“I don’t know how you do it. I may need several days to recover,” I agreed. “Oh, we were invited to join them for treats at the diner, but I told Becca to take the kids and have fun. Didn’t think you’d mind having a little quiet time.”
“You’re not kidding,” she said with a grin. “I love them, but teenagers are a lot all the time. Besides, after being cooped up here, I want to get out of this box and stretch out.”
“Let’s do that,” I said. “No rule that says we can’t take a little walk before we clean up, right?”
Her shrug was slow. “As long as we close everything down, I don’t see why not, as long as we stay in the park. Since we sold out of literally everything, there isn’t much left to do here. All the cleaning happens back at the diner.”
“I’ll grab the window,” I said, making for the back door. “It was a great day, but I am bummed that I missed out on the cupcakes. Those flew out the door as fast as the roosters did. I’ll have to stop in at the bakery and buy one.”
After carefully climbing down the stairs so I didn’t accidentally face-plant on the awkward pitch, I lowered the window and locked it with the padlocks. Then, I carried the sign to the back of the truck, where she stashed it. The cupcake table had already been folded up and was leaning against the side, so I handed that to her as well. Once everything was ready to be transported back to the diner, she grabbed something from the cooler and jumped down from the truck before she locked it.
“Whatcha got there?” I asked, nodding at the container in her hand.
“Cake,” she answered with a smile as we walked up the path. “I saved a couple after you said you’d never had one.”
“That was kind of you,” I said, grinning. “Now my mouth is watering.”
“Sit,” she said, motioning at a bench near the gazebo. The building was formidable in its simplicity. If you were in Bells Pass for longer than ten minutes, someone mentioned the building for one reason or another. It was smack dab in the middle of the park and the focal point of the town. They spoke of it almost as though it were a living, breathing entity. Gazing at it in the bright light of the afternoon sun, I could understand why. It stood as a timeless sentinel. A wooden structure, painted in soft hues of white and blue that radiated charm and whimsy. The octagonal roof, crowned with intricate latticework, provided shelter while allowing the warm, golden rays of theafternoon sun to filter through. Wooden columns supported the roof, creating a harmonious balance between sturdiness and grace. The open sides invited gentle breezes that carried the sweet scent of blooming flowers or the winter aroma of pine to sweep through the gazebo. A set of stairs directly off the path offered access to those looking to stand on the old, wooden, scuffed floor, while a wheelchair ramp on the side made it accessible to all. The building bestowed a sense of peace and contemplation unlike anything I’d seen in a big city.
“Why is the gazebo so high?” I asked, curious about the structure now that I’d given it my full attention. The last time I was here, my eyes never left her face. “I’ve never seen one with that much space under it.”
“The story goes that the founders wanted people to see the entire area while standing in it. They also wanted people to feel important whenever they were inside the building, so elevating it like a throne made everyone feel like a king or queen.”
“Interesting,” I said, nodding as the sun warmed us. The heat of the rays had changed over the last week, and we had reached the time of year when fall was transitioning into winter. I was here for it.
“While they couldn’t have known it two hundred years ago, all of the space under the building now holds an AV room,” she explained. “Back in the seventies, they closed it in and added a door at the back, which they used for storage. Over time, it evolved into adding sound equipment for events. You’ll see if you’re still here for the tree lighting next month.”
“Still here? Where would I go?”
“Sorry, I should have said, if you can make it to the tree lighting. You might be on call.”
“That’s Black Friday, right?” I asked, and she nodded. I could tell that my knowing the date surprised her.
“I’m working the day shift, but Dr. Russel insisted that he’d take call that night since it was my first tree lighting in Bells Pass. He said I had to be here for it.”
“That was nice of him. He’s a great guy, but he’s also correct. You haven’t experienced Bells Pass until you experience the holiday season. There’s even a legend withthat gazebo,” she said, cracking open the box of cake and holding it out to me.
Snagging one, I held it near my mouth. “Legend?” I bit into the cake, unprepared for what I was about to experience. A soft moan escaped as the lemon landed on my tongue and practically melted across it. “Goodness, Jaelyn. That’s heaven.” Her grin told me that it was the right thing to say, so I returned the smile before I took another bite.
“The Legend of the Bells Pass Gazebo goes that any couple who kisses under the gazebo’s roof at night, while the tree is lit, will be the town’s Christmas couple for the year.”
“Christmas couple?” I asked after I swallowed.
“Yes. The kissing couple will be the one the gazebo picks to bestow love everlasting, and they’ll be married before the tree is next lit.”
“Wow,” I said with a chuckle. “That is quite the legend. I bet it happened once, and suddenly it was written in stone, right?”
She tossed her head back and forth a couple of times before she answered. “More like a dozen, and that‘s just the couples I know personally. There was a bicentennial book published a few years ago that lists them all.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, turning to her now that I’d finished the cake. “A dozen?”
“Yep,” she agreed, smiling fondly at the building before us. “Mrs. Violet is one of them. Ivy and Shep, Lance and Indigo, Honor and Dawson, even Becca and Cameron.”
I made the mind-blown motion with my hands. “That’s wild! Okay, but how does that work if more than one couple kisses under the gazebo that year?”
“No one has the answer to that question, though it’s asked frequently. The best answer we’ve come up with is that the gazebo picks the couple it believes are true soulmates, and that’s the couple for the year.”
Leaning back on the bench, I gazed at the building, occasionally side-eyeing the woman beside me. “That’s quite the story.”
