NELSON RETURNED TO his grandmother’s house. He’d noticed the lights still on, and thought she’d want to be updated. That is, if her network hadn’t already spread the news.
She met him at the door. “Well?”
Nelson stepped in, tugging his scarf loose. “Dave and Jaycee are back together. I don’t know if the party is happening, but they talked, and figured out Jaycee was doing all this because of Dave’s mother.”
Abigail grimaced. “I can see that. I suppose Jaycee was trying to impress her. She’s going to have a difficult time unless Dave is willing to support her.”
Nelson gave a tired smile. “He told Jaycee that his mother isn’t welcome if she doesn’t treat Jaycee right, so that should help.”
“Excellent.” Abigail turned to go.
“I had a thought, Grandmother.”
Abigail turned back and invited Nelson to sit down in the lounge with a wave of her hand.
“What kind of thought?”
“About Gord and Gladys. I know he’s in the hospital, but can’t they still have their vow renewal? Unless he has complications, he should be almost ready to send home by the fourteenth.”
Abigail shot him a look. “That’s an interesting point, Nelson. I had assumed he’d have a long recovery.”
“Everyone is an individual, and their recovery will be, as well, but it might be worth looking into. If Gord is in good enough shape, could the anniversary party be moved to the hospital? It would take some work to make the place look right, but since you’ve arranged for everyone to be here, and I’m sure the food has been ordered...”
Abigail rested a hand on Nelson’s. “That is a very good suggestion, Nelson, and I’m surprised I didn’t think of it myself. I must be getting old. I’ll look into it. I appreciate that you’re helping out with this.”
Nelson shot her a glance.
“Someone told me it was time for me to move on.”
“Someone is rather clever.”
“Yes, she is.” Nelson leaned over and pressed a kiss to his grandmother’s cheek.
“Good night, Grandmother.” He stood.
“You’ve made it a good night, Nelson. Thank you.”
MARIAH WOKE TO a few precious seconds of oblivion before everything came crashing into her head.
Gord had broken his hip. And Jaycee and Dave had broken up.
She pulled the covers up over her head. For just a few moments she wanted to entertain the possibility of staying in bed, forgetting her responsibilities and letting the whole mess go by without her. Perhaps a twenty-four-hour flu?
She couldn’t do that. People were counting on her. But she wished they weren’t.
It began to get uncomfortably warm under the covers, so she threw them back. It was time to face her day.
She unplugged her phone from the charger on her bedside table. She pushed herself to a sitting position and pressed it on.
At least, at this point, there wasn’t any more bad news that could be waiting for her. Could there?
She had a text from Jaycee. Mariah drew in a breath. She’d left Jaycee with Rachel. She wondered if she was feeling any better. Or they might be committed to seriously hurting Dave. The text had come in at 2:00 a.m., so it could be interesting...
We’re back together. We’ve got a couple of suggestions for the party.
Huh? When Mariah left last night, the convent idea was still being discussed. This was an abrupt one-eighty. Mariah wasn’t sure how she felt about the suggestions part, but if the party was back on...
The party was back on! Mariah could feel her body energize as that realization sank in.
Okay, she wasn’t done, not yet. She had an engagement party, and she still had the fake proposal to put on. She’d need to let her grandfather know about the anniversary/vow renewal, but that was totally a random problem. What were the chances of someone breaking their hip?
Well, probably good at Gord’s age. That was something she’d need to factor in in the future.
Right now maybe there was even something she could do about that.
Abigail had been right. A new day, sleep, and things could look totally different.
Mariah didn’t waste much time getting dressed. She had her laptop and notebook with her when she descended the stairs to the main floor and made her way to the kitchen.
Abigail was on her phone. The coffee maker was burbling, so Mariah helped herself to a cup.
“Let me know what you find out. Thank you, Mavis.”
Abigail clicked off her phone. “Good morning, Mariah. You look better today.”
Mariah couldn’t hold back a grin.
“I got a text from Jaycee. The engagement party is back on.”
“That is wonderful.” Abigail tapped her phone. “I may have some good news for you, as well.”
Mariah sat down. “Hit me. I could use it.”
“We might be able to have the vow renewal at the hospital.”
Mariah blinked. “Really?”
“Nelson told me Gord might be close to coming home by the fourteenth. Gladys confirmed that he should be home on the sixteenth, so she’s checking with the doctor to see if he can handle a party. We’re hoping it will be allowed as long as he stays in bed.”
Whoa. Could they do that?
“Do they have space there?”
“They do have a room. Mavis is looking into whether it’s available now. It’s not going to be as pretty as it would have been at the church.”
Mariah opened her notebook and turned to a fresh page.
“If it’s available, I’ll take a look at it as soon as possible and I can come up with ideas.”
