Chapter 30 Amber
amber
Harini couldn’t make it, but Ramsey came and saved the day for my hair and makeup.
“Okay, I need your help.”
Ramsey paused as she held a curling iron. “What have I been doing for the last forty minutes?”
“I mean with clothing choices.”
“You don’t want my input, sister.”
I laughed. “I really do. I have this new song that’s a little less pop than I usually write. I need to make the clothes match.”
“You sure you want me to be helping there?”
“Yes. I know you have taste. Look what you did to my face. I’ve been stress eating and breaking out and you’re covering it all up. Now I need to do the same for clothes.”
“If you think I can find your pop princess Christmas demographic in a limited wardrobe, you’re delusional.”
I laughed. “Try.”
She sighed. “Let me hear this Christmas song.”
“Which one?”
She narrowed her gaze. “There’s only one, right?”
“Not anymore.”
“Fine.” She snapped the barrel of the curling iron. “Go ahead and assault my ears.”
The fact that I wasn’t offended by her was probably another layer to the change Haven had on me. “Okay, it’s not traditional.”
I’d finished the song the night before. I’d sent it to James for honest feedback and got the room full of rockstars from Winchester Falls in reply and an invitation to play it at The Barn’s Holiday Charity Concert.
I passed.
One holiday extravaganza was all I could handle, but I was less nervous about sharing an unreleased song.
I opened my phone and played the track. It was a simple piano ballad with a quiet, earnest tone.
It made me think of the quiet nights that Tate had given me, the road less traveled that turned out being the only one I ever wanted to be on, and the ache I didn’t realize I’d been living with for so long.
Ramsey listened as she pinned curls into whatever artistry she had going on in her mind.
Once the song was finished, she walked away and flicked through my wardrobe and came up with a snow white sweater that slipped off my shoulder with a lacey camisole in Christmas red, dark washed jeans, and my black boots with an icepick heel.
It was simple and small town, with an edge of Ambrose.
Nothing out of the ordinary, but it fit the song so well, I simply stared at it.
“You sure I can’t lure you away from Megan’s?”
She snorted. “Not with the client list you just gave me from your TikTok shout-out.”
I laughed. “Just remember you were mine first.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
I couldn’t stop the smile as I got dressed so she could finish my hair. In the mirror was a woman at peace. One I hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Stevie pounded up the stairs to my bedroom. “We’re ready with the cameras. I hope you know what kind of strings I had to pull to unearth your cameras from the tour.”
“They’re mine.”
“They’re worth a mint.”
“I know, which is why I made sure I was the one who bought them and could use them when needed.”
Stevie rolled her eyes. “Well, Louis is down there and ready to film your entrance.”
Nerves jumped in my belly. Doing this live meant that all the mistakes would be my own, but I knew the energy was what would sell this for the streaming mini-show.
“Just have Tate in front of the Wonderland of Lights sign. Everyone else is where they’re supposed to be?”
“This is your rodeo. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Me too.
“How much did we raise for the ticket sales?”
“The numbers are still coming in, but we’re well past a million. I just hope we don’t break the servers trying to stream this.”
“Holy crap.”
“Are you sure you want to give all this money away?”
I gave her a steady stare.
“Yeah, yeah. Christmas, I get it.”
“Whatever we make tonight will go to the artists here tonight, but anything else we make on future purchases we’ll collect for the food banks. They definitely need it this time of year.”
I stood up and smoothed my hand over the fluffy sweater. The sky-high heels activated the competence I’d spent years cultivating. I knew how to work a crowd, how to sing, and how to give them my heart.
Now, I just needed to give it to Tate, too.
I borrowed the golf cart again. This time it was Christmas-fied in the best way with all the lights and sparkles that would show up on camera. Full dark had fallen, and the new and improved Haven Winter Wonderland was lit to perfection.
I stood at the entrance for a full beat while Louis did all the readings he needed to calibrate his camera with the white sweater I was wearing.
“You glow, Ambrose.”
I smiled at my favorite cameraman. “Thanks. You ready to do this?”
He held up three fingers and did our usual countdown.
Showtime.