Fuzzy’s red Comfort Paws vest was strapped in place, as were his reindeer antlers when Adaline led him into the lobby of the senior center the following morning.
The vest was a sign to staff, patients and visitors that Fuzzy was a trained therapy dog, but the gear also let Fuzzy know when it was time to work. Adaline hadn’t needed to train her puppy to associate the vest with visiting patients. He’d made the association all on his own, just like he knew it was time for a walk every time she grabbed his leash. Dogs were so great at reading body language and social cues. Adaline envied them, honestly. Such things had never been her strong suit.
“Are you ready, Fuzzy?” she asked her pup in the upbeat, singsong voice she’d practiced at training class. “Let’s go visit.”
Fuzzy walked politely by her side as she guided him toward the sitting area where a group of seniors were hanging ornaments from the boughs of an imposing fir tree, aglow with twinkling lights. The tree was new. It hadn’t been here yesterday morning when Adaline had visited Gram. When she dropped to one knee and picked up Fuzzy so an older man wearing red suspenders could easily pet him from his wheelchair, she spied a discreet red sign propped on one of the lower branches.
Graciously donated by Texas Tidings Christmas Tree Farm.
Jace had gifted the tree to the senior center, and from the looks of things, he’d chosen the tallest, most glorious one on the lot. Adaline’s heart warmed at the thought of him carrying it inside the building and finding just the right spot for it in the lobby. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised. It was just like Jace to make sure the residents had a beautiful tree to enjoy during the holidays.
Last year, the Christmas tree at the senior center had been a sad, artificial number with branches spaced so far apart that no amount of ornaments, garland and tinsel could hide the silver metal pole that served as the tree’s trunk. An entire section of lights near the top had stopped working weeks before Christmas. This tree was a massive upgrade. There was really no comparison, which explained why the residents seemed to be heading to the lobby in droves.
Word had clearly spread. If there was one place where news traveled even faster than in a small town like Bluebonnet, it was in a retirement community nestled within that same small town. While Fuzzy trotted from person to person and Adaline made sure the residents in wheelchairs or who used walkers had easy access to pet him, more and more seniors arrived. Even the patients from the extended care unit who rarely left their rooms were turning up. Nurses pushed wheelchairs, and aluminum walkers click-clacked across the smooth lobby floor.
“Adaline, sweetheart! Yoo-hoo!” Gram waved at her from the other side of the room as she made her way toward the Christmas tree. As usual, Coco sat in the basket of Gram’s walker. Since the last time Adaline had seen the robotic dog, someone had fastened a red velvet bow to her ears.
Cute, she mused and wondered whose handiwork that was. Adaline’s money was on Ford.
“Can you believe this tree?” Gram pressed a hand to her heart. “I heard it was nice, but wow. What a stunner.”
“It’s lovely,” Adaline said and breathed a sigh of acute relief.
Gram seemed more like herself today, thank goodness.
“Don’t let me stop my grand-dog from doing his important work.” Gram winked at Fuzzy, and the Cavalier responded with a dainty tap dance of his paws. “You go ahead and finish your visit. I want to help decorate the tree. I’ll be right here, and there just might be a surprise Christmas gift waiting for you when you and Fuzzy are finished.”
“A present? Already?” Adaline’s family always exchanged gifts on Christmas morning. When she and Ford were kids, sometimes their parents would let them open one wrapped box on Christmas Eve, but never earlier.
“This one’s a special treat.” Gram waggled her eyebrows, then made a shooing motion. “Now go finish your visit so you can open it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Adaline said, grinning. Her grandmother’s high spirits were making her feel like a kid again. She’d take it any day over yesterday.
Gram’s memory episode had left Adaline rattled. She’d broken down in tears more than once last night while she’d been looking through the wedding album. She’d very nearly left and gone to help Jenna and Belle at the cocoa stand to get her mind off things, but being at the Christmas tree lot would’ve involved an entirely different set of problems.
She wasn’t sure how to act around Jace anymore. Adaline never talked about her dating insecurities with anyone, least of all someone she used to have a crush on.
Used to? a tiny voice in the back of her head asked. Are you sure you still don’t?
Adaline promptly ordered the voice to shut the heck up. Then she turned around and nearly walked straight into Jace and his uncle Gus.
Was this a mirage of some sort? It had to be. Gus would rather fall over dead than leave room 212 to socialize with the other residents. Adaline knew this because she’d heard him mention it...twice...in a bellowing voice that probably could’ve been heard from space.
