Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
On Friday afternoon, Vanessa ducked out of The Toy Chest a bit early to run some errands, after Mabel shooed her off and made her promise to make plans with Jackson that evening.
Vanessa dug her Christmas shopping list out of her purse, with plans to head to the Holly and Ivy Market to pick up some odds and ends for Christmas decorating.
The market was always busy and full of life at any time of year, but during the holidays especially.
Vanessa scanned her list once more before heading in—additional ornaments for her tree, fancy ribbon for gift wrapping, some Christmas lights for the window of her apartment, and maybe a wreath for the front door.
Inside, the market was a winter wonderland, dressed up for the season with Christmas music playing merrily through the speakers and the entire building fully decorated.
Green, pine-scented garlands were draped from the shelves, white fairy lights were wrapped around the exposed rafters above, and a huge tree twinkled and glittered next to the large windows that looked out onto Main Street.
It was one of Vanessa’s favorite stores in Fir Tree Grove.
It had everything she could possibly want, and now that her life was slower and more laid-back, she found herself enjoying wandering through the aisles, looking for little treasures.
It felt homey and warm, nothing like the big-box stores or department stores of the city that she’d occasionally ventured into on the rare chance that she went shopping in person, back in San Francisco.
More often, she’d just had whatever she needed delivered.
This kind of relaxed shopping experience was still a novelty to her, and the Christmas cheer that filled the air inside the market only made it that much more fun.
Cindy knew everyone who came in too, as did her husband Neil. It was all so personal and friendly, and it made for a wonderful trip, every time.
Vanessa headed for the aisle that had gift wrapping supplies, intent on finding the perfect fancy ribbon to add an extra special touch to her gifts.
She was immediately distracted by the endless rolls of wrapping paper at the front of the aisle, in bright golds and silvers, festive patterns of trees and bows, and rustic brown paper and wood designs, that she nearly collided with someone in her periphery that she didn’t notice until it was almost too late.
“Whoa, sorry about that!” Henry Cline dodged her just a second before collision, a few of the boxes that his arms were loaded down with tumbling to the floor.
Vanessa swooped to grab them for him immediately, seeing that they were all Christmas lights in varying colors—white, red, green, blue, and ones that twinkled through all the colors on a cycle.
“Henry!” Vanessa exclaimed, laughing. “What is this? Are you planning on lighting up the entire town yourself?”
He chuckled, a surprisingly boyish look of amusement on his face despite his age.
A man in his early fifties, with graying chestnut hair and a rugged complexion, he looked tough and a bit on the older side, until something made him smile and lit up his oddly soft hazel eyes.
Vanessa suspected he had a softer side to him, although she didn’t know him all that well.
He’d come by her apartment once or twice to fix electrical issues—he was the town electrician, and handled all of Fir Tree Grove’s maintenance—but other than that, she hadn’t gotten to know him as well as some of the other people in town.
What she did know is that despite his everyday electrical skills—and the fact that he kept every house and business in Fir Tree Grove in good working order and not catching on fire—the thing Henry was most well-known for was transforming the main spaces of Fir Tree Grove into a Christmas winter wonderland every year with gorgeous light installations.
He was responsible for a good bit of the town’s festive atmosphere every year—but from the look of it, he was planning to light up not only the town square and public spaces but the businesses too.
Henry chuckled. “Just the usual,” he said with a laugh. “My house and the public spaces in town. I’ve got some new ideas for this year though. Should be the best Christmas light show that Fir Tree Grove has ever had.”
“You might want to be mindful of blowing the town’s breaker system when you plug all those in,” Vanessa teased, handing him the boxes that she’d picked up. “We might end up with a blackout instead of Christmas lights.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that.” Henry grinned at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners and highlighting the deep, rugged lines in his face.
“If anyone in town knows how to avoid an electrical incident, it’s me.
I’ve got this handled.” His hazel eyes were twinkling with mischief.
“I think, as the town’s electrician, I know a few things about overloading the circuits. ”
“That’s fair,” Vanessa conceded with a laugh. “You might be the one person who could actually pull this off without us all being out of electricity for a week.”
“Just you wait.” Henry shifted the load of lights in his arms. “This year’s Christmas display is going to blow your mind.”
“Not our circuits. Got it.” Vanessa winked at him. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with this year, Henry.”
“Well, I’ve been planning it since the summer. So all that’s left is to follow the plan and set it all up. The annual Christmas market and tree lighting is set to be bigger than ever this year, with all the tourism we’ve had coming in. So this ought to be one to remember.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.” Vanessa glanced at the pile of boxes in his arms, a touch concernedly. “Should I help you get those to the register? You’re definitely a little overloaded.” She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“Enough electrician jokes, young lady.” Henry chuckled. “But I suppose I could use a helping hand. Just to get all this to the checkout counter.”
“Happy to.” Vanessa took several of the boxes out of his arms, carrying them to the checkout counter along with Henry. She set them all down, seeing the lady behind the checkout counter raise her eyebrows at the sight of Henry.
“Henry Cline,” she said with a laugh. “This is your second trip today! What are you going to do with all of these lights?”
“Just you wait and see.” Henry grinned, and Vanessa shook her head.
“Second trip? This is going to be impressive.”
While Henry joked with the sales associate and finished his purchase, Vanessa went back to do the rest of her shopping.
She found the perfect ribbon for her gifts, a spool of wide, dark green velvet edged with gold trim, and she couldn’t help picking up one of the rolls of wrapping paper—a matte-finish paper made to look like wood trim.
