by Nancy Naigle
“My son just loves working for you. This company is like a family. It’s been so good for him. For this town,” she gushed.
“Hey, boss.” Chandler swept in before Mrs. Martin had the chance to start bragging on her son, like moms were known to do. “When you get a moment can I have a word?”
“I’ll let you two talk,” Mrs. Martin said. “Time for dessert, and thank you again, Mr. Paisley.”
“Try the chocolate pecan pie. It’s my favorite,” he said with a wave, as he turned to his buddy, and VP of sales, only half paying attention as Chandler recited the latest sales numbers.
Finally Chandler stopped and waved a hand in front of Geoff’s face. “What’s up with you today?”
“What?” Geoff asked.
“My point exactly. Did you hear a thing I just said?”
“Yes. I was listening. Sales are good.”
“The last thing I said was we’ve sold a thousand units of pickled peppers.”
“Do we sell pickled peppers?”
“Exactly my point.”
“Oh. Maybe I wasn’t clinging to your every word.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Fine. I was just thinking about something I saw this morning.”
“In the paper? I thought our ad looked great.”
“More like something I saw while I was looking around the paper.” He leaned forward, feeling that same rush as at the café. “I was in the coffee shop and as I turned the page I caught sight of this woman.”
“A woman, huh.” Chandler’s lips curled into a smirk. “As long as I’ve known you I’ve never seen you sidetracked by a woman. Look at that grin. This one must be special?”
“Don’t know her, but she’s … different.”
“And you could tell that across a crowded room?”
Geoff punched Chandler in the arm. “Funny. But yes. I could tell.”
“She must be pretty?” Chandler said.
“Oh, very pretty with this big smile … and her eyes. Even across the room her eyes were as dark as chocolate. Melted chocolate, the way they sparkled.” He licked his lips. She probably tasted sweet too.
“Okay, don’t you ever say something like that again. You sound like a romance novel.”
“Stop it.”
“You’re smitten,” Chandler teased.
“Smitten? Now who’s talking like a romance novel?”
“Yep. You’re eat up with it.” Chandler slapped his shoulder. “About time you did something for yourself. What’s her name?”
“Didn’t talk to her.”
“What? You didn’t talk to her?” Chandler took a step back. “You’re this distracted by someone you didn’t even talk to?”
“I know.” Geoff inadvertently hunched his shoulders as he put a slice of pie on his plate. It had made a lot more sense before he said it out loud. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. “Crazy, isn’t it? But there was something about her. Something that kept my attention. I’ve never had that happen before.” And even right now he could picture her clear as day.
“You should have invited her over for dinner.” Chandler grabbed a plate and heaped a large wedge of pumpkin pie onto it, then squirted a dollop of whipped cream on top. “Or at least dessert.”
Should have, Geoff thought. “She’s probably married with children.”
“Was she wearing a ring?”
“No.”
Chandler tossed his head back with a hearty laugh. “So you looked.”
“Stop it.” Geoff pushed past him. “Yes. I noticed. Now give me those numbers again.”
An hour later Geoff had finished running through the numbers at all of the stores, and sent Chandler to communicate a couple of red-light-special sale items in two of the lagging locations to help boost their figures. All in all, they were on track to beat today’s goal already. Best of all, he’d been able to finish that meeting and get away from Chandler without any more talk about the woman in the coffee shop.
He didn’t even know her name, and she was already causing unpleasant moments.
He’d been down this road before. He didn’t have time for this kind of distraction. What was he thinking?
Time to get back to the conference room and meet the next shift of diners.
He stopped by his mother’s office and gave a quick double-knock before poking his head in the door. “Hello?”
She lifted her head and smiled. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
“It’s been a day to be thankful for. That’s for sure. You coming to eat?”
“Yes, I am. Are you headed there now?”
“I am. Shall we?” He hooked his arm and waited for her at the door.
She pushed her chair back from her desk and made her way to him, graciously taking his arm. “Why, thank you. Thought you’d never ask.”
“We know that’s not true. We’ve spent every Thanksgiving since the day I was born together. It wouldn’t be the same without you.” He patted her arm. “So why is it you’ve been holed up in your office so much these days?”
“Taking care of business, son. Things are marvelous. We have paid sponsors on the Dear Santa app, and so much traffic they are already renewing their spots. Two have asked to reserve spots for next year already.”
“Wow, now that’s an update. All that happened since our meeting on Monday?”
“Indeed. I guess the kiddies are getting geared up now that Thanksgiving is upon us, because the letters are flooding in.”
He stopped. “Wait a minute. You’re not trying to answer all the letters yourself, are you? We talked—”
“No, son. I am not. I took your suggestions for the algorithm and my adorable blue-Mohawked computer programmer, Billy, not only built it, but he created it in a way that I can tweak the settings to adjust the flow of letters coming to the personal box.”
“That’s a great long-term strategy.”
“It is, and the letters coming to me are truly the letters worth responding to personally. The rest are getting the computer-generated responses.”
“And that’s working well?”
She smiled brightly “Very well. We are a trending hashtag on Twitter.”
