Page 77 of The Mistletoe Switch

"Everyone say cheese," I holler as I hold up the teacher's cell phone and snap a picture of the classroom of first graders.

Everyone smiles as they say the word, and I snap several more pictures.

As they leave, after spending an hour petting and feeding reindeer and on a hay ride around the farm, I say goodbye to the smiling kids and teachers.

"Any luck finding someone to play Santa?" I ask Josephine as she joins me.

"No interest yet, but I'm putting the word out to everyone I know. Seems like the kids had a good time today. A few of the teachers who've been doing this field trip for a while told me they love the new set-up. Only problem is, they'll have to get back on the bus to go downtown to see a few more of Yuletide's sights."

"I hadn't thought about that. It's too bad we can't transport the farm half a mile closer to town and shorten your driveway so they can walk."

She chuckles. "We'll just have to make this place a destination worth spending the day at."

"You could do a presentation about the care and keeping of reindeer."

"Adding an educational element is always a good idea." She bumps her shoulder against mine. "There's someone here to see you. He wants to take you to lunch."

My heart lifts. "Why didn't he come in here with you? I want to show Xavier all the changes."

"It's not Xavier." Her mood shifts to serious. "And I'm not sure you want to see him, so I made him wait outside."

My heart flutters back to where it belongs in my chest. "RJ?"

She shrugs. "If you say so. I call him douche bag lawyer dude."

The laugh that bursts from me is tension mixed with relief that the farm debut has gone well so far today. The laughter gets a bit wild before I pull myself together. "Don't you need me to stay? There's clean up that needs to happen and—"

"And I've got it. There's not much you can do with one arm, anyway." She pauses and leans in close. "Unless you want an excuse not to see him?"

I actually consider it. I'm in no mood to be threatened or criticized by RJ again. But he's the whole reason I'm in Yuletide and I'm not going to give up on my mission, even if I feel shaky and my stomach is swooping with nerves. "It's fine. I'll talk to him."

"I'll be right here if you need me," Josephine says. "Don't put up with any bullshit."

"Thank you." I'm already sad that I'll be leaving Josephine soon and heading back to my life in Vegas. "For everything."

She smiles. "I should be the one thanking you. I have a good feeling about this idea of yours. It's going to be a total success."

"I really hope so." If anyone deserves it, it's Josephine.

I turn and head for the front of the barn where RJ waits.

He's handsome, his posture perfect, as he stands in his wool coat and smiles at me. He's everything I ever wanted once. A decent man with a future, who didn't live to party. He's the only true adult I've ever dated, barring Xavier, who doesn't count since our dating is fake. And I'd felt like such a grown-up, not only to have caught his attention, but to have realized his worth against all the fuck boys I'd spent my teens and early twenties pursuing.

On our first date, he told me he wanted to have four children, and I'd known, like a kid with stars in my eyes meeting Santa for the first time, that this man could give me everything I ever wanted. Better than that, he could give me everything I needed.

"Cherry," he says as I near him, his smile easing my worries. "It's good to see you." He frowns as he takes me in fully. "What happened to your arm?"

I wave away the question with my good hand. "It's just a muscle strain. I'll be fine."

"That's good. I'd like to take you to lunch."

The part of me that's been hoping for this since I arrived in Yuletide cheers, but another part of me is wary. "Take me to lunch and remind me I need to stay away from you?"

He chuckles. "I deserve that. I've been a bit of an asshole." He bends his knees to peer into my face in that way he always used to do when he was trying to be cute. "You did try to break up my relationship with Alice."

"I'm sorry about that. I should have been more straightforward with you about what I want. You still haven't explained why you want to take me to lunch." No matter how kind he's being now, I've been burned too many times by this man to go blindly along with whatever he's got planned.

He straightens, his expression sobering. "I was hoping to do this over a steak, with a glass of wine in my hand, but you never have liked to make things easy, have you?"

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