by Meg Easton
A man stepped up to the microphone, and the crowd quieted. Macie leaned closer and said, “That’s Mayor Stone.”
“Welcome to the one hundred fifty-fourth annual lighting of the town Christmas tree! I think a lot of you remember when this beauty was a little shorter and a little easier to decorate,” he said, putting his hand on one of the lower branches of the tree and looking up at its height. “She’s all grown up now, so we decided she needed a few more lights than she had before. This year, it’s an unprecedented thirteen thousand seven hundred lights!”
Everyone around cheered, so Aaron joined them and clapped.
“Now the Nestled Hollow High choir’s here,” the mayor said, “and they’ve got a special number for us. When they’re finished, we’ll flip the switch and watch magic happen!”
“I’m ready for my life to be changed,” Aaron said as the choir started singing. “I hope you weren’t just using hyperbole on me.”
“I stand by my hyperbole. It comes with a Macie Money Back Guarantee.”
As the choir sang Do You Hear What I Hear, Aaron found himself swaying back and forth slightly, along with the rest of the town. Like they were all Whos down in Whoville. He immediately stopped swaying.
The choir did sound pretty amazing, though. It was great to see so many of his students singing—he was used to only seeing them at school events.
They all sang louder as they neared the end. “He will bring us goodness and light.” They held out the last word so long that he was so proud of the lung capacity of all of his swim team members in the group. As the conductor motioned to cut off the song and the last sounds of the word “light” faded into the mountains, the lights of the Christmas tree lit up the entire park. Aaron had to admit that it was one of the most beautiful displays of light he had ever seen.
And with a loud bang from somewhere across town, everything went dark.
Amidst the surprised murmurs and exclamations from the crowd, someone called out, “Looks like you made it a little too unprecedentedly awesome!”
“Well,” someone else said, “we now know what our maximum awesome is. I guess we need to dial it back.”
“Nonsense,” the mayor said. “We’ve never dialed it back before, and we’re not about to on my watch. Folks, it looks like we managed to flip the breaker, of sorts. I know this is a huge disappointment for everyone, and that you all had hoped to be reveling in the beauty of the tree, but don’t you worry. As you can see, Sam has already taken off running to go see if he can find and fix the problem. Now help yourself to some refreshments over here, and we’ll hurry to get some lamps set up so you can see what you’re eating.”
Joselyn neared with her husband and baby and Macie asked them, “Are you guys staying for refreshments?”
The husband—Aaron was going to have to find out his name soon—answered, “Of course! Power’s out to our houses, anyway, so no sense going home. What about you two?”
Aaron looked at Macie. “I’ve got a twelve mile bike ride ahead of me. I think I better grab my bike and head home.”
Macie shivered in the cold, probably thinking about how much colder the wind made a bike ride when the temperatures were low like this. “It’s so dark! Do you want a ride home? I’ve got a brother with a truck. He’s probably here somewhere with his family. We could put your bike in the back and I could drive you.”
He smiled. “Nah. I do this kind of thing all the time, so I’m prepared. I’ve got a great headlight, warm clothes, and a path I could follow with my eyes closed.”
“I’m going to head over with him,” Macie said. “I’ll grab Reese and Lola from the shop while I’m there—I’ll see you all back at home.”
As they walked back to the far end of Main Street where he’d left his bike outside of With a Cherry on Top, Aaron and Macie chatted about how it went and about the dance. The news that the students were going to band together to find him a wife had spread so quickly, he was interested to see how fast the rumors that he was dating Macie would spread. He could barely wait for school tomorrow to find out.
As they passed Paws and Relax, the dog that had caused his bike wreck this morning and the other big dog that Macie had with her raced to the front windows, their barking muffled behind the glass. Macie waved at them, and gave them some kind of hand signal. He remembered from what LeeAnn and Morgan had said that this was her business, so he at least knew that about her.
“Oh! Phone numbers!” Macie said as she pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen. She opened her contacts and handed him her phone.
He did the same and handed his to her. She took a picture of herself first, and then started entering in her information. Aaron thought of following suit, but the truth was, he hadn’t perfected the art of taking selfies, so he just put in his name and phone number. He switched phones back and looked down at the information Macie had put in his contacts for her. The picture drew his eyes first. With all the power out in the town, she was lit only by the silver moonlight, and it made the picture look like it was in black and white. Instead of looking at the camera, she was looking off in the distance, looking for something or someone in the dark.
Then he noticed her contact information. “Macie ‘My Mysterious Goddess’ Zimmerman?”
She smiled and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “In case I call or text and one of your students sees it.” She glanced down at her phone. “Aaron ‘Dashing Man’ Hall.”
Aaron burst out laughing, and Macie quickly joined him. The truth was, he’d never entered his contact information like that into a woman’s phone before. But it had somehow felt right in this fake relationship of his.
“Text me the details about the dance,” Macie said as Aaron grabbed his helmet off his handlebars and fastened it on his head.
