Page 82 of Wild Promises

If I had to move for work, that's what I'd need to do. It would hurt to leave my family and Xander, but maybe it would be for the best. I wasn't sure I could stand back and watch someone else run Dad's practice, and if Xander didn't love me, then I didn't want to watch him move on and date someone else.

Would his next girlfriend be a friend he could see himself marrying and living in that house with? My chest tightened every time I thought about it. Maybe it was a good thing I might need to move.

Since we'd looked at the house, Xander was busy preparing for the winter festival, and I was working a lot to make up for the time we weren't spending together. Most evenings, Xander came to bed when I was already asleep. Sometimes he'd wake me with a kiss, and we'd make love. Other times, he just held me.

I wanted to ask him what we were doing, and where this was going, but we weren't together long enough in the daylight to broach the subject. Every time I thought about talking to him, I'd get nervous.

Besides he was busy with work. He seemed to think the festival should solidify his position. It was best for me to wait.

The Saturday morning of the festival, Xander was up early and headed to the lodge to get everything set up. I wasn't sure there was anything else to set up at this point, but I understood he needed to be there to ensure it went smoothly.

I planned to join him a bit later. I had a few patients this morning, and then I'd meet him at the lodge. I assumed he would be busy and wouldn't have time to spend with me anyway. But I wanted to be there to support him.

I saw my patients, then grabbed a sandwich at a local deli before heading over to the lodge. The sky was gray, but it wasn't too cold. The festival was held behind the lodge where there was now an ice rink, a snowball course, an area for food trucks, and logs around several fires for people to warm up. The large tree was already decorated for Christmas, giving the festival a holiday feel.

There was a line to get tickets to walk through the holiday light display that Noelle had built, and even a snow globe forpeople to take pictures inside. The area was filled with families and couples.

When I ran into Eli, I asked, "You haven't seen Xander, have you?"

"The last time I saw him was at the snowball area." He gestured toward it.

"Great. Thanks." I started to move in that direction, but Eli said, "Hey, I wanted to talk to you."

I paused, wondering what Eli would need to talk to me about. "What about?"

"Xander. He's different, and I can't help but think it has something to do with you being back in town."

I shook my head. "I'm not taking credit for Xander. I think it was always there. He just didn't believe in himself. He has this reputation for being immature and irresponsible, and I'm not sure it was ever true. He bought into it, and everyone else did too. I helped him see what was already present under the surface."

"I feel responsible for him thinking he wasn't good enough. I'm worried that my judgment might have hurt him."

"I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. It was people in the the community too. Everyone assumed he was a womanizer, and it couldn't have been further from the truth."

"Thank you for seeing what we couldn't. You're good for him."

My stomach sunk. Our relationship wasn't even real. What would happen when everyone found out? "He would have been okay without me."

"I don't know about that. Scarlett helped me see that there was more to life than work. She's opened my eyes to the theater world, and my life is more expansive because of her."

I wanted to tell him I was just as happy with his brother, but was that violating our arrangement? We should have talkedabout what would happen if one of his brother's asked about our relationship. Plus, I kind of wanted to hear what his opinion was on his brother. "I know how I feel about Xander. I'm just not sure he feels the same."

Eli inclined his head toward me. "I think he does. I see the way he looks at you. The way you were with each other when I ran into you the other night."

I tucked my hands into my pockets. "I hope you're right."

"I have a feeling that Xander will mess up once or twice. Will you give him a second chance? He's a good guy."

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. I had no idea if Xander felt the same as me or if he wanted the same things. "I know he is. I'd better go find Xander."

I didn't feel right talking to Eli about Xander, especially when we hadn't discussed what to say. But it was nice to hear his perspective. He was confident that Xander was into me, but that was because he'd never seen him with another woman. Xander taking any relationship seriously would be impressive to Eli.

He didn't realize that we were supposed to be fake. That it was all an act. My heart felt heavy as I searched for Xander.

I finally found him on the snowball course. Parents watched while kids played. Xander was helping his nephew, Joey. He hid behind one of the snow walls, and formed snowballs while whispering something into his ear. They must be forming plans for their attack.

I searched for Oliver and found him on the edge of the line of parents watching. I approached him. "Is Joey having fun?"

Oliver shifted to the side so there was room for me to stand next to him. "He's having a blast."

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