney reminded Levi of what the two of them quietly talked about earlier after overhearing the news and scurrying upstairs into this very room. “We have to work harder,” she murmured.
“Maybe if we help enough, the store will stay open.”
“We need to make some money, too,” Laney suggested.
“What if we have a bake sale like the one at school?” Levi considered remembering their school hosting a bake sale to raise funds for new playground equipment.
Laney scrunched her nose. “I think we should do something different than treats since the candy shop already has so many.”
“How about lemonade?” Levi proposed. “Everybody loves lemonade.”
Laney could make out the whites of her cousin’s eyes as they talked between pillows. “Yeah, we can make a lemonade stand in front of the candy shop!”
“Actually, I think I have an even better idea,” Levi decided with extra enthusiasm as he recalled what Kevin brought them earlier. “Since it’s Christmastime, we should have a hot chocolate stand instead of lemonade.”
“Yeah, that’s the best idea. Lemonade tastes better in the summertime, but hot chocolate is best when it’s cold. The cocoa Cavin brought us this morning warmed up my bones.”
“It was so good,” Levi agreed. “We can sell lots of hot chocolate and give Mom all the money to keep the candy shop open.”
“We can charge one dollar for every cup. If we sell 100 cups, we would make $100,” Laney predicted excitedly.
“We need to make a poster that shows the price,” Levi suggested, recalling one he helped create during art class.
“We can use the markers we use for our school projects.”
“This is going to be so much fun,” Levi exclaimed. “Do you want to make the poster now?”
Laney sighed. “Let’s do it in the morning. I’m tired.”
Levi yawned. “Me too.”