“No? Did you just run a marathon?” He looked at the empty glass in her hand. “You’re avoiding, Peaches. I just want to know why.”
She put the incriminating glass on the counter. “I just… don’t have much interest in marketing right now. That’s all. I don’t have time for it. Ya know… with everything else going on.”
“Yeah, I get that. But when you said the other night that you thought about going back to marketing sometimes, I thought maybe you could use a little encouragement. A little… push, ya know? You can’t sustain this pace…” He looked around the tiny room thinking over his argument. “No, it’s more like a to-do list... a never-ending to-do list you’ve created for yourself. You’ve got to get back out there, Georgia. You love marketing, don’t you? Don’t you miss it?”
“Of course I do. But… I… my family needs me.”
He nodded in agreement, understanding shone in his eyes. “I get it. I do, but… all the volunteering, the hours here at the coffee shop, the youth group… Does your family need you to do those things or do you think it’s somehow going to earn their favor? Or maybe the town’s…? Or I don’t know… God’s favor? What is it all for, Georgia?”
Georgia took a step back, growing frustrated. “What? No… of course not!”
“Your familyneedsyou to be happy. Theyneedyou to follow Christ. To follow your dreams and be faithful to the gifts He’s given you… not to some unwritten bargain you’ve made with yourself.”
“And staying here… helping my family… that isn’t being faithful to the gifts God’s given me?! That isn’t worthy of His favor? It’s not enough to…”
“No,” Lake interrupted her, taking her hands from her hips and holding them close to his sides. “No one could ever accuse you of being unfaithful to serving God, Georgia. I’m just saying, you can’t earn His favor. You can’t earn your family’s… or your dad’s health… with service and volunteering. I’m saying… poorly, apparently… that you should serve and volunteer and love people out of delight, not duty.”
Georgia’s eyes brimmed with tears. Lake lifted a hand to her cheek again, wiping one away. “Peaches, no, don’t cry. I’m…”
“I’m fine,” she said abruptly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to upset you. I just wanted to…”
She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her face. “I’m fine, Lake. I think… I think I just want to be alone. Thanks for coming by. It’s been arealtreat, as usual.”
He dropped his hands and head together. “I’m sorry, Georgia. I missed the mark here. Will you…”
“It’s okay.” She perked up and waved his worries away with her hand, ever the people pleaser, then led him to the door and opened it wide for his exit. She didn’t want Lake to know how deeply his words struck an uncomfortable chord within her. “I’ll think about what you said. Really. I just… this is just a little much. I mean, a week ago we didn’t even like each other…”
“We didn’t?”
“No,” she insisted, “we didn’t. And now you’re in my apartment, and you look like…” she threw her arms out splaying them from his top down and then did the same to herself, “and I look like this. And you’re giving me gifts and…”
“And advice you don’t want.”
She huffed, out of breath and near tears again. “Yes.”
“Okay.” He walked to the door, conceding defeat, “Okay. You’re right. It was too much. But, I’ll… I’ll see you later?”
She held the door open for him but studied her fuzzy, pajama-feet, dancing Santa mocking her from her toes as Lake entered the hallway.
Finally glancing up, only to find a look of earnest dejection on his face, she said quietly, “Goodnight, Lake,” then shut the door.
11
THE FIRST NOEL
JOSH GROBAN & FAITH HILL
THEN
Georgia had barely sleptthe entire weekend. After Lake dropped her off on Friday night, she’d meandered through the house casually—unsuspiciously—giving her parents no reason to call her night’s activities into question.
When they asked if she’d gotten all the sponsors she needed for the formal, she merely said, “Mhmmm. Sure did,” before releasing anarms-opened-wide-stretch to the heavensyawn and claimed she was, “So exhausted…” before escaping to her room to rehash every single moment of her night with Lake.
She could hardly believe it. Felt afraid to admit it to herself, let alone anyone else. But she thought Lakeland Lovett might actually like her. She resolved to be brave and confident for the guy who’d gone out of his way to make her project, the Winter Formal, a success and the lives of so many families a little bit brighter.
Georgia was going to tell Lakeland how she felt about him.
