“There’s no time to hold auditions, and I’ve asked other people around town to help out.All the businesses are on board, ready to play their part in turning Mary and Joseph away.My friend Jill, who lives in Bozeman, has agreed to let her three-month-old baby play Jesus.Zach has managed to wrangle three of the firefighters on a different shift to play the three wise men.But these are the most important roles, and I want you to be part of it.”
Anxiety gnawed in her belly.Tilly didn’t have a backup plan if Chrissy kept saying no.She’d truly believed that her sister would straight up say,Of course we’ll do it.There had to be a reason that Chrissy was so reluctant.It couldn’t be because they would be the center of attention.They were both former rodeo competitors, successful ones too, and they were used to being in front of big crowds.
“Come on, Chrissy, what’s going on?Why don’t you want to do it?”A sinister thought entered Tilly’s mind, and as much as she wanted to ignore it, she couldn’t.“You’re not saying yes because you think it’s going to fail, are you?That you wantmeto fail.”
“What!Why do you think that?I would never do that to you.”Chrissy’s brown eyes glowed with hurt and Tilly felt bad that she’d upset her sister.Conflict was something she tried to avoid as much as possible, but for this, she wasn’t going to back down.
“I hope you wouldn’t, but I know you believe that I won’t follow through on this.That I’ll give up when things get too hard.I’m not going to, though.No matter how many roadblocks are put in front of me, this event is going to happen.”Tilly pushed away from the table, went over to the sink, and took a couple of deep breaths before facing her sister again.Chrissy’s expression was impassive.Tilly couldn’t tell if she felt bad or didn’t care, which didn’t seem like Chrissy at all.Her oldest sister always did what she could for the family.Annoyance flared inside of her at what Chrissy was doing.“If you’re adamant that you don’t want to be involved, fine.I’ll go find someone else to play Mary and Joseph.”
Who, she had no idea, but she’d figure it out after she licked her wounds from Chrissy’s rejection.Tears welled in her eyes and she whirled around again, so Chrissy wouldn’t see them.
“Tilly-Pilly, I’m sorry.”She could feel her sister behind her, but Tilly kept her attention on the garden outside.Snow had fallen overnight and her garden twinkled in the sunlight.It would all be gone in a few hours, but for the moment, it was pretty and gave her solace.“Please look at me.I don’t like talking to your back.”
Too bad.
They were the words Tilly wanted to say, but she didn’t.“I can hear just as well without facing you.”
That was a little gentler, but the message was the same—she wasn’t just going to give in, like she normally did.The determination to prove that she could pull off the event was leeching into other aspects of her life—like now.
Maybe it was also a little of Zach’s belief in her.She may not have seen much of him since before Thanksgiving because he worked the holidays and had some other things he’d had to do, but they’d talked on the phone and texted, and he’d been doing all he could to help her.He’d submitted the permits and had reviewed the maximum number of patrons in the places they were going to stop at—businesses that were on her list to visit tomorrow, with Zach if he was free.She was still waiting to hear back from him.
“You’re right, you can hear, but you can’t see me as I apologize,” Chrissy eventually said.“Please, Tilly.”
It was thepleaseandapologizethat finally wore her down, and Tilly acquiesced to her sister’s wishes.“Okay, I’m listening.”She crossed her arms and met her gaze.She wasn’t going to let her think it was going to be easy.
“I’m sorry.I guess part of me was testing you to see if you’d give up.”Tilly opened her mouth to blast her sister, but Chrissy held her hand up.“I know.I know it was a rotten thing to do.Not to mention, childish.We’re grown women.You’ve been living by yourself for a while now.You’ve had your job for a couple of years, although I think it’s the wrong one, but that’s an argument for another day.”She smiled, softening her words.
“I’ll look forward to that one too,” Tilly said dryly.Chrissy laughed, the tension between them easing.It was hard for her to stay mad at anyone in her family for long.
“We’ll do it.We might miss a couple of rehearsals while we’re away getting married, but we’re only going for a weekend.”
“Oh, no don’t change your plans for me.I’ll find someone else.”
“Nope no take backs.I want to do this for you.”
“Are you sure?”Tilly wanted to make sure that Chrissy wasn’t saying yes because she still didn’t trust Tilly to complete the task.
“Very.”
“Thank you.It means so much that you’re willing to do this, even with getting married.”
“I’m not going to let my sister down.Ryder may grumble, but you’re right.He’ll do it for me.And he’ll do it for you, because we’re family and that’s what family does—help each other.I’m really sorry that I forgot that for a while.I’m your sister and I should do what Zach said when I first met him—have nothing but belief in you.”Chrissy grabbed her hands and squeezed tight.“I believe in you.You’re going to pull off an amazing event.”
The tears that Tilly had managed to keep at bay welled up again and spilled over.“That means so much to me.”
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.”Chrissy sniffed as she began to tear up as well.Tilly pulled her close and together, they comforted each other, their sisterly bond as strong as ever.
“Right, well, now that’s out of the way, I’ve got something else I want to bring up with you.I’ll be right back.”Tilly pulled away from her sister and wiped her eyes before going to her office to pick up a folder with a picture of a poinsettia on the front of it.
“What do you have there?”Chrissy asked as she entered the kitchen again.
“As part of the Carols by Candlelight, I want pots of poinsettias at the front of the stage.Like a barrier, but not really.I also think that the farm should look at growing them.It would be another income source.Since you’re working with some venues to supply flowers for events, you can also offer these during the holiday season.”
In between work and all the planning for the event, she’d done research on growing poinsettias.Tilly had been determined to show Chrissy that her idea was solid, and she believed she had enough information to prove that to her.
“I admit that’s not something I’ve considered before.Tell me more.”Chrissy’s interest wasn’t faked.If she didn’t want to know, she’d say so.
Tilly opened the folder and pulled out some papers and handed them over.“I’ve done some research on what’s needed to grow them, and I think the farm can certainly handle it.I also contacted the florists I know that has the farm supplies and asked if they stocked poinsettias.And if so, where they got them from.What I found was that some did and some didn’t, and the ones who did had to source them from out of state.That was the reason that others didn’t bother having them.”
