Christmas With Tiffany by Carolynn Carey Read Free Book Online Page A

as soon as the
minute hand moved to twelve, she would unlock the door and welcome their first
customers inside.
    The really wonderful
thing about this year was that none of the three of them had to worry about
whether Tiffany would sell enough to cover their expenses for a few weeks.
She’d already made so much profit from the sale of Christmas ornaments that the
family was in good shape financially for the entire next year. And, of course,
Holly would be getting a cell phone for Christmas.
    Tiffany didn’t really
understand how the word about her ornaments had spread so quickly, but every
day for the past ten days there’d been a constant stream of customers, many of
them from out of state, who came in to buy the beautiful white ornaments that
Mr. Massingill had given her.
    Even now she could
barely believe her luck. Every day she’d had to unpack another box or two until
now, with the open house in progress, she was down to a mere seven boxes in the
storeroom and she was prepared to open one of them today if need be.
    Her only disappointment
over the past two weeks was that Bain had not been back to see her, although
he’d called almost every day to see how she was doing. Somehow, they’d
reconnected just as though the last eight years had never come between them.
And despite the differences in their backgrounds and experiences, they still
managed to talk for hours without running out of anything to say.
    Bain had promised to
attend today’s open house, and Tiffany looked toward the front door every time
the little bell above it jingled, but at four thirty, he still hadn’t showed
up. She was beginning to worry that he might not be able to attend. She knew
things were hectic at the hotel, and to make matters worse, his parents had
decided at the last minute that they wanted to surprise Bain by making
arrangements to have Christmas with him in New York. Without consulting him,
they’d made hotel reservations and arranged for him to fly up to join them only
a couple of days from now. That meant she and Bain would not be able to see
each other for Christmas, but she understood that he couldn’t disappoint his
parents.
    She was beginning to
feel a little disappointed herself, however, when the open house began to wind
down and Bain still hadn’t shown up. Finally, at a quarter to five as the crowd
was really thinning out, he pushed the front door open and stepped inside. He
instantly caught Tiffany’s eye and hurried toward her.
    “Sorry I’m so late. The
day has been crazy at the hotel. But it looks as though everything has gone
smoothly here.” He glanced around. “And the ornaments must have sold well. I
see your trees are almost bare.”
    Tiffany grinned. “I’ve
got six boxes left in the storeroom, but those should do until Christmas. I’m
sorry things were crazy for you at work. Was everything going wrong?”
    “No, fortunately. I was
just busy. We’re in the middle of planning our huge New Year’s Eve party. As a
matter of fact…” He paused to reach inside his jacket and retrieve an envelope,
which he held out to her. “Here’s your invitation. I’m hoping you’ll come as my
date but if you don’t want to do that, come anyway. It’s going to be a blast.”
    Because tears of
happiness threatened to build in her eyes, Tiffany gazed down at the heavy
vellum envelope. Her name was written on the outside in lovely script. Her
hands trembling just a bit, she lifted the envelope flap and pulled the
invitation out.
    The front was emblazoned
with colorful streamers and bursts of fireworks behind the words “You’re
invited…”
    Inside were the words
“…to the HHH’s celebration of the New Year,” followed by the date and time.
Underneath, in Bain’s handwriting, were the words, “Let’s celebrate the new
year and new beginnings together. All my love, Bain.”
    Tiffany blinked rapidly
for a few seconds before smiling and looking up into Bain’s eyes. “I’d love to
come as your date.