“Will do.” He swung a leg onto his bike and flipped on the headlight. “And I’ll start preparing myself for the onslaught of your family a week from Saturday.”
“Throwing yourself into the chimpanzee enclosure at the zoo might help with that.”
Aaron chuckled nervously. “Good to know.”
Chapter Five
Macie practically skipped from task to task as she took care of the animals at Paws and Relax the next morning. Last night had been fun. This fake relationship thing was one of the better ideas she’d ever had. When Joselyn got back home, she found out that four of her siblings had been at the tree lighting, and had seen her and Aaron together. They had pulled everything off so well, apparently they all had thought she was dating someone new.
She’d been worried about whether or not she’d be able to convince her sister. But Joselyn knew that when Macie first started dating someone, before she figured out for herself what she really thought of him, she didn’t like talking about it. Macie always needed to get things figured out in her own mind first. Chatting as both sisters and best friends with Joselyn, getting excited about all the little things the guy she was interested in did— that came later. The precedent she had set really worked in her favor this time, because she hadn’t had a lot of practice in fooling people.
Emily, her one and only employee, didn’t have any college classes today, and was more than happy for the extra hours (and the extra time with the animals) that Macie offered her by coming in today. Once all the animals were fed and petted and played with and cared for, Emily walked in. Macie filled her in on the schedule for today— a Parent, Preschooler, and a Puppy weekly event in an hour, the open Pet a Pet hour during lunch, where anyone could drop in to get a boost and a bit of relaxation, and the daily Chill After School session. Then she headed into her office, closed her door, and spread her business plans across her desk.
And then she remembered about the dance. She pulled out her phone and texted Brooke, the woman who owned Best Dressed, a shop on Main Street that sold fancy dresses. She took a deep breath, and then decided it was time to start planting more seeds about her’s and Aaron’s budding “relationship.”
Hi, Brooke! I start
ed dating a man who asked me to accompany him as he chaperones Winter Formal at the high school on Saturday. I know it’s short notice, but any chance you still have a dress available?
Brooke’s response came quickly.
Yes! I have the perfect one for you. And you’re in luck, because I just stepped off a plane three days earlier than I had planned. Can you come to the shop at 4?
Macie quickly typed her response.
You are a godsend. See you at 4!
She pressed send, and then got to work on her plans.
It felt good to pour all her focus into her business. Everything went so well when she was with the animals. This— her business and the pets— was definitely all she needed in her life.
She spent the day brainstorming ways to let more people experience the joy of these animals, especially the dogs. After several hours, she had what she thought was a great list of ideas.
She had one page listing birthday party packages, where she’d team up with her sister’s and brother-in-law’s shop for ice cream at the end. She’d come up with different packages, along with their prices and what they offered, and she’d even come up with a list of games that would involve the dogs, a treasure hunting game to find the lost cat toys (since they were always lost within moments of finding them anyway), and time to play with and hold the animals. She had a party package where she would take the dogs to the birthday boy’s or girl’s house or a park, with her or Emily running the party.
She had a field trip plan for the local elementary and middle school science classes, with information about each type of animal, and what instantly became her favorite: a program where people could rent-a-pet for an hour or an afternoon or evening, so they could enjoy a pet in their own home. She hoped people would see how much they enjoyed it, and think about adopting their own rescue pet.
Each item would take a lot of time and effort to get graphic images, signage for her shop, her website updated, and advertising. She had her work cut out for her. But the dogs were good dogs who loved being around people. It made her happy thinking of how much they’d enjoy more time to play and be loved and take a nap in someone’s lap.
If all these plans went well, though, she might be able to make enough each month to justify putting an offer on the building. Except that was such a huge commitment that part of her worried she’d never be able to make the choice in the amount of time she had.
Her stomach grumbled, and she lit up her phone to see the time. No wonder she was so hungry! She had worked all the way through lunch, and it was almost time to meet Brooke to look at dresses. After organizing all her new plans into a nice stack, she hurried out of her office. A half-dozen elementary school-aged kids, including one of her nephews, were playing with the dogs and cat and hamsters, and a couple of high school students were brushing Reese’s fur, and one had a cat asleep in her lap.
“Everything going well?” Macie asked Emily.
“Sam went into her crazy cat ninja mode for a bit and alarmed Cookie and a couple of kids, but that only lasted about twenty seconds before she plopped down in front of Brandon here, looking to be petted. Other than that, we’ve been doing great!”
“Are you okay to run things until I get back? And then I’ll stay until time to close things up.”
“No problem. Oh, hey—I heard you were dating someone! Why didn’t you tell me last night?”
This wasn’t normal dating, so it was time Macie stopped doing her normal “don’t say anything until you decide how much you like him” responses. She agreed to this fake relationship so that people would stop setting her up on dates or saying who she’d be perfect for, so she might as well take full advantage of the plan. She smiled big. “His name is Aaron, and he teaches history at the high school, and he’s pretty amazing, actually, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.” Then she ducked her head, which she hoped came across like she was a little shy talking about it, instead of the truth, which was that she wasn’t sure how well she pulled off the lie, and she just realized that the high school students were listening in.
