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I stare at Josephine, jaw on my chest. "It does not say that."
She raises her brows. "Are you calling me a liar?"
Calling my boss a liar on my first day of work probably isn't the best plan. "Can I have the letter?"
She folds it back up and slides it into the envelope. "My version is the true version, Cherry. You don't need to see what it says."
Which means it's even worse than I suspected. My chest aches. "Please." I hold out my hand.
She sighs and drops it on my palm. "He's not worth your time."
I pull out the letter and unfold it. As I read it, every word is a tiny little stab to my heart. "Dear Cherry, I will never forgive you for destroying my relationship with Alice. I loved her more than you can ever understand, and you will never understand because you are selfish and uncaring. I don't want to see you ever again. I want you to leave Yuletide and forget about me. I will never want to date you again. I will never marry you. Please don't ever get in touch with me again. Sincerely, James."
"Ouch." I press a hand to my chest. "I knew he was upset with me, that he thought I was silly, but now he sounds like he's one step away from taking out a restraining order against me."
"Like I said." Josephine stands and dusts the crumbs off her lap. "He's not worth your time or energy. Are you going to eat lunch? Or do you want to help me set up the snow machine for the next group?"
I have no interest in eating anything, so I get up and help Josephine. The work is mindless, but the next group shows up soon enough and the ten home school students help take my mind off RJ.
The afternoon goes quickly, busy with school groups and tourists. It's amazing to me how far some of the school groups come just to see the reindeer and Yuletide. I would have loved a field trip like this as a kid.
The reindeer get back into the trailer willingly, and Josephine and I clean up their enclosure together in a comfortable silence. It's only now that my thoughts turn back to RJ and I discover the hurt has eased. I have no idea what I'm going to do now that my entire plan for the rest of my life has failed, but I'm no longer hurting over RJ's harsh rejection.
"Fresh air and hard work eases most wounds." Josephine loads my shovel into the trailer, our work done.
I guess she can see my mood has improved. "Have you ever had your heart broken?" I ask once we're both in the truck's cab and headed back to her farm.
She glances over at me. "I'm forty-eight years old. Of course I've had my heart broken. I've lost people I've loved and I've left places I've loved."
"Any big romantic relationship?" I ask.
She huffs out a breath somewhere between a laugh and a growl of annoyance. "I'm not the wise old woman who's going to give you the sage advice that helps you realize how to win back James or how to move on without him. I've had romances, I've had flings, and I've found the most enduring relationships to be friendships. I've never found a best friend I wanted to sleep with and spend the rest of my life with, so I'm single and I'm happy this way. It works for me. I can't tell you what's going to work for you."
Her profile is all hard edges and weathered skin. Not even remotely perfect or fashion model attractive, but beautiful none-the-less. "I'm not even sure I've ever had a best friend," I say. "Not really."
Josephine smiles softly. "Maybe you don't need one. When I met you, I doubted you'd last one day at this job, but you've proved me wrong. You're a fast learner, a hard worker, and you're a million times tougher than you look. Have you ever considered that maybe you're all you need?"
My immediate response is to laugh. Of course, I'm not all I need. But Jo doesn't laugh, she doesn't even smile. She just looks at me, one brow raised, like my laughter is proving some point I've missed.
Whatever point that is, I've definitely missed it. I don't know much, but I am certain beyond all shadow of a doubt that I need someone in my life, a permanent fixture who will prevent me from diving headfirst into all the schemes and wild ideas I get on a daily basis. I need someone who grounds me, who—
Josephine pulls up her drive and the world outside gets dimmer as the thick forest surrounds us and the steep climb blocks the sinking sun. High in the trees, someone's hung balls of light, hundreds of them, and it's one of the most beautiful things I've seen.
"Wow," I breathe. "How did you do this?"
"It's easy. I make the balls from chicken wire and Christmas lights. I invite friends with big machines over to help me hang them and offer them food and drink and good company after. The hardest part is running the electric all the way out here and paying the bills, so I only do it for the Christmas season. You might see locals driving up this way just to see the lights."
I press my face against the cold glass of the side window and take in the globes of light so high above us. "This is incredible."
When Jo pulls up to the barn and parks, I barely notice.
"We're here." She opens her door without looking at me. "Hop out and I'll show you how to get the reindeer back to pasture."
I grab her arm before she can get out of the truck. "Wait."
She pauses, staring at me. "You okay?"
I drop her arm. "Sorry. I got excited. I have an idea. It might be a stupid idea, but maybe…" No. I shouldn't have said anything.
