By the time the last one was seated, ten whole pews on the left-hand side of the church were full. It was the largest gathering of any one family the town of Blessings had ever seen at a funeral. Their estimation of Niles and Barbara Holland was forever changed. And for the time it took to witness the service honoring the man in the casket, no one thought of how he’d gotten there. Just that there were so many people united in grief who’d come to honor the man they knew and loved.

Chapter 10

During the ensuing week, Melissa Dean bought a new car—a blue Chevrolet Equinox—and the people of Blessings became more and more preoccupied with the fact that their supermarket no longer had a name.

For as long as anyone could remember, when they needed groceries they would say “going to the Piggly Wiggly.” But that store was gone now. Now pig logo was missing, as was the big sign across the front. It didn’t seem logical to them to just say “going to the store,” because there were all kinds of stores in town.

They just wanted to know who owned it now. They needed a name on that store to replace that big ugly unpainted space where the Piggly Wiggly name used to be.

The clerks at the store didn’t know, either. The first time a stranger showed up with their paychecks, they thought he must be the new owner, but he quickly assured them he was only the accountant delivering payroll.

Then a painting company showed up and spray-painted the entire exterior of the store a robin’s-egg blue. The color alone caused a bit of a ruckus. They’d never seen a grocery store painted a color like that. Not that it mattered, they would add. But in a small town, people like familiarity. Change was a hard thing to accept, but after a couple of days, the color began to grow on them.

Since the season was going into late fall, the first employees showing up to work at the store were now arriving in the dark. Then one morning a few days later, they were driving to work and coming up Main when they saw an enormous image of a royal crown lit against the night in white and red neon. And when they realized it was at the store, they got excited.

As they drove up and began parking, they could now see the name CROWN GROCERS in giant orange 3-D letters on the front of the building. And the big yellow crown outlined in neon had been mounted between the two words.

The supermarket finally had a name.

The employees decided it had a nice ring to it, and they liked the logo. It would all look good during the day, and at night the neon lights illuminating the crown would make it impossible to miss.

Before the day was over, nearly everyone in Blessings had made a point to drive by and check out the new sign. But it was the notice posted on the entrance doors, announcing an official lighting of the crown tonight after dark, that caught their fancy. The fact that refreshments would also be furnished turned it into an event. The people in Blessings liked events, and this one sounded like fun.