Are you, though?Imagine you’d be shopping every day.
Nope, she wasn’t going to listen to that voice in her head.She’d done it once and it hadn’t worked out.She wasn’t going to do it again.
Tilly had everything she wanted in her life.She was happy—wasn’t she?
Chapter Fifteen
Zach tried notto cringe when one of the shepherds ran into the back of his fellow shepherd and then laughed his head off.Tilly’s normally upturned mouth was a thin, firm line, and she looked like she was ready to throw her clipboard at the two of them.
“How about we take a break?”he hollered over the noise of the assembled group.It was their first rehearsal of the live-action traveling Nativity play, and if they all continued like this, it was going to be a disaster.Thankfully, Chrissy and Ryder and the three wise men were all performing their parts correctly.Perhaps he shouldn’t have suggested a crewmate’s nephews for the task of the shepherds.They were young and were more interested in fooling around than doing the right thing.
“This is a catastrophe,” Tilly said as she came up to him.“I have no idea how everything is going to come together.And you have to leave to go to work in a couple of hours, and then I’m going to be left with everyone who won’t listen to me.”
Her distress pierced his gut and he pulled her tight for a hug.“It’s going to be okay.It’s only the first run-through.They’ll get the hang of it all.I’ll go have a word with them and tell them that this isn’t a game and it’s serious.”
Tilly chewed her bottom lip, and he reached down and rubbed his thumb over the bruised flesh.“No, I need to speak to them.I’m the director.They have to listen to me.”
The stress lines around her eyes and mouth showed she was at the end of her limit.He wanted to make it easy for her and sometimes teenage boys needed to be spoken to in a way that only teenagers understood.
“No, I’ve got this.”Chrissy was standing in the corner with her new husband, looking at her sister, concern on her face.He caught her eye and, as if she knew what he wanted, she gave a short nod.“You go see Chrissy.It looks like she wants you.”
When Tilly looked over, Chrissy waved her hand in that universal “I need you” gesture.“Okay, but we need to get at least through one run-through before you head to work.I wish you didn’t have to go.”
Zach smoothed some of her hair that had escaped her clip behind her ear.“I wish I didn’t have to as well, but it’s only for two nights and then I’ll be free until I go back to work Christmas Day.”
The fire chief had been very accommodating by making sure he had more time off.Zach had been worried that the rest of his team would be annoyed at him getting preferential treatment, especially with him being a new guy.He hoped they didn’t think he was getting it because of what he’d done or who his mother was.
None of the guys had made any comments, though.They understood he’d been assigned the job by the mayor.He had to admit, it had given him a chance to get to know the town better and break out of the self-imposed shell he’d constructed around himself.
He believed everyone was going to love it, and it was all going to come together.But if tonight was anything to go by, it could be a long ten days before Christmas Eve.
“I wish you didn’t have to work Christmas Day, but I understand.”
“I know you do.I wish I could spend the day with you, but I don’t have to be at the station until eight in the morning, so we’ll have all of Christmas Eve and a little bit of Christmas Day together.”
Tilly’s eyes widened.Their relationship hadn’t progressed much further than some heavy make-out sessions, but Zach wanted her more and more, and he knew Tilly felt the same.“I like that idea.A lot.”
Loud laughter interrupted their conversation—the shepherds were at it again.“As much as I want to stay talking to you, these boys need to be straightened out, and you need to see your sister.But know one thing, Tulip.Leaving you is getting harder and harder.”
Zach turned on his heel and headed to the corner to sort out two recalcitrant shepherds.
*
Zach opened thedoor quietly.He’d come straight from work to the high school auditorium, where Tilly was running the rehearsals for the show.They couldn’t walk around the streets every night, and because she wanted it to be a big surprise for the town of Marietta, they had to make do with working within the confines of the auditorium.
All the business owners and participants were excited to be part of the show and had been sworn to secrecy.The side of him that had grown up in Hollywood almost suggested to Tilly that they get everyone to sign an NDA, but he didn’t bring it up.Logistically, it would be a nightmare to get everyone to sign it, and so far no one had breathed a word of it.Even the members on the other crews at the firehouse hadn’t said anything to anyone.It seemed they were all excited about it and wanted to keep it as quiet as possible.
There really was something special about Marietta, and he was feeling more and more at home with every passing day.
To help with the rehearsals, Tilly had set up areas where Mary and Joseph could go to ask for a room for the night.Even without him asking, she’d arranged for them to stop at the fire station so the guys who were working that night could be part of the event.She’d told him about it during one of their phone calls while he’d been on shift.
From where he was standing, everything seemed to be moving along nicely.Tilly was narrating it and everyone expected her to be the one doing it on the night.Rainey Webster was going to be as much of a surprise to the cast as it was to the rest of the town.
“Okay, everyone, that’s great.I think we can call it a night.You’re all doing a fantastic job, and I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Tilly called out, and cheers went up.
Zach moved to the side to allow everyone to exit the building, saying hello to his friends and high-fiving the teenagers, pleased to see they’d taken his words to heart and were now taking their parts a lot more seriously than they had been.
All he wanted to do was get to Tilly.He had plans for her tonight.He’d missed her so much while he’d been on shift that he’d spent half his time thinking about what he was going to do when he finally got to see her.
