Chapter 18

18

Stef stayed casual for their date—jeans and a red sweater—but she did her hair and makeup and used her favorite peppermint-vanilla-scented cologne. It was Christmastime, after all.

Christmastime. She had to laugh when they were seated at the table in a near empty restaurant and the waiter laid out their sweet-and-sour pork, General Tso's chicken, egg rolls and rice.

"You know what movie this makes me think of?" she asked him.

He didn't smile. This time he gave her a great big grin. " A Christmas Story , where the family all ends up at the Chinese restaurant. We watched that every year when I was growing up."

"You dogs of Bumpus!" she ranted, pulling out her lowest voice, and he laughed.

Then he looked surprised. "I haven't laughed in a long time."

"Then I guess it's time you did," she said, and dipped her egg roll in the sweet chili sauce.

"I guess it is," he agreed.

Inspired, they spent the rest of the dinner throwing out famous lines from movies.

"May the odds be ever in your favor," Stef quoted.

He gave a cynical snort. "And may the Force be with you."

"Everyone knows that one. Come on, guess mine."

He shrugged. "I dunno."

" The Hunger Games . You never saw those movies?"

"Nope."

"Your life has been deprived. Okay," she said, and tried another. "Don't judge me."

"Just what I was about to say," he said.

"What's it from?"

"Beats me."

"Is that a movie, or are you giving up?"

"I'm giving up," he said.

"Trainwreck."

His smile shrank. "No wonder I never saw that movie. It sounds like my life."

No, no. They weren't going to get all depressed one day before Christmas Eve. "Okay, how about this?" She cleared her throat and sang, "The sun will come out tomorrow."

He looked puzzled.

"Oh, come on, everyone knows Annie —the kid with all the red hair?"

He nodded slowly.

"Well, okay, it's not exactly a new musical. I know all this stuff because my grandma was into it. Anyway, it's cute. Lots of positivity. She made me watch it after I left my husband."

He nodded. Was silent a moment. Then he asked, "Do you believe that?"

"What?"

"That the sun will come out tomorrow."

"I do," she said. "I'll admit it hasn't always been easy, but I try to." She popped the last bit of her egg roll in her mouth.

"Trying is good," he said.

She put on her Yoda voice. "Do or do not. There is no try." She sobered. "I'd say snarfing down Chinese food in a nice restaurant counts as doing, wouldn't you?"

He nodded. "I'd say it does. Thanks for coming out with me tonight."

"I'm glad I did," she said.

His smile got bigger, and she reflected it back. Yes, maybe, just maybe this man could be mended. Maybe they both could be.

"Okay, here's one for you," he said. "I'll be back."

She snickered. "That is a cheesy accent, Mr. Terminator."

He shrugged. "But take it to heart, because I will be."

"Good," she said.

Jenn was finishing up a game of Sorry! with Corky when Griff came back home. "I'm winning, Daddy," Corky announced.

I'm winning, too , thought Griff as he helped himself to one of the peanut butter blossoms sitting on the cooling rack on the counter. At least, so far. Too soon to tell, though. Don't rush , he advised himself, then wondered if he'd listen.

Corky got his last piece safely home and whooped, "I won!"

"Yes, you did, you little stinker," said Jenn. "But now, we know what your dad's going to say, right?"

"Time for bed," Corky said, much less enthusiastically, and put the game back in the box.

"How was dinner?" Jenn asked. Corky was all ears, so she added, "With your friend?"

"Good." Griff took the game box. "Okay, little dude, get on your pj's and brush your teeth, and I'll be right up."

"I don't want to go to bed," Corky grumbled.

"Yeah, I never wanted to go to bed at your age, either," Griff said. "Kiss your aunt good-night and scram. I'll be up in a few."

Corky gave Jenn a hug and kiss, then dragged himself up the stairs to his bedroom and little-boy solitary confinement.

"So, what do you think?" Jenn asked once Corky was gone.

"I think you better not make a habit of babysitting for me or your man's gonna start getting pissed."

Jenn waved that away. "Tonight was poker night. No problem. Anyway, you need a break."

Yes, he did. The weight of being both Mom and Dad to his son pushed down on him constantly. The night out had done wonders for lifting his spirits. Or maybe it had been the woman he'd been with.

Jenn downed the rest of her pop and put the glass in the dishwasher. "Quit stalling and tell me how it went."

"Good," he said again, and leaned against the counter. "I like her."

"Ha! You can thank me now for helping Santa put her in your life."

"I'll just stick with thanking you for watching Corky," he said. "And don't gloat."

"You going to go out again?"

"I think so," he said.

No, he knew so.

Frankie was settled in with a bowl of popcorn and a Christmas movie when her sister called. "I think this man is not what I thought he was."

She could hear the smile in Stef's voice. "In a good way, I take it."

"Yes, for sure."

"Are you going to see him again?"

"Absolutely. I really like him. He's...real."

After the narcissistic hypocrite she'd been married to, that had to be refreshing.

"And vulnerable. I finally get why he was so mad about the letter to Santa. Camille was right. I shouldn't have put it up. Talk about making light of something so big. Ugh."

"You didn't know."

"I should have figured it out."

"Do you think he's ready for a relationship?" Memories could circle a heart like chains, keeping it pinned down. Frankie understood how hard it would be for this man to move on with anyone else.

