A Valentine's Proposal--A Clean Romance, page 21
Mariah ignored his teasing.
“Do you think Toby could give sleigh rides?”
He shrugged. “Not now. He’s just getting used to the sleigh. I’d want to be sure that he’s completely comfortable with that for a first step. Then we’d have to introduce him to crowds. He may never be able to handle that.”
Mariah saw the concern in Nelson’s eyes. Toby was in good hands. Nelson would never push him into something he couldn’t handle. Nelson might not be a good boy, but he was definitely a good man.
She wasn’t supposed to be thinking of things like that!
“Are you taking him out in the sleigh now?”
Nelson shook his head. “I’m going to drive him up and down the driveway for a bit, see how he does. But he wanted you to see how handsome he was.”
Mariah rubbed Toby’s forehead, and he responded by snuffling in her chest. He’d come a long way in just a few weeks. It made Mariah feel like she’d accomplished something, something as important as reviving Carter’s Crossing, to know she’d had a key role in his rehabilitation.
“He’s a handsome and good boy.”
“I’m only going to be about fifteen minutes more. Want to go for dinner after? You could visit Sparky inside—he’s feeling neglected lately.”
Mariah’s cheeks flushed. It wasn’t just Sparky who’d been neglected lately.
“I don’t know... I’ve got a lot to do—”
Nelson narrowed his eyes.
“Is something going on, Mariah? I know you have a lot of work to prep for Sunday, but we’re supposed to be so madly in love that I’m planning a proposal. Right now it’s looking more like we’re having a fight. Unless you’ve changed your mind—”
Mariah busied herself with straightening Toby’s forelock. She couldn’t tell Nelson she’d avoided him because she was catching some real feelings.
“No, you’re right. We should—”
“Can you say that again?”
Mariah turned her gaze to Nelson, brows furrowed. “I said, we should—”
“No, the ‘You’re right’ part. I love hearing that.”
Mariah turned her attention back to the horse to hide her laugh. “Toby, this guy may be good with you, but honestly, the ego on him.”
“Not fair. How can I have a big ego when I so rarely hear anything like ‘You’re right, Nelson’?”
“And yet, you do.”
Nelson laughed. “Go on in and stay warm, Mariah. We’ll be back soon.”
* * *
THEY WENT TO MOONSTONE, and Jaycee gave them the same table as their first dinner together. Jaycee was glowing these days and gave both of them credit for her rekindled romance with Dave. Now that she wasn’t worried about impressing his mother, or not as much, she was looking forward to her party.
“What were the changes that she and Dave had for you?”
Mariah laughed. “The skate dance is out.”
“I know that was Dave’s idea. He hated it.”
“I think he was purposely messing it up to try to get out of it.”
Nelson shook his head. “No, he was trying, I swear. He wanted to make Jaycee happy.”
Mariah swallowed. “I’m just glad they worked that out.”
“Because your event is back in play?” His voice was suddenly serious.
“Well, I can’t say I’m not relieved, but I’m mostly glad they’re happy again. Parties come and go, but couples with a chance of making it are rare.”
Nelson nodded.
“And the vow renewal is good to go?”
“Totally. We’ve been able to take over the cafeteria in the hospital. I know Abigail pulled some strings for that. We’re providing food in the lounge for anyone who would normally use the cafeteria while we have it out of commission. Gord will be in a hospital bed, but since Gladys was a nurse when they met, the committee was able to recreate an old nursing uniform for her.
“When I first met the committee, I seriously underestimated them. They work hard and get stuff done.”
Nelson grimaced. “I’m pretty sure they’re not above using blackmail.”
Mariah’s eyes danced. “Have they blackmailed you?”
“Laugh now. You won’t find it so funny when it’s your turn to ‘help them out.’”
Her eyes widened. “But I already am!”
“That’s what you think.”
She shrugged. “I can handle them. But that reminds me, we should finalize the proposal plans.”
Nelson eyed her warily. “Have you made changes to that?”
He was supposed to have veto rights.
Mariah rolled her eyes. “Honestly, what are you so afraid of? We’re just creating a romantic setting, and adding music, and a little firework display.”
“There’s no such thing as a little firework display.”
“That is patently untrue. Besides, Abigail told me you like fireworks.”
Nelson sighed.
“I liked fireworks when I was a kid. And I go to the Fourth of July display in Carter’s Crossing, because everyone does. It’s not like I travel the country to catch any firework display going.”
“But at least this is something you might do. And something we can pull off here. I mean, if Toby was ready, and we could have him pull us in that sleigh? That would be great, but he’s not, so we need something to make it special.”
A picture flashed in Nelson’s mind. Toby, pulling the sleigh. Mariah snuggled in with him, her coat red and cheeks pink. Nelson could almost imagine proposing to her in that setting.
Whoa. He was fake proposing. They were fake dating and fake falling in love.
But somehow, when he looked across the table at her, it didn’t feel fake. He’d asked her to have dinner with him because he wanted to, not because it was part of their carefully orchestrated romance.
