Chapter Ten
LEVI
I shouldn’t be surprised.
I mean, considering how I thought we connected at the wedding until she left without a goodbye. Now she’s paired up with another guy, and I find her kissing him under the Valentine’s mistletoe. The one that’s supposed to mean they’ve found their happily ever after.
“Levi,” Rachel says, turning to face me.
“I’m surprised you remember,” I say, a little harsher than I anticipated.
I’m being difficult, and I know it. I don’t even know why I’m having such a strong reaction. I knew there was a chance that Rachel wasn’t my match and, really, do I want her to be? It didn’t go so well the first time; why would I think this would be any different?
Plus, she’s leaving to go back to Vancouver tomorrow. My life is here at Candy Cane Creek.
“Not the reunion you were thinking of, huh?” Zach snickers.
“Not. Helping,” She mutters out the side of her mouth. “Levi, you’ve got it wrong…” she continues, but I cut her off .
“So you two weren’t kissing under the Valentine’s mistletoe?”
They both look above their heads and groan. “Did you know that was there?” Rachel asks Zach, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What? No! I didn’t even know what they looked like.” Zach narrows his eyes at the ball above his head. “That doesn’t even look like mistletoe. It looks like a green blob with hearts on it.”
“What were you expecting it to look like?” Rachel laughs.
“I don’t know; Mistletoe is red, isn’t it? This is pink, so I guess it’s close enough.”
“That’s holly,” Rachel says while rolling her eyes.
Zach straightens and looks around. “She’s not going to get mad at me, too, is she? She can be a little scary when she’s upset. Now that I think of it, so can you. Must be a city thing.”
“Not my friend, Holly, the plant,” Rachel groans. “I’ve got this if you want to go find her, Zach. Thank you for the dance.”
With a final look at me, he nods to Rachel before disappearing into the crowd.
“Was that necessary?” she asks, focusing on me.
Maybe Zach’s right. She looks a little scary right now.
“I…uh…” I start.
I begin to see just how wrong I was about what I thought I saw.
“Yeah, uh,” she repeats back. “You can’t just push your way into a situation like that, Levi. Especially when you have no idea what’s going on.”
“I know, I shouldn’t have…”
“You’re right; you shouldn’t have. Zach seems like a nice guy.”
“He is,” I agree. He’s always been great when I’ve gone into his dad’s shop to get work done on my truck and run into him around town.
“Then he didn’t need someone pushing their way in. If you must know, he wasn’t thrilled about our match, either. He happens to be in love with Samantha.” She speaks quietly but sternly at me, leaning in so no one else hears her.
“My match, Samantha?”
“Yes. That one. He gave me a kiss on the cheek to wish me luck going after the one I wanted to be matched with, just like he was about to do.”
“And who was that?” I ask cautiously.
“Who…” She brings her hand up to her face, resting her fingers on the bridge of her nose. “You! I wanted to be matched up with you!”
She doesn’t keep her last statement quiet. All the couples surrounding us stop dancing, turning with their avid attention.
“Do you think we should move this outside?” I ask, lowering my voice. “Everyone’s looking.”
“ Now you’re worried about making a scene?”
I can’t take my eyes off hers, even if they are currently shooting daggers at me. I open my mouth to answer–praying the right words come out–when Curt rushes up to us.
“Wait. Hold,” he says, gasping. He bends over, placing his hands on his thighs. He starts to talk but just raises a finger, asking for another minute.
Rachel and I look at each other from the sides of our eyes. I shrug. You never know what’s going on or what’s going to happen when Curt is involved.
I’m mildly concerned with how he’s bent over and trying to catch his breath, but I’m also fixated on his outfit.
“Curt, are you supposed to be a bear?” I ask, taking in the sight in front of me.
He’s wearing what looks to be a brown, fuzzy, one-piece pyjama set with the hood pushed back. His face is painted with a black nose and whiskers.
“Yes…” He finally stands, revealing a sash across his chest that reads ‘Will Work for Hugs.’
