CHAPTER 14
A s Ava walked through a trail of sparkling Christmas trees with Justin, all she could think about was how much time they’d wasted searching for Stormy. She knew they must have walked at least three miles, and still there was no sign of him.
When she glanced over at Justin, she saw he was equally frustrated.
“It doesn’t look like he’s here,” Ava said, disappointed.
“At least not where we’ve looked,” Justin agreed. “I really thought he wouldn’t be able to resist a Christmas tree farm with all these people.” He pointed at a sign that said Cocoa Hut . “Do you want to go get something to drink and warm up?”
Ava looked around nervously and shook her head. “No, I can’t. Someone might recognize me.”
Justin’s eyes widened. “With your hood on and those sunglasses, no one can even see you, much less recognize you.”
“No, thanks,” she said. She wasn’t going to take any chances.
A call from Edgar on FaceTime popped up on her phone. Ava hesitated before answering it. She sucked in a deep breath and plastered on a smile. “Hello, Edgar.”
“Have you found Stormy yet?” Edgar asked.
Ava forced herself to keep smiling. “Not yet, but…we think we know where he is.”
When Justin gave her a surprised look, she quickly turned away from him.
“Really?” Edgar asked eagerly.
Ava nodded. She hated herself for lying…again.
“Well, I just talked to your mother,” Edgar said.
“Oh no. You didn’t say anything, did you?” Ava asked in a panic.
“Not yet, but I can’t keep this from her much longer. She has a right to know.”
“Of course. I agree,” Ava said. “Just give me a little more time, please.”
“You need to call her,” Edgar said.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Ava looked surprised. “Why?”
“Because she said you’re not answering her calls. You don’t want her getting suspicious, do you?”
“No! Of course not,” Ava said.
“So, call her.”
Ava nodded. “Yes, I will. I’m just trying to find Stormy first.”
“Then you better hurry,” Edgar said. “If I don’t hear from you soon, I’m calling her.”
“I understand,” Ava said. “Thank you for giving me a chance to find him first. I’ll call you soon.” She hung up, feeling more depressed than ever.
“What’s wrong?” Justin asked. “Who was that?”
“Edgar. He called to warn me my mother wants to talk to me. She’s called me a couple of times, but I haven’t answered,” Ava said.
“Why not?”
“Because she can read me like a book, and I’m a terrible liar. He also told me he can’t put off telling her much longer.”
Justin shook his head, looking upset. “He can’t tell her.”
“Try stopping him,” Ava said. “He’s nothing if not loyal. I don’t blame him. I know I’ve put him in an impossible position, and I hate that.”
“But you’d hate having your mom find out you lost her dog more,” Justin said.
“Exactly,” Ava agreed. “I’m going to text Lydia to see if she’s had any luck with the flyers.”
“Good idea. Hopefully she’s gotten some leads, because so far, we’re striking out here,” Justin said. “But let’s check out the food stalls again. They’re usually dog magnets.”
As they walked off together, Ava started texting Lydia. But before she could send her text, a little boy came racing around the corner, straight for her…
“Princess! Watch out!” Justin hollered as he pulled her out of the child’s way just in time, preventing the collision.
In all the commotion, Ava’s hood fell down, and her sunglasses slipped off.
The little boy’s mouth dropped open and his eyes grew huge as he stared at Ava like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Princess?” the little boy asked under his breath.
Ava scrambled to put her hood and sunglasses back on.
The excited child started yelling at the top of his lungs. “The princess is here! The princess is here!”
Ava tensed as people around them started to hurry over and get their phones ready to take pictures and videos.
“Oh my God, no,” Ava said as she frantically looked around for a way to escape.
Her panic grew when an older woman, who looked like she was in her eighties, took the first picture of her.
Ava froze like a trapped animal, then sprang into action, rushing past Justin.
“We have to go now!” she said as she passed him.
She wanted to run, but she knew that would draw even more attention to herself.
She needed to stay calm, cool, and collected, and get the hell out of there fast!
As she hurried off, she heard people firing questions at Justin.
“Was that the princess?!”
“That was her, wasn’t it?!”
Then she heard Justin laugh.
“What? No! Are you kidding?” he asked. “Me with the princess, that would be the day.”
Ava frowned. Even in her panic, it annoyed her to hear Justin say that.
? ? ?
When Ava burst into the greenhouse and shut the door behind her, she looked out the window to make sure no one had followed her.
The coast was clear.
Once she was sure no one was coming after her, she was able to catch her breath and look around the greenhouse. It was filled with gorgeous red and white poinsettias. On the wooden counters, there were baskets filled with sprigs of holly and mistletoe tied with red ribbons.
Under different circumstances, she might have appreciated how festive it looked, but right now, all she cared about was making sure no one had any pictures of her.
She quickly texted Edgar the details of what happened and what the woman looked like who had taken her picture and told him it was a code red.
He called her immediately without FaceTime.
“Edgar, hi, I’m sorry,” she said as soon as she picked up his call. “But I think it was only one person that got anything.”
“Our security team is on it,” Edgar said.
“Oh no!” she whispered into the phone when the door of the greenhouse swung open. “Someone’s coming in,” she said as she ran and hid under a table.
“Are you okay?” Edgar asked, worried. “Where are you? I can send in security right now!”
“I’m at the gree—” Ava stopped talking when she saw Justin. “Never mind, Edgar, it’s only Justin.” She stood back up. “Please let me know when you find that paparazzo who took my picture and be sure any pictures she has of me are destroyed. I’ll be home soon.”
Frazzled, Ava hung up and was met with Justin’s surprised look.
“Who were you talking about on the phone?” Justin asked. “I didn’t see any paparazzi.”
Ava gave him a shocked look. “You didn’t see that woman taking pictures of us?”
Justin laughed. “That grandmother?”
“The paparazzi have all kinds of disguises,” Ava said, dead serious. “And how could you yell out ‘princess’? What were you thinking? That’s like waving a red flag to have everyone look at me—”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Justin said. “That little boy was about to run into you, and I was just trying to protect you both and—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Ava said. “The damage is done. Can you please just take me home?”
“What about finding Stormy?”
“Don’t you understand? My cover’s blown here,” Ava said in a high, thin voice. She sounded more scared than upset. “I can’t be here. You’re going to have to find him.”
“That’s not what we agreed to,” Justin said, disappointed.
A text alert from her phone saved Ava from having to respond.
When she read the text, her eyes it up. “It’s Lydia. They found Stormy!”
“Yes!” Justin, excited, pumped his fist into the air. “Where is he? Is he okay?”
“Yes,” Ava said, as relief flooded through her. “He’s been running around our Christmas market. See? Lydia sent a picture.”
Ava showed Justin a picture of Stormy sitting next to a candy cane booth.
“That’s him!” Justin shouted, excited. “Let’s go!”