Page 67 of Once Upon a Holidate
“What you did has nothing to do with his actions.”
“Are you sure? Maybe I somehow made it all happen.”
“No,” he said firmly. “How would that be possible? Did you do some kind of mind-meld where you secretly convinced him to join JROTC and not tell you? If so, you have amazing powers and you should use them for good.”
Wynn smiled. “When you say it like that,” she began.
“It’s true.”
She supposed he was right. The two wrongs had nothing in common. “I wish I knew what to do.”
“You’ll figure it out. You’re the most amazing parent I know. If I had half your skills, I wouldn’t have lost all those years with Joylyn.”
“That’s not true. You’re not to blame. It was your ex-wife.”
“And Hunter made his own choices. That’s not on you.”
A sensible point of view, she thought. Even though she knew Garrick was right, she couldn’t help wondering if somehow she was the one to blame.
“Thanks for listening to me rant,” she said.
“Anytime. You ready to go back to your office?”
She nodded. “I’m going to try not to think about what I’m going to have to do later when he and I talk. I thought parenting would get easier with time, but it doesn’t. Just when I figure something out, it all changes.”
“You’re going to do great.”
He rose and pulled her to her feet, then hugged her. The feel of his strong embrace helped as did the knowledge that he was someone she could talk to.
“I’ll let you know what happens,” she said.
“Good. And I’m right next door if you need anything.” He looked into her eyes. “Trust your gut. You’re a great mom.”
“Thanks.”
As she walked back to her car, she thought about what he’d said. How her screw-ups had nothing to do with Hunter’s mistakes. While she knew he was right, she couldn’t help thinking that maybe there was just the tiniest bit of karmic payback in what she was going to have to wrestle with. If God wanted to teach her a lesson, He’d picked a doozy of a way.
***
Joylyn took the shoebox-size package from the mail carrier and thanked her. The familiar loopy writing on the mailing label made her smile. She had no idea what Holly was sending her, but knew it would be great. Holly was a good friend.
Joylyn put the rest of the mail on her dad’s desk, found a pair of scissors in the top drawer and quickly opened her box. Inside was a stuffed blue bunny—the kind you would win at a carnival or arcade game. The note tucked inside explained thatHolly and Rex had won the bunny at the pier and wanted her to have it for her baby.
The ever-present tears appeared, but this time Joylyn didn’t care. Happy tears were never a problem. She put the box in the recycling, then set the blue bunny on her dresser.
“Look what Auntie Holly got you,” she told her baby as she rested a hand on her belly. “You’re going to love him.”
She picked up her phone and took a picture, then texted it and several heart emojis to her friend.
Seconds later her phone rang. Joylyn laughed when she saw Holly’s picture.
“I would have called, but I didn’t know when you were on break,” she said, stretching out on the bed. “Thank you so much for the cute bunny. I love it.”
“The second we saw it, Rex and I knew we had to win it for you.”
There was something in her friend’s voice—a level of excitement that seemed bigger than just an arcade bunny. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. You’ll never believe it. It’s so insane and yet, it’s happening. I’m floating.”
