Page 44 of Tacos & Toboggans
“I won’t keep you,” he said. “But I’ve been trying to get this to you for a week.”
He handed me an envelope, which I took with curiosity. “I’m not too hard to find, Jack,” I said, using the name he preferred. His real name is Orlando, but he always says he doesn’t know what his mother was thinking, naming a Michigan boy after a city in Florida.
“Not usually, but since you aren’t working right now, I kept missing you, and then I had to go out of town for a few days. It’s no problem, there’s plenty of time left.”
“Time for what?” I asked, and he motioned for me to open the envelope. When I flipped it over, it had the official Bells Pass City seal, which was curious, but I unsealed it and pulled out the letter inside. “Dear Miss Riba, as the newest business owner in Bells Pass, the Bells Pass City Board cordially invites you to kick off the holiday season by lighting the Christmas tree in the park.” My hand fell to my side in shock as Major squeezed my waist. “Jack, we talked about this. My business isn’t that kind of business.”
“What kind of business, dear?” he asked, clearly confused by the conversation.
“Like a business, business,” I said, nervously flapping my hand that held the letter. “I don’t have a storefront or anything.”
“You do,” Major said. “It’s just a virtual one, which is smart because you can get nationwide exposure that way.”
“What he said,” Jack replied with a nod. “Have you made any money at your business that isn’t a business?”
“Surprisingly, yes. Halloween was fantastic, and Christmas is shaping up to be stellar. Why?”
“Well, then you’re ahead of just about everyone else who starts a business. They rarely make money in their first year, much less their first month, so if you define a business by whether it makes money, you have a business. Where you conduct the business from doesn’t matter, which you proved with the food truck.”
“He’s right,” Major said, squeezing my waist again. “I’m proud of you. What an honor.”
“It is an honor,” I said, nervously biting my lip. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate the sentiment, because I do, but I also know there must be other people who started a business this year and deserve the opportunity more than I do.”
“It’s always the newest business owner of the year who gets to light the tree, which you are, but you’re also the only one, so there’s no excuse not to accept it.”
“Goodness, I didn’t register the business for that reason.”
“If I had to guess, you hadn’t even considered this when you registered it,” Major piped up. I wanted to glare at him, but I didn’t since I knew he was trying to be helpful.
“Well, no,” I admitted. “I did it because it makes filing taxes easier.”
“I’ll let you two be on your way to get your coffee,” Jack said. “My secretary will send all the information you’ll need to your inbox for Friday night’s lighting.”
“But I didn’t say I was going to do it,” I said quickly.
“Of course, you are,” Jack said as though that was the final word on it. “It’s a rite of passage for every new business owner, and you are one, so wear it proudly! See you on Friday!” He leaned in and hugged me, then shook Major’s hand. Before I could say another word, he took off down the street, his coattails flapping in the breeze.
“Maybe he’s had too much coffee,” I said, watching him go.
The words were barely out of my mouth before Major had wrapped his arms around me in a hug, his warm lips near my ear. “I’m so proud of you. This is so exciting!”
Awkwardly, I patted his back, but when he didn’t release me, I sank against him, absorbing his warmth and inhaling deeply. Even the fresh air couldn’t steal his woodsy scent away. I’d been at his house enough times to see the bottle in his bathroom. It was called Burberry Hero, and damn if I didn’t have a crush on how it made him smell. Yes, that was my way of avoiding the idea that I had a crush on the man wearing it. Sue me.
“Thanks, Major, but again, there has to be someone better than me to light the tree.”
He held me out with my shoulders and gazed at me from under his brows. “There is no one better than you, Jaelyn Riba. I’m pretty sure we could ask anyone on this street and they’d say the same thing. Let’s do that!”
Before he could turn to call out to someone, I grabbed his jacket. “Don’t do that!” I exclaimed, laughing. “Do you want me to die from embarrassment?”
Before he answered, he grabbed my jacket and tugged me closer to him. “No, I want you to be proud of yourself. If you’re half as proud of yourself as I am of you, I’ll be a happy man.”
I gazed at him and saw the pride shining in his eyes. I wasn’t sure I had that much pride inside me, but I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I nodded. The moment should have passed, but it didn’t, and we stood there locked together and lost in each other’s eyes. I told myself to pull away and put some distance between us, but my legs wouldn’t work. He lowered his head, and I held my breath, afraid he was going to kiss me on the bustling street of Bells Pass while also afraid he wasn’t. At the last minute, his lips landed on my forehead, where they stayed for barely a second before he released me and stepped back.
“We should get that coffee and head to the farm, so you don’t miss your meeting,” he said, straightening my coat, to which I nodded, hoping the disappointment didn’t show in my eyes. He held the door open to Crystal’s, and I walked through. As he came up behind me to read the menu board, he leaned into my ear. “For the record, if it wasn’t broad daylight in the middle of town, my lips would have landed somewhere else, and they’d still be there.”
When he straightened, all those excuses I’d used the last few months to avoid having a crush on the man behind me collapsed. At least most of them, but the few that remained—the most important reasons I couldn’t date him—would be the reason I couldn’t encourage his ideas of turning our friendship into something more. He had a reputation to uphold, and thatmeant having someone on his arm who traveled in the same circles as he did. I wasn’t that woman and never would be.
Chapter Fifteen
