Chapter Twenty-Six
JAKE
C an Tally come to the candlelight with us?” Nora asked as she stood by the window, staring out.
“I don’t know if she’d want to do that,” I replied.
“But she looks so sad.”
“Why is Tally sad?” Ava ran over and peered out the window next to Nora.
“Girls, get away from the window.”
“Can we please invite her, Daddy?” Nora pleaded.
“Please, please,” Ava echoed.
“If you want to ask her, go ahead,” I told them. There was no way I was going to invite her after our conversation last night, and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be up for joining us anyway.
The girls ran for the kitchen door and yanked it open before I had a chance to catch up to them.
“Tally!” they both yelled out the door .
I heard her say, “Hi, girls.”
When I reached the door and saw her, my heart ached. Her cheeks were blotchy and red, her eyes puffy. She had obviously been crying.
“Do you want to go to the candlelight at our church tonight?” Nora asked.
“Oh.” Her eyes met mine briefly. “I don’t know if I feel up to that.”
“But we want you to be happy,” Ava said in her sweet little voice.
Natalia’s head tilted to the side, and her lips pressed together as she smiled. “You girls are so sweet.”
Ava bounced down the snowy steps in her slippers before I could stop her and hugged Natalia.
It looked like Natalia might cry again.
“Can I think about it and let you know?” she asked.
Ava nodded against her side.
“Okay, girls, let’s get inside and leave Tally alone for now.”
Ava let go and came back in, and the girls did as I said.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I can’t not worry about you. Especially if I’m the reason you’ve been crying.”
“Not everything is about you.” She turned away and walked to her door.
I couldn’t do anything but watch, even though I wanted to go to her and hold her close and take away whatever pain she was going through.
She glanced back over her shoulder. “Maybe in a little while you could tell the girls I can’t make it tonight and thank them for inviting me. ”
I nodded. “I will.”
She disappeared inside without another word, and my heart busted in my chest. Everything in me said go after her, but I fought it and went into the house instead.
The girls wanted to get all fancied up for the candlelight service, and it always took me forever to help them with their hair. Thank God for YouTube or I’d have no idea how to braid. I’d gotten pretty skilled at it over the last year. If there was a contest for best braid by a single dad, I felt certain I would clinch the title.
I was halfway through weaving the top of Ava’s hair into a waterfall braid when the doorbell rang.
“Shoot,” I said. “Ava, hold onto your hair and don’t let go. Otherwise, I’ll have to start over.”
She grabbed her hair, and I could already tell she was going to drop it.
“Hold it tighter,” I said.
“I am, Daddy.”
Nora was already opening the door by the time I got there. I’d told her time and time again to wait for me before answering.
Three women stood at the door. One with coppery red hair, one with dark blonde hair up in a high ponytail, and a brunette who looked very familiar.
“Hello,” the brunette said. “I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Ellie Sweet, June’s granddaughter. We used to go to church together.”
“Of course. You’re Ethan’s sister, right?”
“Right. We’re here to see Tally.”
“Tally lives in the guest house,” Nora informed them. “I can go get her for you. ”
“That would be nice,” Ellie said. “Thank you.”
Nora took off running for the door, and Ava jumped up and followed. I rolled my eyes as she tried to run and hold her hair at the same time, which lasted all of three seconds.
“Come on in.” I would’ve directed them to the guest house, but I had a feeling the girls were already there.
“So, you’re Jake,” the one with the ponytail said with slightly narrowed eyes.
“I am. And you are?”
“Tally’s best friends.”
“I gathered that.”
“I’m Penny,” the redhead held her hand out, and I shook it.
“Nice to meet you.”
“And this is Jessa,” Penny said about ponytail girl.
I held my hand out to her, and she stared at me and made me wait a few beats before shaking it.
“Your house is lovely,” Ellie said.
“Thank you.”
“Tally and I have always loved the houses on this street. Especially this one.”
“She never mentioned that.”
“Oh yeah, when we were younger, we used to ride bikes down the street and imagine what it would be like to live here. We’d make believe we were Rapunzel stuck up in the tower on top of the house, and a handsome prince would come rescue us.”
Jessa elbowed her.
“Sorry. I’m babbling,” Ellie said.
I laughed. “My daughter Nora and her friends wanted to play up there after they saw Tangled . Must be a little girl thing. ”
“I think a lot of little girls dream about that. I know I did.”
