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“Yes, Ethel? Is there a problem?” Sally asked.
“No, not exactly. But there’s a man here who—”
“I’ll be right out,” Sally said as she jumped up from her chair. So he had come back!
She brushed back her hair, hanging loose and flowing today, and hurried out into the store. But there was no terrific smile waiting for her. No snappily dressed man standing around. No sparkle.
Just a farmer dressed in his overalls.
“Hello. Can I help you?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Joe Sanders. My wife picked out a gadget she wanted for Christmas and I’m wondering if you could show me what it is?”
“Oh, Mrs Sanders. Yes, of course, I know exactly what she wanted. Come this way with me, please.”
“Ma’am, I have a little problem.”
Sally stopped and looked at the man. “A problem?”
The man flushed slightly and shifted nervously in front of Sally. “Well, my wife said it costs a hundred dollars and, well, I don’t have a hundred dollars. I wondered if you’d consider letting me pay it out. I have thirty-five now, and I can pay thirty-five the next two months. I promise I’m trustworthy.”
Sally smiled. “I’m sure you are, Mr Sanders. And yes, I’ll sell it to you for thirty-five today and thirty-five in January and February. If that’s what you want?”
The man’s face turned red. “Yes, ma’am. My wife would be very disappointed if she doesn’t get it for Christmas, even though I told her I didn’t have the money. I think she still believes in Santa Claus.”
“I understand. I’ll write out a paper for you to sign. But let me show you what she chose, first.”
When the man had seen the gift his wife wanted and signed the paper, paying his thirty-five dollars today and taking his gift with him, Sally returned to her lunch.
The request from Mr Sanders had reminded her again of the importance of the service they provided here at the store. Her father had first introduced a long payment plan about fifteen years ago. Since then, he let it be known that he could trust a few people to pay out their Christmas gifts. After all, her father had said it served the Spirit of Christmas.
It wasn’t something that regular stores did. They would let someone pay out the cost of the gift, but they didn’t let a customer take home a gift until it was completely paid for.
Sally felt sure Mr Sanders would pay his debt. And she felt good about following in her father’s footsteps.
She’d been disappointed that the man waiting for her wasn’t Hunter Bedford. She’d thought about him a lot this morning and especially when she had been serving Mr Sanders. She had been sure that a man from the city like Hunter wouldn’t have approved of the paying out plan and she would have liked to have talked to him about it. Too bad she wouldn’t be able to do that now. That was the only reason she was sad that he hadn’t come back, of course.
When the store closed at eight o’clock, Sally went home. She hadn’t been in the house more than fifteen minutes when the phone rang. It was probably Penny. She hadn’t talked to her since she’d gone out to the ranch for dinner. She moved to the phone. “Hello?”
“Sally?”
“Yes, who’s speaking please?”
“It’s Hunter. I just wanted to apologize for not coming in today. I had to drive back to Denver today to pick up the non-compete agreement signed by my grandfather. I thought you’d need it in hand before you agreed for me to work in the store. Anyway, I’ll be in tomorrow bright and early.”
“Hunter, I haven’t agreed—”
“Wait until you read what Granddad wrote you and then make your decision.”
“Fine. I can certainly find jobs for you if you’re willing to work.”
“I’m willing. There’s just one problem. Your dad was going to provide me with a place to stay. I know that won’t work now with just you in the house so I was wondering if there is anywhere in town that I can stay?”
Sally thought for a moment about Hunter moving in here with her. She knew the idea was absurd, but part of her thought about recommending it. But Bailey was a small town and people would certainly talk so instead she said, “There’s a bed-and-breakfast in town. It’s the only place, but it’s very friendly.”
“Good. I’ll see if they can get me a room, then I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Sally.”
“Good night, Hunter.”
Sally hung up the phone, feeling a little breathless at the thought of Hunter returning in the morning. She knew that his visit was only business and to prove this she began to make a list of possible tasks for Hunter to do. She stayed up a little later than normal and got totally involved in thinking up jobs for Hunter. It was an enjoyable thing to think about.
