Chapter 58

With only a handful of Friday night markets left before harvest season, I’d decided to take a chance. Once the markets ended, they’d be replaced with pumpkin-carving events, fireworks, and home-brewed cider competitions. I loved summer the most in June Lake, but fall wasn’t half bad either.

What it meant, however, was that I only had so many more markets left this season to shoot my shot, which was why I’d decided to do it tonight. For the first time in years, I’d set up a booth at the market and I was displaying the suncatchers I’d made recently.

I’d never had a chance to give Colten his, and I hung it up to sell before I thought better of it. As unlikely as it was that I would make any sales tonight, I couldn’t bear to part with this one. Not yet.

Gently placing it back in its box, I finished my display and took a step back to admire it when I was done. I was proud of how good it looked, the prisms and rainbows sparkling in the last of the late afternoon rays.

As always, the air was scented with barbecue and frying sweet stuff. Children’s laughter rang out. I took in my stall, feeling my heart swell at how pretty it had come out. Even if I didn’t sell anything tonight, I’d taken a big step forward by just doing this and no one could take that away from me.

One day at a time, I was rebuilding my life from the ground up, shaping it into something that more closely resembled what I’d always wanted. Suncatchers were a part of that. I loved my business with Brittany, but it had been chipping away at my soul for years that I’d given up on trying to sell my beautiful little crafts. Setting up this booth tonight was proof of how much I’d grown this summer.

In the last few weeks, I’d spent more time crafting and building these works of art than I had in ages. Heartbreak would do that to a girl, but so would the confidence Landon had instilled in me.

Above all else, I was grateful to him for that. For believing in me so much that even in his absence, I had the courage to display things even the fancy city boy had thought were gorgeous. I was also just grateful that I’d had something to pour myself into.

It had really helped, giving me something I cared about and enjoyed doing to distract myself from how sore I was to know Landon wasn’t in town anymore. As people started arriving for the market, I inhaled a deep breath and took that moment to manage my expectations.

The last few times I’d tried this, I hadn’t sold anything. I couldn’t afford to let it get me down if I didn’t sell anything tonight either.

Moving in behind my table, I smiled and readied myself for the crowds of admirers, none of whom would wind up purchasing the piece they’d admired, but I was determined not to let it get to me. To my utmost surprise, I made several sales right off the bat, with the first few admirers immediately choosing items they wanted to buy.

On a whim, I snapped some pictures of my display and grinned. Tiff had helped me set up an Instagram account recently and she’d encouraged me to post photos of my work on it. I’d followed her advice and my DMs had already started to fill up with special order requests that were going to keep me busy for at least the next couple of weekends. But I’d been skeptical about it all.

Now, however, with a few instant sales under my belt, I posted a few more pictures to the account, hoping it would attract a little more attention. My inspiration to use the vibe and aesthetic of Styles Manor in my creations seemed to have helped me find an audience, and it was looking like, if I could just keep the ball rolling, I might actually be able to get somewhere with this.

It would be a damn nice side hustle, and since it was something I was passionate about too, I was suddenly filled with excitement about it. Still grinning as Brittany and Scott wandered over to me, I glanced at their joined hands and felt a sharp pain shoot through my chest.

I was happy that they were finally together and that things were going so well for them, but I couldn’t deny that I was also jealous that they’d found love right here in June Lake. Neither of them had to worry about traveling to LA or losing their hearts to people who were never coming back.

I sighed, but smiled when Brittany handed over a coffee they’d ordered for me. “There you go, babe. The stall is looking so good. How’s it going?”

“It’s actually going really well,” I admitted, thankful for the hot drink now that the sun was going down. The evenings were already getting a bit chillier, and with the cool air blowing in a breeze off the lake, I was glad Lacey had swapped out her lemonade stand for a coffee bar. “I’ve already made a few sales.”

Brittany beamed at me, letting her head drop to Scott’s bicep as she grinned. “That’s awesome. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks.” I held up the coffee. “Thanks for this too. I needed it.”

Scott nodded, wrapping his arm around Brit’s shoulders. I hated how envious I was of the way they held hands and each other. When he kissed the top of her head, it even felt like I was going to be sick with jealousy.

But I didn’t let it show. I just made sure the smile froze on my face, which wasn’t that hard considering that I honestly was happy for them. Besides, it wasn’t their fault that I broke up inside every time I was reminded of what I’d lost.

