“Absolutely not,” Vanessa said firmly. “You two are meant to be together. Anyone with eyes can see that. And I can see how you feel about her. She’s my best friend, and I’m not going to let a little miscommunication about our matchmaking ruin what could be the best thing that’s happened to either of you in years.”
“Vanessa—” Lincoln began, but she was already striding past him, her mind racing with plans.
“Trust me,” she called over her shoulder as she hurried toward Imogen’s shop. “Just let me handle it!”
She could hear Lincoln calling after her, probably trying to talk her out of whatever intervention she was planning, but Vanessa was focused on her mission. She needed to find Imogen and have an honest conversation about what was really happening here. Someone needed to help her understand that what she felt for Lincoln was totally separate from the unfortunate missteps that had happened in creating the opportunity for her to have those feelings.
Vanessa hurried down the street to Artisan Chocolates, only to see that the door was locked with theClosedsign on it. She bit her lip, glancing at her watch, and thought that maybe Imogen had gone out for a late lunch. If so, she probably would have gone to the diner.
Sure enough, Vanessa spotted Imogen through the diner’s front window, sitting alone at a corner booth with what appeared to be a half-eaten sandwich and fries. She looked tired and pensive, staring out the window at the street outside and picking at her food.
Vanessa took a deep breath and hurried into the diner, breathing in the familiar, comforting smells of Jackson’s cooking as she made a beeline for the booth her friend was in.
“Imogen!” she called out cheerfully as she hurried over. “What a nice surprise. Mind if I join you?”
Imogen looked up, her smile a little tired. “Of course not. Sit down.”
Vanessa slid into the booth across from her friend, breathing in deeply as she thought about what she wanted to say. “How did the magazine interview go?” she asked, wanting to start with something good.
“Great,” Imogen said, her smile brightening a little. “They want to use the sculpture as the cover piece, which I never would have thought they would do. It all went better than I expected, really. I’m proud of how it all turned out, and I still can’t believe I pulled it off.”
“That’s fantastic!” Vanessa exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you. This is exactly the kind of recognition you deserve for all your hard work.”
“Thank you,” Imogen said, her smile quickly fading. “It’s been quite a week for unexpected attention.”
Vanessa let out a breath. “I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. I just ran into Lincoln. He seemed… really down.”
Imogen pressed her lips together. “Oh?”
“He mentioned that you’ve been avoiding him since the sleigh ride,” Vanessa continued gently. “He’s worried that he did something to upset you.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Imogen said quietly. “That’s not the issue.”
“Then what is the issue?” Vanessa asked. “Because from where I’m sitting, you both seemed to have a wonderful time the other night. And now you’re both miserable and confused, which seems like the opposite of what should have happened afterward.”
Imogen met her friend’s eyes, her eyes flashing with something that might have been anger or hurt. “You want toknow what the issue is, Vanessa? The issue is that I found out the whole thing was fake. The Secret Santa gifts, the sleigh ride—all of it orchestrated by my well-meaning friends who apparently thought I was too hopeless to figure out my own love life.”
Vanessa winced. “It’s not that. We definitely don’t think that. And I’m so sorry that it hurt you instead of what we meant for it to do. That wasn’t what we wanted at all. We just wanted?—”
“Lincoln and I to get together. I know.” Imogen blew out a sharp breath. “And now I don’t know what to trust about anything that happened. Were Lincoln’s feelings genuine, or was he just being polite because he felt pressured by the situation you all created?”
“He didn’t know about it at all though,” Vanessa protested. “He was as in the dark as you were. We just created opportunities, we didn’t plot anything with either of you. We thought we saw that there was something, and we just wanted to make it easier for it to… happen. It backfired, and I’m so sorry. Not because you’re upset at us, but because we would never have done it if we’d known it would make you feel this way.”
“But how can I know if it’s real?” Imogen asked, her eyes suspiciously shiny. “How can I trust my feelings when I know the whole situation was artificially created?”
Vanessa leaned forward across the table, hoping she could make her friend understand. “Imogen, listen to me. Yes, we arranged for you to be Lincoln’s Secret Santa, and him to be yours. And yes, we organized the sleigh ride. But we couldn’t arrange his reactions to those things. We couldn’t make him look at you the way he does—like you’re the most beautiful, fascinating woman he’s ever seen. We couldn’t force him to remember your teenage conversations well enough to choose the perfect gift. And we definitely couldn’t orchestrate the way you two talked and laughed together during that sleigh ride.”
“But what if he was just being kind?” Imogen asked, pushing a piece of hair out of her face. “What if he felt obligated to make the best of an awkward situation?”
“So explain the rest of it,” Vanessa challenged. “Him bringing you lunch? Or going out of his way to pick up his orders at your shop to make things easier on you? What about him building Katie’s bike for her, and all the extra time he spends on her lessons? Or the way he lights up every time you show up at the rink? He looks for excuses to see you and talk to you, Imogen, and he did that way before Mabel and I started meddling… which, again, I amsosorry for. But we didn’t create the idea for that out of thin air. We just nudged you to spend more time together.”
Imogen was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking through what Vanessa had said.
“And, explain why he’s so miserable today because he thinks you’re pushing him away. If he was just being polite, then why would he be so upset? He’d be relieved to not have to fake it any longer.”
“I…” Imogen began, then stopped, her expression softening.
“I know we did the wrong thing, but please don’t let our well-meaning mistakes make you lose sight of what’s right in front of you. Youdeservelove and happiness, Imogen, with whoever that might be that you would want it with. And if that person is the guy who used tobeyour person all those years ago, and you have a chance at that love story, you should go for it. Not overthink it until you lose any chance at having something with him again.”
