Chapter 2 #2
Lifting my gaze to Taj, I finally admitted, “It would probably depend on who you’re asking, but if I’m telling you how I feel, then I can say this. Every time I’ve ever listened to my gut and done what I wanted, I’ve found that it’s always made me the happiest.”
He returned the smile, and I put the snow globe back on the table.
“Then I think you should listen to yourself more often.”
“I’m learning that.” I took another sip of my hot chocolate. “So, you said you met your friends here. If this is such an important tradition that you’ve been doing since you were a kid, how is it that you spotted me?”
Taj hesitated briefly. “You were kind of difficult to miss.”
“I’m not sure if I should be insulted by that.”
In a move I hadn’t anticipated, he wrapped his arm around my back and brought his hand to my opposite shoulder. He gave me a light squeeze, forcing my belly to dip. “You shouldn’t be. I promise it’s a good thing.”
Taj released his hold on me, and for some strange reason, I immediately felt the loss. I could only assume it was because I’d had such a rough day and desperately wanted to have some level of comfort and affection. Not for anything beyond that.
“Will they be upset you ditched them?”
“My friends?” he countered. When I nodded, Taj insisted, “They’ll be fine. I told them I’d catch up with them later.”
After spending so many hours, days, weeks feeling so alone, it was nice to have someone to talk to who treated me like I was just a normal person.
There were no expectations—at least, none that I could sense at this point—and Taj wasn’t prying for details about why I’d wound up here in his hometown in my wedding gown.
I was so caught up in my thoughts about how nice this was that Taj broke the silence. “So, is it just Christmas trees, or is it all things related to Christmas that you love?”
It seemed it’d be impossible for me to wipe the smile from my face. “It’s Christmas. I guess I can’t say there’s anything I despise about it. But mostly, it’s all about the tree for me.”
“Why do you love it so much?”
Could I tell him the truth?
I hadn’t even told him my real name. How could I spill everything to him?
I decided to go with an honest answer that wasn’t necessarily the entire truth.
“First, they’re beautiful. One day, I want to have my own home that I can plant dozens and dozens of Christmas trees behind, so every winter, when it snows, I can look out at them.
But I guess I have an extra special appreciation for them now, because my work schedule was rather chaotic for a very long time, and it’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to have one of my own. ”
“That makes sense. I’m glad, if nothing else, you got to see the lighting of this big one here tonight.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Yeah. Me, too.”
Taj and I walked along for a little while longer in comfortable silence, stopping occasionally to look at the tables of several vendors and their holiday trinkets.
It was so nice to just be without any of the pressure.
Refreshing, in fact. I didn’t know what it was that made Taj look my way tonight, but I was grateful for whatever it was.
Because he’d taken my mind off the worst part of my day and allowed me to just forget it ever happened.
Best of all, I didn’t have to pretend to be some picture-perfect image of someone that had been honed my whole life.
Finally, I said, “This has been lovely tonight, Taj. But I should probably head back to the hotel.”
“I had a nice time, too. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Would it be okay if I walked you back?”
I didn’t sense anything behind that question. Taj appeared to be genuinely interested in escorting me there safely.
Nodding, I said, “If you don’t mind, I’d love that.”
The two of us made our way toward the entrance to the park and walked out. I was surprised that Taj wasn’t remotely fazed by walking beside a woman in a wedding dress and his jacket. Even I knew I had to look ridiculous to anyone who saw me.
We made it to the hotel, and Taj walked me inside, where I lifted my hands to the zipper of the jacket. “Thank you for allowing me to wear this.”
Taj curled his fingers around my wrist and halted my movements. “It’s okay. Keep it.”
“Keep your jacket?”
He nodded. “I’ve got dozens of them. And considering your current predicament, at least it’ll give you two things to wear while you’re here in Rising Sun.”
I laughed. “Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You did it.”
Taj tipped his head to the side. “Did what?”
I licked my lips and smiled. “This day will no longer be the day I left my fiancé at the altar.”
“Oh?”
Shaking my head, I revealed, “Today will be the day I met a stranger in the park by the Christmas tree.”
“That sounds fascinating.” A proud look washed over him. “It was wonderful to meet you, Oaklee. I had a great time talking with you.”
Part of me felt bad that I’d lied about my name. But I couldn’t bring myself to reveal the truth now. Not when he’d turned my day around, and I’d never see him again. “I had a wonderful time, too. Thank you for the hot cocoa, the conversation, and the jacket.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Goodnight, Taj.”
“Goodnight.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
I waited until he was gone before I strode to the elevator and rode it to my floor. And when I finally crawled into bed still wearing his jacket, I couldn’t stop my night with him from replaying over and over in my head.