Tilly stretched her tired muscles, her mind going over the things she needed to still do for the event.She’d sent Rainey the script a couple of days ago.The young star hadn’t responded, so she needed to follow up to confirm that it had gotten there and hadn’t got lost in cyberspace.She also needed to contact her employer and let them know she wouldn’t be working the week before Christmas.During the week leading up to Christmas Eve, her entire focus needed to be on making sure the play was a success.She couldn’t do her data entry work at the same time.Seeing as she rarely took time off, she was sure they would be fine with that.
Sleep would also be a good thing, but she could do that when it was all over.Sleeping through the whole of Christmas Day was a real possibility.
“Here you go, Tulip.One hot chocolate.”
She took the paper cup, noting the warmth through the gloves she wore.“Thanks.”
“You doing okay?”Zach asked after a few beats of silence.
Tilly realized she’d been staring at nothing in particular.“Sorry, yeah, I’m okay.A little tired.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.“I’m not surprised.Wrangling everyone is not for the faint of heart.But you’re doing a great job.”
“Thanks.It’s not easy, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.”
“For sure, it will be.”
They sipped their drinks and watched everyone skating around the lake.Christmas music filled the air, along with the excited chatter and laughter from the skaters.Tilly needed this break.The crisp winter air revived her.
“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Zach said as he crushed his empty cup.
His tone had turned serious, and a bubble of dread formed in her belly.Was he about to say he’d changed his mind about wanting to spend time with her?But that didn’t make sense, considering he’d given her a kiss before he went to get them a drink and now he had his arm around her.
Whatever it was, she could face it, even if he was being friendly when he was about to let her down gently.“What?”
“I’ve been thinking about a conversation we had.”
Well, that was clear as melting snow.They’d had plenty of them since they first met.“Oh, yeah?Which one?”
“The one about you being a personal stylist or shopper.”
Tilly swallowed hard.Whatever she’d expected Zach to say, it hadn’t been that.It may have been a dream of hers once, but it wasn’t anymore.That particular dream had been squashed in spectacular fashion.It had all become too hard.
Too hard.
Story of her life—not keeping at it because it was too hard.“I have,” she whispered and wished they were anywhere but where they were.There were too many people around.Too many people who could hear what they were talking about.Too many people who would expect her to fail.
“And?”he prompted.
As much as she wanted to change the subject, she had a feeling Zach wouldn’t let her.He’d push her until she answered him.“I tried it, and it didn’t work out.”
Would that be enough for him to leave the subject alone, or would he push her for more?
“Here in Marietta?”
“Not here.Marietta isn’t a bustling marketplace.Yes, it’s growing, but it’s not like there are enough people to make it a steady job with a steady income.”
“Right.If not here, then where?”
God, this was so hard to talk about.“Houston.”
Zach let out a low whistle.“Houston.That’s a far cry from Marietta.But with its population, wouldn’t you have had the potential to create a large client base?”
Tilly really didn’t want to talk about this.Even thinking about it made her break out in hives.“I haven’t even told my family any of this.All they knew was I went to Houston for a job and it didn’t work out.I didn’t tell them what I was doing exactly.”
As if he understood that sitting on a bench at Miracle Lake where anyone could come by and overhear them, Zach grabbed her hand.“Come on, let’s take a walk.”
Maybe walking and talking would be easier than sitting and talking.She’d started, so what would be the point in stopping?If she spoke it out loud, perhaps some of the shame from her failure would dissipate.
