Page 12 of Mistletoe Dreams
It made Hannah wonder if Cassie had a boyfriend who sent her flowers or if she just decorated her own desk. She seemed like the kind of person who made things better and brighter wherever she went.
"It all looks good to me," Cassie said after checking the information on the screen. She straightened and added, "I know that you have patients waiting, but I just wanted to remind you of the town meeting for the annual Mistletoe Meadows community festival. I didn't know if you were going and wondered if you wanted to go with me?"
"I... I'd love to," Hannah said, caught a little off guard. She did want to get involved in the town and be a part of everything, like she’d mentioned to Terry. And she appreciated being invited, not once, but twice.
"Sweet. It's tonight at seven. Would you like to meet somewhere? Or I could pick you up?"
"If you don't mind, I could pick you up. I have to drive into town from my grandma's farmhouse anyway."
"Oh, that'll work. I just live right down the street, over top of the candle shop. I can be down on the sidewalk at five till?"
"Sure. Do we have to get there early to makesure we get a seat?"
"There's plenty of seating. Unless you wanted to sit in the front. Those seats usually go quickly. But you're also more likely to get volunteered for stuff." She laughed a little. "I like to volunteer, but I like to select my projects myself."
"I'm with you. I want to have a little say in what I do."
"In the back it is, then," Cassie said.
She walked back to her seat with a little spring in her step.
Hannah's lips curved up in a smile. It was nice to be welcomed into town and invited places. Maybe on some level she'd rather stay home and eat ice cream and read a book, but this was truly what she wanted: to be involved in the town.
It made her feel warm and happy. Even though she had to go face Ben again, she didn't mind. After all, he was fighting his own battles. And even though they would probably never get along, she could give him grace, if only in her mind. She would not envy his position as parent and sheriff with a troubled teen, and that alone made it a lot easier to be kind to him as she finished up the paperwork and sent the sheriff and his deputy on their way.
Chapter Six
"Idon't understand why I have to come," Mason muttered as Ben and he walked into the town meeting for the annual Mistletoe Meadows festival planning. "It's not my fault you don't have any friends and can't get anyone else to go with you."
Ben tried to let Mason's angry words slide over him. It was true that he didn't have many friends in town. Sure, Gordon, his deputy, was one, and of course Ben lived with his mother, and he considered her a friend as well as his parent. But he definitely held himself back from getting too friendly with the locals, especially since he could only imagine how disappointed and upset they would be if his son ended up breaking into something in the town.
He didn't want them to think any less of him because of his son's behavior, but that was hard, since he thought less of himself. Like he hadn't been a good father. Or a good husband, since his wife hadn't wanted to stay.
He tried to shake those feelings off.
"If I felt like you could behave yourself while I was gone, I wouldn't have made you come."
Maybe that wasn't the best thing he could say, because his son'sface hardened, and Mason gave him a look that was so withering that Ben almost flinched.
He loved the boy. Loved him with all of his heart and soul. But no matter how much he loved him, he couldn't make him do right or choose to live up to his potential.
Goodness, he didn't even care if the kid lived up to his potential. He just wanted him to not get arrested. The bar was so low.
"Grandma is saving us seats. Come on," Ben said once he found his mother, who had an empty seat on either side of her.
He took a chair on one side while Mason settled down on the other side of Brenda.
Everyone in town was there. At least it seemed like it, as Noah Parker, who owned the music shop in town, called the meeting to order.
As he did so, Ben noted that the new doctor, Hannah Reynolds, slid into the row in front of him, with the receptionist—he couldn't remember her name—sitting down beside her, smiling and giggling a bit before she quieted with the rest of the crowd.
He didn't know why his eyes were drawn to Hannah. She was nothing like his ex-wife, and he certainly wasn't looking for any kind of romantic entanglement. Of course, if he were, he would want the exact opposite of his ex, which was pretty much what Hannah was. Smart and studious, a bit quiet but serious and intelligent. She also exuded care and concern and competence.
Peyton, on the other hand, had been a whirl of romance, neither one of them doing what they had been brought up to do, but slightly wild and definitely reckless.
She'd been pregnant with Mason when they'd gotten married at the courthouse while he was on leave from the Air Force.
He'd finished his contract and then applied to the police academy. Those were rough years where they were separated more than not, but he thought they'd made it work. He'd tried hard, although Peyton didn't really seem to give him credit for it.
