Chapter Twenty-Five
The littles were adorable.
Wednesday evening, the Christmas play went off with only a few hitches, which was to be expected when the stars were all under the age of twelve. But they were able to cope with all of the forgotten lines and wardrobe mishaps.
It had been quite a week so far. On Monday morning, she’d heard from her old boss.
As Melissa suspected, she was issued an apology and offered the promotion with a large bump in pay.
It was everything she could have asked for—but instead of giving her boss an immediate answer, she’d asked to be able to consider the offer and give her answer after Christmas.
Her boss understood and said it would be fine.
She still didn’t know what to do about the job.
It wasn’t like she had a lot of options.
Right now, she either stayed on at Jingle Bell Books or she returned to her former employer.
The logical thing would be to return to the city, but it rubbed her the wrong way how they’d turned on her so quickly.
How would she ever feel comfortable working there again?
She’d pushed those worries to the back of her mind.
She would deal with her employment later.
Instead, she let herself be happy for Justin.
She’d finished reading Justin’s revised manuscript that morning.
He’d made the changes she’d suggested, and she thought the book was a lot stronger.
And she might have taken the liberty of sending it to a friend, who was a literary agent.
She didn’t mention it to Justin in case nothing came of it.
She didn’t want him to be disappointed, because he had too much talent to give up on his publishing journey.
And now, she stood backstage next to Justin as they watched the littles on stage in their cute costumes. The play was over, and now they were singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The children’s voices sounded adorable.
In that moment, she thought about having a baby of her own. Tick-tock. With her thirtieth birthday on the horizon, her biological clock was starting to pester her. She told her hormones to hush up. She had plenty of time before she had to worry about any of that.
When the curtain fell, Felicity clapped madly for the littles, who had done such a great job. She’d never seen anything so cute. Next to her Justin clapped, perhaps not with as much vigor as she did.
The curtain rose again, and the principal stepped onto the stage. He thanked Merry Kringle, who organized the whole event, as well as the other people who had helped behind the scenes, including her. Then the principal thanked the littles, who all took one big bow.
When the curtain once more fell, there was pandemonium as the littles raced backstage.
It appeared it was a race to see who could get out of their costume the fastest. Felicity knew of no reason for the rush, but the kids seemed determined to leave her with a pile of balled-up costumes to sort through.
Some of the senior high kids gave her a hand, and they made short work of folding and putting the costumes away to be used another year.
“Ms. Wright?” one of the teenagers said.
Felicity looked at her and smiled. “I told you to call me Felicity.”
The girl shrugged. “Okay. But I think Mr. Bishop wants you.”
Felicity glanced past the girl to see Justin standing in the doorway of the dressing room. She held up her finger for him to wait. She finished putting away the last of the costumes and then shrugged on her coat. It had certainly been a wonderful evening.
She grabbed her purse and turned to the teenagers. “Thank you all for your assistance. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” they said in unison, making her smile even more.
Instead of the teenagers rushing out of the room to go do whatever young people did these days, they just stood there with smiles on each of their faces.
Felicity had a feeling they were up to something, but she had absolutely no idea what it might be.
But she wasn’t worried. Whatever it was wouldn’t be that bad because the kids around town were a good lot.
She wished them a merry Christmas and then turned toward Justin. This week he’d been quieter than normal. She supposed he was just tired between his day job and taking care of the final arrangements for the play tonight. But now that it was over, she hoped he’d relax and be his fun self again.
She came to a stop next to him. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No problem. I don’t have anywhere to go. What about you?”
“I just have a few presents to wrap. I keep putting it off, and Christmas will be here before I’m ready for it.”
He nodded in understanding. “Are you ready to go?”
“You can’t go yet,” a teenage boy said.
Felicity sent Justin a puzzled look. He shrugged, not seeming to know what the problem was.
And then she noticed the kids gathered around. They pointed to something above their heads. Felicity looked up. There in the doorway someone had hung some mistletoe. It hadn’t been there earlier. She was certain of it.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” the kids cheered.
Heat rushed to Felicity’s cheeks. Not sure what to say or do, she looked at Justin, who had a smile on his face. Why was he smiling? Surely, he wasn’t going to…
She didn’t get to finish that thought because the next thing she knew, he was wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She practically glided toward him, as though by magnetic attraction.
It was as if time had slowed down. Her hands came to rest on his chest. As she continued to stare into his brown eyes, she noticed his head dip. He really was going to kiss her. Oh my!
