They were interrupted then as Gretchen returned with their dinner. Sally thanked her, not showing any signs of the anger she was feeling towards Hunter. Once Gretchen had moved away, Sally turned back to her dinner companion. “I did date some men in college, Hunter. Certainly not many, but enough to know what kind of man I’m looking for.”
“How old are you now, Sally?” Hunter asked sharply.
“I’m twenty-five, soon to be twenty-six,” she told him, raising her chin.
“So you haven’t dated in at least three years? That’s crazy, Sally! Surely you must be really lonely.”
Sally thought back to how lonely it had been since her parents’ deaths and had to admit that Hunter’s presence had certainly changed that, but there was no way she was going to admit that to him now. Instead she said stubbornly, “Hunter, I’m so busy with the store since Mom and Dad died that I don’t have time to be lonely.”
“Right. I’m sorry, but—never mind. Just enjoy your dinner.”
He bent over his food, not looking at her. After a few minutes’ silence, Sally said, “You handled that man well who came in by himself today. I don’t know who he is, but you obviously made him feel very welcome.”
Hunter looked at her for a moment, clearly pleased that their little dispute was over. “He’s here visiting relatives. He wanted to get each of them a gift.”
“That was nice of him. Did you have to wrap all of his choices?”
“Mary did it, actually. I’m not as good in that department as I should be.” Hunter smiled.
“That’s the thing about small towns. Here, you have to be a jack-of-all-trades. We are the gift wrap department if it’s needed.”
“That’s what I like about your store. You’re involved in every aspect, and you know if there’s a problem at once.”
“Yes,” Sally said with a sigh. “Last year, the furnace went out. We knew about it at once, but we couldn’t get a repairman here for three days.”
“What did your dad do?”
“He tried to fix it himself, but that didn’t work. All he could do was harass the company until they got someone up here to fix it. Oh, and pay extra for their speed,” she said with a laugh.
“So he closed the store for three days?”
“Oh, no. We all just bundled up and he brought in a couple of space heaters. We all tried to stay close to them.”
“I can imagine. I’m glad we haven’t had that problem this winter.”
“Definitely not.” She took a bite of her enchiladas. “Is your food good?”
“Delicious. It was a good choice.”
They ate in silence for a moment longer and Sally thought how pleasant it was to share a meal with Hunter. Even though they had their disagreements she was surprised at how easily they got on with each other.
Hunter took a long drink of his iced tea before he spoke. “Say, if I am going to play Santa at the Festival this year am I still going out there to see the children all by myself?”
Sally looked down at her meal. “I don’t see why not. It shouldn’t be a problem, should it?”
“Yeah, I think it will be a problem. I think I’m going to need a Santa’s helper. I think you should come out there with me.”
“But we’ve never had a Santa’s helper before, Hunter.”
“So, start a new tradition this year. That way you get to share in the experience, too. Come on, Sally, we talked about this before and you said you’d think about it,” Hunter said, smiling mischievously.
“I don’t know,” Sally said, her forehead wrinkling as she thought about his suggestion. She liked the idea of starting a new tradition and maybe it would help her feel more involved, especially since her mom and dad wouldn’t be there.
“Come on, Sally. It would be fun.”
“I’ll think about it. I really will, this time. I promise.”
They resumed their eating, continuing to talk about their day in the store. When they’d both finished their meal, Hunter took the check and paid Diane, thanking her for a good meal, and they went back out in the cold.
“You know, when you’re inside, you forget how cold it is out here.” His breath stood out in the night air.
“I know. It’s always a shock.”
When they’d crossed the street, she paused. “Thank you for dinner, even though I should’ve paid for my meal. It was a fun night.”
“Yeah, it was, but why does the evening have to end here?”
“Because this is where we split up. Your bed-and-breakfast is in the opposite direction from my house.”
“It’s not far. I’ll see you home first.”
“Hunter, I’ll be all right. After all, I know everyone here in Bailey.”
“That may be so, but I don’t like the idea of you going home by yourself. I’ll see you to your door and then I’ll go back to the bed-and-breakfast.”
Though she huffed several times, she couldn’t dissuade Hunter from his self-appointed task of seeing her home. Secretly Sally had to admit that she liked the fact that Hunter had walked her home. He was certainly a gentleman. She began walking faster, not to get away from him this time, but because it had turned colder this evening.
“You don’t have to run, Sally. I’m not going to give up you know!”
“I know, but it’s so cold out here.”
“That’s true. Look, we’re almost there already. That’s something else I like about Bailey. It doesn’t take so long to get anywhere. Well, here we are.”
Sally stopped; the quick walk home had made her a little breathless and her cheeks were a nice rosy-red. “Thank you for walking me home, Hunter.”
“You know what, Sally? I’m glad I paid for your dinner, because I think this did turn into a date.” And, without warning, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a deeper kiss than he’d ever given her before.
It took her a minute before she realized what was happening. She’d been taken by surprise by his kiss, she told herself. That was the only thing that could explain that momentary pause when she had enjoyed his kiss, the feel of his lips on her own. “Hunter! You—you shouldn’t have done that.” She said now, stuttering slightly with the shock.