I’d never spoken to Ellie at church before, but she reminded me of her grandmother. Kind and easy to talk to.
“See!” Ava appeared then, dragging Natalia into the room by her hand. “Your friends are here.”
“I see,” she said. “What are you guys doing here?”
“We wanted to talk,” Penny said.
“Do you want to see our playroom?” Ava asked the ladies.
“Ava.” I shook my head, and she pouted.
“You can show them your playroom,” Natalia said.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Natalia nodded.
“Can we see the cupola?” Ellie asked.
“Sure,” I replied. “I can give you a tour of the whole house if you want.”
“That would be awesome.”
“Come on!” Ava cried as she and Nora led Ellie, Penny, and Jessa to the playroom.
I gently touched Natalia’s arm before she left the room, and she turned to look at me.
“I don’t have to do the tour if you don’t want me to. She was just talking about how much she liked the house. I don’t want to take away from your time with your friends.”
“It’s fine. I’m mad at them anyway.”
“What happened?”
“Just another disappointment. I’m getting used to those. There are so many lately.” She pulled her arm away from my touch and followed her friends and my daughters .
I walked after her but stopped when I heard the faint sound of Piper whining upstairs and knew she had awakened from her nap. I went to get her before I took the ladies on a tour and discovered she had wet herself in her sleep. No wonder she was whining.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said with a pout.
“It’s okay, baby. Can you wait here for a minute?”
I handed her the stuffed kangaroo toy from the floor and went downstairs to the playroom just as the ladies came into the hallway.
“That is the coolest playroom,” Penny said.
“I could spend all day in there,” Ellie said as Ava tried to show them more of her toys.
“So, I have to give my other daughter a bath so it might be a little while before I can show you around.”
“I can clean her up,” Natalia offered.
“It’s your day off.”
“I don’t mind.” She brushed past me, and I caught a whiff of her lovely scent as she headed up the stairs.
“Okay.” I moved to follow her. “Shall we, ladies?”
“We shall,” Ellie said with a smile.
I took them around upstairs and showed them all the rooms there, but I knew the one they most wanted to see was the cupola. I opened the door in the middle of the hallway that led to the attic and on up.
“I rarely go up there, so it’s pretty dirty and dusty. It’s also pretty small. Only a few people can fit in there at a time, so you go ahead and take a look yourselves.”
“This is so nice of you.” Ellie headed up first.
“Not a problem. And watch your step and go slow on the spiral staircase.”
“I will,” she called back. “Penny, are you coming?”
“I’m coming. These steps are steep. ”
Jessa stood with her arms crossed while the other two went up.
“So, how long have you known Natalia?” I asked.
She eyed me. “I’ve known Tally since we were little. She’s very important to me. To all of us. And we don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“Getting straight to it. I respect that.” I made sure to look her in the eye. “I don’t want her to get hurt either.”
“If that’s true, you’ll keep your hands to yourself.”
“Jessa!” Natalia stood in the bathroom doorway, holding Piper all wrapped up in a towel.
“Hey, he’s supposed to be older and wiser than us. He should act like it.”
“I never claimed to be wise in my old age.” I caught Natalia’s eye, and she pressed her lips together, holding back a smile.
“Daddy’s old,” Piper said.
Natalia chuckled. “That’s right. He’s ancient.”
“Ancient,” Piper repeated.
“Don’t teach her that.” I frowned.
Laughter carried from up in the cupola, and Natalia came closer to the staircase.
“How long have they been up there?”
“Just a few minutes,” I replied. “Do you want to go up?”
“Yeah, I do.” Her face lit up, and it was the happiest I’d seen her in days.
“Me too,” Piper said.
“Later, Pipes. Let’s get you dressed for tonight.” I looked at Natalia. “I’m going to get the girls ready. You ladies explore all you want.”
“We won’t be long,” she replied.
I waved a hand at her. “Take your time. ”
It took a while to get the girls’ hair curled and braided and get them in their festive holiday dresses, but we were ready in time to head out to the candlelight service. I made them sit on the couch while I headed back upstairs.
The hallway was empty, so I walked to the open door to tell the ladies that we were leaving. I never realized how well voices traveled from up there, and I heard Natalia’s voice clearly say, “I’m falling in love with Jake, and I don’t know what to do about it.”