Hung By the Fire (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Chapter 26

twenty-six

BETHANY

“You know, you didn’t have to come in today? I could have handled the virtually non-existent crowds on my own.”

Aunt Nadine peered over at me from where she was putting together a birthday arrangement. If it was the first, it was the tenth time she mentioned it.

“What? Do you not want me here?”

“You know I always want you here, but what I would prefer not having here is your glassy eyes and tear-streaked face. It may scare away customers.”

“You just said there weren’t any.”

“Well,” she mumbled, “if there were.”

Inserting the last flower into the vase, she stepped back and over to me. I’d taken up residence behind the counter since I walked in, and I had to admit, I may not be the best person to interact with at the moment. I had to hope my words had gotten through to Cole, that he could find his way out of the self-doubt he’d built up for years.

I simply worried I was too late. That it was all too ingrained, and I’d lose out to two people who didn’t give a rat’s ass about him. But he said he loved you. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, because every touch, every whispered word, every look, said he did. It was that I wasn’t sure he’d let himself live that love.

“Bethie,” Aunt Nadine’s voice somehow penetrated my thoughts. “He’ll come around. He’s scared. Some men can handle feelings and others…well, for others, it takes a while for them to really come to terms with them. Especially for someone who doubts them to begin with.”

“But what if he doesn’t? What if his past keeps him away from me?”

“Then you either give up or fight for him. The Waters women are strong. I may use a different name, but I’m still one of you.” Tilting her head, she gave the arrangement another once-over before nodding in approval. “Besides, I don’t think you’ll have to worry.”

I was going to ask what made her so sure when the bell above the door jingled.

“Helloooooo, ladies,” Bernice called out, Sheila and Mildred right behind her. “You two both made it safely through the blizzard, I see. Did you get to enjoy everything that was hung by the fire when we were all snowbound, Bethany?” The three of them guffawed, utterly delighted by Bernice’s phrasing.

“Really Bernice?” Aunt Nadine groaned, but her smile told me she was similarly entertained.

“Um, Cole worked most of the time. He didn’t get home until late Christmas night.”

Home. It was hard not to think of his house as home. Hell, it was getting hard not to think of Evergreen Lake as home. The place I thought I’d stay away from for the rest of my life was now the place I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to leave.

Except if Cole couldn’t come around, I may have to. Living here, seeing him all the time, seeing Joy grow up and not be a part of their life would destroy me.

I simply didn’t think I could stand it.

“That’s not a no, Ms. Bethany. That’s not a no.” Sheila winked my way, and I couldn’t hold back my laugh.

“You know, ladies, my sister Pilar would love you.” They would give Pilar a run for her money, but I could also see her being the ringleader of a very similar group in years’ time.

“We are something to aspire to,” Mildred added, before all three of them curtsied.

“Anyway,” Bernice took control of the conversation again, “enough about other people’s sex lives when I don’t have my own.” My aunt closed her eyes and shook her head, a gesture I mimicked. “Nadine, are we all set for the New Year’s Eve arrangements? I was worried with the storm.”

“We are. It may be tight, some deliveries are delayed, but we should be good.”

“Excellent. Off now to get others in line. Ladies.” With a twirl, almost as if she were a magician with a cape, Bernice led the threesome out almost as quickly as she directed them in.

“They really are something,” my aunt said as she made her way back to the workbench. “Sometimes I fear for the single men in this town.”

“Sometimes?” I doubted the veracity of that, considering the way I’d witness them take a bead on Cole. Propping myself against the counter, I crossed my arms. “I’m thinking about staying here, but I don’t know.”

“Do you not know because you’re not sure, because you’re worried about what your mom will say, or because you’re worried Cole will never come around?”

“Can I pick all three?”

Her shoulders rose and fell with laughter. “Of course, but knock one off. Your mom called me after I got home last night. She asked if I thought she’d lose you to Evergreen Lake, and to be honest with you, she seemed sort of happy. I think that’s because she saw you with Cole and Joy.”

To be fair, I shouldn’t be surprised. Ever since Matteo met Izzy, dreams of pairing off all her kids had been running through my mom’s head. Like she was obsessed or something. Mention a man, and the woman was practically bridal dress shopping before one of us could blink. It was equal parts hysterical and terrifying, truth be told.

“So, what’s left? Oh right, not sure. I think you’re sure you want to stay, so let’s just take that off the table.” My aunt pinned me in her gaze, and I felt like a bug under a microscope. “That leaves Cole.”

“No matter that I’ve fallen in love with this town all over again. That I love working with you, here in the shop. That I love the little quirks of small town life.” I knitted my hands together, twisting and turning them. The bell jingled, but I rushed to get the words out. “If Cole doesn’t want me, doesn’t want to build something with me, I can’t stay no matter how much I would love to.”

“Oh, whiskey girl, Cole definitely wants you.”

His voice slid over me, like the smoothest of the liquor he’d nicknamed me after. I turned and my breath caught as always when I looked at him. Tall and strong, Joy in his arms, waving her own my way.

Give up or fight. That’s what my aunt had said. In that moment, I knew I’d fight, but I sort of hoped I didn’t have to.