"I'm going to find out. Ready or not, I think he needs one. It's easy to get so caught in the past that you forget you're living in the present and you have a future to face."

Stef was only musing, but it felt like her words had dropped down from heaven in big red letters and dangled in front of Frankie. It was time to break her chains. She only hoped it wasn't too late.

"That was very profound," Frankie said.

"I don't know about that, but I do know I don't want to be dragging my past around. I'm sure not going to let what happened with Richard ruin the rest of my life. I want to try again, and I think I want to try with Griff."

"His sister did tell me he's a really nice man," said Frankie. But then she'd seen how that really nice man had behaved to her sister. "Still, are you sure you want to take that gamble with him?"

"I am. Sometimes you gamble, and you win big."

"Yes, you do," Frankie agreed.

Rarely, but it did happen. She remembered the old saying, You can't win if you don't play . She wanted to see her sister win, that was for sure.

"Follow your instincts," she advised.

"I am, and I have a good feeling about this man. Even though he behaved like a jerk, I don't think he is one. He's...honest. And I think he's got a good heart."

What more did a woman need? "Go for it, then," Frankie said. "But take your time. And you'd better plan to bring him to dinner at Mom's in the new year. No more getting involved with men who don't get the family seal of approval."

"Got it," said Stef.

"I hope this works out. I want so much for you to be happy," Frankie said.

"Thanks, sissy. I love you."

"I love you, too. And I'm excited to see where this leads."

Hopefully, Stef's love life was now on track. That left only Elinor to sort out. Once that was done, Frankie and Mitch would have a serious talk about who the best Mrs. Claus was for him.

Frankie opened up the shop on Christmas Eve day with fixing Elinor's love life at the top of her to-do list. She didn't expect a heavy volume of business. Her customer base tended to shop early, and their final big day had been the Santa Walk. There should be plenty of time in between customers to talk with Elinor.

Frankie was tying on her apron when Elinor breezed in, all smiles and Christmas cheer.

"Merry Christmas," Frankie greeted her.

"It is!" Elinor replied, and hustled to the back room to shed her coat and stow her lunch.

Adele and Natalie came in right on her heels, each also in a happy Christmas spirit. "I'm glad we're closing early," Natalie said. "Santa still has a lot to do between now and tomorrow. Don't worry, I'm still bringing cherry coffee cake to Christmas brunch," she said to Adele.

Adele grinned. "Good, because I'm too busy to bake."

"Yes, and we know who you're busy with," Frankie teased. "You are bringing Mario to my open house tonight, right?"

"Of course," said Adele, and followed Natalie to the back room to dispose of her coat and gloves.

Elinor passed them on her way back to the counter. This was the perfect time to have a little chat.

"You're looking happy," Frankie began.

"I am," Elinor said. "I can't thank you enough for helping me...find myself."

There were a couple parts Frankie preferred to see get lost, like the one that was glomming on to Mitch.

Their conversation was interrupted by William Sharp walking in, bearing a blended drink. "I know you love peppermint," he said as he offered it to Elinor, who blushed and thanked him.

Frankie got busy somewhere else, giving him time to impress Elinor while she was under the influence of peppermint. There was still no one in the store, so she drifted toward the back to inspect the train display she'd set up to replace the one that Griff's sister had bought.

"Don't go up front," she whispered to Adele and Natalie, who were ready for duty.

"Why not? And why are we whispering?" Adele asked.

"William's with Elinor," Frankie explained.

Her daughter nodded her understanding.

Adele looked skeptical. "I think that Christmas ship has sailed. She doesn't want him."

"Why not?" Natalie wanted to know.

"Because she's fallen for Mitch," Adele explained, which made Frankie frown.

"You know he's not right for her," Frankie insisted.

Adele said nothing, just wandered off to another corner of the shop. The bell over the door rang, and Natalie went to see if their new customer needed help. Frankie edged closer to the cash register to eavesdrop.

There was nothing to hear. William had already left. This was not good.

She returned to stand next to Elinor as if ready to work the twin cash register. "William is such a nice man," she said, gesturing to the blended drink sitting on the counter.

"He is," Elinor agreed. Pleasantly but not enthusiastically.

"Whoever ends up with him is going to be one lucky woman," Frankie added.

"I hope he finds someone," said Elinor. "I want everyone to be as happy as I am. Mitch is so wonderful, and I'm the luckiest woman in the world, and I owe it all to you," she gushed. "I'd never have...done anything if you hadn't encouraged me."

No way had Frankie encouraged Elinor to glue herself to Mitch.

"He's the sweetest, most handsome man in all of Carol," Elinor continued. "We had such a good time at the Santa pub crawl."

Where you monopolized him. Frankie could feel the anger swelling inside her. She was turning into the Incredible Hulk.

"And things have been getting better ever since. I took Mitch brownies on Sunday, and we watched TV."

"TV," Frankie repeated. Better not say...

" Cop Stop . It's one of his favorite shows."

"I know. He usually watches it with me," Frankie said, her eyes narrowing.

Elinor didn't see. She was too busy reliving her happy weekend. "I don't usually like police shows. Well, not made-up ones with all that violence. But this was interesting. I hope we can do it again."

Not in my lifetime , Frankie thought. "I'll be back," she said to Elinor. Then she marched out the door, headed for Handy's Hardware Store.