She glanced from the older man, dressed as usual in a hospital gown paired with black dress socks, to Jace, whose big hands were wrapped around the handgrips of his uncle’s wheelchair.
“Hi,” Jace said, and Fuzzy gazed up at Adaline, begging for permission to greet his friend.
So. Not a mirage, then.
“Hi.” Adaline hoped her voice really didn’t sound as breathy as she thought it did. “Go ahead, Fuzzy. Tell Jace hello.”
The Cavalier scrambled toward Jace and sat politely at his feet.
“Good boy, Fuzzy, my man.” Jace bent down and rubbed the dog’s silky ears, which happened to be Fuzzy’s favorite way to be petted. “Nice to see you again.”
Adaline shifted her gaze to Jace’s uncle. As usual, his dour expression made him look like he’d been holed up in 212 sucking on a lemon all morning. “Would you like to pet the dog today, Gus?”
She had to ask. It was her literal job as a Comfort Paws volunteer, even though she knew well the older man was about to turn her down flat.
He shifted in his wheelchair and let out an annoyed sigh.
“Uncle Gus.” Jace stood and arched a stern brow in his elder’s direction. “Remember what we talked about?”
Fuzzy, oblivious to whatever silent communication was going on between the two men, trotted happily around the wheelchair to position himself squarely in front of the footrests.
Gus narrowed his eyes at the dog, and the corners of his mouth turned sharply downward. Fuzzy’s chances weren’t looking good. “Fine.”
“Well, maybe next ti—” Adaline started to say and then blinked. Hard. “Wait. Did you just say yes?”
“I said ‘fine.’ And if you make a big thing out of it, I might just change my mind,” Gus harrumphed.
“I think what my uncle means is, yes, he’d be delighted to pet your dog,” Jace said.
“That’s fantastic!” Adaline bounced from foot to foot. She had a feeling Jace had more than a little to do with his uncle’s change of heart, but that didn’t matter. It almost felt like a Christmas miracle. “Come on, Fuzzy. Let’s go visit Jace’s uncle Gus.”
She gathered the Cavalier in her arms, grabbed a nearby chair and placed it beside Gus’s right arm. She’d seem him using his TV remote before and knew he was right-handed.
Adaline settled in the chair as quickly as she could with Fuzzy sitting in her lap, facing Gus. The jingle bell tied to his antlers swayed as he panted softly, eager for the older man’s attention.
“Hello,” Gus said to the dog with all the enthusiasm of a person answering a call from a telemarketer. With a slight tremor in his fingers, he pointed at Fuzzy’s antlers. “I’m sorry she makes you wear those things.”
Fuzzy craned his slender neck and nudged Mr. Martin’s hand with his nose, angling for a proper pat.
Miracle of miracles, it worked. Mr. Martin ran his fingertips along the feathering on Fuzzy’s front left leg. The Cavalier responded by plopping his paw in the elderly man’s hand.
Mr. Martin laughed under his breath, and someone could’ve knocked Adaline right over with a feather. She beamed at Jace over the top of his uncle’s head and whispered, “Thank you.”
No, he mouthed. Thank you.
Warmth radiated throughout Adaline’s entire body as his eyes remained fixed on hers. This was a special moment, and it was all Jace’s doing, whether or not he wanted to admit it. And after all the grief his uncle had put her through, it felt like a gift.
Adaline had the absurd desire to lean forward and kiss him—just a gentle touch of her lips near the corner of his perfect mouth. Her heart thundered in her chest. Before she could make sense of the inappropriate urge in the most inappropriate of places, Mr. Martin began to cough.
It was a dry, barking cough at first but quickly turned into a deep, chest-rattling hack. Fuzzy flinched, and Adaline swept the puppy out of the way.
“It’s okay,” Jace said as he ran a soothing hand over his uncle’s back. “We’re okay. Thank you for the visit. We appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” Adaline said with her heart in her throat. “See you later, Mr. Martin.”
But the older man waved her off without making eye contact, and a heaviness settled over Adaline as she placed Fuzzy back down on the ground so she could guide him toward their next resident.
“Adaline, honey.” Gram pat the empty sofa cushion beside her and waved. “Come sit down by the Christmas tree.”
Fuzzy had greeted every single person in the lobby, seeking out each resident for a little doggy comfort and joy. As a therapy dog, his job was to simply love on people. Cavalier King Charles spaniels were perfectly cut out for this kind of work because they were so people-oriented. Fuzzy never met a stranger—as evidenced by how excited he’d been to finally interact with Mr. Martin.
