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"Oh, well, good,” she said, seeming to relax a little.
"Here for article research?"
She nodded. "Yep. And I've gotta say, this place definitely lives up to its name."
They began to wander through the aisles, almost in an unspoken agreement that they weren't finished with each other yet.
"So, what brings you here? Are you shopping for your...?" she let the sentence hang.
Tommy picked up what she was asking right away. Apparently, whatever Ida had told her about him didn't involve his status as a single man with no children. "Not my kids. I don't have any. I'm picking out gifts for the kids at the Gingerbread Ball. It's a tradition."
"That's really sweet," Grace said, her voice tinged with admiration. "Volunteering your time after a full day's work."
"In the military, we'd call this beingvolun-told," Tommy said, picking up a stuffed bear and inspecting it. "My buddy, Jack, signed me up to be one of Santa's helpers. But it's all good. These kids deserve it."
As they turned a corner, Grace stopped abruptly at the sight of a display of vintage board games. She picked up a weathered box of Clue, admiring the artwork with a nostalgic smile.
"This was one of my favorite games as a kid," she said, holding it out to him. "Did you ever play?"
Tommy took the box, running his thumb over the faded cardboard edges. "Yeah, actually. My sisters and I used to play all the time."
"How many sisters do you have?"
"Three, and they're all older than me."
Grace grinned, shaking her head. "What was that like?"
"It was pretty great most of the time, but definitely annoying at others," Tommy replied, handing the box back to her. "Especially when I was in high school, and they messed with my dating life."
"They did?"
"Oh, yeah. It was a nightmare. Super nosy, way too overprotective." Tommy shuddered, making Grace laugh. "Do you have any siblings?"
"Nope, just me. My parents were always on the go and didn't have time for more," she said with a shrug, replacing the board game on its shelf. "But hey, at least that means I didn't have anyone interfering with my love life."
Tommy pursed his lips. "Well, there's a silver lining. Plus, now I know there isn't a big brother lurking around here somewhere ready to tell me to take a walk."
Grace blushed—this time, Tommy was sure of it—and turned away slightly as she continued to browse the shelves.
Just as he was about to circle-back, eager to know more about her and her life, Grace's phone chimed, and she fished it out of her pocket.
"Sorry, one sec," she said. "Work thing."
"Take your time." Tommy tried to focus on the toys while she took care of business. He was on a mission, after all, and so far, he hadn't picked out a single toy for the kids at the ball. But something about the way her shoulders sagged as her eyes focused on the screen had him fixating on her once again. "Everything okay?"
She let out a breathy laugh and rolled her eyes, typing something with impossibly fast jabs of her thumbs. "Yeah. Yes. It's just this reader of mine."
Tommy tilted his head as she put away her phone and tucked her hair behind her ears again. He didn't even know her, but he could already tell the gesture was something she did when she was uncomfortable for some reason—whether in a good way like when she'd blushed earlier, or in a bad way... like he suspected now.
"Grace?" he prompted, tilting his head.
"Sorry, it's not a big deal. There’s this woman, and she’s completely obsessed with Snow Hill. She's actually the reason I'm here. She sent me so many emails about how wonderful it is that I finally decided to check it out. But her enthusiasm is a little overwhelming, not gonna lie."
Relief coursed through Tommy as she seemed to relax with each word of that mini-rant. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd thought was happening before she'd explained it, but something loosened in his chest. He was glad it was just a pain-in-the-butt fan of Snow Hill and not anything more sinister.
"Do you take requests, then? Is that how you decide where to go?" he asked, hoping to transition back to the lightness of their earlier conversation.
"Sometimes, yeah. But I do have a massive bucket list that I can't seem to stop adding to. Or I'll also see posts from some of my writer friends, and I'll plan a trip to those places so I can put my own spin on it."
