Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Most unexpected.
It was how Justin would describe his evening. When Felicity had apologized for rejecting his proposal, he’d honestly been caught off-guard.
He hadn’t known until she said the words how much he’d needed to hear them. Now he wondered if it were possible to move beyond this new place they’d found themselves. It was somewhere between awkward exes and old friends. Not quite one but much more than the other.
And then there had been that moment when he’d almost kissed her. It had been so tempting—so very tempting. What had he been thinking?
Obviously, he wasn’t thinking. Because that would have just made things between them even more complicated.
Buzz.
Later that evening, Justin sat at the desk in his living room with Sunny stretched out at his feet, sound asleep. He reached for his phone. A glance at the screen let him know it was his brother Michael.
He pressed the phone to his ear. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Just wanted to know if you had time to meet me at the Merry Mug to get some wings and catch the hockey game.”
The invitation was tempting. And any other time, he would have taken his brother up on the offer. But not that night.
He stared at the blank computer screen in front of him. “I’m sorry. But I’m going to have to pass.”
“What if I said that wings and drinks are on me?”
Justin hesitated. “Not tonight.”
“So, it’s true.”
“What’s true?”
“That you and Felicity are seeing each other again.”
“Where did you hear that?” When Michael remained silent, Justin said, “Michael, who said it?”
He sighed. “Mom.”
“Mom?” He couldn’t believe his own family was starting rumors about his dating life.
“Don’t go getting mad. She’s just so happy for you two.”
“She has it wrong. Did you tell her not to go jumping to conclusions?”
There was a pause. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on?”
“Michael…”
“Okay. Relax. I just remember how close you two used to be. Maybe this is your second chance to get it right.”
Justin shook his head. “We’re barely talking to each other. Besides, she’s leaving after Christmas.” He stopped himself. He didn’t want to get into this with his brother. “Just stop jumping to conclusions.”
“Okay. Okay.”
“I’ve got to go.” After a quick goodbye, Justin disconnected the call.
Sunny changed positions and rolled over. With her belly up, she fell back to sleep. Must be nice.
Justin stared at the blinking cursor, his fingers poised over the keys. In his mind, his brother’s words kept circling. Why would they think he would get back together with Felicity? They were ancient history. He’d moved on since they’d dated.
He sighed. It was never going to happen. Even if it was a possibility, he wasn’t going to set himself up to get left behind when Felicity went back to the city.
He told himself to stop thinking about something that wasn’t going to happen. He had a book to write. And he was intent on making it better than the first one.
His adventure with Felicity had given him an idea. His fingers tapped on the keys. The words came slowly at first, but the more he worked at it, the faster he typed.
The sky opened up, dumping snow over the earth. The gusting wind howled as it blew everything in its path sideways. They were on the run. But no one was going to find them in this harsh weather.
Right now, their priority had to be finding shelter before frostbite set in. Garran squinted, trying to see through the curtain of snow.
Pip reached out for his arm and pulled. “This way.”
He wondered if she knew where she was going. Was this some sort of trap? He wouldn’t put it past Pip.
Still, every moment they stood in the middle of this storm was one moment closer to them succumbing to the weather. Even if this was a trap, as long as it was out of the storm, he would be alive, instead of a frozen icicle. Once he warmed up, he’d figure out an escape plan. And so he followed her.
“Where are we going?” he called out, but the wind was so furious it swept away his words before they could reach Pip’s ears.
Justin stopped to read what he’d just written. It wasn’t romantic. He didn’t intend them to fall in love. They were adversaries from rivaling civilizations.
He remembered how the helpful letter from one of the agents he’d contacted had said to heighten the action and to add a romantic liaison for the hero. He really didn’t think the story needed to be bogged down with some mushy scenes.
There was nothing but white everywhere he looked.
The good part is if he couldn’t tell where he was, then his enemies couldn’t find him either.
The stiff muscles in his neck and shoulders started to ease, but not completely, because they still had to make it out of the blizzard before they froze into snowmen.
He was about to dig his heels into the frozen ground and reevaluate their plan, when he heard Pip say, “Here it is.”