“So I heard.” How was it that suddenly his non-technical mother was speaking the language of social media? “And you know all this … how?”
“Billy taught me. I can tweet and even pin on Pinterest these days. Did you know that you can find great recipes on Pinterest?”
“But you don’t cook.”
“If I did, it would be my favorite place to browse. I’m quite good at it.”
“You are tweeting and pinning?”
“Mmm-hmm. And answering the letters that come my way.”
“I’m impressed,” Geoff said. She seemed very pleased with herself. Why did he suddenly feel like he needed to tell her not to hang around with Billy?
“It’s all very doable. You should be impressed.”
“I am. I am.” He stopped at the doorway to the conference room and let his mother make her entrance. Gracious and approachable, she never disappointed. He couldn’t be prouder to be her son.
Chapter Six
Hey Santa,
My name is Grayson and I am 7 years old. I think I should be on the nice list, because I have been very good this year. I would like a football, a soccer ball, a baseball and baseball bat, a Frisbee and a scooter. My mom says to please bring me anything that will keep me busy!
Thanks,
Grayson
“Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We’re so thankful you are part of our team.” Rebecca Paisley had entered the room like a Thanksgiving princess. Her golden sweater shimmered against her maroon turtleneck as she opened her arms, making her look like the cornucopia of good cheer.
Geoff followed her inside, and they made their plates and chatted with the others before joining the Christmas Galore employee’s families for dinner.
During the conversation, Mrs. Baxter mentioned that she was working on the spri
ng fund-raiser for the Ruritan Club.
His mother seemed intrigued by the idea. “I have been really wanting to do something to give back to this community. Do you think I could be on your committee?”
Mrs. Baxter sat there dumbfounded until her husband nudged her in the ribs. “Yes. Are you serious? I … we’d … be honored to have your help, Mrs. Paisley.”
“Call me Rebecca. I insist.”
“Thank you, Rebecca.”
“Excellent. I’m good at some things, especially ideas,” she said with a laugh. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to be helpful.”
Mrs. Baxter could barely contain her excitement, all but forgetting about the plate of food in front of her. “You just being there will be a huge help. Thank you so much.”
Geoff sat there stunned. Had his mother really just volunteered to help with a fund-raiser? Give to one, absolutely. All the time. She was a very generous woman. But giving her time? This was new.
“My pleasure, dear. Did you know I was on the tree lighting committee this year? It’s part of the Pleasant Sands Christmas Giving Project.”
“News to me,” Geoff mumbled.
“I hadn’t heard,” Mrs. Baxter said. “My dear friend Joan Ewell is on that committee. You must have met.”
“My goodness. What a small world. She’s a lovely, lovely woman. Sure knows how to get things done,” Rebecca said.
“Yes. She is quite a gal.” Mrs. Baxter beamed.
“We should all do lunch sometime.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll plan something for once we get past the holidays.”
“Fabulous. You know, Geoff, you should look into getting on some kind of board or committee. It’s really quite rewarding.” Rebecca turned to the Baxters. “We’ve been on the move the last ten years. A new city every year. Moving to wherever the newest store would be opening, but we’ve decided to put some roots down here. I love Pleasant Sands.”
“That’s great news,” Mr. Baxter said. “It really is a great place to live.”
“Have you lived here all your life?” Geoff asked.
“No. I was in the military. We lived in Norfolk, Virginia, for quite a while,” Mr. Baxter explained.
His wife interjected, “We moved here when he got out of the navy. We vacationed here once, and we knew right then this would be a wonderful place to retire. When Danny turned sixteen it seemed like the perfect time. And wasn’t it great timing that you were opening up just as the school year was beginning? He loves working here.”
“And we love having him as part of the Christmas Galore family.”
Geoff saw the affection and respect the Baxter family had for one another. The kid was the spitting image of his dad. A tweak of jealousy caught Geoff a little off guard. He could hardly feel bad about not having a family when he’d never even given himself the time to build a relationship with someone.
His mother was donating her time to help the community, and making friends too, it sounded like. She was taking this two-year hiatus in Pleasant Sands seriously.
Was he working so much that he hadn’t even noticed? Maybe he did need to take a breather from the office once in a while. He’d tried the whole golf thing but the problem was when he wasn’t at work, all he thought about was … work.
The six-hour catered event, as always, went by quickly. It really was one of his favorite occasions of the year, sharing time with the people who made the dream of Christmas Galore a reality.
Business had been steady all day, and that was great news on Thanksgiving. The store had taken some early heat from the locals for being open on the holiday. He’d been worried, but by the looks of the sales numbers those complainers had been in the minority.
By eight o’clock the last of the leftovers had been packed up and distributed among the families. It didn’t take much for the rest of the stuff to be cleaned up and carted out to the Dumpsters.
His mother gathered her things to go home just as Virgil and Chandler brought the late-shift team together to get things started for the big Black Friday event. By 12:59 the next morning, all of the sale signs and purchase limits had to be clearly marked. Bargain merchandise had to be moved to end caps to keep the flow of customers moving down the aisles. Splitting the team into groups of two, they divvied up the tasks and went to work.
