39. Nalini
Chapter thirty-nine
Nalini
The park looked like a magical winter wonderland.
Icicle lights hung from the edges of the tents and game booths, food trucks created a pavilion, and most surprisingly of all, the ice rink had been restored.
Mary-Marigold had been hinting at some sort of big surprise for the past week, one she was certain would make everyone excited, and while some had assumed it meant Kam was performing, the ice rink was better.
That had to be what he’d been working on.
He’d been coming and going, taking mysterious phone calls, and overall seemed like he’d been stressed out of his mind.
The ice rink was a part of Briar Hill that had died years ago.
But now it was better than ever, with new fencing, new lights, and a brand new skate rental stand.
It was the exact thing I would’ve expected from someone in my Christmas movies, and I thought my heart would explode out of my chest. It wasn’t just for me, not when I saw the way Cassidy’s entire face lit up.
He’d done it for both of us, so we’d both get one last little bit of holiday magic.
“Dad!” she exclaimed when she saw him at the tent that'd be Kam and my workspace for the next few hours, “There’s ice skating!”
“Really? I didn’t notice,” Kam chuckled before pulling out a pair of skates that were just Cassidy’s size. She squealed with excitement before seeing some of her friends and running to them.
“Is she as graceful as her Mom on the ice?” I asked Kam.
“Absolutely not, she’s terrible,” Kam admitted, “but she loves it anyway. She and Julia would always end their shopping days at the ice rink.”
“How did you pull off getting it fixed?” I asked, starting to fill up cups from the containers of cocoa.
“Honestly, most of it wasn’t me,” Kam admitted, “Silas earmarked money this year for the restoration, and instead of getting a big company we decided to hire people who needed the extra money because of the fire and wanted to help out. And it fell into place from there. I was just in charge of making sure it was done in time.”
Kam was laying out all the toppings for the cocoa bar, as I looked around and saw Mary-Marigold handing out ticket baskets for the booths. Everything at the Festival cost tickets, including the food and the drink stations, and the more tickets everyone bought, the more money was raised.
By the time the Festival started, despite the disaster it had been in the planning stages, everything felt perfect. Families walked around, playing games and doing activities. Everyone flocked to the ice skating rink, which was blasting the same ten winter songs over and over.
Cassidy and her friends checked in every so often, each of them on a sugar high from the amount of sweets they were consuming. And while Kam forced Cassidy to eat a burger from one of the food trucks, I wasn’t sure any of her friends actually had real food.
It was loud, it was friendly, and it was Briar Hill.
But the best part was the number of people who came up to Kam just to talk.
Mr. Robinson asked if he wanted any books on order, a huge difference from when he had tried icing Kam out months ago.
And I was pretty sure, he gave Kam permission to finally call him "Frank.
" Mayor Silas came to thank Kam for all the work he’d done, and made sure Kam planned to listen to his speech later.
Even Peri told him she took the permanent ban off him checking out books from the library, which had probably shocked him the most.
It was nice to see he was no longer an outsider, and that by taking on so much with the Festival, he’d charmed his way back into the hearts of Briar Hill.
I needed to thank Misty for the tip she gave him; it was inspired, and I could see her giving Kam smug “I-told-you-so” looks from the bake sale tent across the aisle.
The hours passed quickly, and while I was cold and tired, I couldn’t stop smiling.
Every so often we’d have a lull, and Kam would sneak in a kiss, and I was certain both my best friends noticed.
But I didn’t care; it felt right. It wasn’t an official hard-launch to our relationship, but I wasn’t afraid of what would happen if people did see.
In fact, for the first time, I believed Kam was right: I’d punished myself too much for things that weren’t my fault.
And I wouldn’t have to let him go; he’d find a way to protect me like he’d done for his daughter.
I sighed, letting myself be at peace, and for what felt like the first time, I didn’t feel guilty about it.
I wanted him to be my boyfriend. I wanted to figure out where things would go.
I knew we’d be able to figure it out, even if it scared me.
My therapist was going to be so proud.
As we started to shut down the tents, the time came for my favorite part of New Year’s.
With so much of the National Forest so close to us, we weren’t allowed to do fireworks, so instead we had the Annual Candle Wish.
Everyone got one of those cheap candles, worked together as a town to light them, counted down to the new year, and then we all blew them out and made a wish at the strike of midnight.
And, of course, Mayor Silas always made a speech during the event, which really was an excuse to give everyone time to grab their candles.
“It’s times like these we see Briar Hill truly come together,” the mayor started, talking into what was probably the most basic of microphones.
“The Daisy Chain Apartment fire was one of the biggest setbacks our community has faced. And tonight, I’m happy to announce we raised five thousand dollars to help the victims of the fire!
” I was truly shocked by the number; the most I’d ever heard of raising in a single night was around two thousand.
“Now, I know we have candles to light and wishes to make,” the mayor continued, “but tonight couldn’t have happened without two very special members of our community.
The first, to nobody’s surprise, is my amazing wife Mary-Marigold,” everyone politely clapped, as they did every time she arranged one of these events.
“However, it’s the second who I want to thank the most. I know this town has a very complicated relationship with the band RaineFall, and most of us remember how insane our tiny town got when the band took off.
It was great for tourism, and terrible for everything else. ”
Misty gave me a nudge, and I knew the mayor was putting it lightly.
But he was right; it wasn’t just me who suffered.
The hiking fans were pushed out of their resort and campsites, the RaineFall fans swarmed the town without actually buying anything that didn’t have the boys’ faces on it.
Nobody was happy, and we were all glad the “visit where RaineFall grew up” trend didn’t last longer than the first summer — when most fans realized that unless you liked trees, you wouldn’t have much to do here.
“But Kameron Raine has more than proven that he belongs in this community,” the mayor continued, as everyone turned and smiled at him, “He could've used his celebrity to turn our town into something it’s not. And instead, he’s focused on making sure he and his little girl have a home here.
This Festival wouldn’t have happened without him this year, and I, for one, am grateful to have him back. ”
There were louder cheers for this, as I watched Kam blush. There were plenty of people who looked at him and saw Kam Raine the rockstar, but I was glad the town saw him just as Kameron Raine, with his big heart and his obnoxious need to try and fix whatever he could.
We lit our candles and counted down to midnight, ushering in the new year as we blew them out and made our wishes. This year, I wished that Kam and I would make it. That I'd be this happy for the rest of my life. With him beside me.