Page 25 of Fa-La-La-La Faking It
Fuzzy pawed gently at Adaline’s knee, like he could sense her panic. The wedding album lay on the floor, all but forgotten.
But within seconds, Gram blinked and seemed to come back to herself. “Adaline, dear. It’s so nice to see you. When did you get here?”
Adaline’s pulse raced so fast and hard that she could hear every pounding heartbeat. Gram thought she’d just gotten here. Adaline had seen her grandmother confused before, but never like this.
It was hard to reconcile the older woman in the recliner with the photo album’s fresh-faced young lady dressed in bridal white. Adaline wished with her whole heart that Gram would never lose those precious memories. It seemed unfathomably cruel to think that might happen someday. Maybe she could help Gram hang on to that precious time...even just a little bit.
The album would help, but would it be enough?
Adaline didn’t have the heart to remind her grandmother she’d been there for half an hour already. It would just upset her, even if playing along almost felt like a lie. So she smiled into Gram’s watery eyes and told her the truest thing she knew.
“It’s nice to see you too, Gram.”
There was no logical reason Jace should’ve been so jittery heading into the second night of his pop-up Christmas tree lot. Things had gone great the night before. Better than he’d expected, in fact. Once he’d gotten home and had a chance to take a proper go at the bookkeeping, the numbers had surprised him. If business went this well for the rest of the month, the lot would buy him a few months in Bluebonnet before he’d need to worry about finances.
He still had a mortgage on the farm back home, but since he was staying at Uncle Gus’s place while he was town, he didn’t have much in terms of expenses here. Jace had hoped to make enough on this year’s crop to be able to devote all his time to overseeing Gus’s care once the holidays were over. There was no way of knowing how much time his uncle had left. The doctors said anywhere from weeks to months—possibly a year.
Jace didn’t have a plan for beyond the end. He didn’t want to think about it. He couldn’t even think about the farm or what would happen to it if he didn’t get back in time to clean up the fields and remove the stumps in late February or early March. During winter, the trees were fairly self-sufficient because they were still in their dormant state. But once spring rolled around, the days were filled from sunup to sundown with planting new seedlings, tweaking the irrigation system and mulching.
Jace’s favorite time of the year—other than Christmas, of course—was May, when fresh new growth appeared. Lime-green buds known as candles formed at the tips of each branch. Over time, each candle opened up like a flower, unfurling the tree’s new needles.
The rest of the year was always a dizzying blur of pruning, weeding and harvesting. Jace loved May because it always felt like the farm was holding its breath. Each fresh candle was a new beginning, as bright and luminous as a flame.
May on the farm never felt as far away as it did when Jace was sitting at Gus’s bedside. Last night, he’d looked forward to working at the lot in the evening. Tonight, the closer his truck crawled toward the town square, the more his gut churned.
He was tired, that’s all. He needed a full night’s sleep. He needed to go home at night and put his feet up instead of poring over spreadsheets or rummaging through his uncle’s cabinets and drawers in search of a glimpse into Gus’s heart.
Jace knew he had one, even if Gus liked to pretend he didn’t. Once the older man was gone, all his secrets would be buried with him. Gus had never been a talker, and if Jace was ever going to understand his uncle better, now was the time. If he couldn’t pry any information straight from the horse’s mouth, he’d simply go looking for it elsewhere.
The funny thing was, Jace didn’t even know what he was searching for. He just hoped he’d recognize it when he found it.
Ifhe found it.
You’ll find it, he told himself as he parked his truck along the town square.There’s still time.Then he flipped his headlights off and his gaze landed on the glittering pink lights of Adaline’s Christmas tree in Cherry on Top’s front window.
Jace’s breath gave a stutter. Maybe his underlying anxiety had less to do with his family matters and his farm and more to do with a certain woman he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about.
He still felt bad about last night’s revelation. He’d tried to take Adaline at her word and not worry about what had happened at the fifth-grade dance, but he’d clearly hurt her on a deep level if she still remembered every word he’d said back then. How could he have been so thoughtless? He’d been a kid—a kid who was going through a life-changing crisis, but that was no excuse. If Jace knew anything as an adult, it was that hurt people often left a trail of destruction in their wake. But he’d underestimated just how much that description had applied to himself.
He wished he could make it up to her somehow, but that was probably over the top, given the circumstances. Also, he had no idea how to go about doing so. Jace had already felt the need to atone for unknowingly stealing the town square out from under her and Comfort Paws. How did he keep ending up in this situation? Every time he turned around, he found himself indebted to the town’s pie-making sweetheart.
He switched off the ignition, climbed out of his truck and pulled his work gloves on as he headed toward the gazebo. Two dogs dressed in red Comfort Paws vests wagged their tails as he approached. They were both Cavalier King Charles spaniels, but Jace didn’t realize that neither one of them was Fuzzy until he climbed the gazebo’s steps and found Jenna and Belle manning the cocoa cart.
“Hi, Jace.” Belle looked up from attaching Comfort Paws stickers to a stack of paper cups and grinned. “Good to see you again.”
Jenna held up a hand in greeting. “Thanks again for letting us share your space. Maybe we’ll luck out this evening and get more snow. Adaline said business was booming at the lot last night.”
Hearing her name was a kick in the gut. Jace hadn’t realized until that precise moment that he’d been counting the hours until he could see her again, and now, it seemed as though she wasn’t going to be here at all.
“Happy to help,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as hollow as he felt inside. “So it’s just you two manning the hot chocolate stand tonight?”
Jenna and Belle exchanged an amused glance. Could he be more obvious?
“Yep. Just us tonight.” Belle nodded toward the two Cavaliers. “And Ginger and Peaches, obviously. Hardly anyone will notice us with these two cuties around.”
“Seriously. I’ve been taking Ginger to visit patients at the rehab center for months now, and I swear not one person has ever asked me my name. They all know Ginger’s, though.” Jenna’s grin spread until it took up her entire face. “So sweet, right? That’s what pet therapy is all about.”
“You’re probably wondering about Adaline, though, aren’t you, Jace?” Belle’s eyes danced. “Not the dogs.”
