Sally knew that she might need to excuse Hunter on Christmas Eve, since he would have to drive to Denver for the holiday. They could manage on their own. But the sadness she felt at him leaving couldn’t be done away with.
Suddenly the kitchen door swung open and Hunter was standing there. “What is it I’m smelling?” he asked.
“I’m making gingerbread men,” she said. She’d just emptied the big mixing bowl on wax paper on the kitchen table and was ready to roll out the dough.
“Can I help?”
“Maybe. You could cut them out while I put them on the baking pans, if you want.”
“I’ll try.”
She handed him two cookie cutters shaped like gingerbread men.
“These are little, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, I know. But these are cookies I hand out to the kids that come in with their parents.”
“Oh. I see. Yes, that size makes sense.”
He waited as she rolled out the dough. Then he began cutting out the cookies. Sally watched as he cut the cookies as close to each other as possible, thereby conserving dough. She began putting them on the cookie trays. As soon as she had one filled, she put it in the oven and set the timer. Then she started on the next tray. They worked well together and had soon made a hundred and forty-four cookies.
“Hey, they turned out great!” Hunter said.
“Oh, we’re not through with them yet,” Sally said with a smile. She took white icing and mixed some with blue, some with red, and some with green. She filled three decorating funnels with each color. Then she decorated a cookie, using the blue for the eyes, a curved red line for its mouth and three green buttons down its middle. “See?”
“He looks terrific.”
“So, I’ll do his face and you do the buttons. Okay?”
“Absolutely. I haven’t had this much fun in years. My grandmother would’ve liked this tradition.”
“Did she do a lot of baking?”
“Yeah. She’d start a couple of weeks before Christmas, with cookies and then she’d bake cakes and then lastly pies.”
“Wow! You must’ve eaten a lot of sweets!”
“No, she gave a lot of them away actually.”
“That’s lovely.”
“Yeah. When she died, so many people came to her funeral, telling us how much they’d miss getting those sweet gifts at Christmas time.”
Sally sighed, thinking about things she’d miss that her mother and father always did.
“Damn! I did it again, didn’t I?” When she sent him a quizzical look, he said, “I made you think about your parents dying.”
“Yes, but it felt good, knowing they’d be missed for good reasons.”
“Good, I’m glad,” Hunter said and smiled.
When they finished all the cookies, Sally stacked them in a big box to take to the store the next morning. Then she took out some chicken and put it in the oven to bake. “Would you like to stay for dinner, Hunter?” She had enjoyed the afternoon so much she didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t extend their evening.
“I’d be delighted, Sally. You’re such a good cook.”
Sally laughed at Hunter’s compliment. “I don’t think you’ve eaten much of my cooking before, except for breakfast. We ate your cooking for dinner, remember?”
“Ah, but I did try one gingerbread man. He’s the best I’ve ever had.”
Sally chuckled. “You’re easy!”
“Am not! I have absolutely high standards, taught to me by my grandmother.”
“Very well. We’ll see what you think about my chicken.”
“What else are we having?”
“Mashed potatoes and green beans, plus rolls, of course.”
“Sounds good. What can I do?”
“Peel potatoes?”
“Sure. I can’t mess up too much with that.”
While Hunter peeled the potatoes, Sally put on the green beans on low heat. Then she put the rolls on a cookie sheet and buttered them on top. Then she made iced tea.
After she set the table, she put the potatoes on to boil. Then she fixed the coffeepot for after dinner. In less than half an hour, they had dinner ready.
“Man, it smells good,” he said as he sat down.
“I’m glad you think so.”
She passed him the chicken and he took several pieces. “This is so tender,” he said after taking a bite.
“I know, my mom taught me this recipe.”
“She was obviously a very good cook, too.”
“Yes,” Sally said with a sigh. “Fortunately she taught me all of her recipes. We took turns cooking.”
“I can see why she wanted you to stay at home after college.”
Sally smiled. “Oh, you didn’t get out of work when you weren’t cooking, it was your job to do the dishes, but you had to do one or the other.”
“And what did your dad do?”
“The store books. He brought them here to the kitchen and did them while whoever cooked worked alongside him. Then, after dinner, he’d finish them, so we were ready to go the next morning.”
“No wonder you’re worn-out. You’ve got too much to do, trying to do the cooking, cleaning and the books each night.”
“I’ll get better at managing. It will just take a while.”
“It sounds like you had some happy times with your family here, Sally. I like that,” Hunter said as he looked at her fondly.
They ate in silence for several minutes. Then Sally looked at Hunter. “Do you want to have a family?”
“Yeah. Someday. I have to settle down first, figure out what I’m doing with my life.”
“Aren’t you going to work for your granddad?” she asked in surprise.
He didn’t answer for several minutes. Then he looked up. “I don’t know. I’ve tried it, but he wants me to work in the corporate offices and I like working in the store. You know, meeting people, placing orders, tidying up. The things you do every day.”
“Oh. And does that disappoint your grandfather?”
