“All right, keep your feelings bottled up. I have to believe you have your reasons.”
“I do,” I answered, hoping she could see the truth in my eyes.
Her expression softened. “Oliver and I went to Jake’s new house last night and had dinner.”
“Did you like his place?” I asked.
She laughed but the humor didn’t reach her eyes. “How could you not? It’s huge and fancy.”
“But it’s not him,” I replied.
“No,” she agreed. “It’s not him.”
“Is he going to Mistletoe Mania tomorrow?”
Another humorless laugh escaped her lips. “Oh, goodness, no. He doesn’t want to see you and Max together.”
It killed me to know I was hurting him; all I needed was a little more time. Finding Margaret was the key to everything. If I could find her, I could get the answers I needed.
“I understand,” I murmured, feeling the ache in my chest. “Hopefully, things will be better soon. Trust me, I’m trying to figure things out.”
Hailey nodded. “Okay. Hopefully, you figure it out soon.”
I hoped so, too.
She tapped her hand on the desk and turned for the door, waving a hand in the air. “I’m heading home. Stop ignoring me when I call you.”
“Will do,” I called out.
Once she was gone, I slipped on my jacket, grabbed my purse, and locked up the gallery. Since it was a Friday night, downtown Blowing Rock was packed. The restaurants were slammed, and people were out in their winter coats, enjoying their walks in the park, surrounded by the twinkling lights.
I walked over to the bench Margaret sat with me on during one of my time-traveling dreams and took a seat. Various people walked by, and I smiled. When there was a break in people passing, I kept my voice low and called out Margaret’s name. The last thing I wanted was for others to think I was talking to myself.
“Margaret, please,” I begged. “I need to talk to you. It’s really important.”
I waited a few minutes, and then a few minutes more. Maybe there were too many people around for her to appear. I got up and walked around the park, hoping she would be somewhere. I even looked around Main Street to see if I could find her bright yellow Beetle anywhere.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of it or her.
My phone rang and my heart skipped a beat, wondering if it would be Jake. I hadn’t talked to him since he left my house. His absence left an emptiness inside me that I’d never felt before. Even though I’d gone a significant amount of time between his visits in the past, none of that compared to the hole his absence left within me now.
However, it wasn’t him calling me. It was Max.
“Hi, Max,” I greeted.
“Hey, you off work yet?”
I decided to make another round around the park. “I am. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie tonight. I could come over, if that’s okay with you.”
The feeling of guilt overwhelmed me. “Actually, I still have some work to do when I get home. Raincheck?”
“That’s fine.” Thankfully, he didn’t sound upset. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Oh yes, and speaking of that,” I said, brightening my voice. “My sister and her new boyfriend wanted to go together to the festival tomorrow. Kind of a double date thing. Perhaps we could catch dinner beforehand?”
“That’d be great,” he replied.