Abigail nodded. “Also, Gord and Gladys met when he was a patient. She was his nurse.”
Mariah’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding. Oh, we can definitely work with that.”
“I thought that might cheer you up.”
Mariah took a long breath. “I cannot tell you how relieved I am. Last night I felt like it was all over. I...well, I didn’t think we had a chance. I should thank Nelson for thinking of that option for Gord and Gladys.”
“You have more than that to thank him for. He went to talk to Dave last night. I don’t know what he said to Dave, but apparently, he and Jaycee had reconciled by the time Nelson left them. He didn’t know what they were going to do about the party, but they were talking. Dave’s mother is, I’m sorry to say, a snob, and she had been making Jaycee feel like she wasn’t good enough for Dave. As a result, Jaycee had fixated on the party to prove herself.”
Grateful didn’t cover how Mariah felt. Nelson had gotten involved. On his own, despite his own history, his own dislike of big events, he had come up with an option for Gord and Gladys and brought Jaycee and Dave back together.
Nelson had changed from the angry man she’d first sat down with at the dining table. And that gave her mixed feelings.
Some of those feelings were warm ones. Gratitude, and maybe pride? Had he changed because of her? Had she convinced him that he was wrong?
But other feelings were problematic. Had he done this for her? They’d spent a lot of time together. She’d come to enjoy that time, not just because it helped them set up their proposal. She’d happily spend time with Nelson now just because she enjoyed his company.
In spite of their arguing, or possibly because of it, they had fun together. Maybe too much.
Mariah had her dreams. She was going to work for her grandfather, get her own place and make a home for herself. One with roots she could set down. She could make friends, friends who wouldn’t sail away, unsure if she’d ever see them again.
She should have grown beyond that little-girl feeling of abandonment, but she hadn’t. Not when making a circle of permanent friends and family was driving her dream.
There was more room for advancement and variety in the city. There were so many people, enough for her to find some who would like her. She wanted to work for her grandfather partly because she understood the advantage of connections and relationships.
And that meant leaving Carter’s Crossing this fall. Once the groundwork was laid for the Center for Romance, there wouldn’t be a job for her in Carter’s Crossing. Her grandfather wouldn’t pay for her to work here, and Abigail and her committee could keep the work going without her.
There wasn’t enough work for her to stay.
She was making friends here, and she hoped to keep in touch with them. But she wanted her own community, and while she was leaving, these people were all staying here. Forgetting that would lead to more of the same disappointment she’d become so familiar with as a kid.
People didn’t have to live on a boat to leave.
“WHAT DID YOU want me to see?”
Nelson’s voice came from within the barn. “Just a sec. We’re coming.”
Mariah stomped her feet. The air was brisk and cold, and her toes were prickling. If she’d been spending another winter here, she’d need warmer boots.
She shook her head. Not happening.
She’d done her best to ignore Nelson. She’d had two days to rearrange the anniversary party, and to deal with Dave and Jaycee’s suggestions. She’d kept herself busier than necessary. But when Nelson asked her to come to the farm, to see something with Toby, well, she had to say yes. She had a soft spot for Toby.
Part of her had been only too happy to have an excuse.
She heard a jingling sound, one that she now knew came from a bit of horse harness. Toby had been doing amazingly well the past couple of weeks, and she had stood holding his halter while Nelson tried stuff on him. Bridles, saddles...they all had metal bits that jingled like that.
Toby had not responded well to the saddles, so maybe Nelson had finally found one he was comfortable with.
The jingle was joined by the clop of hooves, and another strange swooshing noise, and they came around the corner.
Toby was wearing a bridle, and a harness over most of his body. Behind him was...it was a sleigh. An old-fashioned sleigh. Like something out of a Christmas card or Norman Rockwell painting.
Nelson wasn’t in the sleigh, but was walking beside it, holding the long reins that extended from the bit in Toby’s mouth, to his neck where they passed through the harness and on to Nelson’s hands.
“It’s a one-horse open sleigh, isn’t it?” Mariah had never seen one in real life. But this was the stuff of romance.
Nelson nodded, a big grin crossing his face.
“He didn’t like the saddles, so I thought, let’s try a harness. The Fletchers had this old sleigh, so once Toby was good with me driving him from behind, I hitched him up. He seems to like this.”
Mariah crossed to Toby and stroked his neck. “Good boy. You look so handsome.”
“Why, thank you.”
Mariah rolled her eyes. “I was talking to Toby. I called him a good boy. I don’t think you qualify.”
Nelson pressed a hand to his heart. “You wound me. You wanted to have sleigh rides, and here, when I present one to you, nothing but insults.”
Mariah ignored his teasing.
“Do you think Toby could give sleigh rides?”
