“There’s no point in keeping them.I just don’t know how I’m going to tell my mother.”
“I don’t know anything about them, so keep that in mind when I say this, but would it be possible to make more?”
Immediately, Felicity shook her head.Then she stopped.Her brows drew together as she stared into space, as though lost in her thoughts.
He wanted to ask what she was thinking, but instead, he quietly waited for her to speak.Was it possible she liked the idea?
“You actually have a good idea.”Her words made him smile, but then she said, “But I don’t know if I can make the ornaments and finish getting things ready for the play.”
“Is there something I can do to help?”The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.He knew absolutely nothing about making Christmas ornaments.
But before he could think of a way to gently walk back his words, there was a twinkle in her eyes.In a blink, it was gone.“That’s so sweet of you, but I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
He was driven to say or do whatever it took to put the twinkle back in her eyes.“You didn’t.I offered.What do we need to do?”
“I don’t know.Let me look it up.”
And so, they took a seat on the floor and leaned back against the couch.They both used their phones to research making ornaments.They soon discovered that baking soda dough is much stronger than salt dough.
She held up her phone so he could see the picture of a baking soda dough ornament.“The mix for the ornaments isn’t hard.It’s baking soda, corn starch, and water.”
“That’s it?”He couldn’t believe that’s all it took to make those delicate ornaments.
She nodded.“That’s it.The problem is that my grandmother had a special rolling pin for making the ornaments.It was embossed with an ivy pattern.I don’t know where I’d find one like it at the last minute.”
He couldn’t picture it in his mind.“What exactly is it?”
She reached into the box and picked up a piece of the ornament that was still semi-intact.She held it in her palm.“See the pattern?”When he nodded, she said, “I would need a rolling pin with a similar pattern.”
He’d seen something like that before.“Let me check on something.”
“Check on what?”
“Just give me a chance.”When her eyes lit up, he said, “Don’t get excited.I’m not promising anything.”
A smile settled on her face.“Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“But you did.You cared.”Tears rushed to her eyes.“It’s been a while since someone did something for me without expecting anything in return.”
He felt sorry for her.“You’ve obviously been hanging out with the wrong people.”
“My last boyfriend dumped me because I was too focused on myself.He said he needed someone that supported him.”
Justin felt bad for her.“That doesn’t sound like you.”
She shrugged.“He probably had a point.I was so focused on my career that all of the other relationships in my life suffered.These days the only people I spend time with are co-workers.”
He nodded as though he understood, but he didn’t.What kind of people did she work with?How could they not see the goodness and warmth in Felicity?
To him, she was like the sun.Her kindness was the gravity drawing him closer to her.Her smile was the warmth that filled him.He hoped that she’d never lose her genuineness.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wasitherimagination?
Or had something shifted into place with them?
