Page 66 of Peach Blossom Hollow

“Of course!”

“But with Owen leaving before we started dating, wouldn’t that suggest the curse is getting stronger, since he left before we fell in love?”

“No, not at all. The curse would have let you both fall in love, andthenhe would have gone back to baseball. Anyway, I believe the next guy’s gonna stick. You’re going to find so much stinking love with him that it blasts the curse all the way back to the grave of the cranky old biddy who summoned bad juju on your great-gran.”

“Bad juju is no match for me or the love I’m going to find,” Violet said, testing the idea out loud. “That dating app isn’t going to know what hit it come tomorrow morning, when I start messaging all those potential matches!”

“That’s the spirit.”

“This’ll be fun!”

With a bounce in her step, Violet reached the street, waving to people sitting in lawn chairs along the sidewalks and curbs.

“This kid over here wants a hug, Dezzie.”

Violet followed Daisy-Mae to the edge of the street. A small body hugged her leg, and she patted the child’s back, then did a few dance moves.

“Next fall, if I haven’t found love yet,” Violet vowed as they moved on, “I’m getting Jackie to take me to some football games.”

“Matchmaker magic!” Daisy-Mae sang as they continued on. “That’s right, baby!”

“Matched up, married off.”

“In the meantime you could tell a certain someone you like him and see what happens. He might be closer than you think when it comes to being on the same page about relationships.”

“He isn’t.”

“Have you asked him?”

“It’s pretty much all we’ve discussed lately.”

“Oh! There’s Mrs. Fisher! Blow her a kiss!”

Daisy-Mae moved gracefully under the streetlights, people swaying with glow sticks as she passed. She looked like a beauty queen in her jersey and hat. Smiling, waving in the January night, moving with the floats.

Violet wanted to be like her when she grew up. Sort of like a modern-day fairy tale, where curses held no power over her.

Actually, a lot like how she’d felt the night of the gala when she’d been Leo’s date. She’d felt like a beautiful, powerful princess. Leo had been such a great support, sending her off to buy a gorgeous dress, setting her up with a makeover that had given her confidence to help him land Family Zone.

As the parade continued toward Main Street, Violet mulled over the idea of telling him how she felt. Try as she might, she just couldn’t see how they would fit together with their different views and wants when it came to love.

The obvious pro to telling him would be thatmaybe he felt the same way and they might figure out a way to live happily ever after.

The con list was pretty long, though. She didn’t want to wait until he had some giant sum of money stashed away before starting a family. She also wanted true love. That romantic, sweep-you-away kind of love, which hadn’t made it onto Leo’s must-have list. And while she felt flickers of something special between them, the kiss—platonic and spontaneous—had only made things weird. Point in fact, it had taken Leo over a month to even mention it.

Another con was that her telling Leo she liked him could potentially be the end of their friendship. And she needed him. He made her feel special, seen and understood. He was helping her regain her footing in life, get some spunk in her step. She didn’t want to lose that. But the risk of it happening was still way too great.

By the time they reached the end of the parade route, Leo’s cheeks hurt from smiling, and his hand was cramped from signing so many hockey cards. If anyone phoned him right now he was fairly confident he would answer, “And if you post this photo on social media, be sure to tag me and the Dragons!”

At least it had kept his mind busy, because Violet stating that she didn’t regret him kissing her did not compute. Her actions didn’t suggest she was cool with being kissed.

Despite his sore cheeks, he felt the beginnings of another smile. But what if she reallywascool with it and that was why she’d acted weird?

The thought brought him to a full grin.

He was cool with kissing.

He’d lost sight of Violet and Daisy-Mae about halfway down Main Street, falling far behind. He’d started near the beginning of the parade and ended near the back, and at one point had been walking with an older dog on a leash. Leo was pretty sure the man who’d given him the leash was the same Brant Wylder who’d named Violet’s cat Onesie.

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