When she finally crawled into bed, she was pleasantly tired and immediately fell asleep. The ringing of the alarm clock the next morning didn’t really wake her up. Until the thought of Hunter arriving this morning told her she needed to get out of bed.
Unfortunately this was half an hour after the alarm had gone off and Sally had to dress hurriedly and make her lunch and dinner in less than half the time she usually took. She simply tied back her hair after hastily brushing it and ran the short distance to the store.
Billy was waiting at the back door to get in, and had been for half an hour.
“I’m sorry, Billy. I overslept. You must be cold.”
“Naw, I’m wearing a coat,” he answered, rubbing his gloved hands together.
“Yes, but take some time to warm up. Make yourself a cup of coffee,” Sally replied, feeling bad for keeping the elderly man waiting in the cold.
“Okay, Sally. Would you like one, too?”
“No, thanks, Billy. I’ll get one a little later,” Sally said as she hurried through the store. Quickly Sally began raising the shade on the front door, ready to start the day. Hunter was standing there.
“I thought you might be here a little earlier than this?”
“I’m sorry, Hunter. I overslept this morning,” Sally answered, a little annoyed that his first day had started so badly. What would he think of how she ran things around here?
“Not a problem. I got here a little early, anyway. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
He followed Sally into the store. “So, what needs to be done first?”
“Well, I usually tidy the store from the previous day. You know, straighten all the goods, make sure the dressing rooms are empty and rehang any clothing left in them.”
“All right. I’ll check the dressing rooms first,” he said and made his way over to the other side of the store.
Sally stood looking at him as he walked toward the dressing rooms. Could she have expected him to do the menial tasks as well as the more important ones? She didn’t think so, but she began straightening the shelves to make the store look neat and attractive.
Half an hour later, the store was in pristine condition. Sally invited Hunter to join her in a cup of coffee.
“I’d love a cup. I didn’t know if you were a coffee drinker,” Hunter said with a grin. “But, what if someone comes in to shop?”
“We’ll hear the bell over the front door.”
“That’s something we don’t have in a big store,” Hunter said.
“I know. But you usually have more customers than I do.”
“True.”
When they reached the break room, they found Billy still there nursing his cup of coffee.
“Billy, this is Hunter Bedford. He’s going to be working here in the store for a couple of weeks. Hunter, this is Billy Johnson. Billy has been with us for a long time and handles most of the heavy work for the store. We couldn’t be without him.”
“Hi,” Billy said, holding out his hand.
“Hello, Billy,” Hunter said, returning the man’s handshake. “It’s good to meet you, too.”
“Okay,” Billy said. Then he tipped his coffee mug up and finished off the coffee. “I’m going to work now, Sally.”
“Thanks, Billy.”
Once Billy went back to the delivery area, she said softly, “My dad and Billy were old friends and he always said that Billy was the hardest worker he knew. He’s been here for a long time.”
“Yeah, I could tell. He seems able to handle almost any delivery all by himself. It’s good to have someone like that around, someone you can trust,” Hunter said, looking at Sally.
“Yes, it is.” For a tiny, short second their gazes locked and Sally found herself melting into his deep blue eyes and a tiny shiver of electricity ran down her spine.
The jingle of the bell interrupted them. Sally automatically stood.
“Let me go,” Hunter said.
“No. No one would recognize you just yet. I’ll go.” She walked out into the store, finally spotting the shopper. Sally had waited on him before.
“Hello, Mr Jackson. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Sally, I need to find a gift for my boss.”
He didn’t need to tell Sally he worked at the stables on the edge of town. Or that his boss was Mr Gray.
“Well, the last time Mr Gray was in here, he was looking at work gloves. He said his old ones were wearing out. He thought he might buy some after Christmas.”
“Perfect. Where are the work gloves?”
