Page 6 of Fa-La-La-La Faking It
“Just be nice to Adaline, okay?” he said quietly.
But Gus’s only answer was the deep rattle of his breathing as his head slumped against his pillows. One move in, and he’d already fallen asleep, leaving Jace to contemplate his new reality. This was home now, a new beginning wrapped up in a certain ending—like an unopened gift tucked so far beneath the Christmas tree that it seemed foreign and out of place when it was finally found long after the holidays had ended.
Jace didn’t want to open it. He didn’t want to know what came next. He just wanted to hold the gift in his hands for a while, and stay stuck in the in-between.
But the end was coming, and no one could stop it. He just needed to get through this one last Christmas with his uncle, and he could figure the rest out later. Like how to celebrate a family holiday with Gus stuck here in a hospital bed...and what he was going to do about the farm...
And why the first girl he’d ever fallen head over heels for seemed to hate the very sight of him.
Chapter Two
Adaline had pies to bake.
So. Many. Pies.
Christmas was the busiest season for Cherry on Top, after all. The list of custom orders Adaline needed to get done by tomorrow was nearly as long as her arm.
But when she stormed out of the senior center, heart still pounding after her unpleasant encounter with Mr. Martin and the even less pleasant conversation with his nephew, Adaline’s feet steered her in the complete opposite direction of the bakery. Before she even realized where she was headed, Bluebonnet Pet Clinic came into view. It stood among a neat little row of Sunday houses just a few blocks south of the town square.
Back in the 1800s, ranchers and farmers in the surrounding area kept small homes to use on the weekends when they came to the town center for church and social events. In the years since, the historic landmarks had been repurposed into local businesses and small personal residences. Maple Leighton, the founder of Comfort Paws and one of Adaline’s besties, occupied two of them—the white Sunday house with the swirly gingerbread trim where she worked as one of the partners at the pet clinic, plus the cute pink house with the white picket fence located immediately next door.
“Adaline, how nice to see you!” June, the receptionist, peered at Adaline over the top of her reading glasses as she swept inside the pet clinic, propelled by equal parts mortification and fury. “I’m not seeing you down for an appointment this afternoon. Fuzzy isn’t feeling under the weather, is he?”
Fuzzy tugged at the end of his leash, all but dragging Adaline across the room. Not exactly stellar therapy dog behavior. They needed to work on that...right after Adaline rage-baked a dozen pies and found out what, exactly, Jace Martin was doing back in Bluebonnet.
“Fuzzy’s doing great. Fit as a fiddle.”I, on the other hand, am having a full nervous breakdown.She loosened her death grip on Fuzzy’s leash. She really needed to get ahold of herself. And she would, just as soon as Maple shook some sense into her. Isn’t that what best friends were for? “I was hoping to pop in and chat with Maple real quick. Do you know if she has a free second or two?”
“For you and this little one?” June pulled a tiny Milk-Bone from the pocket of her cardigan and offered it to Fuzzy as she opened the half door that separated the clinic’s office area from the lobby. The little Cavalier shimmied his way toward her and gently took the treat from her fingers. “I’m sure she can spare a few minutes. Why don’t you two go on back to her office, and I’ll let her know you’re here?”
“Thanks, June. I owe you one.” Adaline made a mental note to drop off some fresh-baked goodies for the office tomorrow morning. It was the least she could do after barging in like this.
Fuzzy kept his nose to the ground, exploring the menagerie of animal scents as Adaline led the puppy toward Maple’s office. Just six months ago, the small space with the wood-paneled walls had belonged to Maple’s father, Percy Walker, DVM. No one in Bluebonnet had even known he’d had a daughter who’d been given up for adoption as an infant until after Maple’s name turned up in his last will and testament as the sole beneficiary of both his home and his half of the pet clinic he shared with the elder Dr. Grover Hayes. Perhaps even more notably, Percy had also left Maple his dog, a golden retriever named Lady Bird. The golden was legendary around Bluebonnet. She’d been the town’s very first therapy dog and the inspiration behind the creation of Comfort Paws.
Adaline barely had time to sit down in one of the upholstered black-and-white-striped guest chairs before Lady Bird nudged the office door open with her nose. The golden made a beeline toward Fuzzy, and the little Cavalier’s entire back end wiggled as Maple followed on Lady Bird’s heels.
The veterinarian’s big brown eyes met Adaline’s and her whole face lit up. “Well, isn’t this a fun surprise?”
Maple’s gaze flitted around the office, which she’d recently begun to redecorate in her own classic Manhattan-girl vibe. For months, she’d left everything just as Percy had kept it until she’d finally decided to give the space new life with a coat of Tiffany-blue paint. Adaline had participated in the painting party, along with the other girls who made up the founding board of Comfort Paws, Jenna Walsh and Belle Darling. The striped chairs had followed shortly afterward, and Adaline was fairly certain a new dog bed that looked like a giant plush Tiffany box would be soon replacing Lady Bird’s faded plaid cushion in the corner by the window.
But if Adaline knew her friend as well as she thought she did, Maple’s quick once-over of the office had nothing to do with the decor.
She bit back a smile. “You’re looking around for pie, aren’t you?”
Maple’s face scrunched. “Maybe. But I promise that doesn’t mean I’m not excited for a surprise visit from you and the little one.” She scooped Fuzzy into her arms, and he immediately began covering her cheek with puppy kisses. “With or without pie.”
“Sadly, I’m empty-handed this time. Fuzzy and I just had our visit at the senior center, and it was kind of a disaster. We came straight here afterward.” Adaline bit her bottom lip, which—to her horror—had begun to tremble.
Oh, no. She wasn’t going tocryover her fifth-grade nemesis and his grinchy uncle, was she? What was this—2006?
Lady Bird, ever the therapy dog, rested her chin on Adaline’s lap and peered up at her with soulful eyes. The golden’s furry brow creased with concern.
“Forget the pie. You’re obviously upset.” Maple plopped down in the other striped chair and ignored Fuzzy’s attempts to chew on her hair, smoothly tucking her chestnut curtain bangs behind her ears and out of reach. “What happened? Did something go wrong at the senior center? Because Fuzzy is still learning, you know. The activity director knows that, and she’s pleased as punch to have Comfort Paws there.”
“This isn’t about Fuzzy. He’s totally perfect, and everyone adores him.” Almost everyone, anyway.
“Then what happened?” Concern glittered in Maple’s doe eyes.
Just my elementary school years coming back to haunt me like the ghost of Christmas past. No biggie.