“Thanks for all your hard work,” Mom called as she left through the front door. “Happy Thanksgiving. I’m so thankful for you all.”
Geoff stood in his office overlooking the sales floor. The one-way mirrored glass allowed him an eagle-eye’s view of everything going on below. Employees ascended, hanging signs in Christmas reds and greens for the big specials. Others rearranged merchandise on the end caps according to the Planogram.
* * *
At 12:55 a group of customers was already waiting outside Christmas Galore.
Geoff did a quick walk-through on his way to unlock the doors for the official Black Friday opening.
Just a few hours ago all of the sale signs were in fall colors: bright orange, yellow and sage green. Tonight the inside of his store had shed its autumnal colors, and was now graced with the colors of Christmas by way of red and green signs in the shape of Christmas ornaments.
Outside, people anxiously pushed toward the front door as he approached.
Last year when they’d opened the store in Massachusetts, customers had been bundled up like snowmen, blowing clouds of freezing condensation as they spoke to one another. The weather here in Pleasant Sands was … well, pleasant.
Yes, opening a new store in the South in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year had its advantages.
A lump formed in his throat, and his mouth went dry as he noticed a woman standing near the edge of the sidewalk wearing a black sweater. She looked like … almost had the same coloring as … the woman at the coffee shop. Her dark hair fell in waves past her shoulders.
He stood straighter to get a better look. This time he’d get her name. He silently recited a greeting as he waited for her to enter.
Chandler stepped to his side. “Man? Couldn’t you have worn something a little less formal for Black Friday in the middle of the night?”
Geoff glanced down at his suit. “I always dress like this.”
“My point exactly.” Chandler stepped in front of Geoff. “You’re going to scare off our customers looking like a lawyer.”
Geoff tugged on his shirt collar. So maybe he could have lost the jacket. “Fine.”
“You’re living at the beach. You need to get your beach vibe on. Relax. Good thing I’m here to help you.” Chandler twisted the locks and pulled the doors open. “Here we go.”
Geoff stepped to the side as the people flowed in like high tide on a full moon. Normally he’d be feeling that familiar whir of excitement, because Black Friday sales translated into dedicated customers that kept coming back to Christmas Galore even when Santa was hibernating for the summer. But what he was feeling right now had nothing to do with sales, and everything to do with a short gal in a black sweater.
With a smile on his face he welcomed customers into the store like an airline attendant. “Merry Christmas. Welcome. Good evening, or should I say good morning? Hello. Thanks for coming in. Merry Christmas.”
But when the dark-haired woman in the black sweater came through the door, his heart dropped. It wasn’t her. This woman was probably only in her early twenties.
It would have been a lucky accident if she had been here. Only, his disappointment made him realize something. He wanted to see her again. Even more than a big number on the final report, he wanted the chance to meet that gal.
Geoff went back upstairs and monitored the real-time sales from all locations. By two o’clock it was clear Black Friday was going to be a success.
All the preparation had paid off. Everyone knew what to do, and the sales were outperforming their projections. He got up and locked his office door behind him to leave. Rather than go out the back door where his car was parked, he chose
to go downstairs and out through the store. It was a hive of activity. A better buzz than caffeine, any day.
Chandler held the door for a customer struggling with three huge bags. “Thanks for shopping with us tonight. We’ll see you soon.”
Geoff made a beeline for the door. “I’m outta here. Make it a good one, Chandler.”
“Where are you going, boss?”
“Home.”
Chandler froze. “I’ve worked with you through what? Ten years opening these stores. I know you, man. You’ve never left a new store on Black Friday.” He shrugged his shoulders and wagged his hands about like a nervous Tyrannosaurus rex. “What? Really?” Chandler cocked his head slightly, his eyes narrowing.
“Need my rest so I can come up with the next big plan.”
Chandler shook his head. “This is about that girl, isn’t it? What? Next you’re going to tell me you believe in love at first sight? All that hocus-pocus, Hollywood-love-story stuff? No. That would just be crazy.”
Geoff didn’t bother trying to hold back the laugh as he stepped out into the parking lot. “Maybe it’s time for a change.”
Chapter Seven
DID YOU KNOW?
Fishing for both finfish and shellfish has long been an important source of income along the Pleasant Sands coast.
At one-thirty in the morning Angela called it quits on trying to get a good night’s sleep. She wasn’t doing much sleeping anyway. All she could think about was Christmas Galore being open all night.
There should be a law against it.
She might as well have stayed at her sister’s for the Holiday Warm-up. But she hadn’t been in the mood to smile and make new friends, and she certainly didn’t want to catch up with old friends, only to tell them that her store was in trouble.
Lightning flashed in the distance, and the rumble of thunder followed a minute later. The storm was too far off to bother them tonight.
And what was so great about Christmas Galore that even her own sister was shopping there?
There was only one way to find out.
She pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed. Pulling on a pair of blue jeans and a red long-sleeve T-shirt, she then put on a pair of tennis shoes and fluffed her hair as she jogged outside to her car.
