Comfort And Joy. Fern Michaels

Dad, you need to thank Angie and Eva and all those people who worked the floor. We aren’t home free yet, but if we can keep up the kind of momentum we had today, I think we might coast right into the New Year in the black. By the way, I’m not going to England and I asked Angie to marry me.”

      “Wise man,” Angus chuckled.

      “Good choice,” Eva said.

      “It’s time for us to leave,” Angus said, getting to his feet. Eva followed him, leaving Josh and Angie alone. They looked at one another and then groaned because they knew they had three or four more hours of work before they could leave.

      “I’m starved, Josh. Let’s go out for a pizza and a beer and come back. We can both use a break. I haven’t been outside all day. We can walk to the pizza parlor and clear the cobwebs.”

      Outside in the brisk air, Josh reached for Angie’s hand. “Are we officially engaged or are we ‘keeping company,’ as Dad would say? I’m not really up on all the protocol on things like this. I never told anyone I loved her, and I sure never asked anyone to marry me before…Are you ever going to say something?”

      “I’m thinking. I like being engaged. That pretty much makes it official. No one ever told me they loved me except my mom and dad. For sure no one ever asked me to marry him. I guess we’re starting off even. I was a little disappointed in our parents’ reaction.”

      Josh laughed. “My father can be a sly old fox sometimes. He told me if I didn’t act quickly, you were going to move on. He sounded so convincing I figured he and Eva planned it all out, and I had better pay attention. I was never the first guy out of the gate.”

      Angie stepped aside as Josh opened the door of the pizza parlor. “At least you got out of the gate; I never did. Let’s get the works on the pizza. I want one of those apple dumplings, too.”

      “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

      Angie could hardly wait to call Bess to tell her what she’d pulled in on her line. She laughed to herself as she imagined what Bess would say. “You pulled in the Big Kahuna! Way to go, Angie.”

      Chapter Nine

      Two days before Christmas, Angie woke at four thirty AM, more tired than when she’d gone to bed. Just let me get through today. And tomorrow, she pleaded. Don’t let me fall asleep standing up. If she could just sleep five more minutes. Just five. She’d settle for three, but she knew she had to get up even though it was still dark outside. It had been Josh’s decision to open the store at seven and close at midnight. Then there were two hours of getting things ready for the next day, the trip home, and two hours’ sleep. Still, she shouldn’t complain, it was all working out perfectly.

      Today was special, though. Bob McAllister had stopped by the gift wrap department late last night to whisper in her ear. It was her job to get to the store at six, open the doors and lead Josh to the food court, where all the general managers in the mall were holding their traditional private Christmas breakfast.

      In the bathroom, bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, Angie looked out the window as she waited for the shower to start steaming. As she raised the window she screamed, and then screamed again. “Snow!” She stuck her neck out the window to see if she could see what kind of accumulation there was down below. Her heart fluttered. Snow was every merchant’s nightmare. Especially during the last week of Christmas shopping.

      It was the shortest shower in history. In less than ten minutes, Angie was showered, dressed, and tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the coffee to run through the filter. “Snow!” The minute there was enough coffee in the pot, Angie poured, and then turned it off. She was out of the house a minute later and in her car. While it warmed up, she climbed back out to clear the snow off her windshield and back window. The little Honda was a marvel in snow and rain, so she had no worries about getting to the mall. She might even have a bit of an edge, traffic-wise, since it was just five o’clock. Another hour, and it would be a different story. As she made her way to Route 1, she listened to the local weather on the radio. Snow at Christmas was the kiss of death to every retailer. She wondered if Josh was up and had seen the snow. She wondered if she should call him, but she hated using a cell phone while she was driving. He would see it soon enough.

      Twenty minutes later, when Angie blew into the mall on a strong gust of wind and swirling snow, Josh was waiting for her. The first words out of his mouth were, “This is going to kill us. The weatherman is saying six to eight inches. They’re closing the schools. We need these last two shopping days like we need air to breathe. Damn! No one is here yet, so I made some coffee.”

      Josh reached for her hand. “I need to tell you again how grateful I am. I could never in a million years have pulled this off without your help.”

      “We’ll find a way to make this work, Josh. It’s the season of miracles. Come on, let’s go get that coffee. Maybe we’ll be able to think more clearly with some serious caffeine under our belts.”

      “There was no snow in the forecast. How’d this happen?” Josh demanded.

      “It just happened, and we have to deal with it. Did you go home last night?”

      “I went to the Best Western, got an hour’s sleep, and took a shower. I snatched a clean shirt off one of the sale tables, and here I am. I don’t know when I’ve ever been this tired.” Josh reached for Angie’s hand and squeezed it. “I wonder if the managers’ breakfast is still on.”

      “Trust me, it’s still on. It’s a tradition. We’re low on merchandise, Josh.”

      “I know. Your cottage people promised a delivery for early this morning. They were going to truck it in overnight. Then we have to unpack, log it all in. If it even gets here. I’m thinking I might have to blow off that breakfast.”

      Angie reared up and spilled her coffee in the process. “Absolutely not! That breakfast is part of the way things are done around here. We’re going to follow the rules and hope for the best. C’mon, let’s go check the loading dock. For all we know, we could have merchandise piled to the rafters just waiting for us to unpack.”

      There was no erasing the doom and gloom Josh felt. “My father is going to pitch a fit. Somehow he’s going to find a way to blame me for this snow. He knows how important these two days are. I know it. I feel it in my gut.”

      There was nothing for Angie to say, so she remained quiet. Somehow, though, she didn’t think the elder Eagle would blame his only son for a snowstorm. At least she hoped not. And if he did, she knew she would have a few choice words for such an action.

      Three miles away Angus Eagle was pacing back and forth in his old-fashioned kitchen, where Eva was calming mixing pancake batter.

      “Calm down, Angus, you can’t control the weather. Something else is bothering you. Don’t deny it, Angus. You’re pulling on your ear, and you only do that when something is bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?”

      “Yes, I guess I do want to talk about it. I’m almost broke, Eva. If I had stayed on top of things these past years I wouldn’t be in this mess. It’s all my fault for being so pigheaded. I didn’t want Josh to start the year off in debt. So I’ve paid for everything as the bills came in. My personal funds are just about depleted. I wanted…It was…I can’t ask you to marry me when I have nothing to offer. I thought…If I sell this old house and you sell yours, we could buy a smaller house or a condo. I think we could manage nicely and, if we’re careful, we can live out our lives without…without depending on the kids. It was my intention to give the store to the kids if they got married.

      “Now, with this snow, we’re going to lose more revenue. I’ll have to tap into the remains of my portfolio. I’m not complaining, Eva, I just want you to know where I stand. Can you see yourself roughing it with this old man?”

      “Oh, Angus, is that why you’ve been so cranky these past few weeks? I’m all right with everything. How nice and yet how silly of