“I’m going to kill that girl,” she muttered as she stepped into the small shop that encapsulated her dreams and her joy. Well, it was a joy other than the times when her kid sister watched the store for her. “You’d think she could cover for me for half an hour without going out of her way to irritate me,” Tiffany said aloud. She pushed the door closed behind her, shutting out the cold but subjecting her poor hearing to the high-decibel chorus of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. She closed her eyes, struggling for composure. Usually just being inside her shop soothed her spirits and brought a smile of near contentment to her face. The tangy smell of pine-scented candles, the peaceful gurgling of the small fountain in the front window and—usually—the soft strains of instrumental Christmas music always left her feeling as though she was at peace with the world. But not today. The song thankfully ended and Tiffany glanced around, relieved for once that there were no customers in the store.