But maybe that was just him. Did Mariah even like him?
They argued. They didn’t agree on many things.
But Nelson enjoyed what they did. He enjoyed bantering with her more than a regular conversation with anyone else. He liked knowing that he’d never maneuver her into doing what he wanted against her wishes.
No, he was in more danger of being manipulated by her. And he liked it.
Did she enjoy it, too? He thought so. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks slightly pink, and she had leaned forward, as if she was invested in their conversation. That look she used to give him, wary and suspect, was gone. He’d told her about his biggest failure, and she hadn’t censured him.
She hadn’t approved. But she’d been sympathetic.
She’d told him about her family, and her upbringing. He didn’t know if many people knew how lonely she’d felt growing up. He suspected her parents and brothers didn’t know.
Maybe she’d told him simply because they’d spent so much time together. Maybe it wasn’t because she felt close to him and trusted him.
Like he trusted her. Something that was almost miraculous, considering.
The most telling thing? The kisses. The ones that were supposed to convince everyone else that something was going on between the two of them. They were convincing him.
Could someone fake those kisses? Nelson, if he was honest, couldn’t. There was something there.
He needed to find out. He needed to kiss her, not for show, but for them, and see how she responded.
They were fake dating, and had a fake proposal in three days, but Nelson wanted to move their fake dating to real.
* * *
SMILING AT NELSON across the table, Mariah relaxed. Everything was working out.
Not perfectly, not as originally planned, but this was her job. She had to take the bumps and potholes on the road and handle them to make things work. With three days to go, everything was on track.
She couldn’t fix everything. If a couple decided not to get married, she wouldn’t try to force it. Her job was to provide the wedding they wanted, and if at the end, they wanted to not have one, that was what she needed to provide for them.
But things were going well here in Carter’s Crossing. Even if one of her vow renewal people got sick, they were at the hospital, so barring an act of God, that one was good. Dave and Jaycee had worked out their problem. Dave’s mother had been stunned by her son’s anger over her treatment of Jaycee and was on her best behavior.
And she and Nelson were good. Good at the fake dating.
She thought, after all this time together, they were friends. After their rocky beginning, she was surprised by that, but it was true. They argued, but it no longer had any anger in it. They enjoyed it.
She thought he liked having someone stand up to him. And she liked that he didn’t patronize her. He was arrogant at times, but when she knocked him down about it, he laughed.
So yes, they were friends. It made the fake dating easier. And the fake kissing.
Technically, the kissing wasn’t fake...after all, their lips were really touching. It was just scripted. Still, she enjoyed it.
For some reason, that made her cheeks warm. Which was silly.
She shook her head to dispel those uncomfortable thoughts. Instead, she focused on Nelson across the table.
That didn’t help. He was smiling at her, but it was a warm smile, intimate, unnervingly realistic for a man about to fake propose.
He was a better actor than she’d thought.
When they got up to go, he insisted on paying. When she tried to argue, quietly so that Jaycee wouldn’t hear, he whispered back that he didn’t allow his dates to pay all the time.
That silenced her.
Then he held her coat for her. Again, yes, it was selling the dating image, but it felt...real.
They drove back to Abigail’s in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn’t comfortable, either. It was...it was like the silence was saying something, but she didn’t know the language.
She didn’t like not knowing.
When he pulled up at the front door, she reached for her seat belt. Before she could grab the door, Nelson asked her to wait.
She turned to him, slightly puzzled. If he’d wanted to talk, they’d just not talked for several minutes. And right now she was feeling on edge, thinking too much about kissing, and it would be better if she just got out of the car...
Instead, he reached over and cradled her face in his hands.
She was about to ask him what he was doing when he pressed his lips to hers and answered the unspoken question.
She responded without thinking. Her arms slid up to his shoulders, gripping them tightly, and she kissed him back.
She didn’t know how long it was until the kiss ended, but in the dim light from the veranda, she could see that his lips were slightly swollen, his breathing ragged.
She didn’t need a mirror to know she looked the same. And something inside told her this wasn’t good.
She called on every reserve of self-control she had.
“Good night, Nelson.”
She opened the door before he could get out of the car, but he followed her to the bottom of the steps and waited while she opened the front door of the house.
“Good night, Mariah.”
She slid through the door, glad not to find Abigail waiting for her. She could tell Abigail they were kissing to sell their romance, but she didn’t want Abigail to know just how well they were selling it.
Then, like a hammer to the head, it hit her.
That hadn’t been a show for the town. No one had been there to see it. The only one who could have was Abigail, and she knew it wasn’t real.
Mariah pressed her fingers to her lips.
What was going on?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
FORTUNATELY, MARIAH HAD lots to do the next day. She’d lain awake far too long, remembering the kiss and wondering about it.
She’d finally convinced herself it was just practice. Mostly. That was the only logical conclusion. Taking more meaning from it led to places she didn’t want to go. It had still taken her too long to fall asleep.
