Page 51 of I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life

“I think people will be understanding, with everything that’s been going on,” I answered. “Just remind anyone upset that it’s amazing they came out to support those who lost everything in the fire. If they’re going to fight that, it says a lot about who they are as a person, and you should ignore it anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she nodded, though she still looked panicky. I wasn’t really sure how to calm her down, not when I hadn’t really known her the last time I lived here.

“Listen,” I said, “I know this isn’t what you dreamed, and you take these events seriously. It shows you love Briar Hill, and that love will still come through. I’m sure of it.”

That seemed to be enough to calm her down, as I started walking around to check on setup again. Or really, to attempt to get warm.

“Where’s Nalini?” I heard an annoyingly familiar voice behind me. I was glad I’d pushed to get Cassidy moved out of Maya’s class at the semester. While there hadn’t been any other events in the classroom, everything I’d told her boss about what she’d pulled outside of it had been enough that he agreed with me. Cassidy wasn’t upset; it turned out Ava was in the other class, so they’d get to spend all day together.

“She and Cassidy are coming over later,” I said, trying to keep the conversation as neutral as possible. “I thought you’d quit.”

“Well, I wanted to check and see if anyone had realized the error of their ways and decided to use your star power for good,” she said, giving me a flirtatious smile that gave me the ick. “It’s sad that nobody in town wants to recognize how it’d help”

“Listen, Maya,” I said, doing my best not to grimace, “I get you’re a fan of RaineFall, and honestly I’m flattered. However, I’m here to get away from being a celebrity; I just want to be a member of the community. You get that right?”

“I guess?” she said, looking at me with confusion. “Is that why you’re always hanging out with Nalini Rana? Like, isn’t it against the bro code to be constantly hanging out with your brother’s ex?”

“Jack knows,” I answered, even though I knew he really wasn’t okay with it. “And honestly, my family dynamics aren’t any of your business.”

“But you’ve always said your fans are your family,” Maya said. I did my best not to roll my eyes — it was a terrible slogan my father came up with right before we’d fired him. And unfortunately, the timing made everyone latch onto it.

“That was years ago, and probably not the best tagline,” I pointed out. “I need you to take a step back from… everything. I get you loved my music, but I’m just…”

“She got to you, didn’t she?” Maya hissed, venom filling her voice, “Because you want to know how she acted before you got here? Like she was super special because she broke Jack Raine’s heart. Nalini gets to cash in on infamy, and you’re mad at the person who wants to support you?”

“Maya. You. Need. To. Stop.” I snapped, loud enough that everyone who was working turned to look at us. “Between you telling me I needed to find a replacement wife, you putting down my best friend at every opportunity, and your insistence on making me this celebrity figure I didn’t ask for, you’ve crossed so many lines. And that’s why I moved Cassidy out of your class, and why I’m counting down the days until I never have to talk to you again.”

“You are going to regret this, Kameron Raine,” Maya hissed at me. “You’re turning your back on your fans, and we deserve better.”

I watched as she stormed away, and despite everything, I felt bad for her. It wasn’t the worst fan interaction I'd had; there were plenty that were much worse. I had restraining orders to prove it. But it was always sad to see when someone invented an entire parasocial relationship, only to freak out when they found out it truly wasn’t real.

I'd figured I was her favorite band member; I knew being my fan wasn’t a great place to be within the greater RaineFall fandom. Maya had probably spent hours upon hours defending me on social media, believing I’d appreciate something I knew nothing about.

But the way she treated the people I was close to, whether it be my daughter or Nalini, made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if Maya thought we were destined to be together, and her being Cassidy’s teacher was a sign of that.

I shook my head, telling everyone to get back to work, because as threatening as Maya probably thought she was, I didn’t really care much about it. We had a Festival to put on, and I wanted nothing more than for it to go well. I could worry about Maya in the new year.

Chapter thirty-nine

Nalini

The park looked like a magical winter wonderland.

Icicle lights hung from the edges of the tents and game booths, food trucks created a pavilion, and most surprisingly of all, the ice rink had been restored. Mary-Marigold had been hinting at some sort of big surprise for the past week, one she was certain would make everyone excited, and while some had assumed it meant Kam was performing, the ice rink was better.

That had to be what he’d been working on. He’d been coming and going, taking mysterious phone calls, and overall seemed like he’d been stressed out of his mind. The ice rink was a part of Briar Hill that had died years ago. But now it was better than ever, with new fencing, new lights, and a brand new skate rental stand. It was the exact thing I would’ve expected from someone in my Christmas movies, and I thought my heart would explode out of my chest. It wasn’t just for me, not when I saw the way Cassidy’s entire face lit up. He’d done it for both of us, so we’d both get one last little bit of holiday magic.

“Dad!” she exclaimed when she saw him at the tent that'd be Kam and my workspace for the next few hours, “There’s ice skating!”

“Really? I didn’t notice,” Kam chuckled before pulling out a pair of skates that were just Cassidy’s size. She squealed with excitement before seeing some of her friends and running to them.

“Is she as graceful as her Mom on the ice?” I asked Kam.

“Absolutely not, she’s terrible,” Kam admitted, “but she loves it anyway. She and Julia would always end their shopping days at the ice rink.”

“How did you pull off getting it fixed?” I asked, starting to fill up cups from the containers of cocoa.

“Honestly, most of it wasn’t me,” Kam admitted, “Silas earmarked money this year for the restoration, and instead of getting a big company we decided to hire people who needed the extra money because of the fire and wanted to help out. And it fell into place from there. I was just in charge of making sure it was done in time.”