Chapter Ten #2
Reluctantly letting go of Maggie’s hand, Walker picked up his daughter, then tried to direct her attention toward his sister as Amy clicked. Maggie had stepped back so that it was just him and Zo by the tree.
“You too,” Amy encouraged.
Maggie hesitated and Walker shook his head. “Enough pics, sis. Let’s get this tree decorated while Zo is still all smiles.”
“Oh, okay.” Amy started to place the phone on the coffee table but then held it up instead.
Ben leaned in next to her, smiled big, and she snapped a selfie.
“Would you like me to take one of you and Ben?” Maggie asked, perhaps realizing Walker was reluctant to offer.
Taking Amy’s phone, she snapped a few photos.
Walker busied himself with Zoie, guiding her hand to put the plastic ornament on the tree. “Good job,” he praised, kissing her cheek.
Soon, with everyone helping, all the ornaments were on the tree. They stood back, admiring their efforts.
“You’re right. That is a magical tree. It’s beautiful.” Maggie sounded almost breathless.
Turning toward her, Walker couldn’t help but think Maggie was what was beautiful. And magical, because looking at her it was difficult to remember that not so long ago his heart had been ripped out and trampled upon.
“I agree. Now, Maggie, you and Ben are here so you have to go along with our Christmas tradition of popping popcorn and watching a Christmas movie while stringing some of it to drape on the fireplace.”
“The fireplace? Don’t popcorn strings usually go on the tree?” Maggie asked, confused.
“In most houses it probably does.” Walker and Amy exchanged looks. Smiling, he felt his tension ease as he said, “Growing up, we wasted too much throwing it back and forth at each other to ever have long enough strings to decorate the tree.”
“Mom would always take what we’d done and hang it from the mantle,” Amy added, smiling back at him.
Walker hadn’t thought of that in years.
Amy hadn’t mentioned doing it at past Christmases since their parents had died. Yet again, Walker congratulated himself on their decision to move to Pine Hill. Best decision ever. Now, he just had to not let anything mar the positivity and healing of the small Kentucky town.
That included protecting his sister from getting hurt by his friend without being a jerk about it and his own not falling for the tough, but oh-so-fragile woman looking at him with compassion in her eyes, as if she somehow knew that Amy suggesting the popcorn was a big deal.
Did Maggie also know how much having her in his house was a big deal?
How big of a deal it was that she’d decorated the tree with him, Zoie, and Amy?
Did Ben? How could Walker have gone from thinking he’d likely never date again less than a year ago to …
to whatever this was he was doing with Maggie?
*
“So, how was tree decorating with Walker?”
Maggie stopped by the small room where her hostess sewed.
Sarah had red, white, and blue fabric pieces pinned together.
Jeannie was with her, covering her doll with scrap fabric.
Even though Bodie was home, she’d seen him in the yard tossing a ball to Harry in the fading evening light, Maggie had wanted to put eyes on Sarah prior to going to her room.
With lunch, finding and purchasing the tree, then decorating it with Walker, Amy, Ben, and Zoie, she’d been away from Hamilton House much longer than she’d expected.
Then there was the movie and popcorn. How was tree decorating?
“Fine.” Wonderful. Terrible. Awkward. Cozy. Could Maggie think of any more opposite, yet accurate, adjectives to describe her afternoon with Walker? “It wasn’t just us. Ben, Amy, and Zoie were there too.”
Sarah clasped her hands with delight. “Ben was there? That’s wonderful.”
“Walker didn’t think so.”
Sarah’s eyes darkened with concern. “Walker doesn’t like Ben? How is that even possible? Ben is the sweetest guy, and I thought they were good friends.”
Grateful that Sarah was more focused on the other couple than on her and Walker, Maggie shrugged. “They are good friends, but Walker doesn’t want Ben dating his sister.”
Sarah winced. “Oh dear. Was there trouble?”
“Not really other than that there was tension between them at times. All at Walker’s doing, honestly.
I barely know them, but sensed Amy wanted them to make peace.
I think she’d hoped the relaxed atmosphere of stringing popcorn while watching an iconic Christmas cartoon would soften Walker to the idea of her and Ben. ”
“But it didn’t?”