“I should get back to it,” I said, injecting forced cheer into my voice. “Thanks again. I’ll catch up with you guys later?”

They nodded as one, as if they shared the same mind. Then they turned away as one too, meandering down the lane I was in and finally disappearing into the crowd. Happily, a little girl ran up and grabbed my attention when she squealed.

I smiled at her, feeling that ache in my chest subside just a little bit at the joy on her face when she admired one of the suncatchers. It had pink feathers and antique-looking, rose-gold details. “This one, Mommy. Pleeeease?”

Her mom chuckled, rushing to catch up to her and glancing at me when she did. “How much are these?”

The woman’s cheeks were flushed, but between the cool air and the exertion of having to keep up with the energetic little girl, I couldn’t blame her. She reached for her wallet, but I waved it away, reaching for a box and unhooking the delicate suncatcher to lay it inside.

“When is her birthday?” I asked.

The mom frowned. “About four and a half months from now.”

I smiled. “Consider it an early birthday present, then. Thank you for appreciating my work, little angel.”

The girl grinned up at me and the mom looked flustered, but they took the gift box and hurried away, both appearing just a little bit lighter than they had a minute ago. I watched them leave, glad to have done something to make the little girl happy after her joy had made me feel better.

Sensing a presence approaching the table, I plastered another welcoming grin on my face, then turned and looked up. Right into the face of the very last person I’d expected to see tonight.

Landon.

That gorgeous, thick dark hair of his hung just so over his forehead, not styled as it had been when he’d first arrived here months ago, but in the relaxed, natural way it had settled into while he’d been here. His intense green eyes crinkled with his smile. His long fingers slipped into the pockets of his jeans.

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, but when his familiar, masculine scent wafted over to me, it hit me right in the heart that this was real. He was here. My mouth dropped open and my stomach nearly fell out of my butt.

“What are you doing here?” I breathed.

“I forgot something when I left,” he said.

I cocked my head, my heart beating a mile a minute. “Oh?”

Landon leaned across the table, taking my face in his hands as his gaze swept across it. I melted into him, my entire being longing to throw myself into his arms. He stroked his thumbs across my cheekbones slowly, like he was memorizing the contours of them. Then he kissed me.

It was no more than a soft, gentle press of his lips to mine, but it slammed my heart into overdrive. Racing at an explosive pace, it skipped and jumped as he eased his mouth away and murmured against it. “I forgot my girl.”

Before I could even begin to start questioning what that meant, Colten came running around the back of the table, appearing out of thin air and throwing his arms around me. Giving me a huge bear hug, he squeezed me tight.

“I missed you, Jewel.”

“I missed you too, buddy,” I whispered, bursting into tears as I hugged him back. “What are you doing here? When did you get in?”

He laughed as he took a step back and swept his arms out to his sides. “We came straight to the market from the airport. We wanted to surprise you, or else I’d have warned you that we were coming.”

“Well, I’m definitely surprised.” I screwed my eyes shut, half expecting Colten to be gone when I opened them again, but he wasn’t.

Neither was his father.

While my eyes had been closed, he’d walked around the table too, coming to stand next to his son, but his eyes weren’t on me anymore. They were locked on the suncatcher I’d placed so carefully back into its box just a little while ago.

“This is for you,” I said to Colten as I turned and picked up the box, nervously presenting it to him for the first time. As far as I knew, he hadn’t even known that Landon had asked me to make him one, and honestly, I didn’t know if he was going to like it. “I made it while you guys were here. So you’d always have something to remember June Lake by. I just never got around to giving it to you.”

Colt reached slowly for the box, taking it from me with an almost reverent expression on his face. His jaw was slack, his brow furrowed as he flicked his gaze back to mine. “It’s got chess pieces on it.”

“Yes, it does.” I smiled, reaching out to ruffle his hair. As my fingers touched the soft strands, it served as a reassurance to me too, telling me that I really wasn’t dreaming.

I blinked hard once more, but again, they didn’t disappear. Colten was lifting the suncatcher out of the box carefully, turning it over in his fingers and grinning at the chess pieces. Landon’s attention seemed to be split between me and his son, but it settled on me as Colt spotted Brody coming toward us.

“I’m going to go say hi,” he said excitedly, giving me a playful smirk. “He knew we were coming, but I only told him once we landed. See you guys!”

With a cheeky wave, he took off running toward his friend and Landon held a hand out toward me. “I’ll understand completely if you say no, but would you like to take a walk with me? I’d really like to talk to you.”