Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Magnolia
Two hours later, after all four of us cleaned the kitchen together, Luke, Addie, and I headed to the barn so I could see his progress.
The floor had been refinished, the walls painted, the restroom fixtures were in place, and the kitchen was more than halfway done.
“It’s looking fantastic, Luke,” I raved. “This is going to be such a great venue.”
“You think so?”
I nodded. “It’s spacious but cozy, rustic but classy. The ceiling beams are stunning. Twinkle lights are going to make it magical.”
“We’re gonna have more twinkle lights?” Addie asked her dad.
“Magnolia thinks we should hang some from every other beam up there. What do you think, bug?”
“Yes,” she said, her neck craning to check out the beams. “Can we do them now?”
Luke chuckled. “We have to open tree season in a few minutes.”
“Where else will there be twinkle lights?” Addie asked.
Luke raised his brows at me, as if deferring to my answer. Before I could say anything, his phone dinged with a notification. He pulled it out, swiped, and read a message. He typed an answer.
“Everything okay?” I asked, seeing his frown.
“It will be, but I need to go help Scotty with something.”
“Would you mind if I stay a few more minutes and take some measurements?” I asked him.
“Stay as long as you like. If you’re still here when we close up, I’ll treat you to a hot chocolate.”
“Can I stay with Miss Magnolia?” Addie asked.
The question that would’ve panicked me a few hours ago didn’t seem as daunting now. Addie was growing on me quickly with her quiet but enthusiastic ways.
“She and I could figure out where else to put twinkle lights,” I told Luke.
He studied me. “You’re sure?”
“You want to do that?” I asked his daughter.
She nodded fervently. “Please, Daddy?”
“I should be able to get back here to get her before we officially open up.”
“That’s fine. We can talk weddings, right, Addie?”
“Right.” Her eyes sparkled.
Luke met my gaze as if searching for a sign that I was really okay with this. I gave him a subtle nod.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, doodlebug.
” He kissed the top of his daughter’s head, then caught my hand briefly and squeezed.
It was a fleeting touch that made me want more.
More time with him, more touching. But for now I could hang out with Addie and maybe even come up with new ideas for Presley.
“Text me if you need anything in the meantime,” he told me, then jogged out of the barn.
Addie looked up at me expectantly.
“So,” I said, nervous again. “Twinkle lights. The trick is to use just the right amount—not too many and not too few.”
“So that’s how come you want them on every other beam instead of every one?” she asked.
“Exactly. Let’s go to the other end, and I’ll tell you our plans for Miss Presley’s wedding.”
We started across the wood floors, with Addie at my side. I was surprised to feel her take my hand in her small one. When I glanced down and smiled, she said, “It’s kind of scary in here at night.”
“It’ll be much better when it’s full of happy people celebrating a wedding, don’t you think?”
She thought about that for a second. “Yeah.”
I hadn’t bargained for a scared little girl and once again, or maybe still, felt out of my element. I’d spent a lot of time during my childhood alone and scared, particularly during storms. It always helped me when I had something to distract me, so that’s what I set out to do for Addie.
“Miss Presley’s wedding is going to be on Christmas Eve, and it’s going to be beautiful,” I told her. “It’ll be a small wedding party, with two bridesmaids and two groomsmen.”
“How many flower girls?”
“Three. I bet you know Mr. West’s girls: Nova, Scarlet, and Sienna?”
She nodded. “They’re the flower girls?” There was some low-key awe in her voice.
“They’re the flower girls. I believe they’ll be wearing sparkly silver dresses.”
“Wow,” she said in a hushed voice.
“The bridesmaids are wearing dark green, the color of Christmas trees.”
“That will be beautiful,” she said.
When we got to the wide end of the barn, I explained my idea for clusters of real trees with twinkle lights. We agreed that the windows should be outlined in twinkle lights as well.
I told her about the arch her dad planned to build and how that would be the spot where Presley and West exchanged their vows.
“Will it have twinkle lights too?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I was thinking bunches of white flowers. I want it to be pretty, but I don’t want lights to take away from the bride and groom.”
“Miss Presley’s so pretty,” she said.
“Yes, she is.”
“So are you.”
“Aw, thank you, Addie. You are too.”
“I made a wish that my dad would get married so he could live happily ever after.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“I asked if he could marry you, but he said it takes a long time for people to decide who to marry.”
“It’s a big decision,” I blustered, trying not to show any reaction even as I reeled inside.
Luke and I had been together for less than a month.
We were a long way from getting married, but this was one of those damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t topics.
If I told her I wasn’t thinking about marrying her dad, she might take that the wrong way.
If I told her I might marry him someday, just to appease her, she might take it to heart and start planning our wedding.
Instead of answering either way, I made my reply about her. “I hope you get your wish someday.”
I didn’t allow myself to think about whether I wanted it to be with me. Marriage? I wanted it someday, but my focus right now was learning to stand on my own two feet, personally and in my business.
Luke
On Thanksgiving night, we were open from six to nine every year. We did enough business to make it well worth opening up on a holiday evening, and tonight was no exception.
At quarter till six, I’d been about to run over to the barn to get Addie when two of our regular families had pulled up. Since my skeleton holiday crew was out taking care of last-minute tasks, I’d texted Magnolia to bring Addie over whenever she was ready to go home.
She’d walked into the sales shelter holding my daughter’s hand, and that vision had rocked me to my core and had me thinking about families.
That was premature, but something about seeing the two of them together made it easy to imagine a future with her. She might not believe she had any kind of knack with kids, but my daughter willingly holding her hand was proof otherwise. If Addie was drawn to her, that told me volumes.
Yeah, dude. Rushing it.
My premature fantasy had been helped along when Magnolia had asked if she could stay and help for a while. I got the impression she wasn’t looking forward to heading home to her empty apartment, but I would’ve said yes no matter what. I loved that she showed interest in my family’s business.
We ended up being short-handed due to the busiest Thanksgiving we’d had in recent years, so Magnolia’s help collecting payment was appreciated.
My dad showed up right at six, determined to defy his doctor’s orders of no hard labor.
Same story, different year. Having Magnolia there asking him questions as she learned served to deter him from helping me wrap trees and load them on vehicles.
Another reason it was good having her there was because he was still pissy about the cooking thing and snapped at me every time we were in close proximity.
At nine, we had two parties still out searching for their trees, so I’d asked my dad to take Addie in so she could get her pajamas on. That he’d agreed quickly told me he was indeed tired and had likely overdone it.
As Addie hugged Magnolia goodbye, my dad whispered to me, “Are we still putting the tree up when you’re done?”
I nodded to make sure Addie hadn’t heard since it was a surprise I’d engineered in the last two days. I’d marked the tree I wanted, and Scotty had cut it yesterday and put it in a stand in one of the outbuildings so it was ready for us to bring into the house and decorate.
My dad told Magnolia goodbye for show. I could easily tell he liked her because he was sugar sweet to her, in total contrast with his attitude toward me. That man could hold a heck of a grudge.
As soon as my dad and daughter were out of sight, I moved in on Magnolia and kissed her like I’d been dying to for the past three hours. Within seconds I had her pressed against the inside wall of the sales shelter as we waited for the last two stragglers to bring their trees up.
“Hello, sexy boyfriend,” she said when we came up for air.
“I needed that,” I said. “So I’ve got a question for you. Are you sick of my family, or would you like to stay and help us decorate our tree tonight?”