Maggie shook her head. “There were moments when we were all laughing, but the underlying tension never completely disappeared. I think everyone was ready to call it an evening by the time Ben and I left.” She’d insisted upon leaving with Ben rather than Walker getting out to drive her home.
It only made sense since Ben would be driving by Hamilton House anyway. Walker hadn’t liked that, either, by his initial look. However, he’d given in to common sense.
“No wonder, if they weren’t getting along. Amy is crazy about her brother. If Walker doesn’t approve of her involvement with Ben that would certainly make things stressed.” Sarah leaned back in her sewing chair and regarded Maggie. “I hope that didn’t ruin your afternoon with Walker and Zoie.”
“I had no expectations of my afternoon.” Maggie had been grateful in some ways for Walker’s distraction toward Ben and Amy.
It meant he’d been less focused on her. Less focused was a good thing because she’d enjoyed their time at Harvey Farms. Too much.
At his house, things had felt too homey.
Like when Amy had them pose for the photo and Walker held her hand.
His strong hand holding hers had been a bit surreal.
Oh, yeah, in many ways, she’d been grateful Ben had been there to keep Walker distracted.
If only Ben could have kept her distracted from Walker.
“I love that scarf and hat! The red looks great on you. You need more color in your wardrobe.” Sarah stood from the sewing machine and stretched her hands over her head. “Is that one Janie B sells at Harvey Farms? They are so gorgeous.”
“It is.” Maggie didn’t elaborate.
Sarah’s smile said Maggie didn’t need to. Ugh. How could Sarah possibly know that Walker had given the scarf to her? Or maybe Maggie was just being paranoid?
“There’s soup in the fridge if you’re hungry,” Sarah offered, stretching her hands up over her head.
“Thanks, but I’m fine.” Recalling Walker pointing out how often she said this, Maggie fought sighing.
The man was in her head. Saying she was fine, eating soup because that was what they’d had at the café, breathing, pretty much everything. He was there. In her head and hopefully nowhere else.
“It’s been a long day. I’m going to call it a night.”
She had a lot to sort through. Things like how she was going to deal with judging the rest of the Grandma Games with Walker without getting caught up in some misguided notion of falling for him.
Or having him fall for her like he seemed to be doing, as unbelievable as that was.
She didn’t want to add to his bad luck with women since the best as she could tell, Walker was actually a good guy.
Then again, she’d been wrong before.
*
“And the winner is the Hallalujah HoneyBs,” Sarah announced over the PA system the following Saturday evening during the Pine Hill Christmas cookie contest. Amazingly, Janie B’s apple butter bites drizzled with what the woman described as Christmas caramel, had topped Claudia’s sugary Christmas confections.
The contest had been close. Both cookies were melt-in-your-mouth superb, but the final point tally had gone in Janie B’s favor.
So far, the cookie baking contest was Walker’s favorite event.
He planned to snag a couple of Janie B’s cookies to take home with him.
“Don’t look now but we’re getting the evil eyes from four Butterflies,” Maggie warned from where they stood at the far end of the tables that had been set up with the cookies.
Fortunately, they’d gotten to taste them in the privacy of inside the courthouse and mark their scores on a form to then give to Sarah.
“I’m not looking.” Walker refused to look anywhere except at Maggie directly.
He’d not seen her since she’d left his house with Ben.
Walker really hadn’t liked not seeing her for six days and that she’d left with his coworker.
Ben, though, he had seen at the firehall that week.
They’d mostly avoided each other, which had been made easier by their Christmas events away from the firehall.
“If not for how delicious those cookies were, I’d think I might have been better off with playing Santa.
Not that I buy that Cole was serious about letting me.
You should have seen him this week when we were at Pine Hill elementary.
That man is in his element while wearing a fuzzy red suit. Who knew?”
Walker wouldn’t have given up the time he was spending with Maggie during judging the contest, either. No matter what else was going on, he knew he could count on seeing her on Saturdays for the Grandma Games.
“Cole being Santa boggles the mind,” Maggie said from where she stood beside him.
Unlike him, she kept looking out at the crowd, almost as if she were searching for someone.
She always seemed on edge, as if she couldn’t quite relax.
He assumed that had to do with her military days.
He imagined once someone served in a hostile environment that it would be difficult to ever truly transition to not being on alert.
“I know, right? But my buddy makes a great Santa. If the real Saint Nick ever holds auditions for a replacement, Cole is likely to be first in line.”
