18. Beau
18
BEAU
A week and a half later, Beau stood on Park Avenue just after the wrap-up of the town’s Hometown Holiday celebration, thinking about just how magical the whole day had been so far.
There had been booths for local charities and shops, Joe Cassidy gave horse-drawn carriage rides, Christmas trees were sold to benefit the fire station, and the big Christmas carol sing-along culminated in the lighting of the town tree. Santa had even come along at the end of the night to hand out candy to the kids who managed to stay up that late.
Zandy hadn’t been one of them. She’d gone home with her grandma hours ago after a very exciting morning, a big lunch, and an afternoon that ended with her on a firetruck ride with Quinn. The two of them had laughed their heads off the whole time, while Beau tried to take pictures with his phone as the big truck passed.
He was pretty sure she had napped and eaten a nice dinner, and by now, Mom was probably tucking her in at home.
When he texted earlier to make sure it was okay for him to stick around for cleanup after the celebration, Mom had responded that they were having fun and for him not to worry about coming home at any particular time.
He’d definitely expected Quinn to head home before now, but she had decided to stay on and help with the cleanup too.
It was really nice to see her out here, voluntarily spending a whole day out in such a social situation when he knew that wasn’t typically her thing. He liked to think that he’d had an influence on her being a little more outgoing lately. Or at least that having him around helped her feel more secure.
It’s one more sign that maybe, just maybe…
“Hey,” Ashton Beck said, coming out from the other side of the town tree. “Thanks for sticking around.”
“I’m happy to help,” Beau told him honestly.
Beau had volunteered for the fire department in high school, like so many of the boys in town did. Though he hadn’t jumped back in now that he was home, he’d known that helping with the cleanup from the tree sale was something he would do today.
It seemed like the rest of the crew had kept things pretty well in order all day, so now he was mostly just picking up candy cane wrappers and other discarded items.
Across the street, Valerie had turned on every light in the jewelry shop and she was finishing up cleaning the outside glass of her display window. Beau figured she would probably clean it again in the morning as well. The woman was meticulous, but she did a lot of business in town. For all her sleek, fashionable outfits and hard to earn smiles, everyone said she had a real knack for seeing right to the heart of things and helping guys find the perfect jewelry for their moms and sweethearts.
Maybe one day I’ll be going there to buy Quinn anniversary gifts.
He was really getting ahead of himself now.
He had to talk to Quinn, and he knew it. But he didn’t want to risk ruining everything—her dreams included. He didn’t think he could bear to see the look on her face if he did something that cost Quinn her shot at the farm. And he was pretty sure that confessing his feelings would be exactly the kind of thing that would derail their whole plan.
He glanced over to see her grabbing a stray pine limb from the sidewalk.
“You doing okay?” he asked. “You sure you’re not too tired?”
“I’m having fun,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Okay,” he said, smiling back like a fool.
They kept up their work for a bit in friendly silence.
When they were just about wrapped up, Valerie wandered over, along with Mal from the bakery, both having finished their own cleanup work.
“Hey, guys,” Mal said happily. “Great day today, right?”
“Yes,” Quinn agreed with a shy smile. “It was so much fun.”
“There were some new faces in town,” Valerie said, nodding. “Do you need a hand over here?”
“I think we’ve just about got it,” Beau told her. “But thanks a lot.”
“This went quickly,” Quinn agreed.
Beau smiled down at her, glad she wasn’t afraid to join the conversation.
“Can’t believe you two are tying the knot,” Doug Wendall said with a smile as he moved to join them. Doug had also volunteered for the firehouse back in school, but Beau hadn’t seen him since then.
“Only a few more days,” Beau heard himself say as he glanced fondly over at Quinn.
She smiled up at him, but he couldn’t help noticing she was nervously twisting her engagement ring on her finger.
“Why so quick, Quinn?” Mal asked with a smile. “Do you have family that’s only in town for the holidays or something?”
In spite of the dim light of the streetlamps, Beau saw all the color drain instantly from Quinn’s face.
“We, uh, we…well,” she muttered. “It’s for his dad.”
A confused silence descended on the gathering as her terrible lie landed on them.
Beau’s dad was dead and everyone in town knew it.
Doug laughed, breaking the silence.
“My dad always liked Christmas weddings,” Beau said quickly. “It was Quinn’s idea to honor him.”
“Oh,” Doug said. “Sorry I laughed, man. I thought you meant to say your dad, Quinn. My wife used to get pregnancy brain too.”
“What did you just say?” Beau demanded, whirling on the man, rage filling his chest so fast that he could hear his own pulse slamming in his ears.
“You guys are getting married so fast, I just figured,” Doug began.
But no one was ever going to find out what Doug Wendall just figured, because Beau was going to punch him right in the nose for what he was implying.
As Beau’s hand balled into a tight fist, Quinn stepped in front of him. She slid her hands around his neck, then went up on her toes and pressed her lips to Beau’s.
Maybe it was because he wasn’t expecting it, and his heart was already thundering, or maybe it was because he had wanted so badly to kiss her again since Thanksgiving that it almost hurt, but Beau felt like he’d been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer.
Suddenly nothing mattered but Quinn’s soft lips, the delicate scent of her hair, and the way her hands twined around his neck, like they were always meant to be there.
He kissed her back with everything he had, wrapping his arms around her and taking control of the kiss until he had to pull back, or risk pushing things too far.
Quinn gazed up at him, her eyes wide and hazy.
Does it feel the same way for you? Like we’re meant for each other?
“For Pete’s sake, Wendall,” Valerie was yelling at Doug as she dragged him down the street by his sleeve, like a misbehaving child. “You don’t say stuff like that, you big galoot.”
Quinn started giggling and then Beau was laughing too, the happy sounds warming the cold night air.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman.
And right now, he knew the best thing he could do for her was to keep his mouth shut.