Chapter 11 #2
He agreed, of course, and began to understand how her knot in the Yearweave had formed. There was nothing naughty about relying on herself, but accepting help was as important as offering it, especially when it came to spreading joy.
“Okay. So what’s next on this tour?” he asked her.
“The entertainment venue. We have a new group this year who are doing an exciting acrobatic display. It’s so different to what we had last year. I’m hoping it will wow everyone.”
As he followed her through the rest of the park, it was obvious how much love and attention she’d put into the festival.
Effort was a big part of who she was, but she was directing it toward the wrong things.
The spectacle was important and Cora was brilliant at that, but what was missing was heart, those magical details that he wanted to show her how to add.
It wasn’t enough to make her good for one year; this had to be a change at her core and he was beginning to see how it might be accomplished, but would it be in time?
Cora donned her riding boots over her leggings and a long tunic sweater. Snow had been falling steadily all day, leaving her home surrounded by a winter wonderland. One more day until the festival opened.
Everything was in place. There was no need to panic. But still something didn’t feel right as she got in her Jeep and drove to the grounds.
Parking in her assigned spot, she noticed there was a big red pickup truck along with a van that read Bari Toys on the side of it. Oh, yay, Nick’s here.
As if she hadn’t been conscious of his whereabouts all day. She told herself she’d do a quick walk-through to check on his progress with the enormous amount of work he’d taken on, and then she’d leave.
Of course the first person she noticed when she walked in was Pete. Around Pete she felt a kind of unease that made it very difficult for her to breathe. He intimidated her, which she totally hated because she was a strong, confident woman and feared no one.
Nick yelled something from behind Pete and her breath stuck in throat.
He wore faded jeans and the sleeves of his shirt were pushed up, but he wore a pair of work gloves.
Pete responded to whatever Nick had said and she stood in the shade of the ticketing booths watching as both men carried a large cord of wood into the toy castle.
Cora didn’t bother to pretend she wasn’t ogling Nick as he passed by her position.
His biceps bulged and she admired the definition of his forearms. He and his cousin looked easy together, laughing, shoulder to shoulder, but there was an edge beneath it.
Despite being raised in the same family, they’d adopted opposite philosophies, both believing in good for goodness’ sake but in different ways.
Nick believed in redemption while Pete believed in consequences.
She was on the fence. Consequences mattered in order to uphold fairness but she believed that people could change—if they wanted to.
“Hello, Cora.” Pete noticed her first.
A look of surprise popped up on Nick’s face. “Came to check up on me?”
“Definitely. If you screw anything up, it’ll be on me. I’m the director after all,” she said. That was nothing less than the truth. What Nick had described to her as they’d walked through the convention space sounded perfect, but she wouldn’t believe it until she saw it.
To be fair to Nick, if anyone could pull it off, it was him.
“We’re just putting the finishing touches on a few buildings. Pete’s treating me to his special eggnog to celebrate. Want to join us?” he asked her. “Or do you have other workers to go and micromanage?”
She made a face at him. “If you’re working to my standards then you have nothing to worry about.”
Pete laughed and Nick winked at her. “I guarantee you won’t find a thing to complain about.”
“We’ll see.” She followed them both through the castle entrance, stopping as she saw that the space had indeed been transformed into the village Nick had described.
The toy booths were all designed to look like traditional shops with wrought-iron arms protruding from the sides of the buildings and handcrafted wooden signs for each of the vendors.
The flooring looked like real cobblestones dusted in snow.
She felt… Oh damn. There was that familiar warmth wrapping around her and the snow globe in her stomach had been shaken but was now settled as snowflakes drifted down like magic. She felt … like she belonged here.
“How did you have time to do all of this?” she asked.
“I got my workshop involved.”
“Shouldn’t they be busy making the WonderHaus?” she asked. How could he have pulled this off and still be confident he could deliver all the products? It was rare that anyone overdelivered. That was the only reason for the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach when she looked at Nick.
It had nothing to do with the fact that as she walked through the castle, she felt transported to some dream, storybook Christmas village.
It was like a memory, but not one she’d ever had.
It was as if the buildings and path had been here for hundreds of years and even the walls had been painted so now it looked like snowy mountains receding in the distance.
It was as if the toy castle was nestled in a valley protected from the outside world.
This was going to blow away last year’s event. This was exactly what Cora had been trying to create but she hadn’t been able to do it on her own. Pete and Nick had gone to drop off the wood they were carrying but she lingered in front of each building, admiring the detailed work.
The awe that enveloped her didn’t wane as she turned the corner.
The food court was modeled to look like you were in a homey castle kitchen, as Nick had suggested.
Instead of couches, though, he’d put in long wooden trestle tables with benches on either side of them, making the space capacity friendly and encouraging people to talk to each other.
The fireplaces crackled and smelled of real wood burning, and smoked curled from the chimneys of the buildings. Damn him! She’d told him no real flames.
“Nick!” she called out.
He came out of the kitchen area.
“Yes?”
“No fires in here. What’s burning?”
Nick walked over to her and slung his arm around her shoulder like they were pals. Pals. Not like she’d been on her knees in front of him two days ago.
“Cora, Cora, Cora,” he tsked. “As if I would break one of your rules.”
“It smells like there’s a fire burning in those buildings,” she pointed out.
“It’s only a scent. The smoke is infused with it.” He leaned in close, his head next to hers as he pointed to the nearest building. “We put smoke machines in each of the chimneys.”
Of course he had.
That snow globe was back in her belly as it always was when Nick was close to her. If she turned her head, she could kiss him. That thought made her pulse beat faster and every fiber of her being go on high alert.
“Thanks,” she managed to say.
“Nothing to it. Ready for the eggnog?”
No. She should bolt out of this place and go back to her nice, safe home where things made sense.
But instead she followed Nick to the back where they’d set up a very cozy break room situation for the staff.
Here were the couches and an electric fireplace and it made her uncomfortable because she wanted to stay there.
It was cozy and homey—the opposite of her cold, dark home with no decorations and no one to tease her about her momentary panic.
What was he doing to her?