Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Mabel kicked the back door shut behind her as she carried in the last of three new boxes, all of them containing the same thing.
There was a hot-ticket toy of the season every year, she reflected as she opened the first box, and this year it was a particular doll that had hair that was dyeable.
They had been flying off the shelves, and she’d had to order as many as possible before her distributors started to go into backstock.
“Did we get more—oh, we did,” Vanessa said with a laugh as she walked back into the room, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Her auburn hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, a few pieces falling loose. “We should get those out on the shelves before we open. We sold out entirely yesterday.”
“If you want to grab a box, we’ll get them out there and start restocking,” Mabel said, pushing up the sleeves of her cranberry-colored angora sweater. “Time’s a’wasting.”
Vanessa laughed, grabbing the heaviest box and carrying it out for her grandmother.
In no time, they had all the boxes out on the floor, and Vanessa started to unpack the dolls as Mabel turned on the Christmas music.
The bouncy tune of “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” filled the store, and Vanessa nodded along to it as she stacked the dolls’ boxes and looked at the shelf for the best way to organize them.
There were a few different styles of doll, and she wanted to make sure the display looked just right.
The scent of cinnamon spice began to fill the air from the wax warmer as Mabel finished the opening duties that would need to be done before they unlocked the door, and then came over to help Vanessa.
She glanced over at the cardboard box that George had left behind for Rascal, only to see that the small kitten was not at all where she’d hoped it would be.
Instead, she saw the kitten flying straight for the window display, which could only spell disaster.
“Not again!” Mabel called out, getting up with surprising agility for her age as she flew toward the kitten, intercepting her just in time.
Rascal had just managed to jump up and get her paws on a tuft of fake snow in the window display, rolling onto her back and batting it back and forth with it. She was also dangerously close to knocking over a toy train that was moving slowly around its track.
“You little troublemaker,” Mabel said, exasperated, as she scooped up the kitten.
She glanced back guiltily toward Vanessa, who was beginning to stack the dolls on an upper shelf, quickly and precisely.
“This is why you’re going to stay with George during the day,” she told Rascal, petting the kitten as she headed back over to where Vanessa was working. “You get into everything.”
Sure enough, no sooner had she set Rascal down than the kitten was off again, this time diving headfirst into a box that had been set aside for Christmas toy drive donations.
Mabel sighed, checking her watch and glancing out to the parking lot to see if there was any sign of George’s truck.
She adored the little kitten, but she was never going to get any work done at this rate.
“George will be here soon to pick you up,” she told the kitten, who responded by batting at the jingle bell pinned to her apron. “And not a moment too soon. I can’t keep rescuing you from your adventures.”
She tucked the kitten under her arm, trying to both hang onto it and help Vanessa with the dolls, despite Vanessa’s protests that she was perfectly fine, and could handle it.
“I don’t want to put all this on you, just because of the kitten,” Mabel protested.
She scooped the squirming creature into one hand, bouncing it lightly as she arranged the dolls’ boxes with the other.
“George should be here any second,” she added, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. It wasn’t even nine-thirty in the morning yet, and she was already frazzled. If the rest of the day was like this, she was going to be a mess by the time she went to go pick up Rascal.
She quickly pushed away any contemplation over why she might not like that idea… over why, for instance, she might not want to be an absolute mess when seeing George Lowery.
That didn’t rate thinking about.
Mabel picked up a stack of smaller boxes, containing add-on colors for the dolls.
They made great stocking stuffers, with five more colors to add to the ones that came with the dolls themselves.
“I would have loved one of these when I was a kid,” she mused, stacking the boxes on the shelf. “I’m not surprised they’re so popular.”
“Really?” Vanessa chuckled. “I was never into dolls as a kid. More of the coloring book type.”
“And you always colored in the lines, I’m sure,” Mabel teased her granddaughter lightly.
“Of course I did—” Vanessa paused, her joking tone fading as she wiggled the shelf slightly.
“I think this might be a bit rickety.” She frowned, gently moving the shelf again.
“I think all the kids yanking boxes off of it for the past few days might have jostled something loose—or maybe split something around a screw? We should check—”
Mabel glanced toward the door, where any second, customers were going to start lining up for her to open. She really needed George to hurry up. They were going to be slammed all day, she was sure of it.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” she said quickly.
Vanessa’s brow wrinkled. “Well, since George is coming by to get Rascal, maybe we should get him to check it out.”
Mabel shook her head. “We’re too busy. It’s just a little loose. I’m sure it was that way before and we just didn’t notice.”
“If you say so,” Vanessa replied, although she sounded unconvinced. “But maybe we shouldn’t put too much weight on it.”
