Before she completely forgot, she dialed Jimmy’s. His brother, Johnny, answered, “Jimmy’s,” in such a Southern twang, Lauren smiled.

“Hey, Johnny, it’s Lauren over at Razzle Dazzle. I think I need a tow,” she said, and went on to explain what had happened the night before. He promised her they’d pick the car up before noon.

That’s progress, she thought. At least she had that problem temporarily taken care of.

Chapter 2

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Lauren was in a much better frame of mind. Her car had needed a new battery and a tune-up, nothing major. She’d made a few decent sales late on Saturday, enough to give her hope and put the crabby ladies out of her mind. If they came back into the store, which she sincerely doubted, she’d show them the exit again. While her father, his father, and his father prided themselves on excellent customer service, it was her personal belief that the customer was not always right.

She hadn’t discussed the women with her parents last night, not wanting anything to upset her father that evening, as he seemed to be having a good day. Her mother had prepared a pot of vegetarian chili with homemade corn muffins. They’d had a relaxing meal, and when they’d lingered over tea and coffee, her mother had asked her about her sales at the store.

Not wanting to lie, she’d said, “They could have been a bit heftier, but it was so darned cold yesterday, there weren’t a lot of shoppers willing to leave the comfort of their homes.”

As she thought back on the night before, she knew she hadn’t fooled her mother; but her mother, being the kind and graceful woman that she was, hadn’t called attention to the conversation.

She had high hopes for Sunday. After a good night’s rest, she’d adjusted her attitude, and there she was, back at Razzle Dazzle Décor. It was almost 7:00 A.M. Time to open the store.

As soon as she unlocked the door, several tourists entered. They seemed kind and interested in what the store had to offer. Ringing up sale after sale, she had a renewed sense of hope that Razzle Dazzle might just make it after all. When lunchtime approached, she did a mental tally of what they’d taken in and was pleased.

Most of the special-order decorations had been picked up by the customers who placed such orders each year, so she didn’t really count these as new sales, but nonetheless, they were sales. And now every single sale mattered.

Lauren was refolding several tree skirts when the door opened, bringing another burst of cold air inside. She looked over her shoulder, and a smile came to her face. When she saw that it was none other than Brent Ludmore, out of uniform and carrying a brown bag from Ruby’s, her heart lurched. And not in the way Brent probably intended. He wasn’t going to give up easily, she’d give him that.

“Hey, Lauren, thought you could use a bit of lunch,” he said, holding up the brown bag.