knit, her students paying rapt attention. The cooking class was all done via video and a large corkboard. The lesson today was how to bake a turkey for Thanksgiving. All was well there, too.
Now she could head for the stockroom. There was a bounce to her step that showed her excitement.
Angie opened a door that said NO ADMITTANCE and, underneath, EMPLOYEES ONLY. From far back in the room she could hear voices. Josh and a strange male voice. She didn’t know why, but she tiptoed in the direction the voices were coming from. She peeked around a stack of sweater boxes. Bob McAllister, the general manager of Saks. What’s he doing here in the stockroom? she wondered. As much as she wanted to spy and hear what was going on, she couldn’t do it. “Josh!”
“Over here, Angie. Meet Bob McAllister.”
Angie held out her hand. “Hello. We’ve met before. What’s up?”
Josh laughed. “I just convinced Bob to take my job at Harrods. For obvious reasons, he doesn’t want anyone to know until he can give his notice. That’s why we had this meeting here in the stockroom.”
Angie’s head bobbed up and down. Josh wasn’t leaving. He was staying. Oh, thank you, God!
“You guys did a hell of a job,” Bob told her. “When Josh first told me his plan, I told him he could never pull it off. I’m happy to see I was wrong. If it means anything, you have the bulk of customers in the mall. Good prices, too. Great idea with only three choices per item. I’ve been trying to sell that idea to my people, but they won’t buy into it. See you around, guys. Let’s have a drink before I leave, Josh.”
“You got it.”
And then they were alone. Josh reached for Angie and she stepped into his arms. “I love you, Angie Bradford. We’re a team. This store is in my blood the way it was in Dad’s blood. When I saw him writing out all those checks I knew he was investing in me, Josh Eagle, his son, not Eagle’s Department Store. He finally moved beyond the store. These last few weeks he’s turned into a real father.”
“You should sneak up to the day care to see him rocking the babies. He looks so peaceful, so happy. Mom, too. I suspect they’ll both make wonderful grandparents. We did good, Josh.”
“We had a lot of help along the way. Eagle’s is never going to be a Saks or a Neiman Marcus, and that’s okay. We never aspired to be anything other than what we are—a family store where families come to buy merchandise because they trust us. Those families who shop at Eagle’s grew up with us. We got off the track there for a little while, but we’re back in business now. But, I can’t do it without you, Angie. I’m not too proud to admit it, either. I want to marry you,” he blurted.
Whoa. For the first time in her life, Angie was speechless. Because she couldn’t make her tongue work, she simply nodded, her eyes glistening with happiness.
“If I kiss you, it’s all over. You know that, right?”
Angie found her tongue. “Right.”
“So…Want to help me open these boxes?”
“Sure.”
The young couple worked in happy sync as salesperson after salesperson bounded into the store room to ask for more merchandise.
And before they knew it, the first announcement came over the loudspeaker that the drawing was about to be held for the winner of the iPod. They both ran out to the main floor just as Angus reached into the fishbowl to draw the winning number. “Annette Profit!” he said, holding up the winning entry. Annette Profit of Chez J’s La Perfect Salon stepped up smartly and accepted the iPod. Angus hugged her and thanked her for shopping at Eagle’s.
Five minutes later, when the last of the crowd disappeared, Josh locked the doors. The Eagles and the Bradfords walked back to the gift wrap department, where Angie handed out soft drinks.
“It was a hell of a day, son! I’m proud of you!” Angus beamed.
“No, 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