It even had texture to it, and she thought it would go perfectly with the ribbon.
The rest of her shopping list was easy to track down too.
She found several strings of Christmas lights for her apartment windows—nothing compared to Henry’s haul, but still plenty to light up the space—and ornaments for her tree.
There was a lovely sleeve of small ball ornaments in red and silver and green with reindeer etched on them, as well as larger ball ornaments in gold and blue.
She picked up a few additional kitschy ornaments as well—a ceramic apple pie, a little nutcracker, and a blown-glass goat, as well as a gorgeous, delicate glass snowflake that would catch the twinkling lights on the tree perfectly.
On her way to the checkout counter with her purchases, she couldn’t help picking up a package of gift tags as well, with beautifully painted watercolor winter scenes on them.
To her surprise, Cindy was at the counter, arranging a display of handmade, Christmas-scented soaps while she waited for customers. “Hey there,” she greeted Vanessa as she walked up, and Vanessa gave a small wave, putting her armful of purchases down.
“Giving the other girl a break?” Vanessa asked, and Cindy nodded, setting the last stack of peppermint soaps down.
“We’re a little shorthanded today, and she was an hour past her lunch break. It’s been so busy today. I thought I’d step in and let her get away to grab a bite to eat.” Cindy reached for the boxes of lights as she started to ring up Vanessa’s purchases. “Did you find everything you needed?”
“I think so. Even one or two that I didn’t,” Vanessa joked, as she reached into her purse to find her wallet.
“Oh, you can always find things like that here.” Cindy grinned, reaching out to point at another display at the end of the counter.
“We got a new gift display in yesterday, matter of fact. All quirky, creative things—good for stocking stuffers or those people that are tough to buy for. You should check it out.”
Curious, Vanessa looked at the wooden shelf display as Cindy rang up her items. “These are all really cool,” she murmured.
There were hand-carved small wooden brain-teaser puzzles, a set of mugs that displayed Christmas trees when hot liquid was poured into them, and some gadgets that she wasn’t immediately sure what they did.
She peered at one item in particular—a small device that had multiple pieces that reminded her of watch dials. It had a bit of an old-fashioned watch look to it, with the gears visible and the entire thing done in wood and aged brass.
“What is this?” Vanessa picked it up, turning it this way and that. “It looks interesting.”
Cindy grinned. “It’s a multi-timer. It’s great for cooks.
You can set each timer independently, and use it to keep track of different dishes all at once.
See how the dials are in a square and then two in the center?
You can set one for each burner you’re using, and then use the center ones for dishes in the oven.
We figured it would be great for the holidays—think of all the different things you have to keep track of! ”
Vanessa peered at the gadget a little more closely. It was perfect for sitting on the kitchen counter—wide and sturdy, and would be almost an art piece as well as something useful. She couldn’t help but think of Jackson immediately.
For as long as they’d been dating, every time she’d gone over to his house and he’d cooked her a meal or come over to cook at hers, she’d watched him orchestrate dinners with timers set on the stove and on his phone, as well as an egg timer he kept in a drawer at his house.
Every time, he’d complain that he needed more timers, that he should bring one home from the diner, or grab a couple more egg timers the next time he was at the store.
It would be perfect for him.
“If you’re looking for a special someone who has a knack for cooking—” Cindy winked at her. “It would be the perfect gift. Just saying.”
Vanessa groaned inwardly. It was the perfect gift. She could just picture how his face would light up on Christmas Day when he unwrapped it. She glanced at the price tag. It wasn’t all that expensive either. Less than she would have planned to spend on Jackson if they were doing Christmas gifts.
But they weren’t. She bit her lip. They’d agreed not to do gifts for each other, and she couldn’t just do it anyway. As excited as Jackson would be about the timer, he’d feel badly about not getting her a gift, then. She didn’t want to spoil their holiday by making him feel bad.
Reluctantly, she set the timer back on the shelf. “It is perfect,” she said. “But Jackson and I agreed not to do gifts this year. We thought it would be better to just focus on spending the holiday together, rather than worrying about finding the perfect present.”
The irony being, of course, that I found the perfect present without trying, she thought.
“That’s so sweet.” Cindy beamed, packing up the last of Vanessa’s purchases in a red and green reusable Christmas shopping bag.
“I love seeing people focus on the real point of the holiday—time together. That’s the most important thing of all.
Also,” she leaned in, smiling conspiratorially at Vanessa.
“I think it would be hard for you to ever give him a better Christmas gift than you moving here last year. Poor Jackson was lonely for so long—the whole town has talked about how lucky he is to have you now. We’re all so happy that you make such a wonderful couple. ”
“No pressure, right?” Vanessa laughed. “He makes me very happy. I’m glad that we’re doing so well.
” She felt her cheeks heat just a little at the idea of the town gossiping about her and Jackson, but she also liked the idea that everyone else felt as happy about her relationship as she did.
She was still getting used to the partial lack of privacy in a small town like Fir Tree Grove, where everyone knew so much about each other’s business, but she also appreciated how invested everyone was in each other’s lives and happiness.
“We’re taking it slow,” she added. “But we are really happy.”
“Well I hope you both have a very merry Christmas,” Cindy said, printing out Vanessa’s receipt and handing her the shopping bag. “You have a good day.”
“Merry Christmas to you too.” Vanessa took the bag, flashing Cindy a smile before heading on her way, back to The Toy Chest for the rest of her shift.
She couldn’t help thinking about the timer as she walked back. It really would be the perfect gift for Jackson. But she did her best to put it out of her head.
They had a deal, and she needed to stick to it.