They were married in October at the church where she had been baptized, then held the reception at John’s stunning home in Asheville. The jewel-toned colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains were an extraordinary backdrop of brilliant reds, yellows, and shades of orange. The weather was cool and crisp. Ruby and Louise catered the reception, making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, even though the holiday was still over a month away. The yeast rolls went so fast that Ruby cried because she hadn’t made enough but promised that anyone who came to the diner could take home a dozen, on the house. The diner’s business picked up so much that she had to hire two waitresses so she and Louise could focus on cooking food for people to enjoy.

The year flew by so fast, and Lauren had so many good memories, that she couldn’t imagine her life being any more perfect than it was.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Black Friday, 2020

If Lauren had been asked a year ago about the probability of Razzle Dazzle’s stepping into the twenty-first century, she would have laughed. In a million years, no way was her father going to break the Montgomery tradition.

Yet here they were. Shoppers began forming a line at 5:00 A.M. outside Razzle Dazzle Décor for the first big sale of the holiday season. Sales were expected to be off the charts for the first time in years. Al and Ilene, with Lauren’s help, had chosen the most exclusive Christmas decorations their artisans made. They had begun ordering in early May so they would have enough for today’s grand reopening.

Nothing had changed. The store hadn’t been redecorated, the gas fireplace still worked, the old wooden floors still squeaked if you stepped on them in just the right way, the window display was still an artificial Christmas tree trimmed with ornaments made exclusively for today’s big event. Lauren and her mother had spent hours going over old photographs of trees they’d had in the past. They had picked their favorite ornaments from the pictures and had them re-created. Some were delicate as a bird’s wing, others glass-blown; many were hand-sculpted, each as unique as the artisans themselves.

Twelve music boxes were displayed on a glass shelf they had purchased secondhand from Wilbur at the drugstore. Lauren thought it was a good idea to keep these out of reach. Small hands could do big damage.