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Dear Grace,
Sorry I was a jerk.
And how would I even sign it? Just my name, probably.
Nah. That was weaksauce. I might as well just mutter an apology in passing, which I didn’t want to do, either.
I paused near a table offering stacked displays of scented candles. Pulling the lid from one labeledCozy Fireside, I inhaled the sweet smell of cinnamon and woodsmoke, only to put the lid back on it once more.
No, not candles. That felt too weird. It just…wasn’tit.
Except, I didn’t know whatitwas.
Aggravated, I glanced around the gift shop, looking at the t-shirts, the bottles of jam stacked near the register, and my eyes settled on the display of Christmassy items near the front once more. Snow globes with the name West Hills, Montana, on the front, little notebooks, pens, and festive thermoses with twinkling lights on them.
There was a Christmas tree behind the bear wearing the Santa hat, and little ornaments covered the tree. Some were glass baubles, while others were more detailed. Through the pairs of skis, the mittens on hooks, the snowflakes my eyes were drawn to one ornament in particular.
A horse-drawn sleigh.
It was like a fist seized my heart at the sight of it. I crossed to the tree and pulled the sleigh ornament from its branch. Oddly enough, it was the only one on the tree.
I stared at the red sleigh, at the tiny resin harness holding it to the brown horse in the front, and the fat green ribbon strewn through an eyelet to hang it from a tree.
This was it. Would Grace accept it? Would it matter if she didn’t?
Closing my fist around the ornament, I made my way to the register.
“Where did this one come from?” Quinn said, examining the ornament from all sides.
“You haven’t seen it before?”
“It wasn’t part of the inventory,” she muttered. “But it’s so cute!”
“Yeah. I kind of need to get going so can you…?”
Quinn laughed. “Of course! There’s no price tag, but let’s say $15.99. That’s what the others are.”
“Sounds good,” I mumbled, pulling my wallet out and handing her my card.
Quinn reached for one of their signature brown paper sacks with the Nick’s Nacks logo on the side, but she paused. “Do you want this gift wrapped?”
Did I? It was a gift, after all. I wasn’t sure how or when I’d give it to Grace. It would have to be before tomorrow since I wasn’t bound to see her through the actual Christmas holiday.
“Yes. Gift wrap it.”
“You got it.”
Humming cheerfully, Quinn turned to the wrap table behind the register. She placed the ornament inside of a box and began adorning it with red paper, topping it off with a glittering green bow.
“There you go!” she said.
“Thanks,” I muttered, swiping the small box from the counter and storming out of there before I did anything else stupid like buy a souvenir t-shirt or something.
Snow had begun falling, drifting lazily down to the ground. The sun would be setting soon. I needed to get back up to the inn, get Hazelnut taken care of, and get on my way.
But I still needed to find a way to give this to Grace. I wasn’t sure how to explain
Maybe I could have Junie give it to her…