Emily squealed, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the high school students were doing silent squealing, as if she couldn’t tell that they were eavesdropping. “I’ve got to run. Have fun!” she called out to the room, and then raced out the door.
This would get easier, right? The more people she told, the more comfortably it would come. She just needed to think thoughts of her ideal man before talking, and pretend that she’d finally found him. She crossed over the creek that ran down the middle of Main Street at the Center Street bridge, and went into Best Dressed near the middle of the block.
A bell rang on the door when she walked in. Even with the dance just three days away, there were still a few dresses and tuxes in the shop. As she waited for someone to come up to the front, Macie wandered toward the dress side and looked at a few of them. They all had the By the Brooke tag on the inside of the neck with Brooke’s company logo, and were all beautiful. She glanced at one of the price tags. She was a good saver, but with the uncertainty about her business, she was nervous about spending so much.
“Macie!” Brooke said as she came from somewhere in the back to the store at the front. “I swear it feels like I’ve been gone for a month. It’s good to see you! Come on back.”
“Oh, we’re not looking at—” Macie motioned to the dresses in the store as Brooke grabbed her hand and led her toward the back rooms.
“No, those aren’t for you. So I’ve only been back in town for like two seconds, but long enough to hear that you and your new man are ‘so cute’ together.”
“It’s true,” Macie said. “We’re a ‘downright delightful’ couple.”
Brooke laughed. “This town really does get excited about things like this, don’t we? That’s why I only go on dates with people in other states.”
Macie had never been in the back rooms of Best Dressed. It was easily four times the size of the front, and Brooke’s two employees stood around a big design table, discussing a pattern in front of them. She was pretty sure that one of the women lived in Denver and commuted here. The other woman moved to Nestled Hollow not long ago, but Macie didn’t know her. Bolts of fabric hung on the walls, and 3 sewing machines sat at big tables. It looked like there were a few offices in the back. She waved at the other two women, and they smiled back.
Brooke turned and studied Macie. “Really, though, you look happy. Are you happy?”
Macie smiled thinking about it. She was happy about how everything was working out. She channeled that in her answer. “I am. It’s new and fun and I’m enjoying it.”
“Good to hear. Now are you looking to keep or return?”
At first, Macie thought Brooke was talking about Aaron, and a pang of worry hit her that Brooke had seen beyond their facade. Then, probably at Macie’s confused face, she reworded it. “Do you want to borrow or buy?”
“Oh! You loan dresses?”
“Not usually. Only to you, actually. You only need it for a few hours on Saturday, right? I know you’re looking into possibly buying your building, and I’m guessing you’d rather not have an unexpected expense right now. Yes?”
Macie let out a huge breath. “Brooke, when I said you were a godsend, I clearly was minimizing your amazingness.”
“Well, you, my fellow single businesswoman,” Brooke said, holding a swatch of fabric up by her face, “are freaking adorable and I’ve always wanted to dress you in one of my gowns.”
Macie drew back in surprise. “For real? Why?”
Brooke smiled. “And that’s just one of the ways in which you’re adorable.”
Macie didn’t have long to be confused before more questions came her way. “Do you have a color preference? Style preference?”
“Honestly, I haven’t dressed up fancy or even thought about dressing up fancy for so long, I don’t even know what my preferences are.”
“Can I choose then? I have one I designed with you in mi
nd.”
“Me in mind? I don’t understand.”
Brooke walked to a door at the back half of the building as she talked, and Macie followed her. “With every dress I design, I have a certain person in mind. I figure that person represents a slice of the population. If I am designing with that specific person and their personality in mind, it should resonate with the slice of the world that person represents.”
Macie’s phone dinged, and she pulled it out as Brooke went through her racks of dresses. It was a text from Aaron.
Hello, my mysterious goddess. The dance starts at 8:30, and they need chaperones there at 8.
Macie smiled and typed in her response.
Sounds great, my dashing man. I will meet you at the high school at 8:00 then.
“Mysterious goddess, huh?” Brooke said and Macie jumped. She hadn’t even noticed that Brooke had come back out of the room.
Macie blushed, and then looked back down when her phone dinged. She almost slipped it into her pocket without replying, but then Brooke said, “No—reply. Don’t keep that Dashing Man waiting.” So Macie opened Aaron’s text, read it, and replied.
Do you know what color your dress is yet? I just want to make sure we look incredible together.
I’m finding out right now.
P.S. We’ll look incredible together even if our outfits go together about as well as eating peanuts and chewing gum.
True. Okay then, I’ll wear bright bold stripes; you wear lumberjack plaid.
Deal.
“Are you ready to see it?” Brooke asked, a zipped garment bag lying over her arm.