Page 56 of Not Home Alone

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” I say, letting go of Grant’s hand, but he grabs it again. “Happy holidays.”

“It’s so wonderful to see you two again,” Mrs. Smith says. “I heard you were both in town, and my bridge club chat has been lit up since last night with talk about you two dating. I’m so happy to see it’s true. You know, we were there ten years ago. At The Notcracker—well. Everyone was there, of course, but I was so upset for you, Merrily.”

“Thank you,” I say, solemnly. “It was a difficult time.”

Grant squeezes my hand a little too hard.

“But yes, Grant has made amends and all is well.”

Terry holds his hand out to Grant. “Tell you what, son, I’m aware that The Moody Group has had a few rezoning requests turned down over the years. If your company has any more rezoning requests, you call me directly first. Understand?”

“I do, sir. Thank you. Appreciate it.”

Ah. I should have known. The dancing was just for show. This is still all about Moody business deals.

“We’ll let you get back to dancing,” Cindy says. “Looking forward to your Notcracker this year, Merrily!”

“It’ll blow every other one you’ve seen out of the water!” I promise her.

“Actually, Mr. Mayor…” Grant holds a finger up and then points to me. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but The Christmas Barn is sponsoring The Notcracker this year.”

“Oh, well no, I hadn’t heard that!”

This doesn’t surprise me, sadly. “Yup. Makes sense, right? Two Holly Grove institutions,” I say, holding my hands up and knitting my fingers together. “Synergy!”

“I was just thinking it would be a nice way to commemorate these two Holly Grove institutions if you did an official city proclamation declaring The Christmas Barn as the heart of the holiday season this year. You could give The Notcracker a plug. Wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes of your time. A little photo op for the local paper and the city website when you sign it at Joe’s store. Show that you’re supporting local business and community theater.”

“Well, that’s a darn great idea, Grant Moody!” Terry gives his arm a nudge. “Very strategic. I like where your head is at, young man.”

Grant taps at his temple. “This head is always thinking about Christmas and Merrily Tucker, sir.”

Cindy clutches at her heart. “Awww. Hang onto this one, Merrily!”

“You betcha I will!”

When they’re out of earshot, I look up at Grant. “How did you do that?” Why did you do that? is what I really want to ask.

“Oh, you know…” he says, smirking as he holds his hands up and knits his fingers together. “Synergy!”

I have never wanted so badly to cry and kiss and strangle a man at the same time. “Well, thank you. That would be really great for my dad.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m going to get ingredients for an apple pie,” I tell him. “We need to get going. I have a Notcracker meeting later.” I push the cart over toward the produce section and notice Joy at the end of the aisle, waving at me like a maniac. “Hey!”

“Hi! Hi. Hi. Why haven’t you replied to my texts? I’ve been losing my mind.”

“Oh, my phone is back at the house. I forgot to charge it last night. What’s up? I’ll be at the tech meeting today.”

“Oh yeah yeah yeah, good, good.” She lowers her voice. “What’s up is I saw the video of you and Grant making out at the Factory last night.”

“Seriously? Where did you see it?”

“In like five group chats. Everyone’s talking about it. They think he’s adorable, and everyone’s shipping you.”

“Oh. Well. That’s nice, I guess.”

“And I saw him twirling you around just now. He is so into you.”