Her eyes fluttered shut. And then his warm lips pressed to hers. In that moment, she was swept back in time to when they were not much more than kids, and she was crazy in love with him.
Their parents had been thrilled they were together. They’d said that it was meant to be. Their mothers were already talking about the wedding. It had freaked her out. She’d been in college and not ready to get married.
So, when Justin proposed, she’d panicked. She didn’t know if he was proposing because he truly loved her and wanted a future with her. Or if he was proposing because that was what their families wanted. And she didn’t know if that was why she wanted to say yes to his proposal.
Now as his lips moved over hers, she could feel the embers of her feelings for him flare to life. They were so strong that it scared her. She refused to examine the depth of those feelings.
Whistles and clapping had them pulling apart. But Justin didn’t let her go far. He stared deep into her eyes, making her pulse race. And then he leaned in close and said softly enough for only her to hear, “Felicity, I love you. Please don’t leave.”
He loved her? And then she could see it in his eyes. He had looked at her the same way all of those years ago—with a mix of love and hope. She felt the weight of his heart in her hands.
No. No-no-no. He couldn’t be doing this.
She thought of the job waiting for her in New York City.
It felt as though history were repeating itself. How had they ended up here? She shouldn’t have spent so much time with him. She shouldn’t have gotten close to him again.
And now she was going to break his heart once more. The thought caused her own heart to ache. Tears pricked the back of her eyes.
She couldn’t see the pain in his eyes—not again. She couldn’t break his heart all over again. This was all her fault.
She pulled free of his embrace and took off down the hallway. There were still a lot of parents standing around, talking while their children ran around the atrium. She worked her way through the crowd and raced out the door into the night.
She loved him.
He was certain of it.
Justin hadn’t intended to tell her that he loved her tonight. In fact, he hadn’t been planning on telling her at all. It had just popped out of his mouth.
He truly loved her. He was as certain of it now as he had been all of those years ago. If he were honest with himself, he’d never stopped loving her. It was why none of his other relationships had gone the distance. He couldn’t love them the way he loved Felicity.
He never thought his proclamation would cause her to run off into the night. Now he had to find her. She was short and moved fast. He’d lost her in the crowd. He’d been hoping she’d be waiting next to his pickup for a ride home. She hadn’t been there.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed her number. The phone rang a few times before going to voicemail. He hung up and tried again. She still didn’t pick up.
He started the pickup and slowly drove back to the apartment, all the while scanning the sidewalks. He didn’t see her. Either she got another ride or she took another route.
He pulled into the apartment parking lot. After calling her again and not reaching her, he got out. There were a lot of lights around the apartment building, but there was still no sign of Felicity.
He jogged up to the front door and then rushed inside. Having absolutely no patience for the elevator, he took the stairs two at a time, until he reached the second floor. With long, quick strides he made his way to her mother’s apartment and rapped his knuckles on the door.
The door opened, but it wasn’t Felicity standing there. It was her mother.
“Is Felicity here?”
“No. As far as I know she’s still at the school.”
He shook his head. “She took off, and I don’t know where she is. I’ve tried calling her, but she won’t pick up.”
Her mother’s forehead creased with worry lines. “I don’t understand. Did you two get into an argument or something?”
Again, he shook his head. “No. I… I told her I love her and asked her to stay in Kringle Falls.”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “I see.”
“I just need to talk to her.”
She nodded. “I understand. But I know my daughter, and she might need some time before you talk.”
That was the last thing he wanted to hear. He felt as though with every moment that passed, Felicity was getting further away from him.
Sympathy shone in her mother’s eyes. “When I talk to her, I’ll tell her you stopped by.”
He turned and walked away. He couldn’t believe he’d once again lost Felicity. The only difference this time was that he hadn’t gotten down on one knee, and she left without saying a single word to him.
Had he read things wrong with her? Was it possible she didn’t have feelings for him? Was it all a bunch of wishful thinking on his part?
He should have known better. It hadn’t worked out the first time; why did he think it would work out now? The walls around his heart went up.
He entered his apartment, and Sunny greeted him with an excited bark from her crate. When he let her out, he picked her up. She licked his cheek before leaning against his chest and tucking her head beneath his chin, as though hugging him.
“I’m sorry, girl, but you’ll be better off with someone else.” He ignored the pang in his chest as he said the words.
Then he reached for his phone and called Merry. He was done fostering Sunny. He was done putting himself out there. He was going to accept his bachelorhood and get on with life.