“I think I should’ve done that the first day. Then I would have a lot more kisses under my belt.” He whispered good night and stepped off the porch. But he didn’t walk away. Instead he just stood there staring at her.
“What are you waiting for?”
“For you to go in and lock up. I want to know you’re safe before I leave.”
“Of course I’m safe!”
“Then go inside and lock the door. When you do, I’ll head back to the bed-and-breakfast.”
“Ooh! Good night!” She entered the house and slammed the door.
With a gentle smile on his lips, he moved down the quiet street through the snow that had begun to melt that day, though it wasn’t all gone. He’d enjoyed his dinner with Sally. She was an enjoyable companion.
The next morning, Sally went in to work early to place some orders on the computer. They were running low on some of their goods and she wanted to get more in before the Festival. She let Billy in at eight-fifteen. That was when he usually got there, willing to wait out in the cold if Sally hadn’t arrived.
A few minutes later, they both heard a knock on the front door.
“Oh! That’s probably Hunter. Will you go let him in, please, Billy?”
“Okay, Sally.”
Hunter came into the break room shortly after, still wrapped in his outer coat. “Good morning, Sally. It sure is cold out there today.”
“Yes, it is. Good morning, Hunter.”
“What are you doing?”
“Restocking. We’re running a little low on some of our items.”
“Yeah, I noticed that, too. Do you have the men’s department covered?”
“No, I’d totally forgotten that. What do we need there?” she asked in surprise. Sally hadn’t realized how much she had relied on Hunter over the last few days. He
had practically managed the men’s department single-handedly.
He named off four items and she hurriedly added them to the list. “Thanks, Hunter. Is there anything else you can think of that we need?”
“More wrapping paper? If it’s going to get busier, it seems to me that we’ll need more paper.”
“And bows. Good thinking.”
Once that was done, she shut down the computer and went out in the store to check its appearance. Several areas needed straightening and she and Hunter split them up and quickly had the store in perfect condition. Of course, once the shoppers came in, it wouldn’t stay that way, but that was the nature of the beast.
When the grandfather clock in the store rang nine o’clock, Sally unlocked the front door. Another day began. They were quite busy most of the day, but there were times when they took breaks. Sally didn’t mention the word dinner to anyone, especially Hunter. She didn’t intend to find herself in that position again this evening.
When she locked up the store at eight o’clock, Hunter remained behind to walk her home and be sure she locked herself in. She wanted to tell him how much she appreciated that aspect of his presence, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to admit out loud how hard it was to go out the back door at night and cross the darkened street by herself.
It had never been an issue with her parents there. If she and her mother left a little early, to go home and start dinner, they were together, or all three of them went home together. Now, she was always alone. Except for Hunter. And on Christmas Eve, that would end.
The next day, the stock she’d ordered was delivered. Billy unpacked them, but it was up to her, Hunter, Mary, Ethel and Susie, to get the items into the store to be sold. They all had to be tagged and appropriately displayed.
Sally worked on that all morning. Everyone else helped customers. Before Sally could finish that, she received a call from her cousin, Penny. After speaking to her for a while and catching up on things, Sally hung up the phone and called Hunter to one side.
“Hunter, my cousin just called and needs eight men’s presents in the fifty dollar to seventy-five dollar range. Do you think you could pick some suitable things out for me?”
“Sure. We’re not too busy right now. Just gifts for men?” he asked curiously.
“Yes, I should have clarified that for you. These are gifts for the cowboys who work for her on the ranch.”
“Cowboys? I’m not sure I know enough about—okay, I guess I can find some.”
“Thank you, Hunter. I’m still trying to get the new items ready for sale or I’d help you. But if you’ll just bring them to the checkout counter, I’ll look at them before I ring them up.”
“Okay,” he said and walked over to the men’s department to begin the search for suitable gifts.
Sally returned to tagging the new items when the phone rang again. “Oh! Yes, thank you. I’ll be right out.”
She grabbed her coat, spoke briefly to Billy and then told Mary that they’d be outside for a few minutes. Then she, with Billy following, hurried to the town center, a couple of storefronts away. There, on a big truck, lay the town tree. Jake Larson, Penny’s manager, and a couple of cowboys were waiting for her instructions.
Billy had brought out the half-barrel they used every year to hold the tree upright. The cowboys, with Billy’s help, got the tree in the half-barrel and tied four guidewires to the ground to stabilize it. Then they all gathered in front of the tree to determine if it was straight.
“Thanks, guys. You did a great job picking out the tree.”
Jake smiled at her. “Oh, Penny did that. She took a lot of time finding the right one.”
“And you froze while she decided?” Sally asked with a grin.
“I didn’t mind. She wanted to be sure she found the right one this year.”
“Well, you can tell her from me that she definitely did. Thanks again, Jake.”
They all said goodbye and Jake and his men got into the truck to go back to the ranch. Billy just stood there, staring up at the tree.
“Are you all right, Billy?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay, Sally. I guess I didn’t think we’d have a tree this year. But it looks good, doesn’t it? Your daddy would be proud, Sally.”
