Chapter 16
SATURDAY
CHELSEY STOPPED A few paces from the stage and glanced back at Taylor.
His face was hidden in shadows, and she couldn’t tell if he was smiling or frowning or even looking at her.
What did he think of Dan’s surprise announcement?
Did it matter? It shouldn’t, but the ache in her chest told her otherwise.
Was this the universe telling her where she should be? What about her heart? She didn’t have time right then to listen. The crowd surged around her, pushing her forward. She straightened her shoulders and faced the stage and her future.
What if Taylor could be her future? She stumbled, literally, over that thought. She caught herself on the rail as she climbed the stairs to a beaming Dan Walker. She put her hands on her cheeks. Was she beaming?
Dan was giving her the chance she’d worked for and dreamed of for years.
She would have total control of the decisions for the events.
That should make her excited. But tonight, something inside her, a whisper to her soul, told Chelsey life would be infinitely different if she chose to follow her heart.
“Thank you, Dan.” Chelsey pasted on her best Ms. Strawberry Days smile. Her eyes were dry, her mind blank, and her legs wobbly. Food and sleep were high on her list in the next thirty minutes. “I’m still in shock that you’re retiring. You’re only forty-two, right?”
People laughed and someone shouted, “He had a pet dinosaur once!”
As the crowd razzed Dan and he good-naturedly took it, Chelsey thought of her answer. She’d wanted this promotion for years and worked hard for it. Not necessarily Dan’s spot, though it was more than she ever imagined. Then why did she feel like a heavy weight just settled on her shoulders?
“I’m honored you would think of me,” Chelsey said cautiously.
Dan nodded absently. Did he really want to let his company go? Or was he relieved to be able to step back?
“I know this team can take your company to even greater heights. You’ve been the best mentor I could ask for, and I want to make you proud.
” She swallowed down the lump in her throat.
She didn’t have the luxury of analyzing her feelings now.
This was security and honor. Influence. A future measured in seasons and schedules.
As Dan pulled her into a one-armed hug, she glanced out over the crowd and found Taylor. He still leaned against the aspen tree, and he wasn’t clapping. He was still, eyes locked on her, something like pride and restraint and love flickering across his face all at the same time.
Chelsey put a hand on her chest and sighed inwardly as clarity hit her.
He’s letting me choose. No pressure, no expectations.
What would he choose if she stayed?
The crowd and noise faded as Chelsey suddenly understood that loving a place and loving a person didn’t guarantee the same future.
Not yet.
DAN STOPPED CHELSEY when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’m so sorry to spring this on you like I did. I’ve given a lot of thought to this, but only recently did I find a motivation for moving forward.”
“You’ve been thinking about this for a while?” Chelsey studied his face. “You had the chance to talk to me the other day when we met.”
“I didn’t want to bother you while you were working on this.” Dan gestured around. He frowned then sighed. “Will you forgive me? I’m a coward.”
She took his hand. “You’ve never been a coward. She must be pretty special for you to give your company to a rookie.” She laughed as his face reddened. “You’re blushing, Mr. Walker.”
Dan rubbed a hand over his face. “How did you figure it out?”
“You’ve been wearing cologne for the last few months.”
He laughed. “Your mom could read me like an open book, and you’re every bit as good as her.” The laughter faded from his eyes and his expression grew serious.
“I regret not spending more time with your mom, but there was always so much to do at work, and I took for granted that she’d always be around. . .then she got sick. I don’t want to have regrets this time.”
Chelsey didn’t trust herself to speak, so she just nodded. Dan had every right to live his life on his terms, they all did. What did she want? This new job?
“Good, good.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’ll call a meeting soon so I can talk with everyone. Does that work?”
“Yes, but my phone and laptop will be off while I’m sleeping.”
Dan snapped his fingers with a smile. “Good for you. I’ll send this memo out later. It’s not urgent now that we have the biggest event of the valley under our belts. Everyone can take a much-needed break.”
They were interrupted by a surge of Dan’s friends eager to congratulate him on his retirement.
As he turned to accept their praise, Chelsey had a wave of nostalgia wash over her.
