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Lori sobered. “You went through a hard thing. And you were so young. Both of you.”
“All that matters is that you’re here now,” Sarah said before her daughter called her to come look at something in the living room.
When it was just me and Lori, I said, “I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused when I broke things off with Talon.”
“There’s no need to apologize. We all have things and situations we regret. It’s how we act, moving forward, that matters.”
I hoped I could be the woman Talon needed going forward. That I wouldn’t run scared if something came up.
Chapter 19
Talon
In the days leading up to Christmas, I was working on a surprise gift for Holly, which was difficult because she spent more time in the workshop than I did.
I finally had an opportunity when she went inside to watch Marley’s live stream for her course.
When I’d made decent progress and covered it in case Holly appeared, I went in search of her. I found her in my rarely used office. I kept it clean and neat when I had Zoom calls with potential clients and store owners.
Holly was just turning away from her laptop when I walked in.
“How did it go?”
“Honestly? I’m still in shock. But I don’t have time to be.”
“Why’s that?”
Holly turned the screen of her laptop toward me, where I could see the list of orders for her online shop. She scrolled down the list. “These are all from today. Specifically, since the live stream.”
As she moved down the list, I whistled. “Not what you were expecting?”
“I was hoping, but also scared, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.” It may have been a long time since I was in her position, hoping for my big break, but you never forget that feeling. I moved around the desk so I could see it more clearly. And we watched more orders come in.
“Are you going to be able to fill these?”
“I’m going to do my best. But it means I’ll be busy.”
“How many ornaments do you have made? Can we help with shipping while you make more?”
“That’s what I was hoping.”
I pulled out a sheet of paper, and we made plans. We worked out how many she could make each day and how many we could pack and ship. Who would go to the post office to mail them, and any other logistics she could think of. Then Holly went to the workshop, and I called Marley and Lori for help packing and shipping.
In no time, we had a system set up in my living room, with boxes of Holly’s ornaments, the order list, and packing supplies. We quickly packed everything we could, and I volunteered to go to the post office the next morning. Holly would need to work nearly round the clock to get everything ready to ship before Christmas.
She couldn’t guarantee shipping at this point, but she still wanted to try to get them out. I ordered pizza and went to tell Holly.
The stand I made her was filled with ornaments. “Are any done?”
“They’ll need to dry overnight. Then you can pack them tomorrow.”
“I’m stiff from everything we packed today,” I said as I gathered her in my arms.
“I can’t thank you enough for your help.”
“Marley and Mom helped, too. They’re waiting for pizza at the house. Why don’t you take a break?”