Here what is? He squinted, and then he saw something. Was it a house? Could they be that fortunate?
They stepped onto the porch, where the snow was still half way up his calves. This place wasn’t a house. Far from it. Pip jiggled the door handle and then pushed on the door. It didn’t budge.
“Step aside.” He moved to the door and kicked.
The first kick only rattled the door. The second kick made the wood groan. There was some sort of pop, and then the door creaked open.
When they stepped inside…
Justin stopped to think about the storage unit. He pictured the boxes and the blue moving blankets over the furniture. But in his book the cabin would be more rustic so maybe white sheets that were now cream-colored sheets. Or perhaps no sheets at all. Maybe spider webs. Lots of them.
The words came spilling out of him as he set the scene. He typed until he ran out of words. And then he printed what he’d written. He liked to read the printed words. Somehow they sounded different in his mind.
With a yawn, he collected the pages from the printer. He neatly placed them on the edge of his desk. He would read them the next day after he got some much-needed rest.
Just then Sunny woke up and started jumping up at his desk. She must have thought he had something to eat on it, but the only thing left was an empty potato chip bag. Sunny jumped again. Her paw caught his pages and knocked them to the floor. The puppy walked on them.
“Sunny, no.” He bent over to pick up the pages.
It was definitely time to call it a night.
It was going to be a good Christmas.
At least that’s what Felicity told herself the next morning. She didn’t have a particular reason she thought it would be good. She always believed if you thought positively, even though things might be far from positive, that it would bring about the change you wanted.
She still didn’t understand what was going on with her mother. Why had she packed up an entire house and put it in storage?
The apartment had a new couch, new chairs, and even new dishes. Was her mother trying to erase the past? The thought made Felicity’s heart ache. Why would she do that? She’d always thought her parents had the best marriage. Was it all a lie?
She wanted to ask her mother, but she didn’t want to know the answer. What if everything she’d believed about them was a lie?
She saw her mother each morning before Felicity headed off to Jingle Bell Books. It was awkward. Even more awkward than things had been with Justin, and that was saying something.
On this particular morning, Felicity woke up in a particularly good mood.
By the time Justin dropped off Sunny, she’d already checked her messages and email.
There was another job application that had been rejected.
She refused to let it ruin her day. Still, she couldn’t help but think about the fact that she’d had six rejections and only had four remaining job opportunities.
To keep herself from scrolling through the job listings, looking for another position to apply to, she grabbed Sunny’s yellow squeaky ball. She took a seat on the living room floor. Fetch was one of Sunny’s favorite activities.
Felicity made the ball squeak, garnering the pup’s attention.
Once Sunny was standing in front of Felicity, she sent the ball rolling over the vinyl floor toward the dining room table.
Sunny took off like a shot. When she tried to stop, her feet slid over the floor.
She caught herself and then sank her teeth into the ball.
With a swishing tail, she turned and ran back to Felicity. They did this over and over again.
“It looks like someone is getting their morning exercise.”
Felicity turned her head to see her mother emerge from her bedroom in her old pink robe. “Good morning.”
“I see you were able to find the sewing machine.”
Felicity glanced at the machine on the dining room table. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave it out. It was late when I finished.” She got to her feet. “I’ll move it now.”
“Oh, no. Leave it where it is. I’m not planning on using the table any time soon.” Her mother moved to the kitchen to make coffee. “I heard from Justin’s mother that he’s been helping you.”
And so it begins…
Felicity suppressed a sigh. “Don’t get any ideas. We’re not getting back together.”
Her mother waved off her worries. “I have no intention of matchmaking.”
“You don’t have to. Merry and Connie have been doing their best to throw us together.”
Her mother smiled. “Merry does fancy herself a matchmaker.”
Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “Are you sure you don’t need room on the table for your baking?”
“I don’t have time for that this year. I’ve been doing a lot of overtime at the hospital.”
Felicity remembered how her mother used to love to do holiday baking at this time of the year.
She would fill the freezers, and when the holidays arrived, she would create cookie trays to hand out to friends.
It didn’t appear she did that anymore. Sadness welled up in Felicity’s heart.