She’d used extra concealer under her eyes and approached her day, list at hand, dressed in jeans for a day of decorating. She refused to think about Nelson. She shoved those thoughts down whenever they popped up. It gave her mental muscles a workout.
There were plenty of hands available to help with this, the first day of setup, even though it was a Friday. The committee, or Abigail in this case, had hired the local construction crew to help. The crew was led by a young woman named Andrea. Mariah had met her and admired her. It couldn’t be easy to lead a team of men, especially in such a traditionally male field. But she did it, without any obvious difficulties.
Mariah could take notes.
The priority was the mill. The engagement party was the biggest event and would require the most work. Mariah had cornered the market on fairy lights, and they needed them everywhere: on the trees, suspended over the ice, on the side of the mill and around the parking lot. Having ladders and laborers at hand made things go faster than she’d expected. There was still setup for Saturday, but the hard labor was done.
Mariah then drove to the hospital to assist in the work to transform the cafeteria. Most of the committee was already there.
The committee got things done. However, they were mostly elderly women, so there were some obvious things they couldn’t do. They couldn’t do the heavy lifting, or reach up high, and they had a provoking habit of being sidetracked by chatter, but the largest pieces were moved out, thanks again to Andrea and her crew.
Mariah knew, but was supposed to pretend she didn’t, that things were going on at the gazebo in the town square, as well. More fairy lights were involved there, but she was spending the evening with Jaycee and Rachel working on party decorations for the engagement party while Nelson supposedly supervised at the gazebo. Thanks to Abigail’s personality, no one really expected Nelson to do much.
Frustratingly, Abigail refused to send her any pictures, so that Mariah would be surprised. Mariah didn’t want to be surprised by an event she was responsible for.
Still, it meant she didn’t have to see Nelson. And that was all for the best. She didn’t need any more practice kissing. The kissing part was great, but unsettling. She didn’t need any distractions.
* * *
NELSON HAD AN idea but needed time. He asked Abigail if he could skip some of the event planning on Saturday.
He didn’t like the look she gave him, but she agreed to tell the crew working on “his” proposal location that he was needed at the farm. That was exactly where he headed.
Toby would now come to him, even when Mariah wasn’t around, to get treats, but it was obvious that Toby was disappointed when Mariah wasn’t there.
Nelson scratched the horse under his forelock. “Me, too, buddy. But let’s give her a surprise. A nice one.”
He tied Toby in cross ties in the barn, and spent some time grooming him, tidying up his mane and tail and smoothing out the thick winter coat. Then he put on the freshly polished harness. Toby didn’t react when the leather gently settled on his body, which gave Nelson a warm feeling. Thanks to Mariah, Toby was going to be okay.
He led Toby to the sleigh and hitched him up. Toby tossed his head a couple of times but didn’t jerk away. Nelson gripped the reins and encouraged Toby to move forward. After a look back at Nelson, he walked forward, down the driveway again.
After fifteen minutes of completely uneventful pacing up and down the drive, Nelson pulled him to a halt. Then, moving slowly and keeping up a constant low-pitched conversation with the horse, he slid into the sleigh.
Toby didn’t move.
“Okay, Toby. Let’s do this for Mariah.”
Nelson flicked the reins, encouraging him to move forward. After a short pause, Toby did as requested.
The sleigh was heavier this time, and Toby’s head jerked up.
“I know, boy. This is a little different. You’re pulling me, as well. But do this nicely, and we can put Mariah in the sleigh, and we both know that’s what you’d really like.”
With a shake of his head, Toby took another step. And another. And then they were walking smoothly down the drive.
Nelson grinned. They’d done it. This time when they came by the barn, he didn’t stop Toby, but let him continue along the old laneway that headed down through the trees.
Toby, having accepted the idea of the sleigh, continued a steady walk. After a quarter of a mile Nelson turned him into the field, and, pivoting the sleigh, they came back the way they’d come. This time he coaxed Toby into a trot, and the trip back to the barn was quicker.
Nelson drew Toby to a halt. He climbed out of the sleigh and came forward to rub Toby’s neck.
“What do you think, Toby? Ready for a show tomorrow?”
* * *
THE WHOLE TOWN, it appeared, had come on Saturday to help Mariah and her Romance Committee make Valentine’s Day a success. Most of the time she was able to stay on the sidelines, supervising her crew of volunteers. With the big items done yesterday, things were being ticked off her list with impressive speed. And anytime something needed to be picked up, Mariah was gently encouraged to stay put while someone else did the run.
Mariah knew she was being kept away from the gazebo in the town park, but she pretended not to notice. In the meantime, the two venues she was overseeing were transforming.
Thanks to her volunteers’ enthusiasm, everything on Saturday’s list and a good portion of Sunday’s were done by the time pizza was served to the volunteers in the empty mill. Space heaters, some of which would remain there tomorrow, some of which would be placed closer to the skating ice, kept the interior warm. Abigail, or the committee, had provided the pizzas and drinks to thank the volunteers.
