Page 76 of Can't Get Over You
“They werefree. For most of the residents of Wild Wolff Village, those are just vacation homes. They pay an annual fee that covers a full-time concierge who takes care of everything for them?—”
“That’s your mom, right?”
She nodded. “Before they show up, they fill out a form to stock their wine cellars, refrigerators, whatever, and around the holidays, they can order a Christmas tree and all the decorations. The team will even go in and set it all up.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked.
“Right? Anyhow, they always get extra trees in case guests come into town at the last minute, and my dad just charms the guy who runs the lot on his way home. Everyone loves my dad, you know? He gets all kinds of gifts.”
“Did you ever ask if you could cut one down instead?”
“Sure, but it’s expensive, and neither of my parents could spend that kind of money for something we’d toss out in a week. I don’t blame them. It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“They didn’t listen to you. That’s the point. It’s not about shelling out cash for a tree. It’s about giving your kid an experience. I’ll bet they spend that much to go out to dinner, right? Or on drinks at the bar. Why not give their daughter the gift of a magical Christmas?”
He didn’t know it, but he’d plugged in the connection between her heart and her mind. Because she’d had those sentiments as a child, but she’d never really allowed them to take form. If she had, she’d have wished for more—demanded it—and that would only have driven her parents further away. So she’d taken whatever she could get and stuffed down her feelings. “I think I know why I liked you so much.”
His gaze jerked over to her.
“Every time my parents couldn’t be bothered to look at the picture I’d drawn or take off work for the science fair to see my project, it made me feel like I was a burden. And now that we’re talking about it, I remember showing my mom the Merry Farms website.” It was covered with photos of happy families on a hayride and kids drinking cocoa, wearing colorful knit hats and gloves. “When she saw the prices, she rolled her eyes and said it was a ‘racket,’ and I remember shriveling up inside.”
“She’s no fun, but what’s that got to do with me?”
“You listened. You blew off Leia Collins to save me from a raccoon.” She grinned at their shared joke, but it was so true. “And with you, I can feel myself unfurling.”
“Unfurling?”
She laughed, and it felt so good. “There’s no better word to describe it, so I’m standing by it. I don’t shrivel when I’m with you. I unfurl.”
“And with Matt?”
“Oh.” Well, that one was obvious. “With him, I stayed neatly in the box.”
“He didn’t want to see your science projects, either?”
Her gaze dropped to her hands, and she examined the ring she was now stuck with since lying to the judge. “Our project was building a life together, you know? We looked at houses and couches and vacation packages.”Wait a minute. A sharp memory hit her. She could smell the lavender as if she held it in her hands. “Actually, I used to make soap.” She watched him carefully to see if he’d look at her the same way Matt did, when he’d wait for her to finish talking before redirecting her to a topic that mattered to him. “It was a fun little hobby.”
“And you stopped?” Jude asked.
“I did, yeah. But, I mean, he was right. We had a busy life, and it didn’t fit.”
“For him or for you?”
“Good question.” She smiled. “He thought it was a waste of time since you can find handmade, small-batch soaps everywhere you go. There’s nothing different about mine.”
“Is that true?”
“Not really. I created my own scents.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Explain.”
The way she’d caught his attention only confirmed that she did have a unique product. “Okay, so it all started with my cookie-cutter collection.”
He folded his arms across his chest, the hammer dangling. “A collection?”
“That’s right.” She laughed, not even slightly embarrassed. “A couple of times a year, I make homemade playdough for my kids. It started out as a holiday thing, you know, making ornaments or hearts. But then, on vacation at the beach, I found really cute seahorse and shell shapes. After that, I started noticing them everywhere, and it became a whole obsession. Anyhow, one day, it occurred to me that I could do the same thing with soap. Can you imagine a powder room in Calamity with soap in the shape of a moose? How cute would that be?”
“Very.”
