The December Market (Shelter Springs #2)

16

As they continued walking through the market on the way to the first aid station and The Lucky Goat kiosk, Amanda could feel the heat in her cheeks and sincerely hoped Rafe didn’t notice.

She was fiercely aware of him walking beside her, lean and muscled and gorgeous. She could see other women notice him as he walked through, with those broad muscles and his dark good looks.

Goodness. His son had asked Santa Claus for her to be his mother. She didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to that, especially when her thoughts felt as jumbled and tangled as last season’s Christmas lights. She had this vague sense of embarrassment, as if she had done something wrong.

More than that, she was suddenly aware of a deep ache of longing.

This was only a young child’s foolish Christmas wish. Completely unattainable. Like all those years when she had prayed and wished for her father to stop drinking, for a “normal” family like her friends had.

They were passing the Shelter Inn booth when she noticed her grandmother and Paolo working together again. Birdie was saying something that made Paolo laugh. As Amanda watched, the man put his hand over Birdie’s, looking down at her with so much clear affection, it made Amanda stop in her tracks, that weird feeling in her chest again.

Amid all the chaos of the market opening and organizing her shop, she had almost forgotten about the Birdie-Paolo dilemma.

Their relationship wasn’t going away. The two of them seemed closer than ever.

Rafe didn’t seem to notice she had stopped until he had taken a few more steps. When he saw she wasn’t beside him, he turned with a quizzical look.

“What’s wrong?”

She gestured to the Shelter Inn booth. He followed her gaze, his expression confused. When he spied Birdie and Paolo holding hands, he smiled.

“Looks like things are getting a little more serious. Maybe I need to have The Talk with Grandpa.”

She didn’t want to hear this. “Someone needs to talk some sense into both of them,” she muttered.

“Why does it bother you so much? Don’t you want Birdie to be happy?”

“She was happy. Since my grandfather died, Birdie has become the strongest, most independent woman I know. Even after she started to lose her sight, she insisted on staying at Rose Cottage for several years on her own, until I finally moved in with her. She has built a wonderful life for herself. This just feels so...out of character for her.”

“I guess true love can make a person do things they would never consider doing otherwise.”

She frowned, wondering if he was mocking her somehow. “Can you tell me you’re completely comfortable with your grandfather dating Birdie, less than a year after your grandmother died?”

“He’s seventy-six years old. He has buried his wife, a daughter and a grandson. If Birdie makes him happy for the remaining years he has left, who are we to argue?”

She knew he was right and she wanted to celebrate this new relationship in her grandmother’s life. She wanted nothing so much as to see her grandmother happy, but she had never considered the possibility that Birdie might suddenly start dating again, after twenty years as a widow. It was taking her time to adjust to the idea.

Before she could respond, Paolo spotted them and called out.

“Hello, Amanda. Hello, Rafael.”

Rafe waved at his grandfather and started to head over to say hello. Amanda sighed. She needed to get back to The Lucky Goat kiosk but her grandmother would be hurt if she didn’t at least stop by for a few moments to chat.

The Shelter Inn booth was bustling with customers, as well as several other residents of the retirement community who were helping out.

“Hi, Grandma,” she said. “It’s Amanda.”

She leaned in to kiss her grandmother’s wrinkled cheek that smelled of lavender soap.

Birdie reached for her hands. “Oh!” her grandmother exclaimed. “Your fingers are freezing! What have you been up to?”

Amanda hesitated, not quite sure how to respond.

“My son, Isaac, wanted to see Santa Claus,” Rafe answered after a pause. “We went along as his paparazzi.”

She could only be grateful he didn’t add his suspicions about Isaac’s reason for inviting Amanda along.

“How fun. I remember taking my own children to see Santa.” Birdie’s smile held years of fond memories. “This was when George Keller used to dress in the red suit and set up at the five and dime over on Lakefront Street. Do you remember that store?” she asked Paolo.

“Oh yes. I remember. I used to work there stocking shelves and unloading the deliveries.”

“The whole store smelled of peppermint sticks and dried apples. I can almost smell it.”

“As if it were yesterday,” Paolo said with a warm, affectionate smile that seemed to exclude everyone else in the entire market convention hall.

She couldn’t deny that her grandmother seemed happier than she had in a long time, more energetic and vibrant. Rafe was right. Paolo and Birdie were certainly capable of making their own decisions. She didn’t know his grandfather well, but Birdie at least was as sharp as she had ever been.

Maybe she should just trust they knew what they were doing.

“Amanda. Hi!” Liz Cisneros Shepherd, Natalie and McKenna’s maternal aunt—and new stepmother—stepped forward and gave her a bright smile.

“Hi, Liz. How’s married life?”

Liz beamed across the stall at her husband, who was busy helping a couple of young boys looking at the vast wooden car collection. “Lovely. Truly lovely.”

It still seemed more than a little odd for Amanda to see the two of them together.

Steve had been a devoted husband to his wife, Jeanette, Liz’s older sister. He had nursed her through two years of cancer therapy. After she lost the battle, Steve had been more than a little lost, too. He had left his teenage children to live off-grid in Alaska.

His father’s desertion had been one more blow to Jake. In his anger at his father and his grief over losing his mother, he had partied hard, sinking into the oblivion of alcohol and marijuana. Amanda had tried to help him through it, certain their love would be strong enough to help him weather the pain.

It hadn’t.

She hadn’t been strong enough. As the months wore on and Jake showed no sign of easing off, Amanda had finally accepted she couldn’t stand by and walk the same path her mother had.

As the child of someone with an addiction disorder, she had seen firsthand the damage he had done to those who loved him. She hadn’t been willing to accept that kind of future for herself.

I love you and always will , she had said through her tears as she handed him back her engagement ring. But I can’t stand by and let you destroy both of us.

A week later, Jake had died in that avalanche.

While she was happy for her friend Liz and her newfound happiness with Steve, Amanda still struggled to forgive the man for surrendering to his own pain instead of staying to help his children grieve the death of their mother.

“I’ve been meaning to stop by The Lucky Goat booth to say hello and give you kudos on an amazing market this year,” Liz said. “I’m loving the new outdoor space and the extended time frame. At first when you told me you wanted to add four more days, I wasn’t so sure our residents would be able to make enough items to last us two full weeks but everyone really came through. We’re already on track to have our biggest sales year ever.”

Barring the previous year when she had been recovering from knee surgery, Liz always organized the entire booth for the retirement community, including the coordination of volunteers who would work there each day.

“I’m glad. I haven’t had a chance to talk to many of the other vendors. It’s great to hear positive feedback.”

“If I had my way, you would be the permanent market director. You’re brilliant at it.”

“Thank you, Liz. That means a lot.”

Liz and McKenna had both worked with her for years on the market committee. No one worked harder than they did.

“We’re only in our second day but everything has been wonderful,” Liz said. “I look forward to seeing how the rest of the market goes.”

“Keep your fingers crossed we don’t have any more crises.”

Liz held up both hands with her pointer and middle fingers crossed. “I’m sure you can handle anything that comes along,” she said, before returning to help another customer at the booth.

Amanda wished she shared her friend’s confidence.

She certainly couldn’t seem to handle her growing attraction to a man she could never have or keep her heart safe from his adorable son.