Page 9 of Postmarked December

“He didn’t say,” the woman replied. “I thought you’d know.”

So she had to buy a bottle of wine? Why? “What did the man look like?” she asked.

“Tall, dark hair, kind smile.”

Those were Toby’s characteristics. She swallowed.

They finished the call, and Heather stared at the phone, her mind racing.

“What could be at that wine shop?” Heather asked, more to herself than Marion.

“Probably the stalker,” Marion said.

Heather blinked to get her thoughts together. “What if it isn’t? What if it’s…something else?” Her need to fill the emptiness Toby had left overcame her. Perhaps it was the magic of the holiday season, but she had a strange feeling she was meant to find out. “I need to go see.”

“Well, you’re not going alone.” Marion checked the time. “It’s ten. Think a wine shop is open that early?”

“I don’t know,” Heather replied. “But we could walk around and shop until it opens.”

“Shopping?” Marion’s posture lifted. “Anthony’s at work all day. We can take my car.”

With a fizzle of hope that she hadn’t felt in a very long time, Heather jumped up. “I’ll throw on some clothes and brush my teeth.” She blew out the candle in the kitchen and ran into her bedroom, where she stripped off her pajamas and fumbled around in her closet for her big fuzzy sweater and a pair of jeans. As she ran a comb through her hair and washed her face, that day from long ago ran like a reel in her mind. Toby dropping a wad of cash in the case of a violinist playing carols on the street corner. Heather gripping the paper cup she’d gotten at the local coffee shop. She and Toby strolling around the square boasting a Christmas tree that stretched to the heavens. Toby had planned the outing as a surprise. He was famous for surprises. Given that fact, she couldn’t shake the idea that he could be doing something similar now. Although she had no idea how he would be able to pull it off from where he was.

She got herself together within a few minutes and peeked out her bedroom door. The yellow slip of light was still coming from the bathroom down the hall where Marion was getting ready. Heather took another look at herself in her full-length mirror, then spied her new journal on the nightstand.

She fished around in the drawer for a pen and opened her journal to the first page.

Toby,

Today I remembered the day we bought that bottle of wine in Franklin and then that evening when we drank it and danced together in the living room. It feels like a lifetime ago since we danced like that. I’d give anything to have your arms around me. I wonder, sometimes, if I’ll ever feel that kind of bliss again. If you can help me from up there, that would be great. Got any pull with the Big Man upstairs? Marion and I are off to solve a mystery that I think you might have initiated.

I’ll keep you posted.

She closed the journal and fastened the strap.

“Ready?” Marion called from the living room.

“As ready as I’ll ever be!” She grabbed the letter and locked up.

About thirty-five minutes later, she and Marion pulled to a stop along the snowy curb of Bottle and Barrel in downtown Franklin. The fresh garland around the doorframe and picture window was similar to what it had been when Heather and Toby had shopped there. She only remembered because they’d taken a quick selfie out front before sneaking around the back, and the print was somewhere in the box with the photo from the gala. She swallowed, the sight whisking her back to happier times.

“Here we are,” Marion said as she turned off the engine.

The hours on the door said they opened at eleven o’clock.

“We have a little over twenty minutes. What should we do?” Marion asked.

“I know a coffee shop, and our breakfast is still sitting in my apartment. Want to get something to eat?”

“That’s a great idea.”

Heather slid the letter into her handbag, and they got out of the car. She tightened her coat around her as the cold air slithered down her neck, making her shiver. For an instant, the festive feeling brought a sense of normalcy she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Downtown Franklin shimmered with Christmas magic, its shop-lined sidewalks draped in garlands of pine and holiday ribbon, each public door flanked with elaborate Yuletide decor. A group of carolers gathered on the corner of Main Street, their harmonies floating above the chatter of shoppers. The aroma of cinnamon kettle corn drifted from a nearby vendor’s cart, making Heather’s stomach grumble.

“I could do with a hot chocolate to go along with my breakfast,” Marion said, peering into a shop window full of glittering ornaments and hand-lettered signs.

“Mm, that sounds delicious.”