Adaline’s job as therapy dog handler was obviously to monitor the residents’ interactions with her pup, but another big part of her role was to simply listen. So many seniors were lonely and needed someone to talk to. They told Adaline stories about their childhood pets or dogs they’d had to give up when health challenges prevented them from being able to properly care for a pet. They talked about how soft Fuzzy’s fur felt and how they’d never met a dog so gentle with his affection. Sometimes they wanted to chat about things that had nothing at all to do with animals. They’d sit and stroke Fuzzy, and share precious memories with Adaline, and when the visit was over, hardly any of the residents knew Adaline’s name.
But they always knew Fuzzy’s.
Adaline loved every minute of it. Sometimes she felt like the keeper of secrets at Bluebonnet Senior Living, but she still didn’t know a single thing about Jace’s uncle Gus. She didn’t know a whole lot about Jace, come to think of it—certainly not enough to be fantasizing about kissing him as if she were tipsy on spiked eggnog and Jace’s Christmas tree–scented pheromones. She’d begun to think of his intoxicating scent as Eau de Lumberjack.
Focus. She dragged her gaze away from Jace and his uncle, sitting apart from the crowd on the other side of the newly decorated tree. Gram deserved her undivided attention.
Adaline sat down next to her grandmother, and Fuzzy settled into a down-stay at her feet. The Cavalier gazed up at the tall fir tree. His little face reflected back at him from the shiny silver mercury glass baubles hanging from the lower branches, and he cocked his head, fascinated by his own likeness.
Gram chuckled at him and shook her head. “That dog of yours is too cute for his own good, Adaline.”
“He’s adorable and he knows it. He’s such a special dog, though, Gram. He’s changed my life. I’m so lucky to have him.”
“I know you are, darling.” Her grandmother patted her hand. “But he still can’t take the place of a man.”
“Gram!” Not this again. Adaline wanted to sink into the sofa cushions and disappear. Did they really have to talk about her love life—or lack thereof—in such a public setting?
“Can you please keep your voice down?” Adaline whispered through a tight smile.
“You worry too much, dear. Everyone in this room is hard of hearing,” Gram said.
Not everyone.
Adaline’s gaze flicked toward Jace. When he caught her looking at him, she glanced away, just like she’d done back in Mrs. Matthews’s classroom at Bluebonnet Elementary.
Her lack of personal growth in the romance department over the past twenty years was truly astonishing.
“Gram, seriously. I don’t want to get into this again right now,” Adaline whispered. On the plus side, at least her grandmother remembered their recent conversation about love and romance. Since Gram had experienced some disorientation afterward, she’d kind of thought that discussion had been lost forever. “Didn’t you say you have a gift for me?”
Surely Christmas was the safest topic on earth. What could possibly go wrong?
“Yes, and it’s right here.” Gram leaned toward the basket attached to her walker, which was parked directly in front of her. She reached over Coco to grab a thick, cream-colored envelope with a red bow stuck to the front of it and handed it to Adaline. “Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you.” She hugged her grandmother tight, then she turned the envelope over in her hands and wondered what could be inside.
Gram had passed her recipe box down to Adaline years ago. She kept it in a place of honor behind the counter at Cherry on Top. Half the pies Adaline made on a regular basis were from recipes straight out of that box. It was filled to bursting with cards that were yellowed with age, covered in Gram’s neat cursive handwriting. Gram had given her the box for her birthday nearly a decade ago, and Adaline had methodically worked her way through each and every card. It had taken over a year, but she’d eventually made every one of her grandmother’s treasured recipes and marked her favorites with gold stars.
Dare she hope that Gram had held a few recipes back and now had more to share?
A girl could dream.
“This is exciting,” Adaline said, slipping a fingertip beneath the envelope’s seal.
Gram’s eyes shined bright with anticipation. Adaline took a deep breath and looked inside. It contained a single sheet of paper. So, probably not a new assortment of vintage recipes. Still, Adaline felt a little giddy as she unfolded the page.
But then she read the swirly lettering at the top of the paper, and her mouth dropped open in shock.
Miss Maxi’s Matchmaking Service. Find the match of your dreams this Christmas! Satisfaction guaranteed.
“Um, what is this?” she said, stalling for time while she figured out how to refuse the gift. She’d have rather opened a box with a live rattlesnake coiled inside.