“Yeah. He’s got a great guy working in the corporate offices and I’ve told him to make the guy his second-in-command instead of me. So far, he won’t listen to me.”
“But surely you wouldn’t be happy just working in the store. I don’t think salespeople make that much money.”
“Grandmother left me quite a bit of money. I’ve invested it and receive interest each year. I’d be fine.”
“I see.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Yes, I believe you, but I can’t help thinking about your poor grandfather. You’re the only one he has to leave his estate to, to carry on.”
“But I need to be happy, Sally,” he said and as he looked her in her eyes Sally could sense the trouble that this issue had caused him.
“Yes, of course, but don’t you think you owe your grandfather some loyalty?”
“I’ll always love him and do anything I can to make him happy…except sacrifice my happiness.”
“But—”
“No, Sally. If you had had a dream to go to the big city and work, would your parents have insisted you stay here?”
“No, of course not, but—”
“They were lucky that you loved your home and your family job.”
“Maybe.”
“I promised I’d stay, but I’ve tried the corporate life. I find it so boring, so stressful, so—so irritating. I can’t see myself doing that the rest of my life.”
Sally placed her hand on Hunter’s arm and looked at him, an understanding in her eyes. “I know how you feel. I just hope you can make your grandfather see that.”
“I’ve tried to explain it to him over and over again. He loves the grand scheme of owning a store. I love the little things about owning a store. It’s just totally different.”
Sally thought he sounded perfect for her store, as her partner, but she wasn’t about to suggest such a thing. That role would be for her husband, and Hunter didn’t w
ant to marry her, of course. He would marry a smart city girl rather than a small town girl like her.
They cleaned the kitchen together and Sally prepared a tray for the coffee. Then she led the way into the living room.
“Just promise me one thing, Hunter.”
“What’s that, Sally?”
“That you go home by nine o’clock. No going to sleep on the sofa all night.”
“I promise. But I think we got away with it. Which reminds me. I need to leave the snow boots here. I can wear my loafers home.”
“You can take your loafers with you, but you might as well keep the snow boots. Dad’s not going to wear them again.”
“Thanks, Sally. I appreciate that.”
She poured him a cup of coffee and passed it to him. Then she poured herself a cup. It was decaf, because she didn’t want anything to keep her awake. But she’d be sure to send him home before she closed her eyes again.
Monday morning, Mary’s daughter came into the store to work with her mother during Christmas vacation. Susie was immediately attracted to Hunter, and Sally stiffened when she saw the young lady trailing him around the store.
She immediately asked Susie to assist a woman with two little children. That would keep her busy. Hunter sent Sally a smile of relief and Sally returned the smile, but she hoped he didn’t think her actions were anything other than keeping Susie away from him. Sally would have to keep an eye on her.
For the moment, however, Susie was occupied with a demanding customer. So Sally went to the back room where she began sorting through yet more things that had been donated for the Festival. As she went through the items she began to think about her Sunday, with Hunter visiting her. His presence in her house had made a difference and it made Sally feel warm to think about it again now.
“Oh, I forgot!” She hurried out into the store with the gingerbread cookies. She offered cookies to the children Susie was helping. The mother was grateful as it occupied the children’s minds so their mother could shop. Sally found several other children and offered them a gingerbread man, too.
Hunter saw her and nodded with a smile. He knew that he’d done his share in creating the gingerbread men. His next customer had several children with him and Hunter immediately came over to get gingerbread men for his little customers.
“Are you managing all right?” Sally asked in a whisper.
“Yeah, as long as Susie is occupied. I don’t need her following me everywhere,” Hunter said, frowning.
“If I don’t see her, just tell her mother. She’ll take care of it.”
“We’ll see,” Hunter said, not promising anything.
Sally didn’t say anything else. As she turned to go to the back room again, however, Hunter asked, “What are your plans for dinner?”
“My plans?” she asked in surprise.
“Yeah, I thought I’d take you out to repay you for dinner last night.”
“That’s not necessary, Hunter. It was no big deal.”
“Yes, it was. And you know I don’t like to eat alone.”
“I didn’t mean to be rude, Hunter, but I don’t think having dinner together would be a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a small town, Hunter. People are already speculating about you. If I have dinner with you again, romance rumors will fly all over town.”
“What’s so wrong with that?”
“Well, nothing at the moment, but what about when you leave? If people think that I’ve fallen in love with you, they’ll all feel sorry for me, sure you’ve broken my heart. I’d rather avoid that kind of gossip, thank you very much.”
“Surely we can eat together without starting all those rumors.”
“The only way is if we make it clear that there is nothing going on between us and I pay for my own dinner.”
“That’s silly, Sally! You fed me last night, I should be able to return the favor!”
“Yes, I know, but I don’t want to advertise the fact that you have been having late night dinners at my place, either, Hunter. Do you see?”
He stood there staring at her, his hands on his hips. Then he said, “Okay. We go Dutch. Right?”