Sally felt the tears threaten at the back of her eyes at Billy’s kind words and hugged the man fondly.
“Thanks for your help, Billy.”
“Okay,” the elderly man said, a little embarrassed at Sally’s affectionate hug.
“I’m going back in the store now, Billy, it’s cold out here.”
“Good idea, let’s go.” And they both walked back to the store together. Hunter looked up as she came in. “What happened?”
“We put up the tree. Now all we have to do is decorate it. Do you still think you can help out?”
“Of course,” Hunter replied. “Is there anything I should know first?”
“Not really, just be sure you wear some warm clothing,” Sally answered, recalling how cold it had been outside just now.
“Right.”
The weather report last night had said it would be warmer this weekend. That would make the Christmas Festival more enjoyable. With a prayer that things would go well, Sally returned to her tagging.
The next morning, once the store was ready for customers, Sally and Hunter went out to decorate the tree. Mary and Susie had come in earlier this morning so the store wouldn’t be left unattended.
“I wish I could help you decorate it,” Susie said, breathing heavily in Hunter’s direction.
“I think you’ll be needed in the store today,” Hunter said, though he smiled at the girl.
“But decorating the tree would be so much more fun.”
“Not really,” Sally said crisply. “Your fingers feel like they’ll fall off and you have to climb that high ladder. It’s a lot of hard work.”
“Oh, but—”
“Come on, Hunter, we have to go now. Billy? Are you ready to bring out the boxes of decorations?”
“You want them now?” Billy called back.
“Yes, please, Billy.”
“Okay, Sally.”
“Why don’t I go help him?” Hunter asked.
“That would be nice. And you need to bring the tall ladder, too,” Sally said, again thinking how gentlemanly Hunter was.
Sally went out the front door as customers were coming in. She greeted each of them and explained what she was doing.
“We thought you might not do a tree this year,” one man said. “With your parents’ deaths and all.”
“Yes, we’re doing the tree, and the Festival, just as we have in the past.”
She didn’t know why people thought they weren’t going to have the tree and the Festival. If she did nothing else, she would do those two things, because her parents had done them and counted them important to the small town. She wanted people to remember her parents’ contributions to their lives.
Billy and Hunter came from around the storefronts to where the tree had been erected. Hunter carried the extension ladder all by himself, while Billy carried a big box. Once Billy set the box down, he turned around and retraced his steps.
“There are two more boxes to come out,” Hunter said, a little out of breath as he stood the ladder up.
“Billy will carry them together I’m sure. We’ll get started. I think it’s safe to lean the ladder against the tree. Do you feel brave enough to climb up to put the star on top?”
He grinned at her. “I don’t see anyone else volunteering.”
“I will if heights bother you.”
“Fortunately they don’t. I’ll go up. Where is the star?”
“I think it’s in this box.” She forced the box open and found the star. Taking it out, she showed Hunter how it attached to the tree. Then she stood back and held her breath as he climbed to the top of the ladder. He had to reach about four more feet from the top of the ladder to attach the star. When he finished and started down, she slo
wly let her breath out.
“What’s next?” he asked when he reached the bottom.
“The lights. I sent Mr Robinson a note yesterday to see if he could make it. We have to make sure that the lights are put up properly—the last thing we want is a fire! Oh, here he is now.”
An older man stepped off the sidewalk and walked over to where Sally and Hunter were standing. “So the decorating starts today, does it?”
“It sure does, Mr Robinson. I appreciate your helping us,” Sally said, smiling fondly at the gentleman.
“Glad to do it. Who’s this young man?”
“This is Hunter Bedford. He’s helping me out until Christmas.”
Mr Robinson extended his hand to Hunter and he shook it.
“You can call me Ted, if you want,” the man said.
“Thanks, Ted. I sure am glad you’re here, because I don’t know that much about electrical things.”
“Not a problem, Hunter. I’ll show you a few tricks that I showed Bob. He got right good about things after a while.”
Sally smiled ruefully as Ted and Hunter completely left her out as they planned their attack on the tree. In all the years of working with her dad, Mr Robinson had never offered for Sally to call him by his first name.
Billy came out with the other boxes and Sally thanked him and told him to go and get warm back in the store. Then she began laying out the large ornaments. Since they had to decorate the tree on all sides, it took a lot of ornaments. But the lighting had to come first, and that would take Hunter and Mr Robinson at least a couple of hours.
It was lunchtime by the time Hunter and Ted had finished lighting the tree. Then they gave it a test run. Sally loved it when the tree lit up. Then the lights were shut off, and Mr Robinson shook hands with Hunter again, telling him it was good to work with him, just as he had always done with her father.
“Wow, I learned a lot today,” Hunter said. He was rubbing his gloved hands together to get his fingers warm.
“I think we’d better go in and eat lunch and warm up first. Then we can come back and start decorating the tree.”
“Will it really take us the rest of today and tomorrow to get it decorated?” Hunter asked as they walked toward the store.
Snowbound with Mr. Right Page 8