“It’s a gift certificate to a matchmaking service,” Gram said in a voice loud enough to cause a nearby resident to pull out his hearing aids. “The other day you said you didn’t think official matchmakers were a real thing. Well, I asked Barb to look it up for me on the interwebs, and guess what—they are. Surprise!”
Barb Haskin worked as the activity director for Bluebonnet Senior Living. She was a total doll, always coming up with new ways to entertain the residents and keep them socially involved. But she also happened to be one of the biggest busybodies in town...if not the whole state.
Adaline felt sick. If Barb knew about this—which she obviously did—then word was sure to spread around the senior center faster than a Texas wildfire on a windy day. Everyone would know. Even a recluse like Mr. Martin would hear about it.
Which meant Jace would too.
Adaline’s head snapped in his direction before she could stop it, but he and his uncle weren’t there anymore. Thank goodness. Maybe she could nip this latest humiliation in the bud before it spun completely out of her control.
“Are you surprised?” Gram asked. Hope lit up her entire face.
“So, so surprised,” Adaline said. How on earth was she going to get out of this?
A woman with short salt-and-pepper hair dressed in a Christmas-themed muumuu pointed her cane at the paper in Adaline’s hands. “What is it?”
“It’s a gift certificate for a matchmaking service,” Gram said at what had to be ten thousand decibels.
“A gift certificate for what?” Muumuu yelled back.
Gram cupped her hands around her mouth. “A MATCHMAKING SERVICE. YOU KNOW, SO ADALINE CAN FIND A BOYFRIEND.”
That was it. Adaline was going to have to close her bakery, pack up her dog and move to Antarctica, possibly the only place on the planet where no one had just heard that mortifying exchange.
“Gram, as sweet and thoughtful as this gift is, I just can’t accept it. I’m so sorry.” She somehow resisted the temptation to crush the gift certificate into a ball and instead neatly refolded it and slid it back into the envelope. Out of sight, out of mind.
That’s wishful thinking.
Adaline would remember this “gift” as long as she lived.
“Whyever not?” Gram asked, indignation creeping into her tone. “Now you won’t have to attend Ford’s wedding all alone.”
“I won’t be there alone,” Adaline said. She’d be surrounded by family and friends. Plus, given that Lady Bird was going to be the flower girl, she had a feeling the reception would be dog-friendly. Maybe Fuzzy could be her plus-one. “I’ll be there with—”
“Do not say Fuzzy’s name. You know I love him to bits, but you cannot bring a dog as your date to your brother’s wedding,” Gram said, seeing right through her.
Adaline lifted her chin. “That’s not what I was going to say at all.”
“Wasn’t it?” Gram said, casting a purposeful look at the envelope from Miss Maxi’s Matchmaking Service.
Argh, even that name was embarrassing. It made Adaline want to break out in hives.
“No. I was going to say that I’d be there with my...” Adaline paused for a beat to clear her throat and pray for forgiveness. She hadn’t lied to her grandmother since the time she’d broken Gram’s favorite ceramic pie pan when she was nine years old and tried to blame it on Ford. “...boyfriend.”
Gram’s eyes narrowed. “Boyfriend? Since when? What boyfriend?”
“My very human, very real boyfriend,” Adaline said.
This was why she’d stopped telling fibs after the pie plate incident. She was the world’s worst liar.
“It’s recent. I was going to tell you about him today, actually.” She just kept digging herself into a hole, deeper by the second. How she’d ever get out of it was anyone’s guess. “I’ve been keeping it a secret from everyone, because I didn’t want to jinx things. But we’re very happy. We’re in love, in fact.”
In love?
She’d lost all control of her sanity. That was the only explanation for why she couldn’t seem to stop the flow of nonsense coming out of her mouth.
“In love!” Gram gasped. Evidently, those had been the magic words. “Oh, Adaline. This is such wonderful news. Tell me everything. Who is he?”
“Well.” Adaline gulped a lungful of air. She felt like she might pass out. She wished she would. Unconsciousness would be a blessing right about now. “He’s, um, he’s...”
He’s kind. He’s handsome. He’s imaginary!
“He’s me,” someone behind Adaline said.
Her heart knocked hard against her rib cage. She must have just experienced a stress-induced auditory hallucination, because that certain someone had sounded exactly like...
No. Adaline’s chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. It can’t be.
Oh, but it was.
Her eyes bore into him as he came around the back of the sofa, pushing Mr. Martin’s wheelchair and flashing her a saucy wink.
Her stomach fluttered. “Jace?”