Page 44 of Fa-La-La-La Faking It
So once again, she’d taken the bull by the horns and placed a massive order with the one pizza delivery place in town. She may as well have made an entire batch of cookies with Jace’s initials on it this time. After tonight, there wouldn’t be a soul in Bluebonnet who didn’t think they were a couple. At least since she was supposed to be his girlfriend, she had a valid—albeit thoroughly fraudulent—reason to go overboard.
“What’s all this?” Jace said when he found her stacking the pizzas—organized by flavor, of course—on the tailgate of his truck.
His hair was dusted with pine needles, and his chiseled face was smudged with dirt, but Adaline wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him quite this unguarded before. As kind and supportive as Jace had been to her thus far in the brief duration of their pretend romance, he mostly kept the focus on her. While she felt like he knew all of her deepest, darkest secrets, in many ways, Jace remained a closed book. The more time Adaline spent with him, the more she wished she could hide herself away and read him cover to cover.
She kept her attention focused on a pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese and prayed he couldn’t read her mind. “It’s a pizza party. I hope you don’t mind...”
Jenna slid her a sideways glance and must’ve wanted to give them a few minutes of privacy so she made herself scarce. “I’ve got a case of bottled water in my car that I picked up to keep on hand at the dance studio. I’ll go run and get it, so everyone has something to drink.”
“Great idea. Thanks,” Adaline called after her.
Jace cupped her cheek with one hand and gently aimed her face toward his, so she had no choice but to look him in the eye. “Do you honestly think I mind that you put together a pizza party for a bunch of people who just came together to help save my Christmas tree lot even though they hardly know me?”
“Sometimes I get carried away,” Adaline said. The intense eye contact was unnerving. “I thought this might be one of those times.”
Jace pressed his forehead against hers and dropped his voice to a whisper. “I’m going to tell you a secret, so listen up—I love it when you get carried away.”
A shiver coursed through her that was in no related to the freezing drizzle whirling around them. “You do?”
“Very much,” he said, and for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out if this sweet conversation was for show or if it was the real deal. Half the town was milling about around them, but she felt like they were in their own private bubble.
“Your trees are safe, Jace. We did it.” She felt like crying, and she wasn’t altogether sure why. She just knew they were happy tears, even though Comfort Paws had just lost an entire evening worth of hot chocolate sales and community donations.
“No.” Jace shook his head. “Youdid it. Take a look around. This was all you, Adaline. And no matter what happens after midnight on Christmas Eve, I’ll never forget it.”
Then he brushed his lips against hers in a tender kiss, and Adaline knew she had every reason to be merry. She’d worry about Comfort Paws once the storm had passed. But the reminder of the end date of their arrangement made her feel like a Christmas Cinderella. The tick of the clock was getting louder by the day, and she was starting to wonder if she could outrun it.
Or if she even wanted to anymore.
Jace’s breath fogged the air as he tied the last tarp in place over the trees in the back corner of the barn. He’d decided not to risk the furnace since Gus hadn’t used it in quite some time. The last thing he needed was for the barn to go up in flames, especially after the way so many people had pitched in to help move the trees.
He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done without Adaline today. There wasn’t a single pine needle left in the town square, and it was all because of her. Not only that, but as they’d filled the once empty barn with row after row of Christmas trees, their sweeping green boughs chased the old memories away. Jace could breathe in here again. Now when he looked around the old red barn and inhaled the earthy scent of dirt and straw, the only ghosts he saw were those of the community of strangers who’d come together to help him. He felt a little bit less like that scared little boy who’d cowered in the back stall and more like he’d returned to the place where he really belonged.
More like a man who’d made his way home.
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine starting over here for good. Until tonight, he hadn’t been able to picture himself signing the contract and letting go of Texas Tidings. Now it didn’t feel quite so much like losing something—not when his heart was this full. He could start again in Bluebonnet. Gus’s property had plenty of land to plant a new batch of trees. It would take at least four years before he could harvest and sell fully grown trees, but in the meantime, he could source trees from elsewhere and still run the lot in the town square every year.
Jace hadn’t allowed himself to truly consider making a permanent change until just now. Why would he do that once Gus was gone? The time to put down roots in Bluebonnet would’ve been years ago when he first started Texas Tidings. Now that he was back, though...
He felt that familiar tug to stay.
But just like last time, that bone-deep ache wasn’t based in reality. This life was a fantasy. Staying in Bluebonnet after Gus passed away wouldn’t be like tonight...not after midnight on Christmas Eve.
“Here you are,” Adaline said brightly as she appeared from the maze of trees that crisscrossed the barn. “I knew you had to be around here somewhere. Everyone’s gone. The weather is getting worse, and I think they were worried about the streets getting icy.”
Jace nodded. “Understandable.”
“Plus, we ran out of pizza, so that might’ve also been a factor.” She gave him a shoulder bump as she came to stand beside him and planted her elbows on the four-foot wall surrounding a nearby stall.Thestall, actually. “But don’t worry. I saved you a few slices.”
“Thanks. I’ve been too busy to even think about food.” He dragged a hand over his face. Exhaustion was beginning to set in.
“You look dead on your feet. Come sit down. I think I’ve still got a minute or two before I need to head over to Belle’s apartment to pick up Fuzzy. She’s watching Lady Bird and Ginger too.” Adaline wove her fingers through his and tugged him inside the stall. A pile of saddle blankets sat in the corner, and she plopped down on one and patted the empty space beside her.
How long had those blankets been there? Jace didn’t want to think about it. But the feel of the scratchy material against his skin and the damp, dark corner of the stall took him right back to that day...the day he wanted to hide in this exact spot forever and never leave.
“What is this place?” Adaline planted her palm on the smooth pine wall and glanced around the stall. “Did Gus have horses back when you were in elementary school?”
“No.” Jace shook his head. “A long time ago he raised quarter horses, but that was before I came to stay with him. I’m not sure why he stopped. Not sure you’ve noticed, but Gus doesn’t share much.”
