Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-three
Hannah had been hoping Kate would stay for breakfast. She had been wanting to make pumpkin pancakes for weeks now, and she even had leftover pumpkin puree on hand from the cookies she’d made.
It felt depressing to make a batch of pancakes for one person.
She stared at the inside of her refrigerator.
The pumpkin puree was going to go bad if she didn’t use it.
If only Kate had stayed a little longer.
But she’d said she had tons of things to do before work.
Hannah knew, even though Kate was trying not to show it, that she was worried about making enough money for that down payment.
Hannah sighed, too bad she didn’t have any money to give her.
She had ten times more Instagram followers than dollars in her bank account.
She pulled the ingredients out and put them next to the stove.
After taking out a bowl and a small skillet, she cracked an egg.
Thinking about social media made something pop up in her mind.
What was it about Instagram that made her think of Kate’s dilemma?
She added a few more ingredients and then whisked it all together.
She placed a pat of butter in the small iron skillet.
As it melted, she tried to find her train of thought.
After cleaning the steam off her glasses, she ladled her first scoop of batter.
She’d been thinking about social media and money.
“That’s it!” she said out loud to the apartment.
Smoky came running from his cozy nest in her bed to make figure eights around Hannah’s bare legs.
Hannah flipped her pancake. If she could have patted herself on the back, she would have.
The pancake flipped easily, and it wasn’t burnt.
That was unheard of. She was much more of a baker.
She didn’t like to cook. It wasn’t as precise as baking. Baking was meditative.
Hannah picked up her phone and navigated to her bookmarks.
She scrolled down until she found it. A pet store in another state had done photos with the Grinch.
Not wanting her breakfast to burn, she put down her phone and finished making her breakfast. Then she sat down with her phone, pancakes, and pen and paper.
She watched the video while she ate, making note of what would be needed to have photos with the Grinch at the Mistletoe Market and how much it would be feasible to make in profit over the four weeks of the event.
Before her coffee cup was empty, she’d found a way to keep the materials cost under three dollars. She sent a text to Kate.
Hannah
I think I figured out how you can get the money for the down payment.
Kate
Legally? (laughing emoji)
Hannah
Yes! Call me when you can.
Kate hearted the text.
Hannah made a few more notes and saved a few websites to text Kate if she needed them, and then she waited for Kate to call back.
When she didn’t hear from Kate, she cleaned up the breakfast dishes, which reminded her why she didn’t usually do anything other than eat yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast on workdays.
Now that she was officially running late, she rushed through her before-work routine and managed to be in the car on her way with a good three minutes to spare.
It was a good thing she didn’t need to stop for gas, though if she had been low on gas, she probably would have chanced it since work was less than two miles away.
Her smartwatch buzzed against her arm. She tilted her wrist, hoping to see Kate was calling, but it was Zaina.
“Hello, I’m almost there.”
“Oh good, I’m at the urgent care with Lily.”
“What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
“We think it’s another ear infection, but it could also be another cold.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Hey, what can you do? I hear it’s very common in babies and toddlers.”
“For sure,” Hannah said.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but can you work basically all day today? I hate to mess up any Friday plans you might have had, but no one else can come in.”
“No worries. I can stay until the Coopersville Coven is done with the events room tonight.”
Zaina’s sigh was loud in Hannah’s ear. “Thank you. You don’t know how much of a relief that is.”
“Happy to help. You just take care of Lily.”
“Thanks again, Hannah.”
Hannah was so busy for most of the day that she didn’t even have time to check for any missed calls from Kate.
When the day finally ended, she locked the store and drove home.
As soon as she opened the door to her apartment, Smoky rushed out, mewing around her as she walked in.
She toed off her shoes and went straight to the cupboard that held Smoky’s food.
She opened a can and popped it into Smoky’s Christmas-themed bowl.
Once Smoky was eating his dinner, Hannah took off her coat and changed into her pajamas.
Since she wasn’t very hungry, she popped a bag of popcorn and sat on her bed to watch another Christmas movie.
She didn’t care that they were usually shot in the summer but made to look like it was winter.
She didn’t care that they almost never had the original versions of her favorite Christmas songs in the background.
What she did care about was how no matter how lost the lead woman was at the beginning of the film, by the end of the ninety-minute movie, the heroine would have found a home.
Hannah bit her lip. That’s all she’d wanted when she’d been sleeping in her car in the back parking lot of St. Stanislaus Hospital.
Her first friend and her hero had been Zaina.
And now, a mere two years later, she was so close to having her own community.
And more than that, did she have a girlfriend now?
Hannah hugged one of her Santa throw pillows.
She let herself fantasize about Kate asking her to come to her family’s Thanksgiving.
It sounded so much better than the overcooked, dry turkey accompanied by booze-soaked parents that was her only experience of a family Thanksgiving.
What would she wear? Maybe a khaki skirt.
Her phone was on the charger, and it started to vibrate.
Hannah rolled over and saw Kate’s smiling face on her screen.
Zings of electricity zipped through her as she answered her phone.
“Hi there!”
“Hey, gorgeous. I saw your text earlier, but things were crazy. What’s up?”
Hannah paused her movie. Maybe by the end of this phone call, she’d have plans for next Thursday.
“I was thinking about how you need to make bank during the Mistletoe Market to buy the building. And I figured you need something that’s like a service. Something that is basically all profit. And I thought about how we do all sorts of classes at New Age Stones and Witch Crafts.”
“You think I should do a class? Like dog training or something?”
“No, that would take too long to start up, and I don’t know—do you have a dog training background?”
“I sure don’t,” Kate acknowledged.
Smoky hopped into Hannah’s lap, and she began petting him.
“I don’t know if you noticed when you were here, but I love Christmas.”
“The fact that you have a Charlie Brown Christmas shower curtain and three Christmas trees in a studio apartment kind of gave it away.”
“In my defense, only one of the three trees is a full-sized tree.”
“I’ll give you that; so what’s the plan?”
“Pictures with the Grinch!” she said, grinning.
“What with the who?” Kate sputtered.
“You heard me. Pictures with the Grinch! All you need is a one-time costume and photo printer purchase. Then, photo paper and color ink. The total cost per picture is under three dollars. You can offer the pictures for twenty dollars for one sheet or two sheets for thirty. People will totally pay that.”
“Oh my God, Hannah, you are a genius! I wish I were there so I could kiss you!”
Hannah felt the very familiar heat of her blush. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s huge! I know that will work if I can get people to schedule appointments.”
“Make flyers for around town and put them on all your social media. I’ll even do a post or more than one post on my tarot reader account. Once you have the costume, you have to do a live stream on the store’s account.”
“Got it! I’ll start on that as soon as I order a Grinch costume. I can’t believe I’m going to be spending most of the holiday season in green fur, but if that’s what it takes to keep my business and home right where it is, then I’ll do it.”
“I’m so happy you like my idea.”
“Hon, I love it! I don’t know how to thank you!”
Hannah petted Smoky. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“Mm-hmm. Now I need to figure out which printer to buy.”
“I made a spreadsheet. Do you want me to text it to you?”
Kate groaned into the phone, “A spreadsheet? You are just in-cred-i-ble.”
“I’m glad you find my financial skills hot.”
“I love smart women who understand business.” Kate’s husky voice had dropped an octave.
Hannah shivered. “Do you want me to tell you all about my monthly budget?”
“Yes, but first, tell me what you’re wearing…”
Hannah giggled into the phone. The rustling of her stomach kicked Smoky out of her lap, which was just as well: She was going to need some private time to properly finish this phone call.