“The North Pole is probably the one place that Sophie would be willing to move away from Pine Hill to go to. Sarah and I have been by The Threaded Needle several times this week to help get ready for the Christmas hat making contest next Saturday.” Maggie glanced toward where Sarah had gone over to talk with the cookie contestants.
“The teams will already have their contest entries made and will showcase them on a makeshift catwalk. I’ve been assured that the hats are going to be amazing and so much fun. ”
Walker laughed. “They’ll be interesting. We don’t have much left to go on this contest. Maybe we’ll survive it yet.”
“Maybe.” Half smiling, she glanced his way. “How were things at work this week?”
Knowing what she meant, Walker sighed. “I offered to buy a plot down at Pine Hill cemetery for him if he hurt Amy.”
Maggie arched a brow. “Subtlety is obviously your strong suit.”
“Obviously.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been taking care of her since she was fifteen. It’s my job to protect her from predators.”
“A predator? Seriously?” Maggie snorted. “Ben hardly comes across as a bad guy.”
Walker cut his gaze to Maggie. Did she think that Ben was harmless, and that Walker was being too tough on his coworker?
“Ben has had five girlfriends during the time I’ve known him. That’s not including Amy,” he pointed out. “I’ve lived in Pine Hill less than a year. That’s not a great track record.”
Maggie shrugged. “We talked while in the car Sunday evening about Amy, you, his dating history. Well, I listened, and he talked. He dates a lot because he doesn’t waste time once he figures out whether or not someone is the one.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know or that makes me feel better about my sister being involved with him.”
“There are those who would appreciate his not wasting their time continuing a relationship that isn’t going to work. Maybe you should relax, trust his process, trust Amy, and let this come to its natural conclusion.”
Guilt hit. He should do exactly what she suggested. If only it was that easy.
“The biggest problem with that is that it’s Amy who will be left with a broken heart. Seeing my little sister get hurt isn’t on my holiday agenda.”
“Which is admirable, but the reality is that Amy may be your little sister, but she’s also a grown woman. It’s her choice to make, Walker, not yours, of whether she’s willing to risk a broken heart.”
Walker winced. “See, what you’re saying sounds logical, but…” But nothing. He sighed. “You’re right. I need to stay out of it, but how am I supposed to just sit back and watch him hurt my sister?”
“Have you considered that maybe he won’t?” She took a deep breath, then gave him an empathetic look. “You’re probably right.” She glanced out toward where Sarah chatted with the Butterflies. “Either way, I’m not someone who should be advocating for Ben and Amy to be given a chance to fall in love.”
Curious, Walker regarded her. “Because you don’t believe they will? Or that you don’t believe in love? Or both?”
“You already know that I believed in love.”
Because she had been in love with whomever had hurt her.
“Believed, as in past tense,” he pointed out. “Meaning you no longer believe?” Walker could easily feel the same after what had happened with Linda.
But his parents had set an example for him that was hard to forget.
They had loved each other and created a high bar for what a relationship should be.
He’d been foolish to believe for a short period of time that he’d found something close with Linda.
He’d wanted to believe so badly that he’d deceived himself.
“Yes, as in the past tense. I certainly don’t love William anymore.” She paused as if her words hit her like a bag full of Santa’s coal across the face.
Her shock morphed into relief right before his eyes.
Had she thought she was still in love with her ex?
At least, Walker wasn’t under Linda’s spell any longer.
Her turning her back on Zoie had killed what had remained of his feelings for her.
But by the way Maggie had reacted to her comment, she hadn’t completely broken her ex’s spell.
“It’s difficult to imagine giving one’s heart again after being hurt.” Linda had devastated him. He’d married for life, and he’d never been more than her plan B.
“You’re right,” Maggie agreed. “I don’t see that happening again for me.”
Walker watched the emotion play across her face. “You don’t think you’ll fall in love again?”
Her expression tightening, she shook her head. “No, I don’t see myself doing, or wanting, that.”
Hearing the words come out of Maggie’s mouth, feeling the ripping sensation inside him, Walker had a harsh realization that he could see himself doing so again.
With Maggie.
He was probably already half there, and they’d just met a little over a month ago.
At least with Maggie he knew up front that she had no plans to stick around.