Once Upon a Second Chance (Once Upon a Holiday Story #1)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Aaron

One time I’d been in a pit-stop bathroom and a burly man had entered, held a knife to my throat, and ordered me to give him whatever cash I had on me. It was the most scared I’d ever been…until now. Rina Laverton had a gleam in her eye and a grin that would rival the Cheshire cat’s.

“There’s not much to tell you.” I sat beside her but pressed myself against the arm of the couch.

“Nonsense.” She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. “Daniel is smitten with you, and I don’t think I’ve ever been witness to that.”

I was curious about what she’d seen when Cole was in the picture, but there was no way I was going to open that can of worms.

“Mom, can you maybe not interrogate my friend?” Daniel tried to rescue me, but it was futile.

“Son, maybe you can go see about making me a cup of tea while I have a lovely conversation with your friend Aaron.”

Why’d she say it like that? I turned to Daniel. I didn’t want him to leave, but if he insisted on staying it would make it weirder.

Turned out, her questions were innocuous. She simply wanted to know who I was. She asked me silly things like what my favorite flower, animal, and holiday were, then wanted to know if I’d be staying in Everlasting Springs.

“I’d like to, but there’s no work in this town, so I’m not sure.” That was a good answer if I said so myself.

“Hogwash. There’s always work. Where have you looked?”

Oh, no…she seemed like a meddler. If I mentioned where I’d gone, I could see her bullying someone into hiring me if it would make her son happy.

“Maybe once the holidays are over, I’ll try again.”

She sniffed. “You talk to Fanny Holmes. She runs a tavern on Hope Street. Tell her Rina sent you. She’s in need of help. She’s getting older, and her son ran off to France with some wannabe model type. She took in this kid, not even eighteen, and he can’t run the bar, which means she has to, and she’s in her sixties.”

I hadn’t tried there, so I mentally stored that info away. I wouldn’t use Rina’s name; I didn’t want to be hired because of who I knew.

“Thanks.”

I loosened up after a while. Daniel had prepared a lovely meal and when we were all full, Rina claimed she was exhausted and was turning in early. It was only seven, but traveling was always tiring.

Katherine and Frank went up to their room an hour later saying they were still on California time, and Josh was all too eager to go to the theater room to watch a movie.

That left me and Daniel alone, and I was able to take a deep breath.

“They’re not so bad, right?” Daniel slid his arm over my shoulder as he joined me on the couch.

“No, they’re great.”

It wasn’t until Josh went up to bed that Daniel locked up, and together we walked up to our bedrooms. He stopped in front of my door and pressed a quick kiss to my lips.

“Sleep well, Aaron. I’ll miss you in my bed.”

Tenderly, I cupped his face. “Then dream of me.”

“Oh, I’ll be dreaming of you, all right.”

I chuckled and slipped inside the guest room. Sleep didn’t come easy, and I realized I was too used to Daniel beside me.

The day of the festival had arrived, and I was genuinely excited. When I’d stepped foot in the clearing the first day, it had been all snow. Now, it was truly a winter wonderland. Holidays I’d never even heard of were represented, and the smells were heavenly.

“It came together nicely,” Rina commented as she walked beside me.

“It really did. I wasn’t sure it would, if I’m being honest.”

She patted my arm. “What’s meant to be always works out.”

“No way!” Katherine shouted and pointed to my right.

I followed her finger to see a huge school bus…Wait a second, that wasn’t any typical school bus. Instead of the usual yellow, it was painted the colors of the rainbow. It had lights around it, and the outside was set up with some chairs and a Happy Merry Everything sign.

The side of the bus read, The Hook’s Traveling Book Nook . This was what Daniel had been telling me about.

“I had no idea they were gonna be here.” Rina laughed and sped up to get closer. “Cybil, Jane!”

Two gray-haired women turned at the same time. They had to have been in their seventies like Rina and oh, how they cackled once they saw Daniel’s mother.

“Rina Laverton, it’s been years!” One of the women had her hair up in a bun and reindeer antlers on her head that lit up. The other had a necklace that blinked.

“Oh, Jane, you look exactly the same as the last time I saw you.”

I walked up slowly, noticing how the ladies hugged and greeted the Lavertons. I stayed back, smiling as they all laughed and talked at the same time.

“And who is this?” the woman with the bun said. “I haven’t seen you before.”

“Oh, hi, I’m Aaron, and I’ve never been to Everlasting Springs until now. This is a first for me.”

She chortled. “I’m Jane, and that’s not what I meant. My wife, Cybil, here…” She gestured to the other woman. “We travel all over, and I do mean all over, and I’ve never seen you anywhere.”

I found it hilarious, the idea that with billions of people in the world, she’d remember every face she’d ever encountered.

“I tend to mold into the background.”

Cybil laughed loudly. “You aren’t clay, boy. No one can mold you.”

That, of course, made everyone laugh and I shrugged. “So, what’s this bus about?”

“Books, obviously.” Jane waved at me to follow her. “Come on.”

I climbed the stairs and froze when I got inside. “Whoa!”

She chuckled. “Yes, indeed. Cybil and I have a heck of a collection. Why don’t you pick one out? We always give first-time people a free book.”

“That’s really kind of you. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Jane tapped her chin and regarded me. This must be what it felt like to be under a microscope. “I know just the book.”

I followed her up the narrow aisle until she stopped and faced a bookshelf. She slid a hardback out and handed it to me.

“ Nowhere But Here ?” I read the title.

“It’s about a traveler searching for something. Thing is, he doesn’t know what it is. Just when everything falls apart, fate swoops in and gives him the thing he’d been looking for.”

I swallowed around a lump in my throat. “What’s that?”

She tapped the book. “I’m not gonna spoil the whole thing.”

“What makes you think I’ll like it?”

She cocked her head to the side, a small smile on her face. “I know things.”

And weirdly enough, I swore she could see into my soul. “Thank you for the book.”

She patted my cheek. “You’re going to be just fine, Aaron.”

I believed her. When I stepped out of the bus, the others went in and Cybil offered me some hot chocolate. “It’ll warm you right up.”

Of course it was the best cocoa I’d ever had, and that was saying something since Daniel’s was damn good.

I sat on one of the chairs, drinking and reading, the laughter from inside the traveling library filling the air. Cybil dropped a kiss on Jane’s head as she went over to greet a couple of kids who had just walked up.

Jane watched her like she personally hung the stars in the sky just for her…and oh, how I wished someone would look at me like that someday.

As if she could feel my eyes on her, Jane turned to me and winked. And my heart gave a tug. Daniel stepped off the bus and beamed at me, and my internal chaos settled.

Maybe I didn’t need to read this book after all. I realized what the traveler was searching for and what it was he’d found.

A home full of love.