I let out a laugh, covering it with a fist and a cough when he narrows his eyes at me.
“If you must know, I was hired to give hugs and candies to those that took part in the Cupid pinata. Excuse me if I didn’t have time to change before delivering your message.”
“And what message is that?” Rachel asks. “Do you need water? A seat? Seriously, Curt, are you okay?”
“As okay as I’m going to be dressed like this.” I’m convinced he also added ‘and living in this town,’ under his breath, but I’m not sure. “I came to let you know there was a mix-up with the match results. Rachel, you aren’t matched with Zach.”
“I’m not?” she asks, standing straighter and dropping her crossed arms.
“No,” Curt responds. “And Levi, you aren’t matched with Samantha.”
“What?”
“Does that mean I get a new match, too?” Cassie shouts from behind Curt.
“Seriously, Cassie?” Jacob adds.
Zach and Samantha push their way to the front of the crowd on opposite sides of Curt.
“No, there was a glitch in the system.”
“Or in the Matrix,” I add.
Rachel snickers and elbows me in my side, not taking her eyes off Curt.
“Rachel and Levi, you’re meant to be matched, and Zach, you’re with Samantha. That’s why you kept running into each other at the clue locations. That’s how you were supposed to get to know each other better. ”
Everyone gasps. I turn to Rachel, taking her hand and drawing her gaze to mine.
“Seriously, can you check it again, Curt? Maybe I’m with someone who doesn’t know they’re registered!” Cassie adds.
“For the love of…” Jacob adds before turning and walking away.
“So that means…” I say, looking into Rachel’s chocolate brown eyes.
“I guess it does,” she finishes. “Does that mean you take back the way you barged in with Zach and me?”
“I already said I was sorry for that.”
“No, you said you shouldn’t have done that. You never said you were sorry that you did.”
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” I groan.
“You know it,” she laughs.
“Alright, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I made the assumption about you and Zach. I’m sorry I barged in with my assumptions, and I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you before coming to those assumptions.”
“Wow, four ‘I’m sorry’s.’ I was only asking for one,” she says with a smile.
“Don’t get used to it.” I smile back.
“So, now that we know we are matched up, what do we want to do with that information?” The way she’s looking at me right now, I know that I would give her the world. Whatever she wants, it’s hers.
“What do you want?”
“Are you going to make me say it first?” she huffs.
I chuckle. “You made me apologize four times. You can do this.”
“I only asked you to apologize one time. The rest is on you.” She tries–and fails–to stifle a smile.
“Fine.” She clears her throat and squares her shoulders, not letting go of my hand. “Levi Harrison. I would like to try to see where this match with you goes. I am going back to Vancouver, and I don’t know what that means, but I want to see where this goes.”
“You won’t forget my name and number this time?” I jab.
She rolls her eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t make this easy on me.”
“Of course not,” I joke before reaching up with my free hand and brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. “But seriously, I also want to see where this goes.”
The smile that crosses her face makes my heart skip a beat. “Good.”
“Good,” I add. Looking up, I notice we are standing under the Valentine’s mistletoe. If there’s anything I learned from what happened in December, it’s that I can’t miss an opportunity to kiss Rachel under the mistletoe.
The band starts again, playing Stevie Wonder’s ‘Signed, Sealed & Delivered.’
How fitting, considering it was a series of sealed notes that led us here.
I don’t think she knows we’re under it, so I use that to my advantage.
In one fluid motion, I break my hand away from hers and slip it around her waist. At the same time, I slide my hand from her ear to cup her head, twisting so I’m holding her in a low dip.
She lets out a large gasp and clutches onto the lapels of my jacket. “Levi, what are you doing?”
“Something I should have done months ago.”
I don’t waste any time lowering my lips to hers. In the middle of the barn during the Valentine’s Hoedown, under the ‘mistletoe,’ I declare in front of everyone in Candy Cane Creek that Rachel is my forever Valentine.