Chapter 5 #2
“Take your time. I’ll just be here working on the body,” he said with a cheerful wave.
Shaking her head at his relentless energy, Felicity went inside the shop and into her office to look through a box of holiday decorations. They used to do a snowman building contest back when she was younger. She knew there were some things lying around that would spruce up Jackson’s creation.
As she was digging around in the box, the phone buzzed. When she saw Marilyn’s name flash on the screen, she answered. “You must have made it through the storm all right.”
“I did, but what about you? Did you make it home?” her friend asked.
“Nope. A tree went down, blocking the bridge. I stayed in the cabin.” She didn’t mention the part about Jackson being with her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Marilyn, she just didn’t want to have to explain herself.
“Our guests got stuck and couldn’t get up the mountain, and since I’d stocked the fridge for them, I had enough for dinner and breakfast. The power went out, but it’s already back on. ”
“That was lucky,” she said. “I was going to get on the road, but if there’s a tree down—”
“It’s already cleared,” Felicity said.
“Seriously? The road crews must really be on their game,” she said, sounding astonished. “They’re never that fast.”
She was right. They weren’t. And if she told her that she had taken care of it, she’d have to tell her about Jackson, so Felicity just agreed with her and said, “There’s no hurry to come in anyway.
No one is out yet. I’m just gonna do some paperwork and clean up around here before I head home for a change of clothes. ”
“Okay, I’ll grab donuts on my way and some deli sandwiches for lunch since it’s Friday,” Marilyn said. “That’s mainly why I called. To let you know what I chose for lunch. Do you want your regular?”
“Definitely. Roast beef with swiss and a side of country potato salad.” Felicity’s mouth watered at just the thought of her favorite sandwich. After doing manual labor all morning, her breakfast was long gone.
“Perfect. I’ll see you later.”
After Felicity hit End on her phone, she spotted the manila envelope on her desk and groaned.
She didn’t want to deal with the bogus scam but knew it was better to tackle it head on.
She scrolled through her phone contacts until she found the lawyer her grandmother had always used and then tapped the button to connect.
The call went straight to voice mail.
If Felicity had to guess, he probably wasn’t in his office yet after the storm. She ended the call and fired up her computer instead. After sending him an email with scans of the paperwork, she went back to the Christmas decoration box.
Finally, she found the canvas bag she was looking for in the very bottom. Without even inspecting the contents, she swung it over her shoulder and went back outside to help Jackson with the snowman.
To her surprise, he was already working on the second ball for his body. “You’re fast.”
He grinned up at her. “I spent a lot of time in the snow as a kid.”
“That seems obvious.” She put the canvas bag down and got to work on making the snowman’s head. After a while, she stared at the lumpy head and said, “Listen, Frank, you behave, or all the customers are gonna think you have brain damage.”
Jackson chuckled. “Frank?”
“Frosty’s second cousin who prefers football over ice skating,” she said. “See this lump? He got it after he was tackled one too many times.” She grinned at him.
Jackson grinned back at her. “Careful. One might think you’re actually enjoying yourself.”
“Never.” She winked at him.
He looked far too pleased with himself, so she went back to work on shaping Frank’s head.
A few minutes later, Jackson said, “I think we’re ready for lump-head Frank now.”
Felicity eyed his snowman and was super impressed with how symmetrical he’d managed to get the two balls of snow that made up the body.
She looked at Frank. He still had a lump, but if she put that side down where his head connected to the body, nobody but she and Jackson would know. “Okay, let’s do it.”
With Jackson’s help, they positioned the head and then stood back admiring their handiwork.
“Not bad, if I do say so myself,” Jackson said.
“It’s perfect,” she agreed. “Or it will be once he gets his eyes and scarf.” Felicity retrieved the canvas bag, pulled out the scarf, and then fished around for the buttons she knew had to be there. Her hand wrapped around something round and smooth. “Ah-ha! There’s one. I knew—”
She stared down at the golden apple pin in her hand, remembering the day her grandmother had added it as a nose for her snowman when no one could find a carrot. Instead of being the gut-punch she was expecting, all she felt was joy at the memory.
“What is it?’ Jackson asked gently, obviously knowing she’d found something significant.
“It’s Frank’s nose,” she said, holding it up. “Instead of a button nose, it’s an apple nose.”
Jackson smiled at her. “Seems perfect.”
“It is.” Felicity dug around, found the buttons, and then attached them both for eyes before positioning the apple nose. Jackson wrapped the scarf around his neck, and when they were done, they stood back, admiring their creation. Felicity pursed her lips. “He needs a mouth.”
“Do you have Red Vines in the store?” he asked.
“Yes! Oh my gosh. That’s perfect.” She ran inside, found the candy, and was out in a flash. When she got there, she found that Jackson had fished a knitted cap out of his truck and had attached it to Frank’s head. “Nice touch,” she said as she added the Red Vine for the mouth.
“Perfect,” Jackson said, stepping back to admire their creation. “And no lumpy head in sight. No one but us has to know he has brain damage.”
Felicity cackled. “I won’t tell a soul.”
“Me neither.” He walked over to her, brushed his lips over her cheek, and said, “I’ll call you about that date.”
Felicity watched as Jackson climbed into his truck. She felt a tiny pang of regret, not wanting him to leave just yet. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but she’d had a good time last night and this morning. Why was it she wouldn’t date him again?
Oh, right. He was a commitment guy.
She wasn’t.
Sighing, Felicity grabbed the canvas bag and headed back into the store. Her temporary winter break was over. It was time to work.