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He griht we relived our childhood, year by year”
“There had to be happy times”
“There were When ere younger, we eant, we settled”
Which didn’t exactly say when the happy times were “Camp Pendleton?”
He so and it’s the marines We’re army We were at Fort Knox, Kentucky”
Somewhere she had never been “I’m sure it was lovely”
“That’s one way to describe it” The suy and I wasn’t a tough kid”
“I’m sorry”
“Don’t be I got through it then and I’ll get through it now It’s only for a feeeks, right?”
She nodded, thinking how rateful he had family at all She’d never known her dad—he’d run off before she’d been born But that had been okay because she’d been raised by her grand and she’d had a blessed and happy childhood
Even after she’d eles for law school, they’d stayed close The tomen had driven out to spend every summer with her They’d been there to celebrate with her when she’d landed her first real job at a prestigious law firm in Century City and had screamed and celebrated with her when she’d passed the bar
Only they’d been killed during a twenty-five-car pileup on I-10 while driving back to Florida Noelleto have them back
But she’d also learned that telling people that only ure out for himself the need to appreciate what he had, while he had it
“All right,” she said “Let’s get you settled I’ll show you where to put your stuff I need you to fill out a W-4 for ive you a tour of the store”
Fifteen minutes later, it was official Gabriel Boylan was an employee of The Christmas Attic
She walked hih the basic layout “I keep baskets up front,” she said, showing hiht oval baskets “Most of e carry is sets her hands full, she tends to head for the register”
“Makes sense”
“You can see we have sections Orna over there, the nativities on that wall”
“Including gourds?”
“You think I’o check it out”
“I will”
“The bears are over there, with all the kid stuff close by We have so for Christan’s”
“Don’t you want to have Christmas books here?” he asked
“No Not with a perfectly good bookstore less than a block away I’ on any toes What if every other store started carrying ornaments and teddy bears?”
“Or this,” Gabriel said, picking up a Santa pin from a display
She leaned close and moved the hidden switch on the back Santa’s nose lit up
Gabriel stared at the bright nose and slowly shook his head “I don’t knohat to say”
“So the lines of, ‘Why Mrs Shter will love that pin, I’m sure’”
He nodded and turned off the switch, then returned the pin to the display “Point taken”
She was pleased with his response and even e
“Then there’s the bear section”
He followed her around the corner and caer”
“I’ve put out a few more Bears sell”
Three large sets of shelves rose to the faux rafters Each shelf was croith different stuffed animals, mostly bears Brown bears and white bears, bears that were fuzzy and plaid Some played music and some you just wanted to squeeze
“I have a layout in the stockroo the way “That will help you when you have to put things out And now I’ll teach you the ister”
Gabriel learned the system quickly Noelle had chosen a credit card service that didn’t give as many reports, but was a whole lot easier to deal with on a daily basis Right at ten, she unlocked the front door and let in a couple of waiting customers
The next few hours passed quickly There was a steady stream of business Just before noon, a pretty woman came into the store She had short brown hair and looked to be in her late fifties Noelle was about to greet her when she saw Gabriel staring at the wo in his expression told her this wasn’t just any customer
Noelle walked over “Hi Welcome to The Christmas Attic”
Gabriel glanced between them “Noelle, this is my mother, Karen Boylan Mom, this is Noelle Perkins She owns the store”
“It’s lovely,” Karen said, unbuttoning her coat Underneath she wore a bright purple sweatshirt with a shell logo and the words Blackberry Island In smaller print, the sweatshirt proclaimed Stay for the Wine
“Great color,” Noelle said “Where is Blackberry Island?”
“Washington State Just north and west of Seattle Noro We did the whole west coast, heading north through the summer Then we drove home It was a very nice trip”
“It sounds like it”
Karen turned to her son “Your dad and I sent you a few postcards”
Gabriel nodded “Right They were great” He looked at Noelle “I should run those errands now Before it gets too busy I’ll be back”
He was gone before she could ask what on earth he was talking about Seconds later he was in his jacket and heading out the front door
She opened her mouth, then closed it when she saw Karen’s face had settled into lines of deep sadness
“That wasaway from me I don’t want you to think badly of him”
“I won’t,” Noelle said, then glanced around the store It was quiet, at least for the moment “Why don’t I fix us both some tea?”
She led Karen into the back roo them in the ht smile