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“It was overwhelming for me, and I’ve known most of those people all my life.”
All he did was smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and he looked absolutely rung out.
Even so, he hugged her good-night.
While she was in his arms, she breathed in the scent of him, wanting to saturate her senses with it so she could memorize it. Because right now things between them felt fragile and fleeting.
She loved her family in spite of their quirks. Heck, they were their quirks. That’s what made them unique. They were big and loud and overbearing and brassy, nosy and bossy. God, they could have their own version of the Seven Dwarfs. Although right now, she’d be divested of her role as goody-goody.
She would no longer be thought of as the good girl of the family. It was about time.
Because tonight she’d come to some realizations of her own. Not everyone found her family endearing. And her mother—that bit about making sure she and Nick walked down the aisle before next Thanksgiving—that was inexcusable.
“It’s been a long, long day,” Nick said. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow I’m going to be tied up with the tree lighting in the park,” she said. “But I hope you’ll stop by. It really is pretty. It’s a nice way to kick off the holidays.”
He didn’t say one way or the other if he’d be there tomorrow night, but he did give her a peck on the lips before he got in his car and drove away. And that was something.
Wasn’t it?
Chapter Ten
After Nick left, Becca went back inside her parents’ house.
She walked into the kitchen, where her mother was directing the cleanup process.
“Mom, I need to talk to you. Can we please go in the other room?”
“Not now, Rebecca. We need to get this kitchen cleaned up. In fact, there is a whole rack of wineglasses over there that need to be dried and put away. You can sit down while you help. Go do that.”
“Mom. The wineglasses will wait. You and I need to have a talk right now. Please, come in the other room, unless you want me to say what I have to say in front of everybody here.”
She’d never challenged her mom like this. For the second time that night you could’ve heard a pin drop, everyone was so taken aback. Even Rosanna. She’d lost her smirk and was watching this showdown unfold with wide eyes.
Isabel glared at Becca for a moment. But then she put down her dish towel, untied her apron and patted her perfect lacquered hair into place.
“If you insist, Rebecca. But make it quick.”
* * *
The next day, Becca decided to give Nick some space. It wasn’t hard, since the foundation tree-lighting ceremony had kept her running all day. Now, as time drew closer for them to flip the switch on the tree and for everybody to oooh and ahhh and clap their appreciation, everything switched into high gear.
The tree lighting was becoming a nice annual tradition that the entire population of Celebration looked forward to every year. And every year it was getting more and more involved.
The foundation sponsored the event, but this year, they’d added a fund-raising element to benefit the foundation. There was a booth selling Christmas trees, a Christmas shop with ornaments and stockings and other holiday decorations, and a table that encouraged people to think about year-end in giving.
Since this was their first year trying their hand at fund-raising, Becca had been in charge of coordinating the volunteers, in addition to hiring the tree decorator, arranging all the permits and concessions, the carolers and the entertainment.
The prancing reindeer from Miss Jeannie’s School of Dance were performing in the gazebo right now. An a cappella group dressed in period costume were singing carols over by the tree. Someone had tracked her down to tell her no one had shown up to man the roasted chestnut booth, so they had to pull somebody from the kettle corn and hot spiced cider stations to fill in until the chestnut roaster arrived.
She had just put out that fire when her neighbor Mrs. Cavett, who she’d appointed as a volunteer for the holiday shop in a moment of weakness, sidled up next to her.
“Lovely event, Becca sweetheart. But you know, honey, next year you really should organize better. It’s only proper to provide dinner for the volunteers or at least snacks. I’m starving. It was such a bother to have to take our breaks in rotation. You know, if we had food, we could eat right there while we worked. Happy volunteers make for happy sales.”