“Yes, but we won’t be able to go until after eight, when the store closes.”
“Will the restaurant still be open then?”
“Yes, they’re open until nine.”
“Good. Then we’ll close the store and go eat dinner, Dutch treat, after we lock up.”
“Fine.” Somehow, hearing his words, as if they always did things together, warmed her cold heart. But she had to remember that Hunter would be leaving very soon and she would be back to being on her own again.
When the day came to a close at eight o’clock, Sally was tired. She would have preferred to have gone home and had a bowl of soup and an early night. But Hunter was joining her for dinner at the Diamond Back. After Mary, Susie and Ethel had left, she gathered her purse and coat and located Hunter still straightening things in the men’s department. “Hunter? Leave that until the morning.”
“Okay. I’m starving. Are you?”
“Yes. It’s been a long day.”
“And a busy one. Is business better this Christmas than before?”
“Maybe a little. We always do a lot of business at Christmas time.”
“I can believe it. Your store is always so welcoming. Especially with the Christmas music.”
“Surely your stores play Christmas music during the holidays, too,” Sally said as she walked down the sidewalk.
“Yes, but it’s drowned out by the crowds and the traffic outside. It’s just different here in Bailey.”
“True. We don’t have traffic jams here.”
Hunter put his hand on her back as they began to cross the street. Sally could feel his big hand as it pressed against her spine and she felt a tingle of electricity trace its way up to her neck. She shivered and pulled her coat closer around her, sure that it was just the cold causing her to shiver.
“Don’t do that, Hunter,” Sally said and began to walk faster.
“What’s wrong?”
“You mustn’t act like we’re on a date! We’re just friends, remember, business acquaintances.”
“You mean because I put my hand on your back? That’s no big deal, honey. I just wanted to be sure you were all right crossing the street. That’s all.”
“That’s not all. It makes it look like we’re on a date! And we’re not!”
“Right. We’re just friends. But I don’t let my friends fall on their faces. Even if I’m not dating them.”
They reached the restaurant. Hunter reached out to open the door for her. She walked through, but she wasn’t happy.
“Sally! How lovely to see you. How’s—oh, I didn’t realize Mr Bedford was with you. Hello, welcome to our restaurant again, Mr Bedford.”
“We thought we’d get a bite to eat after working through supper, Diane. It’s not too late, is it?” Sally asked, trying to sound casual.
“Of course not! There’s plenty of time. Come right this way.” The hostess showed them to the same table they’d occupied before.
Hunter held the chair for Sally, and she sat down. She knew it wouldn’t do any good to complain while Diane was there.
Hunter moved around the small table to sit down opposite her.
“Your waitress will be right with you.” Diane hurried away, back to her place near the door.
“Don’t complain, Sally. I know you think I shouldn’t have pulled your chair out for you, but I promise I’d do that for a friend as well as a date.”
“I wasn’t going to complain,” she lied.
“Good.”
She opened her menu and studied the offerings. When the waitress who had served them last time came to their table, she focused on Hunter, just as Susie had.
“Have you made your choices?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes, I have,” Sally said. “I’ll have the enchiladas, please, with iced tea.”
<
br /> “I’ll have the same,” Hunter said easily, smiling at the waitress.
“Yes, sir,” Gretchen said as she took the menus and left the table.
“You like Mexican food?” Sally asked, staring at him.
“Yes, I do. I hope it’s good.”
“It usually is.”
When Gretchen brought their iced teas, Sally decided she would make it clear to everyone that she was not on a date with Hunter Bedford. “Oh, Gretchen, do you think that you could make us up separate checks, please. I’ll be paying for my own meal this evening.”
Gretchen stared at her, clearly not understanding what was happening between these two.
“She’s joking, Gretchen,” Hunter said. “Just ignore her and bring me the check.”
Sally turned to stare at Hunter, unable to believe his betrayal and was about to protest when Gretchen spoke.
“Okay, I will,” Gretchen said with a smile for Hunter and left the table.
“Why did you say that, Hunter?” Sally demanded.
“Because I intended to pay for dinner whether you liked it or not. After all, you fed me last night.”
“But I told you that I wanted to pay my share of the bill.”
“Look, Sally, you can pay me back once we leave the restaurant, if you want, but it’s not necessary. It’s a blow to my masculinity if you pay for your meal.”
Sally held her head in her hands. She hadn’t imagined the evening would turn out like this. She lifted her head and could already see Gretchen whispering to Diane and looking over in their direction. Sally groaned, “But you don’t understand small towns, Hunter. By now, half the town will think I’m in love with you!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“DO THEY think you’re in love with anyone else you have dinner with?” Hunter asked in exasperation.
“That’s just it. I don’t have dinner with anyone else. At least, not usually,” Sally explained. “There aren’t a lot of single men who hang around town.”
“Then how do you expect to find someone to marry?” he demanded, anger building in him. “How do you even find out what kind of man you like?”
Snowbound with Mr. Right Page 7
