Chapter Sixteen
The sound of blades scraping over the ice, kids laughing, and Christmas carols playing in the background filled Tilly with seasonal joy.
The rehearsals were going well, but she was still stressed about being able to pull it off.
She still thought that everyone expected her to fail.
Chelsea may have announced that something was happening, but everyone knew she was the one organizing it.
The places where Mary and Joseph were going to stop knew it was her.
She’d had some people come up to her when she was walking around the grocery store, asking what she was planning, but she hadn’t breathed a word.
Carol Bingley, the town’s gossip, had mellowed over the last couple of years, but she’d commented to her that she hoped that whatever Tilly was doing, she wouldn’t walk away from it before it was completed. Tilly had assured Carol she wouldn’t.
And she wouldn’t.
It wasn’t just herself she would be letting down. It would be everyone involved in the show. But mostly she didn’t want to let Zach down. He’d been the rock she’d needed to be able to follow through when things had gotten tough.
Now they were skating side by side, their fingers firmly entwined, and she felt like she could conquer anything.
With a burst of speed, she went ahead of Zach and turned so she faced him.
Skating backwards, she took both his hands.
They were surrounded by teenagers, families, and other couples, but her entire focus was on the man in front of her.
“I couldn’t have gotten this far without you. You know that, don’t you, Zach?”
“Yes, you would have. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
That right there was why she hadn’t given up—Zach’s unconditional support and belief in her. “Maybe. I guess we’ll never know.”
Zach skated them over to the bench where they’d left their things, right near the hot chocolate stand.
“You read my mind.” She smiled up at him as they removed their skates.
“It was always the plan.” Zach leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, and it took all of Tilly’s willpower not to grab the front of his jacket and prolong the kiss. But there were kids around, and she was sure their parents would prefer it if they kept it PG-rated.
Zach gave her a wink, and she admired the way his jeans cupped his ass as he walked toward the stand. She didn’t know how or why Chelsea had chosen Zach to help her, but she had to admit she was very glad that she had.
Tilly stretched her tired muscles, her mind going over the things she needed to still do for the event.
She’d sent Rainey the script a couple of days ago.
The young star hadn’t responded, so she needed to follow up to confirm that it had gotten there and hadn’t got lost in cyberspace.
She also needed to contact her employer and let them know she wouldn’t be working the week before Christmas.
During the week leading up to Christmas Eve, her entire focus needed to be on making sure the play was a success.
She couldn’t do her data entry work at the same time.
Seeing as she rarely took time off, she was sure they would be fine with that.
Sleep would also be a good thing, but she could do that when it was all over. Sleeping through the whole of Christmas Day was a real possibility.
“Here you go, Tulip. One hot chocolate.”
She took the paper cup, noting the warmth through the gloves she wore. “Thanks.”
“You doing okay?” Zach asked after a few beats of silence.
Tilly realized she’d been staring at nothing in particular. “Sorry, yeah, I’m okay. A little tired.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I’m not surprised. Wrangling everyone is not for the faint of heart. But you’re doing a great job.”
“Thanks. It’s not easy, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.”
“For sure, it will be.”
They sipped their drinks and watched everyone skating around the lake. Christmas music filled the air, along with the excited chatter and laughter from the skaters. Tilly needed this break. The crisp winter air revived her.
“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Zach said as he crushed his empty cup.
His tone had turned serious, and a bubble of dread formed in her belly. Was he about to say he’d changed his mind about wanting to spend time with her? But that didn’t make sense, considering he’d given her a kiss before he went to get them a drink and now he had his arm around her.
Whatever it was, she could face it, even if he was being friendly when he was about to let her down gently. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking about a conversation we had.”
Well, that was clear as melting snow. They’d had plenty of them since they first met. “Oh, yeah? Which one?”
“The one about you being a personal stylist or shopper.”
Tilly swallowed hard. Whatever she’d expected Zach to say, it hadn’t been that. It may have been a dream of hers once, but it wasn’t anymore. That particular dream had been squashed in spectacular fashion. It had all become too hard.
Too hard.
Story of her life—not keeping at it because it was too hard. “I have,” she whispered and wished they were anywhere but where they were. There were too many people around. Too many people who could hear what they were talking about. Too many people who would expect her to fail.
“And?” he prompted.
As much as she wanted to change the subject, she had a feeling Zach wouldn’t let her. He’d push her until she answered him. “I tried it, and it didn’t work out.”
Would that be enough for him to leave the subject alone, or would he push her for more?
“Here in Marietta?”
“Not here. Marietta isn’t a bustling marketplace. Yes, it’s growing, but it’s not like there are enough people to make it a steady job with a steady income.”
“Right. If not here, then where?”
God, this was so hard to talk about. “Houston.”
Zach let out a low whistle. “Houston. That’s a far cry from Marietta. But with its population, wouldn’t you have had the potential to create a large client base?”
Tilly really didn’t want to talk about this. Even thinking about it made her break out in hives. “I haven’t even told my family any of this. All they knew was I went to Houston for a job and it didn’t work out. I didn’t tell them what I was doing exactly.”
As if he understood that sitting on a bench at Miracle Lake where anyone could come by and overhear them, Zach grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s take a walk.”
Maybe walking and talking would be easier than sitting and talking. She’d started, so what would be the point in stopping? If she spoke it out loud, perhaps some of the shame from her failure would dissipate.
The sound of the happy skaters faded into the background, and the crunch of their boots on the frost-covered ground of the trail around the lake was the only thing she was aware of.
“I arrived in Houston full of confidence that I could make this dream come true. Show my family that I could start my own business, like my parents had with the flower farm. Chrissy was in Buffalo, married, and working an accounting job. Sunny was Dad’s right-hand person.
I was Tulip, the one who had great ideas, but always failed to complete them.
I’m sure that’s why Chelsea asked you to help me. To make sure I saw it through.”
Zach gave a noncommittal shrug, and that was all the confirmation she needed that her assumption was correct. Not that she was mad. It made sense that the mayor would do whatever was necessary to ensure that the event went off without a hitch.
In the end it had worked out because she and Zach were getting closer. And why would she be angry about that?
“I got a job at one of the large department stores as a personal shopper. After a month, I figured I had enough knowledge and experience to quit and start my own business. I got cards made up and started giving them out to customers.” She caught Zach’s wince out of the corner of her eye.
“Don’t say it. I was too cocky, and I got fired because I wasn’t supposed to be soliciting business from the customers who were paying the stores for the same service.
It was a silly mistake born out of someone who had grown up in a small town, where everyone supported each other.
Totally different from the big city and working for a big store, where the rules were different. ”
Zach pulled her to the side as a group of teenagers raced toward the lake, laughing and joking with each other. “We’ve all made stupid mistakes in our youth, but we also learn from them, and I’m sure that at your next job, you didn’t make that same mistake.”
“It wasn’t that easy. I tried to get another job, but I also had to put that company down as a reference.
Of course, when they phoned them, they found out what I’d done and so no way did they want me, in case I did the same thing.
After a few weeks my savings account was looking very sick.
I was ready to go home when I got a call from one of the women I’d given my card to.
She wanted my help in picking out an outfit for her son’s wedding.
She liked the outfits I’d selected, and money wasn’t an object.
I helped her, and she recommended me to a couple of her friends. I thought I’d made it.”
Tilly looked up at the stars, so bright and clear, without any of the light pollution found in cities. She’d missed looking at the stars when she was in Houston.
“I’m guessing you hadn’t made it?”