“So, the costumes are started?”Felicity asked.
Merry nodded.“Yes.Though the mice costumes need some, uh, alterations.”
“It doesn’t sound too hard.”
A twinkle of hope showed in her eyes.“Would you be willing to do it?”
If she could do something to stop all of the changes happening within Kringle Falls, she would do it.Her contribution might not be big, but if it preserved the annual play, it was something.“I’ll do it.”
Merry blinked.“Really?You do realize the play is next week, right?”
Felicity nodded.
Merry looked hesitant.“Do you have experience sewing?”
“I worked on the costumes for the play when I was in high school.My mother taught me how to sew when I was a kid.In fact, I still sew to this day.”
Their eyebrows rose in unison before they looked at each other.It was as though they were reading each other’s thoughts.
Connie turned to her.“Are you sure you want to do it?I mean you aren’t in town long, and I know you want to spend time with your mother.”
“But this is important too.”
The children’s Christmas play shouldn’t be that important to her, but it was.Her father was no longer here to welcome her home with one of his great big bear hugs.Her childhood home was sold.Justin was married.Her mother moved into an apartment.She just couldn’t take more big changes.It was just too much.
Merry studied her for a moment.“Are you sure?”
How was she supposed to explain that things between herself and her mother were strained?How was she supposed to tell them she had no idea her mother had sold her childhood home without even telling her?No.She couldn’t tell them any of that.
She did know that when she had to leave—when she went back to New York—however she left her relationship with her mother would be how it would be long into the future.The thought worried her.She didn’t want to leave things like this.And yet she didn’t know how to get past the great divide.
And so, staying busy—preserving something that had been important to her at one point in her life—would give her time to figure out how to deal with her mother.Some people might call it avoidance.She liked to think of it as a cooling-off period.
“Yes,” Felicity said.“This is something I want to do.”
“Well, okay then.”Merry rushed over and gave her a hug.When she pulled back, she said, “Thank you so much on behalf of myself and the kids who will be happy to know the show goes on.”
At least something good would come from her visit.Tomorrow, she’d get started on the costumes because the play was the following week.Eep!
Chapter Eleven
Hisshiftwasover.
Justin parked the snow plow in the municipal garage.With a couple of employees out sick, he would be driving one of the plows for the foreseeable future.It hadn’t been a bad shift.The snow came down at a steady pace.
Driving the plow had given him plenty of quiet time to sort out his latest plot hole.He’d had his nose in a book since he was a kid.He loved to visit other worlds and experience adventures.Watching it on television was okay, but he felt a more intimate connection to the characters and action when he was reading a book.The imagery would come to life in his imagination.
In school, he’d always aced creative writing.His teachers had encouraged him to continue writing, but back then he’d been busy with football and baseball.He didn’t have time to think about those sorts of things.But now he found himself wanting to do more than fix things and plow roads.
He’d thought of joining a critique group, but he hadn’t worked up the nerve.Instead, he’d connected online with a couple of beta readers.They were very good about telling him what worked for them and what didn’t work.
Now it was time to head home and type up the ideas he’d dreamed up that day.But before he could go home, he had something to do.Justin glanced at the book in his work locker titled:A Gardener’s Dream.
When he’d been at Jingle Bell Books, he’d been so busy…trying to what?Avoid looking into Felicity’s mesmerizing green eyes?Keep from telling her how much he’d missed her?Asking her to go to dinner so they could catch up?
But he couldn’t do any of those things.After all, Felicity was the one who had ended things between them.And even though it had been years ago, he’d learned a lesson—not to trust her with his feelings.
So, maybe she would have gone to dinner with him, and she’d have told him about her life in New York.And he would have hung on her every word because there was just something about her that to this day still drew him in.