“Right this way.” She led the way down the aisle and showed him the three different styles.
When he had made his choice, Sally led him to the cash register. “Now, I think I have a box these will fit nicely in,” she said and pulled out a red box with a piece of tissue paper. Then she folded the gloves into the box, put the lid on it and put it in a sack.
“There you go, Mr Jackson. And merry Christmas to you.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Same to you.”
Before he could reach the door, it opened and two ladies came into the store. Sally advanced to the two ladies. “Good morning, ladies. Are you Christmas shopping today?”
“Yes, we are. Our daughters like to get the same thing at Christmas since they play together. So we’re doing some Santa shopping. But we don’t need any help. We know this store backward and forward, Sally. We’ll bring what we want to the cash register when we’re ready.”
“Thank you. If I’m not out here, just hit the bell by the cash register.”
She headed for the back room, but she didn’t reach it before the front door opened again. This shopper was male, and someone she didn’t recognize. She stepped to the curtain and called, “Hunter, can you come here please?”
She heard him move to the opening. “A gentleman has just entered the store. I don’t know him, so I think it will be a good idea for you to wait on him. It looks like this may be a busy morning.”
“Sure. I’ll be glad to wait on him, it will give me a chance to get some practice in.”
She watched as Hunter walked up to the man and they both moved across the store to the men’s department. She realized that it was a good thing to have a male salesperson again. No one had replaced her father, and she wasn’t sure anyone ever could, but it was good to have a man on hand. Some of the male customers could be a little shy around women, and others much too flirtatious.
The door opened again, and one of Sally’s favorite customers entered the store. “Mrs Grabowski, how are you? Are you staying warm enough?”
“Warm enough? Of course I am. I didn’t even make a fire this morning. I just made oatmeal on my little stove,” the old lady said. She had been shopping at the store for many years and was a valued customer.
“My, you are certainly spartan. I hugged the stove this morning to get warm.”
“Silly girl. Your daddy knows better than to—oh, sorry, Sally, I didn’t mean—sometimes I forget things. You’re doing fine. I’m here to get some more yarn.”
The mention of Sally’s father shocked her for a moment, but she quickly pulled herself together. “Right this way, Mrs Grabowski,” Sally said, and led the way to the yarn, discussing the various colors available with the elderly lady. Once she had waited on Mrs Grabowski, she dealt with the two lady shoppers who had entered the store earlier and were buying the same gifts for their daughters. She gift-wrapped their items and thanked them for their patronage.
Then Hunter brought the gentleman to the cash register and began putting the garments the man was buying into boxes after Sally had rang up each item. By the time the man paid his bill, a substantial one, his purchases were ready to go.
“Did you find out who he is?” Sally asked.
“You want me to get personal with the man?” Hunter asked, raising his brows.
“I just wondered where he was from, I haven’t seen him around here before.”
“He just bought the Gibson farm. He and his wife are going to retire here.”
“Oh, how wonderful. Tom and Ellen had been hoping it would sell by Christmas. I hadn’t heard that they’d managed to sell it. That’s great.”
“I’m glad I could provide the information to you,” Hunter said.
“Well, it is important, Hunter. We’re a small community, and we like to keep up with changes in the ownership.”
“Shall we print up a newsletter for you to pass out?”
“No. That’s not necessary, and I don’t appreciate your sarcasm. It’s important to know everything about your customers, that way you can help them better.” Sally realized she and Hunter came from very different worlds. She was going to have a lot to teach him.
“I was only teasing. Is there a newspaper in town? I’ll have to subscribe.”
“I think you’re making fun of me, Hunter, but yes we do have a newspaper. You can find it in the box right outside the store. You should take a look—you could learn a lot about our customers by studying the paper,” Sally answered, slightly annoyed at Hunter’s teasing.
“I believe you. And maybe I was making a little fun of you, Sally, but not much. You’re too smart, from what I can see, for me to make fun of you.”
“Thank you…I think.”