She wished her mom were here. Dan would’ve surely named Rhonda Hooper as his replacement and not her daughter.
The news of Dan leaving would rock their little community.
The Walker name was synonymous with Juniper Valley.
Was nostalgia the emotion keeping Chelsey tied to the Event Planners and Juniper Valley? Was that enough?
“Oh, my word.” Heather ran up to Chelsey and pulled her into a tight hug, her strawberry charms on her bracelet happily jangling. “I can’t believe this is happening right now.” She studied Chelsey’s face. “Is this everything you dreamed it would be?”
Chelsey tried to control the tremble in her lower lip. Her emotions were usually all over the spectrum of relief and giddiness after a big event. Not tonight. Somehow this one was different. She stood at a crossroads of her life. Take the easy way or the one that scared her most.
“Everything,” Chelsey said without feeling. She needed to get away from Heather’s all-knowing gaze. Time for a distraction. “Time to clean up and go home to crash.”
Someone turned on a cleaning song. People chuckled and sang along as they started to pick up trash and put away tables.
Clean up. Everybody, do my share.
A few people were still paying for their winning bids as the city’s crew started the cleanup. Chelsey picked up a few programs that were scattered around the empty stage and threw them in the trash.
She couldn’t remember a more successful auction in all the years her mom had run it.
More than two hundred people attended. She wasn’t sure how many showed up to bid on Mason McCormick, but he was easily the highlight of the night.
He stayed after to take selfies with fans and handed out signed baseballs to the vets.
It solidified his place as the local small-town-boy-turned-pro-millionaire hero.
They’d easily made over twenty-five thousand dollars tonight. Last year’s auction only brought in twelve thousand. They’d doubled last year’s figures, making Chelsey a little heady. She leaned against the stage, resting a minute.
“Water bottle?” Mason leaned against the stage next to her.
Mason was a year older than her and Taylor.
They were all friends in high school, but she wasn’t part of his inner circle.
She’d watched him play ball on TV and went to one of his home games with her mom.
His persona on and off the field were completely different.
On the field and the screen, he was all charm and white-teeth smiles.
Behind the scenes, he was quiet and kind.
“Thank you.” She opened the bottle and drank, soothing her throat if not her mind.
“Taylor’s lucky, you know,” Mason said.
“Why is that?”
“Traveling for business can be very lonely.”
“Staying in one place can be as well.”
Mason nodded as he glanced out over the square. “Leaving Juniper was the right call for me. For Taylor too. Different reasons, but both following dreams. Doesn’t mean it was painless.”
Chelsey took another sip of water.
“Sometimes it’s hard,” Mason said. “You’ll miss birthdays. Inside jokes that start without you. Traditions that keep going and don’t wait.” He paused, then added, “But you gain things too. Perspective. Choice. The chance to come back different instead of stuck.”
Mason was quiet for a moment, then said, “When my dad died, staying here felt like suffocating. Every time I threw a ball, I thought of him and his support. I wouldn’t see him in the stands anymore, cheering me on, so I left for places that weren’t reminders.”
Chelsey nodded slowly. “When my mom died, leaving felt impossible. Like if I went too far, she’d fade.” She swallowed. “So, I stayed and learned how to grieve by building her name up with events.”
Mason looked at her, something soft settling in his expression. “Guess we both did what we had to.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Different directions. Same reason.”
He smiled, the kind that held respect instead of regret. “Doesn’t make either of us wrong.”
“No,” Chelsey agreed. “Just human.”
She waited a beat before asking him the question she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to. “Do you ever regret it?”
He shook his head. “No. But I respect what it costs.” He met her eyes, steady and kind without a hint of arrogance. “Leaving doesn’t mean you love this place less. It just means you trusted yourself enough to grow.”
Chelsey exhaled as the truth of it settled in her chest.
He tipped his water bottle toward her. “Take care of each other,” he said. “And don’t worry about old Juniper. It doesn’t need you to stay. It just wants you to remember.”
Her nerves settled the teeniest bit at his words. “I’m not sure what the future holds right now.”
“You do know.” Mason tapped his chest. “You just have to give yourself permission to say yes.”
