Page 11 of The Nutcracker

As he did so, my giddy eyes took in my surroundings.

There was color and light everywhere.

Shelves were busy with toy elves and snow globes and tiny trees of candy canes and wooden bowls filled with chestnuts and walnuts and hazelnuts and honey-roasted cashews. Ribbons of light ran in coils around the silver and red and green Christmas trees that filled the corners of the little shop, while mobiles of sleighs and flying reindeer twirled from the wooden ceiling beams.

“Wow, this place is really… Christmassy.”

“I asked if you were all right, not what you thought of my store. What happened? Were you in some kind of accident?” He was studying the bridge of my nose. “Wait here, I’ll get my First Aid kit.”

“Do you think you could maybe turn Andy Williams down a little? Not that I don’t like this song. I love this song, who doesn’t? It’s just that my head’s kinda sore.”

“Of course.” He found a remote with a volume control and brought the Christmas cheer down a notch, then rummaged through a drawer in the counter and produced a small First Aid box.

He pulled out a cotton ball and doused it in ointment.

“Ow!”

“Keep still.” He leaned in close and I could smell his skin. He smelled like a forest. Pine needles and smoke from a mountain cabin. It was a masculine scent, simple and strong and undeniably sexy. I noticed he had broad shoulders and large hands, yet he tended to me with care and compassion.

“Now tell me what happened to you?” he asked again. “Are you in pain?”

“No, I’m fine, really. I guess I just wasn’t concentrating. Suddenly there was a deer on the road. So I swerved and instead of hitting the deer I hit a lamp post.”

“You’re lucky you got off with just a cut.” He dabbed the ointment again and I winced. He smiled. “I think you’ll live.”

“I’m not sure my car will. It looked pretty banged up. I should probably call Jim at the garage and tell him I need a tow.”

“Have you heard the wind howling out there? I don’t think you or Jim or anyone is going anywhere for a while. You might as make yourself comfortable.” He spread both arms as though he were about to reveal a vowel. “Welcome to my little store… I call itThe Nutcracker.”

“It’s cute. Although…”

“Although what?”

“Although… don’t you think you’re a tad late? I mean, opening a Christmas store on Christmas Eve… you don’t think you might have missed the boat this year?”

The man in the red suit simply smiled. “Consider it a soft launch. Next year this place will be pumping, just you wait and see. My name is Curtis, by the way. Curtis Caine.”

I shook his hand. “Jordan. Jordan Donovan. But everyone calls me Jordy. You’re new in town?”

“I was about to ask the same of you. I can’t imagine the locals plow into the lamp posts on Main Street very often. They must know these streets like the back of their hands.”

“I told you, I was swerving to avoid a deer. And as a matter of fact I grew up in Coopers Mill. I just haven’t been back for a while, that’s all.” I realized he’d avoided my question. “What about you? You’re definitely not from around here.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well there’s no Caine family in Coopers Mill. I haven’t seen you around here and I haven’t heard anyone talk about you. And yet here you are as though you appeared out of nowhere… in a store that I swear was empty and derelict only a few hours ago.”

He gave a mischievous grin. “Are you suggesting there’s been a little Christmas magic at work here?”

“The only magic here is that you pulled off opening a brand new store on Main Street without old Mrs. Clements getting wind of it and gossiping about it all over town. You must have blacked out the windows and worked under cover of darkness to load everything in and set it all up. That’s a lot of work for a surprise that’s… like I said… a little late in the season. That’s exactly what a store like this one is, right? Seasonal. You probably make all your money once everyone is done with Halloween and Thanksgiving. What do you intend to do with the space for the rest of the year? Discount your stock and wait for the Christmas rush to return?”

“That’s a little cynical, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been in a cynical mood lately. My world’s not exactly filled with carols by the spinet these days. But that’s no excuse to be rude, my apologies. I’m sure you earn enough revenue in December to make your repayments for an entire year.”

“You’d be surprised. Some people like to shop for Christmas all year round.”

“They do?”