In fact, there weren’t any holiday decorations in the entire apartment.
“Can I make you some pancakes?”
A smile lifted the corners of Felicity’s mouth. She remembered how her father used to make them for her on the weekends. He’d take blueberries and make smiley faces. Her heart ached by how much she missed him.
When her mother sent her an expectant look, Felicity said, “I’d like that.”
Her mother turned to the fridge to get out the butter, milk, and eggs. While her father made pancakes from a box mix, her mother always made hers from scratch.
While Sunny climbed onto the couch with her purple bunny in her mouth, Felicity took a seat at the kitchen island. “Mom, can I ask you something?”
Her mother glanced up from adding flour to the mixing bowl. “Sure. You know you can ask me anything?”
It hadn’t always been that way. When she was a teenager, they argued more than they’d talked. And then after her father died, it felt as though a chasm had opened up between them.
Even now, she struggled to find the right words. “Why did you put everything from home in the storage unit?”
Her mother kept her gaze on the batter she was mixing. “Well, I didn’t have room for all of it here.”
Felicity paused as she tried again. “But you didn’t even use the furniture.”
“It was, uh, time for something new.”
And yet she kept the old couch and chairs. Her mother wasn’t telling her something—a lot of things. Why wouldn’t she talk to her?
Buzz.
Felicity knew it was her phone, but she didn’t make any motion to answer it. This conversation was far from over.
“You should get that,” her mother said. “It might be important.”
Felicity got off the stool and headed to the coffee table. She checked the caller ID. “It’s Connie. I wonder what she wants.”
“Well, answer the phone and find out.”
Felicity pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello…”
The conversation was short and to the point. When Felicity disconnected the call, she turned to her mother. Her gaze moved to the pancake batter.
“What’s the matter?” her mother asked.
“Uh… Connie wants me to go in early. A delayed shipment of books finally came in. She’s worried they won’t sell before Christmas. She wants to get them on the shelves as quickly as possible since we’re in the height of Christmas shopping.”
Her mother nodded. “I can understand.”
Felicity’s gaze moved to the pancake batter. She felt awful that her mother had gone to such effort, and now she had to run out before they could have breakfast together. Maybe she should have told Connie that she couldn’t come in early.
As though her mother could read her thoughts, she said, “Go get ready. I’ll have the pancakes done by then. You can eat them before you dash out the door.”
Her gaze met her mother’s. “I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem. I totally understand. After all, I, uh, am going to be working this weekend.” When Felicity sent her mother a disappointed look, her mother said, “I’m sorry. I thought we’d have more time together. The flu just keeps spreading.”
“Aren’t you worried you’ll get it?”
“I had it before you got home. Hopefully, I won’t get it again.”
“I thought we’d get to spend time together.” Felicity felt disappointed and a little angry that they only got to spend a few minutes at a time together.
“I’m really sorry.” Her mother lowered her gaze to her coffee mug. “I promise we’ll spend time together before you leave.”
Her mother kept telling her that, but Felicity was starting to doubt her words. “Christmas is only a week away.”
“I know.” Her mother smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Well, you better get ready.” When Felicity glanced over at the puppy, her mother said, “Don’t worry about her. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“Thanks.”
Felicity headed to the shower. All the while, she wondered if her mother was really that busy or if she was trying to avoid her. Was this her mother’s way of paying her back for being absent over the last year?
The thought weighed on her. As the hot water rained down on her, she thought back over the past couple of years since her dad died and how she’d let a lot of her mother’s calls go to voicemail because she’d prioritized her work over everything else.
She thought about the holidays where she’d sent a gift but didn’t offer the gift of her presence because once again, she’d made her job her priority.
It was only now that she was able to admit that she’d stayed away from Kringle Falls because work was easier to deal with than the loss of her father. Being home—in the house where she’d grown up—was hard. She’d been hiding from the pain.
Her anger with her mother dissipated with the steam from the shower. She only had herself to blame for the distance between them. If their relationship was going to be fixed, she needed to be the one to make the first move.
But how? As she dried off, she gave it some thought. And then she had an idea…