“It’ll be fine for now,” Mabel said, continuing to arrange the dolls. “We’re too busy to worry about it today. I’ll deal with it this weekend.” She checked her watch again. “He needs to hurry up,” she muttered, pushing another two boxes of dolls onto the shelf.
“Looking forward to seeing him?” Vanessa teased, and Mabel just rolled her eyes.
“Getting him to help me watch Rascal is the best prank I’ve ever pulled, that’s all,” she said, but even to her own ears, it didn’t sound as convincing as she’d have liked.
She was looking forward to seeing George, and no matter how many times she told herself that it was just so that she could have a little peace and quiet, she couldn’t shake the anticipatory tingle every time she checked her watch.
She was so busy shrugging off the feeling that she didn’t notice the shelf giving another ominous wobble as she placed the last of the current row of dolls onto it. She glanced at it, admiring the display, just in time to hear a knock at the door.
George was standing on the other side, his heavy work jacket and gray hair dusted with snowflakes.
Mabel tried to ignore the little flip in her chest as she hurried toward the door, unlocking it to let him in.
She couldn’t help noticing how attractive he looked, with his cheeks ruddy from the cold and his hair a little messy from being under a hat, and she felt her own face flush slightly as she backed up to let him in.
“You’re late,” she said reprovingly instead. “Rascal’s already been on the verge of tearing up the place. We had a dickens of a time getting the new display finished before—”
Just as she walked toward where Rascal was rolling around with a piece of discarded ribbon, George on her heels, the shelf gave way with a crack that made Mabel jump.
“Watch out!” Vanessa called from where she was setting up the gift station, and Mabel froze, watching in horror as the shelf—and a third of their hard work—started to collapse.
George jumped forward, grabbing the edge of the shelf just in time to keep all of the dolls from sliding off and crashing to the floor in a heap.
“I’ve got it,” he said calmly, as if catching falling furniture was a regular part of his day.
Mabel pressed a hand to her chest. “Thank you,” she managed, and George shrugged, peering at the underside of the shelf.
“Looks like the bracket gave way,” George observed, examining the shelf with a critical eye. “This shelf is kind of old. I think a screw might have started to come loose.”
“I thought it might be a screw,” Vanessa said as she came over to join them, reaching up to remove the dolls from the now-broken shelf.
Mabel felt a flush of embarrassment creep up her neck.
“I was going to fix it this weekend,” she said defensively, avoiding George’s eyes.
“I figured it would hold up until then.” Her flush deepened as she heard how that must sound to him.
The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was incompetent.
“I can take a look at it for you,” George offered. “Wouldn’t take all that long. I’ve got some tools out in the truck—”
“You’re doing enough,” Mabel interrupted. “Just grab Rascal so she’s not underfoot. I can handle the shelf myself, I’ve been doing repairs on this shop for years, all on my own.”
She could hear how tart her voice sounded, but she couldn’t help it.
George was already doing her a favor, and she didn’t want him to start thinking she was depending on him.
She’d done just fine on her own all these years, except last winter, when she’d hurt herself.
And in a roundabout way, as they’d already established, that was on him, since she’d been pranking him when she’d done it.
George raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. “Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug. “But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
Mabel nodded, busying herself with collecting the remaining dolls to hide her flustered state.
She was being ridiculous, she knew. George was just being helpful, as he always was.
But something about accepting his help with the shelf felt like admitting a weakness, and Mabel had spent too many years proving she could run this store on her own to start appearing incompetent now.
“I’ll just get Rascal,” George said, going to scoop the kitten up off of the floor, ribbon and all.
“There’s the troublemaker,” George said gruffly, holding the kitten like a tiny football in his broad hand.
Rascal promptly buried her claws in the fabric of his sleeve and started kneading, purring contentedly.
Grateful for the distraction, Mabel hurried toward the back room, grabbing a small red quilted bag and handing it to George.
“Her food and toys are in here,” she said.
“As requested. She likes the catnip Christmas tree toy best, but she’ll play with anything she can bat around—and usually what she’s not supposed to. ”
“She is fond of Christmas trees.” George chuckled. “Alright, I’m out of here. See you tonight when you come pick the little nuisance up.”
The way he said it was far too fond, Mabel thought, for him to really mean it. “Thanks again,” she said quickly. “This is a huge help.”
“Happy to do it,” George said, and she thought he actually meant it. He certainly didn’t look as annoyed by the kitten as he had before. “See you later. Have a good day, Vanessa.”
Vanessa waved him off as he turned to go to the door. Mabel watched them, nervous as a parent watching her child go off to school.
“Don’t give the baby any sweets!” she called after him, and George chuckled, shaking his head as he opened the door, waving her off without turning around. The door jingled as it closed behind him, only to open a moment later as a mother and her three children spilled inside.
Mabel straightened her shoulders, shaking off her lingering embarrassment. Another holiday shopping day had begun.