Someone called his name. He slipped on his sunglasses that he didn’t need in the dark and smirked. “Fame is calling.”
“Sure it is.” She rolled her eyes.
“Hey, what did McCormick want?” Taylor took Mason’s spot.
“Giving me advice.” Taylor stiffened next to her. “Unsolicited advice.”
Her eyelids were suddenly very, very heavy and the idea of sleeping on a city bench sounded heavenly. Over a month of nonstop planning and executing the auction had finally caught up to her and she was ready to let her body shut down and heal with a long night’s rest.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Taylor her took her by her elbow and led her to a bench.
Chelsey closed her eyes tight against the way her heart thumped at Taylor’s touch.
“I think she just needs a minute to breathe. We made a lot of money tonight.” Heather’s voice held a hint of awe. “I think I might need to sit down, too.” She sat on the other side of Chelsey.
Once she felt centered, she glanced at the people rallying around her. Taylor, Heather and Rodney all held cups of strawberries and cream and stared at her.
“Are all of those for me?” Chelsey reached for the one in Taylor’s hand. She took a long drink of the sweet cream and relaxed. Sugar coma, here we come. “I might just eat them all.”
“Why don’t we get some protein into you before you do that?” Taylor asked.
“Should I go get some burgers?” Rodney walked a couple of steps backward before he stopped with a big grin. Rodney patted his pocket and opened his eyes wide at Chelsey.
Chelsey almost choked on a piece of a strawberry. How had she forgotten about Rodney’s plan? This was Heather’s big night and Chelsey had almost blown it with her own little freak-out. She turned slightly to face Taylor’s and casually pointed to her left ring finger.
Rodney straightened his bowtie and tugged on Heather’s hand to help her to her feet. He put his arm around her waist and whispered something that made her giggle.
Chelsey leaned against Taylor without thinking.
“They look happy,” he whispered close to her ear, moving a strand of hair with his breath.
Chelsey grabbed her phone out of her skirt pocket and texted both sides of the family. “Rodney asked me to video the proposal so the two families can enjoy it later.”
“Do you want to stand?” He put his arm around her waist to stabilize her and help her stand. She held her phone eyelevel, ready to press the record button when Rodney got down on one knee.
Out of the corner of her eye, Chelsey saw Jones and James family members gather quietly in the shadows of the trees around the sides of the grassy area.
Rodney guided Heather up the gazebo steps by her hand then pulled her into a hug, which turned into a slow dance. Rodney had told Chelsey he had “their” song all queued and ready to go. “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” by Rod Stewart floated over the breeze back to Chelsey and Taylor.
“I had no idea Rodney James was such a romantic.” Taylor’s breath tickled her cheek, and Chelsey shivered.
What was she doing? Why was she allowing herself to become so comfortable in Taylor’s presence and arms?
“They stopped dancing,” Taylor whispered against her ear.
“Oh.” Startled, Chelsey fumbled her phone. She caught it before it dropped and touched the record button.
Rodney took both of Heather’s hands and knelt in front of her.
Chelsey covered her mouth so her happy sigh didn’t sound on the video.
Rodney pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it.
Heather’s squeal of delight echoed over the back lawn.
Their families ran to them, yelling and cheering as they went.
Several people stopped their cleanup and looked around to find the source of the ruckus.
When they realized what was happening, they cheered for the happy couple.
Rodney stood and Heather leaped into his arms.
Taylor’s grip tightened around Chelsey’s waist. Her brain told her to move, but her heart enjoyed the comfort of his embrace for the moment.
“Perfect,” Taylor said, and she wondered if additional meaning laced his words.
“Perfect,” Chelsey replied in a hushed tone because right there and now, the world had righted, and everything really was perfect.
Heather pulled away from Rodney and allowed him to put the ring on her finger. She said something, he replied, then they were in each other’s arms, kissing.
Kissing. Chelsey tilted her head ever so slightly to look at Taylor.
If she moved her head an inch more, her lips would line up with his.
She studied him as he became aware of her closeness and gaze.
He waited for her permission and when she gave the slightest nod, he bent down, toward her lips and dropped a sweet chaste kiss.