Gloria

And she still didn’t have a gift for Franklin.

Okay. Well, she did. While Franklin was at the garage yesterday afternoon, Gloria took a trip out of Hamlet, hit the mall, and added a couple of things to the pile that had been surreptitiously growing all week. A new flannel shirt, some of his favorite licorice candies, a poster of an old roadster, and, because she couldn’t help herself, a Frosty the Snowman stuffed animal.

They were fine gifts. Friendly gifts. You’re my bachelor neighbor and I appreciate all the help after I busted my butt gifts.

But were they special gifts?

Were they I might be falling for you gifts?

No. And with Christmas coming before she knew it, she was running out of time for finding some perfect for Franklin.

It was Saturday. Christmas was next Wednesday. Franklin had plans to spend the holiday with his father, his stepmother, and Bailey. He admitted that he did it every year. Just because he had a chip on his shoulder when it came to the day, he never wanted to ruin it for the rest of his family.

Gloria totally got that and she decided that inviting him over for dinner with her Tuesday, on Christmas Eve, might be even better. They could stay in, watch whatever movie he picked, then she’d give him her amazing present and he’d head into Christmas with a smile on his gorgeous face.

Only one problem. Dinner was planned. She bought a couple of movies she thought Franklin might enjoy and slipped them into her collection. His other gifts were wrapped and hidden in the downstairs’ blanket closet.

Now if she could just come up with an amazing present that would really blow his socks off.

Jefferson’s was her last resort.

Chatter in town was that they were in for a whopper. Gloria thought that the handful of storms she’d already seen over the last couple of weeks were bad. Before coming to live in Hamlet, six inches was enough to put her out of work for at least three days.

In Hamlet, six inches was an annoyance. The whopper that even Dinah Jefferson told her about when she walked in the door? The forecast was calling for at least sixteen to twenty-four inches, with the mountain lucky if they didn’t top two feet.

She couldn’t risk driving out to another store in the hopes she found something and beat out the storm. While Franklin was at work, Gloria drove around Hamlet, checking out any small store that looked like it might have something worthwhile inside. It was heading into early evening, she was still empty-handed, and she only hoped they might have received more merchandise since the last time she was there.

She walked up and down the aisles, disregarding everything she saw. It was all nice, but nothing was just right for her first Christmas with Franklin.

One of the owners of the market met her about halfway through the store.

“What can I help you with today, Glo?”

Dinah Jefferson was a sweetheart. A middle-aged light-skinned black woman with dark eyes and her black hair done in a row of braids that fell past her shoulders, she was wearing an ugly Christmas sweater—fuzzy green with garish gentleman dancing around her middle—and a headband that made it look like she had reindeer ears. With her friendly smile, she oozed Christmas spirit.

Plus, she called Gloria ‘Glo’, like Nana did. She got points for that alone.

“Hi, Mrs. Jefferson. I’m not really sure. I want to get a gift for someone special, but… I just don’t know.”

“Someone special, huh?” The older woman smiled. “So how is Franklin these days?”

Gloria wasn’t even a little surprised that she asked. Nothing stayed secret in Hamlet, she discovered. The day after Franklin and Gloria shared a pizza pie at Hamlet’s Pizzeria, at least three visitors found a reason to drive up to the cabin to find out gossip in regards to their relationship.

Gloria didn’t mind. If it spread around town that she was with Franklin, then maybe the men would finally stop asking her out. And, well, she liked that she wouldn’t have to worry about someone else swooping in an stealing Franklin from her.

She earned him fair and square. Now she just wanted to buy him the most special present that she could.

Franklin deserved it.

Gloria tried to put it into words. About how much she liked Franklin—even though she hadn’t been in a relationship in more than five years, she still wasn’t shy when it came to sharing her feelings—and about how she wanted to get him something to show him how much she cared. It had to be perfect. Thoughtful, too.

And while she had a couple of ideas, she lacked the resources, the skill, and the ability to pull them off.

It was a good thing that Gloria was the only one in the market. She had Mrs. Jefferson’s undivided attention which proved enormously helpful when the woman snapped her fingers and said, “Know what? You should talk to Maria.”

There were maybe a hundred and ninety-something people in Hamlet. After more than two months coming and going as the “new girl”, she thought she met everyone in town—and, if not met, then at least heard about.

She was drawing a blank on Maria.