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“Thank you, Paige. We’ll find you some extra time off during the week.”
“It’s no problem.” Or at least it won’t be when I’ve swung by City Drug and gotten some Advil. I might even treat myself to sitting on a stool behind the Handy’s register for a while.
In the pharmacy, I chat with Farley while I pay for my Advil plus the medicine I grabbed for Evie last week. “Bet you’re having a hard time keeping your cold and flu stuff in stock,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Not really. Definitely selling through a lot of it, but the state health agency already put out a notification that it would be a rough flu season, so I’m stocked up. I do hope this virus finishes up with Creekville soon.”
“I just had to cover at the diner for brunch and I’m heading to Handy’s to relieve Gary who caught this thing, so I have to say a hearty me-freaking-too.”
He gives me a sympathetic smile with my change. I dry swallow two pills on my way to Handy’s, where I go through the back and change into a spare store T-shirt before hitting the floor.
Gary is standing by a pellet smoker and laughing with a man I don’t recognize when I come out. When he sees me, he quits smiling and gives a couple coughs.
“Glad you’re here. I best go home and lie down.”Cough cough.
I narrow my eyes at him. He coughs again and disappears into the back.
I tie on my store apron, walk behind the register, and lean against the counter, something I never do. But my goal is to let the Advil kick in, then coast until Bill shows up. I’ll let the holiday hires handle customer questions and fetch merchandise while I cashier.
It’s closer to three hours before Bill makes it into the store. By now, my back is better, but I’m dealing with bone tiredness.
He walks in with Evie, apologizing before the front door even swishes shut behind him. “Sorry about that. Had to run around more than I thought I would. Evie’s going to hang out with me until dinner, if that’s all right. Said she wants to earn pocket cash for Christmas presents, so I’m going to have her do some sorting.”
Grace and Tab both grew up doing this too, and I nod. “Sounds good. I’ll see you at home.” I take off my apron, hug them both, and walk out into the dusk, so glad to finally be getting home. I’ll make sure to crash on the sofa, so I’ll hear Evie when she comes home, hopefully with a foil-covered plate of leftovers for me.
It’s nearly full dark when I turn onto Orchard, and the street is already filling with cars. I smile when I notice a couple of people jump out of their vehicles to scan the QR codes on the boxes, and again when a teenage boy climbs from a minivan to deposit a bulging grocery sack inside. Henry and Connie make a formidable team, though it might horrify Henry to hear it.
Speaking of Henry . . .
I squint, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing ahead. Normally, my house is the brightest spot on the street, but I haven’t had a chance to flip on the lights. Yet it’s still really, really bright.
As I get closer, my confusion only grows. That’sHenry’shouse practically glowing up there, and is that . . . no. It can’t be.
I pick up my pace, my tiredness suddenly disappearing.It is!His yard is full of holiday inflatables. Every single one we carry at Handy’s, in fact. There’s a snowman so tall it’s squished beneath the branches of his front yard sycamore. There’s a grinch in the act of stealing away with a bag of presents, Santa riding a dinosaur, a gingerbread man who is terrifying at this scale, his head even with the roof line.
And lights! So many lights! Outlining the front door and every window, wrapped around all the columns, every bush, and along the eaves.
I reach his driveway at practically a jog, and that’s when I spot Henry himself, standing outside in a light jacket like he’s waiting for me, hands slid into the front pocket of his jeans, his glasses reflecting red, green, and gold Christmas lights.
“Henry?”
“Hello, Paige.”
It slays me, the hello. I love the formality of it. Evie and I may have loosened him up in some ways, but I love that he still gives a full and polite, “Hello.”
“What’s going on?”
He glances over his shoulder like he’s only now noticing that he has taken the crown for tackiest holiday display. “Oh, that?” He turns back to me. “I guess Evie won me over to Christmas.”
“Is that all?” I say, amused. Happiness bubbles up in my chest like the Christmas punch Lisa makes. For all that we may have driven him crazy for the nearly six weeks we’ve been living here, it’s nice to think we’ve brought him some holiday cheer. He deserves it.
“It’s not all, actually. But maybe we should turn on your lights for your admirers, and then I’ll tell you the rest.”
“Okay.” I’m curious to the point of impatience, but I hurry up my walkway and turn on my lights too. This wins a cheer from the passing cars.
I cut across the lawn—easier to navigate now that Bill has reclaimed his cutouts—to Henry, who crooks his head toward his house, like he wants me to follow. He leads us to his front porch and settles on the front step, scooting over to make sure I have room beside him.
“So about my date last night,” he begins.
