Endless Love (Santa’s Secret Helpers #5) - Leeanna Morgan Page 0,21
full of customers and Kylie looked as frazzled as Jackie, one of her part-time assistants. All around them, customers were holding beautifully gift-wrapped flowers and admiring the bouquets and other gifts in the store.
After spending a lot of time selecting images and choosing the right text, Shelley was grateful their advertising was working.
Pushing open the doors to the workroom, she stepped into her favorite part in the store. Paris was taking flowers from a vase and quickly gift-wrapping them.
She sent Shelley a relieved smile. “I’m glad you could help.”
“I didn’t schedule any appointments after lunch, so it worked out perfectly. How can I help?”
Paris pointed to the vase of flowers. “We’ve already dipped the flowers in glitter. Choose one and place it diagonally across the edge of a sheet of paper. Like this.” She selected a white rose and quickly wrapped the paper around it. “There are four different types of bows. Just choose one you like and leave the finished flower in the container beside the door.”
While Paris placed another flower in the over-sized vase, Shelley took off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves. “I’m glad you called.”
“Kylie couldn’t keep up with the online orders as well as serving in the store. Mabel has gone to visit her mom and Megan and Brooke are busy in the candy shop.”
Shelley gift-wrapped her first flower and smiled. For a newbie, it looked pretty good. “I didn’t think our Facebook posts would inspire so many people to come here.”
Paris held the container of gift-wrapped flowers in her arms. “I think we would have been okay if that was the only way people found out about the fundraiser. But three tour buses arrived this morning. Everyone was excited to think they could help someone. I’ll be back soon.”
Choosing a different flower, Shelley rolled a colorful sheet of paper around it. After securing the bow, she made sure the flower was sitting in the right place before leaving it on the workbench.
This fundraiser was different from the other events Santa’s Secret Helpers had organized. Each day, people could choose one of three flowers. Each flower represented a different Christmas wish. The committee hoped that, by Valentine’s Day, they’d have enough money to make a lot of Christmas wishes come true.
The doors into the workroom opened, but it wasn’t Paris who hurried inside. It was Bailey.
Shelley grinned at her sister. “Did Kylie call you, too?”
“She didn’t need to. When I drove past Blooming Lovely, I couldn’t believe the number of people waiting to come into the store. I thought I’d see if Kylie needs a hand.”
Shelley pointed to the flowers in the center of the workbench. “All help greatly received. Do you know how to gift-wrap the flowers?”
“Kylie showed me after we arrived home from Bozeman.”
“I didn’t know you’d come here.”
Bailey quickly wrapped her first flower. “I saw Mabel and she mentioned that she was coming to give Kylie a hand, so I thought I’d join them.”
Paris came into the workroom and smiled. “Hi, Bailey. Thanks for helping.”
“You’re welcome. How many flowers do you think we’ll need?”
“At least another fifty. But don’t worry if you can’t stay that long. As a last resort, Kylie will take orders. Anyone staying in Sapphire Bay can pick them up tomorrow.”
Shelley placed another three gift-wrapped flowers in the container Paris was holding. “Between us, we’ll easily make that many. If you need a hand to get everything ready for tomorrow, we can come back after the store closes.”
Paris glanced at the special refrigerators on the back wall. “I’m sure Kylie would appreciate the help. I just hope we’ve got enough flowers.”
So did Shelley. This was the last fundraiser they were running for a couple of months. Whatever money they made would have to make a lot of Christmas wishes come true.
Chapter 6
After living in Sapphire Bay for three months, Shelley decided the best part of the town wasn’t the incredible scenery or the clean, crisp air; it was the people.
Because it was such a lovely morning, she’d decided to walk to work. On the way through town, she’d said hello to at least ten people, stood outside Cassie’s jewelry store admiring her latest creations, and thanked Megan for a bag of cookies she’d given her.
She’d lived in a lot of cities and towns, but none of them made her feel as though she was part of the community, part of something bigger than her eight-to-five job. But Sapphire Bay, with all its quirky charm and never-ending optimism, made