He shrugged. “Not now. He’s just getting used to the sleigh. I’d want to be sure that he’s completely comfortable with that for a first step. Then we’d have to introduce him to crowds. He may never be able to handle that.”
Mariah saw the concern in Nelson’s eyes. Toby was in good hands. Nelson would never push him into something he couldn’t handle. Nelson might not be a good boy, but he was definitely a good man.
She wasn’t supposed to be thinking of things like that!
“Are you taking him out in the sleigh now?”
Nelson shook his head. “I’m going to drive him up and down the driveway for a bit, see how he does. But he wanted you to see how handsome he was.”
Mariah rubbed Toby’s forehead, and he responded by snuffling in her chest. He’d come a long way in just a few weeks. It made Mariah feel like she’d accomplished something, something as important as reviving Carter’s Crossing, to know she’d had a key role in his rehabilitation.
“He’s a handsome and good boy.”
“I’m only going to be about fifteen minutes more. Want to go for dinner after? You could visit Sparky inside—he’s feeling neglected lately.”
Mariah’s cheeks flushed. It wasn’t just Sparky who’d been neglected lately.
“I don’t know... I’ve got a lot to do—”
Nelson narrowed his eyes.
“Is something going on, Mariah? I know you have a lot of work to prep for Sunday, but we’re supposed to be so madly in love that I’m planning a proposal. Right now it’s looking more like we’re having a fight. Unless you’ve changed your mind—”
Mariah busied herself with straightening Toby’s forelock. She couldn’t tell Nelson she’d avoided him because she was catching some real feelings.
“No, you’re right. We should—”
“Can you say that again?”
Mariah turned her gaze to Nelson, brows furrowed. “I said, we should—”
“No, the ‘You’re right’ part. I love hearing that.”
Mariah turned her attention back to the horse to hide her laugh. “Toby, this guy may be good with you, but honestly, the ego on him.”
“Not fair. How can I have a big ego when I so rarely hear anything like ‘You’re right, Nelson’?”
“And yet, you do.”
Nelson laughed. “Go on in and stay warm, Mariah. We’ll be back soon.”
THEY WENT TO MOONSTONE, and Jaycee gave them the same table as their first dinner together. Jaycee was glowing these days and gave both of them credit for her rekindled romance with Dave. Now that she wasn’t worried about impressing his mother, or not as much, she was looking forward to her party.
“What were the changes that she and Dave had for you?”
Mariah laughed. “The skate dance is out.”
“I know that was Dave’s idea. He hated it.”
“I think he was purposely messing it up to try to get out of it.”
Nelson shook his head. “No, he was trying, I swear. He wanted to make Jaycee happy.”
Mariah swallowed. “I’m just glad they worked that out.”
“Because your event is back in play?” His voice was suddenly serious.
“Well, I can’t say I’m not relieved, but I’m mostly glad they’re happy again. Parties come and go, but couples with a chance of making it are rare.”
Nelson nodded.
“And the vow renewal is good to go?”
“Totally. We’ve been able to take over the cafeteria in the hospital. I know Abigail pulled some strings for that. We’re providing food in the lounge for anyone who would normally use the cafeteria while we have it out of commission. Gord will be in a hospital bed, but since Gladys was a nurse when they met, the committee was able to recreate an old nursing uniform for her.
“When I first met the committee, I seriously underestimated them. They work hard and get stuff done.”
Nelson grimaced. “I’m pretty sure they’re not above using blackmail.”
Mariah’s eyes danced. “Have they blackmailed you?”
“Laugh now. You won’t find it so funny when it’s your turn to ‘help them out.’”
Her eyes widened. “But I already am!”
“That’s what you think.”
She shrugged. “I can handle them. But that reminds me, we should finalize the proposal plans.”
Nelson eyed her warily. “Have you made changes to that?”
He was supposed to have veto rights.
Mariah rolled her eyes. “Honestly, what are you so afraid of? We’re just creating a romantic setting, and adding music, and a little firework display.”
“There’s no such thing as a little firework display.”
“That is patently untrue. Besides, Abigail told me you like fireworks.”
Nelson sighed.
“I liked fireworks when I was a kid. And I go to the Fourth of July display in Carter’s Crossing, because everyone does. It’s not like I travel the country to catch any firework display going.”
“But at least this is something you might do. And something we can pull off here. I mean, if Toby was ready, and we could have him pull us in that sleigh? That would be great, but he’s not, so we need something to make it special.”
A picture flashed in Nelson’s mind. Toby, pulling the sleigh. Mariah snuggled in with him, her coat red and cheeks pink. Nelson could almost imagine proposing to her in that setting.
Whoa. He was fake proposing. They were fake dating and fake falling in love.
