Read Online The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson - Free Book Online
Authors: Melody Carlson
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first he’d suspected it had to do with whatever sort of mystery business she planned to open up in there. But as the week had passed with even more resistance, he began to question if she really planned to open a business. Based on her evasiveness, he had his doubts.
Most legitimate businesspeople were eager to partner with the newspaper. They appreciated getting whatever free publicity they could, and he tried to accommodate them, hoping that they in kind would purchase more advertising from him. That’s how it usually worked. But yesterday when he’d dropped by to see Matilda on his way to lunch, she’d almost treated him like an intruder. He’d actually planned on inviting her to lunch—his treat. If she’d been just a little friendlier, he would’ve done so. To be fair, it was possible that he was getting Matilda’s responses mixed up with that loose cannon Rose, who’d been helping her. For some unexplainable reason, Rose had taken a deep dislike to Tommy the first day he’d walked across her clean floors. He could almost understand that. No one liked having their work messed with.
His second run-in with Rose made him suspect that her hostility toward him might be related to her daughter-in-law. Maybe he’d looked at the pretty city manager with a bit too much interest or appreciation. But was that any reason to treat him like vermin? Anyway, he did plan to get to the bottom of this whole thing—the question of who Matilda was and what she was up to, as well as why Rose had placed Tommy on her most-hated list. He figured that today’s interview with the new city manager would be key.
He’d meant to do some research on Susanna yesterday, but thanks to Garth’s interest in the newspaper, Tommy ended up spending most of his “slow” day rounding up all the bookkeeping facts and figures for the business for the last five years. He’d spent the whole afternoon making copies of things like utility bills and tax records. He would’ve asked Helen’s assistance but knew exactly where that would get him—even deeper in the doghouse.
He had mixed feelings about today’s interview. On one hand, he was eager to see Susanna again. He had put on his best khakis and a navy cashmere polo sweater that Helen had gotten him for Christmas last year. In fact, he was surprised Helen hadn’t mentioned it this morning. Well, except for the fact that he was number one on her bad list just now. Maybe she and the other women should start a club. Which brought him back to the other hand—he didn’t really want to see Susanna again.
Tommy had no doubt that during this morning’s interview with Susanna, his question regarding her marital status—was she or was she not married—would be settled once and for all. Based on his experience with Susanna’s mother-in-law, he felt fairly certain she was. To his surprise, that disappointed him—a lot.
Although he would never admit this to anyone, and as irrational as it sounded even to him, Tommy had decided that if indeed Susanna Elton was married, he would immediately sell the newspaper to Garth Price, but only for top dollar. He would apologize profusely to Helen, and then he would use the proceeds from the sale to travel the globe and perhaps get a job as a foreign correspondent—he was willing to work for pennies. Then for the rest of his life he could live as a vagabond in countries that never celebrated Christmas!
He was still ruminating on these discouraging thoughts as he went to get his usual morning coffee. As he was stirring in a teaspoon of sugar, Helen accosted him. “Tommy,” she said urgently, “I was just looking into your new buddy Garth Price.”
“What?” He dropped the stir stick in the garbage and looked at her.
“Do you know what he does?”
“You mean besides journalism?”
She shook her head. “He works for a big news corporation that purchases small-town newspapers and turns them into online papers.”
“Huh?”
“Kind of like USA
Most legitimate businesspeople were eager to partner with the newspaper. They appreciated getting whatever free publicity they could, and he tried to accommodate them, hoping that they in kind would purchase more advertising from him. That’s how it usually worked. But yesterday when he’d dropped by to see Matilda on his way to lunch, she’d almost treated him like an intruder. He’d actually planned on inviting her to lunch—his treat. If she’d been just a little friendlier, he would’ve done so. To be fair, it was possible that he was getting Matilda’s responses mixed up with that loose cannon Rose, who’d been helping her. For some unexplainable reason, Rose had taken a deep dislike to Tommy the first day he’d walked across her clean floors. He could almost understand that. No one liked having their work messed with.
His second run-in with Rose made him suspect that her hostility toward him might be related to her daughter-in-law. Maybe he’d looked at the pretty city manager with a bit too much interest or appreciation. But was that any reason to treat him like vermin? Anyway, he did plan to get to the bottom of this whole thing—the question of who Matilda was and what she was up to, as well as why Rose had placed Tommy on her most-hated list. He figured that today’s interview with the new city manager would be key.
He’d meant to do some research on Susanna yesterday, but thanks to Garth’s interest in the newspaper, Tommy ended up spending most of his “slow” day rounding up all the bookkeeping facts and figures for the business for the last five years. He’d spent the whole afternoon making copies of things like utility bills and tax records. He would’ve asked Helen’s assistance but knew exactly where that would get him—even deeper in the doghouse.
He had mixed feelings about today’s interview. On one hand, he was eager to see Susanna again. He had put on his best khakis and a navy cashmere polo sweater that Helen had gotten him for Christmas last year. In fact, he was surprised Helen hadn’t mentioned it this morning. Well, except for the fact that he was number one on her bad list just now. Maybe she and the other women should start a club. Which brought him back to the other hand—he didn’t really want to see Susanna again.
Tommy had no doubt that during this morning’s interview with Susanna, his question regarding her marital status—was she or was she not married—would be settled once and for all. Based on his experience with Susanna’s mother-in-law, he felt fairly certain she was. To his surprise, that disappointed him—a lot.
Although he would never admit this to anyone, and as irrational as it sounded even to him, Tommy had decided that if indeed Susanna Elton was married, he would immediately sell the newspaper to Garth Price, but only for top dollar. He would apologize profusely to Helen, and then he would use the proceeds from the sale to travel the globe and perhaps get a job as a foreign correspondent—he was willing to work for pennies. Then for the rest of his life he could live as a vagabond in countries that never celebrated Christmas!
He was still ruminating on these discouraging thoughts as he went to get his usual morning coffee. As he was stirring in a teaspoon of sugar, Helen accosted him. “Tommy,” she said urgently, “I was just looking into your new buddy Garth Price.”
“What?” He dropped the stir stick in the garbage and looked at her.
“Do you know what he does?”
“You mean besides journalism?”
She shook her head. “He works for a big news corporation that purchases small-town newspapers and turns them into online papers.”
“Huh?”
“Kind of like USA
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