Filthy Scrooge

The stupid was epic.

“Just cheap jewelry.”

He grinned. “Good to know.”

I drew my phone out of my pocket and texted back that I was alive. Almost immediately, I got a response to call her in ten minutes. Great. I didn’t know what I was going to tell her, but at least I had a few minutes alone to figure out just what I could do with the emotions spinning in my head like the Tasmanian devil on caffeine.

I wandered up the pier to a few shops along the waterline. Most of them were closed, but a few were hoping for overflow from the festival.

I picked a few pieces up and discarded even more. I’d always been a fussy shopper. I preferred the handmade over the commercial most of the time. It was probably why I started my shopping in July.

But the shop was a treasure trove of original work. I drew my fingertips over a music box in the center of a display. Jeweled ones sparkled on either side of it, but it was the onyx one that caught my attention. I lifted the heavy cover and expected one of the traditional songs. Instead, it played a song I’d never heard, a harpsichord melody rather than the usual tinny clink of tin grooves. A soldered pewter frame gave it an undeniable masculine flavor.

Strong and beautiful, it pulled at me until I had no choice but to put it aside to buy.

It reminded me of him. Of sadness and passion.

When I pulled it from the table, a little figurine shifted out of the chaos. I couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of me. The Grinch with his wide, sneaky smile rolled toward me.

I took both up to the register. “Excuse me?”

The bored teen girl gave me a halfhearted smile. “Yes?”

“Do you have any other Grinch figures?”

Her face lit up. “Yes. We have an amazing collection by a local artist.” She ducked her head. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“I found this.” I held it out to her.

She grinned and took the wooden carved figurine from me. “I told him once that he reminded me of the Grinch. And you know what? He didn’t know what I was talking about. Can you imagine? I mean it’s on every Christmas.”

I laughed. “I can’t imagine. It’s one of my favorites.”

“Mine too. I made him watch it with me. After it was over, he locked himself in his studio and made this one.” She held up the one I’d found. “For the next three weeks, I didn’t see him. And then he came out with these.” She pointed at a shelf in the corner.

The entire cast of the movie was accounted for, even down to the bows in Cindy Lou Who’s hair, and the broken antlers on the dog. But the one I couldn’t stop staring at was the smiling Grinch who’d found Christmas in his heart once more.

I picked it up. “I’ll take both of these.”

“Eric will be thrilled.”

I took the original Grinch from her and cupped them both in my palm. “I always like to buy from local artists when I can.”

“Anything else?”

“No, I think that’s it.”

The girl gave me a bright smile. “Let me ring you out.”

By the time I left the little shop, Mel had texted me a half dozen more times. I tried to make a call, but it dropped three times before I could actually say hello. I went back to the little spot I’d been with Linc.

“Hello?”

“Oh my God. You’re alive.”

I laughed. “Of course, I’m alive.”

“You promised you’d call.”