But somehow, when he looked across the table at her, it didn’t feel fake. He’d asked her to have dinner with him because he wanted to, not because it was part of their carefully orchestrated romance.
But maybe that was just him. Did Mariah even like him?
They argued. They didn’t agree on many things.
But Nelson enjoyed what they did. He enjoyed bantering with her more than a regular conversation with anyone else. He liked knowing that he’d never maneuver her into doing what he wanted against her wishes.
No, he was in more danger of being manipulated by her. And he liked it.
Did she enjoy it, too? He thought so. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks slightly pink, and she had leaned forward, as if she was invested in their conversation. That look she used to give him, wary and suspect, was gone. He’d told her about his biggest failure, and she hadn’t censured him.
She hadn’t approved. But she’d been sympathetic.
She’d told him about her family, and her upbringing. He didn’t know if many people knew how lonely she’d felt growing up. He suspected her parents and brothers didn’t know.
Maybe she’d told him simply because they’d spent so much time together. Maybe it wasn’t because she felt close to him and trusted him.
Like he trusted her. Something that was almost miraculous, considering.
The most telling thing? The kisses. The ones that were supposed to convince everyone else that something was going on between the two of them. They were convincing him.
Could someone fake those kisses? Nelson, if he was honest, couldn’t. There was something there.
He needed to find out. He needed to kiss her, not for show, but for them, and see how she responded.
They were fake dating, and had a fake proposal in three days, but Nelson wanted to move their fake dating to real.
SMILING AT NELSON across the table, Mariah relaxed. Everything was working out.
Not perfectly, not as originally planned, but this was her job. She had to take the bumps and potholes on the road and handle them to make things work. With three days to go, everything was on track.
She couldn’t fix everything. If a couple decided not to get married, she wouldn’t try to force it. Her job was to provide the wedding they wanted, and if at the end, they wanted to not have one, that was what she needed to provide for them.
But things were going well here in Carter’s Crossing. Even if one of her vow renewal people got sick, they were at the hospital, so barring an act of God, that one was good. Dave and Jaycee had worked out their problem. Dave’s mother had been stunned by her son’s anger over her treatment of Jaycee and was on her best behavior.
And she and Nelson were good. Good at the fake dating.
She thought, after all this time together, they were friends. After their rocky beginning, she was surprised by that, but it was true. They argued, but it no longer had any anger in it. They enjoyed it.
She thought he liked having someone stand up to him. And she liked that he didn’t patronize her. He was arrogant at times, but when she knocked him down about it, he laughed.
So yes, they were friends. It made the fake dating easier. And the fake kissing.
Technically, the kissing wasn’t fake...after all, their lips were really touching. It was just scripted. Still, she enjoyed it.
For some reason, that made her cheeks warm. Which was silly.
She shook her head to dispel those uncomfortable thoughts. Instead, she focused on Nelson across the table.
That didn’t help. He was smiling at her, but it was a warm smile, intimate, unnervingly realistic for a man about to fake propose.
He was a better actor than she’d thought.
When they got up to go, he insisted on paying. When she tried to argue, quietly so that Jaycee wouldn’t hear, he whispered back that he didn’t allow his dates to pay all the time.
That silenced her.
Then he held her coat for her. Again, yes, it was selling the dating image, but it felt...real.
They drove back to Abigail’s in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn’t comfortable, either. It was...it was like the silence was saying something, but she didn’t know the language.
She didn’t like not knowing.
When he pulled up at the front door, she reached for her seat belt. Before she could grab the door, Nelson asked her to wait.
She turned to him, slightly puzzled. If he’d wanted to talk, they’d just not talked for several minutes. And right now she was feeling on edge, thinking too much about kissing, and it would be better if she just got out of the car...
Instead, he reached over and cradled her face in his hands.
She was about to ask him what he was doing when he pressed his lips to hers and answered the unspoken question.
She responded without thinking. Her arms slid up to his shoulders, gripping them tightly, and she kissed him back.
She didn’t know how long it was until the kiss ended, but in the dim light from the veranda, she could see that his lips were slightly swollen, his breathing ragged.
She didn’t need a mirror to know she looked the same. And something inside told her this wasn’t good.
She called on every reserve of self-control she had.
“Good night, Nelson.”
She opened the door before he could get out of the car, but he followed her to the bottom of the steps and waited while she opened the front door of the house.
“Good night, Mariah.”
She slid through the door, glad not to find Abigail waiting for her. She could tell Abigail they were kissing to sell their romance, but she didn’t want Abigail to know just how well they were selling it.
Then, like a hammer to the head, it hit her.
That hadn’t been a show for the town. No one had been there to see it. The only one who could have was Abigail, and she knew it wasn’t real.
Mariah pressed her fingers to her lips.
What was going on?