Read Online Do You Believe in Santa? by Sierra Donovan - Free Book Online

here?”
    â€œShe’s off today.” The steel-haired woman inclined her head slightly. “Are you the gentleman from Hallmark?”
    â€œNo, I’m Jake Wyndham.” His name didn’t appear to ring any bells. “It’s not business.”
    He wondered if any vendors’ reps came around the store to see Mandy on not-business.
    Maybe not, because the woman’s eyebrows lifted a fraction. As her glance passed over him again, Jake had a definite sense of being sized up. The feeling reminded him of being seventeen years old and meeting a girl’s parents for the first time.
    Belatedly, he stepped forward and offered his hand. “You must be Mrs. Swanson.”
    She shook his hand, studying him with one more moment of frank curiosity before her neutral, polite facade fell back into place. “It’s very nice to meet you. Mandy is back in tomorrow. We open at ten.”
    No information volunteered that wasn’t strictly business. Jake had to applaud the professionalism, but now he missed the curiosity he’d glimpsed. If Mrs. Swanson had asked him any questions, it might have given him the opportunity to ask a few questions of his own.
    Apparently Mandy hadn’t mentioned him. His male ego stung a bit over that one. After all, this was the woman Mandy had her Christmas dinner with, and she’d told Jake about that.
    Trying to wedge a foot into what appeared to be a rapidly closing door, he offered, “Mandy says some very nice things about you.”
    â€œI think highly of her, too. She’s a lovely girl.”
    As Jake tried to read the woman’s neutral tone, Mrs. Swanson’s eyes wandered to an unlikely spot: the wall at the far right side of the shop. Jake saw nothing exceptional there, just a red-and-green array of Christmas stockings, collector plates and a couple of snowman prints.
    â€œYou have a beautiful store,” Jake said. “Mandy tells me you stay pretty busy year-round?”
    Her eyes returned to him. “We’re slower now, to be sure,” she said. “But we get a fair number of visitors, and sales are steady.”
    Business. A topic both of them felt at ease with. “How long have you had the store?”
    â€œNearly ten years. I bought it when I retired from teaching. The woman who sold it to me was about to close the shop altogether. It took a few years to bring the business up to where it is today.”
    â€œCongratulations. It’s hard for small retailers to stay afloat, especially these days. And this store is so specialized—well, you’re obviously doing something right.”
    â€œOh, I can’t take much credit.” Mrs. Swanson smiled with an unexpected warmth, and Jake had a feeling he knew the secret of her success.
    â€œMandy?” he said.
    â€œShe made such a difference,” Mrs. Swanson said. “She came in here fresh out of high school to ask about a job. I’d been running the store by myself, and I certainly wasn’t planning to add any staff. But she was so sincere about wanting to work here, and it seemed—appropriate.”
    Mrs. Swanson’s glance flickered to the far wall. “She’s been wonderful for business,” she said. “She has something very special.”
    Her eyes returned to Jake, and that hint of sentiment vanished. “I make it a point to treat her well.”
    He didn’t think he was imagining the message in her words as she looked at him.
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    â€œMerry Christmas,” Mandy told the young couple as she sent them out the door with a carefully tissue-wrapped “Our First Christmas” ornament.
    She liked seeing a husband and wife together in the store. A lot of men killed time elsewhere while their wives shopped here. And she loved the fact that she played a small part in helping them build a Christmas tradition.
    Mrs. Swanson entered on the same jingle of bells on the door that saw the newlyweds out.