The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy

Author:Holly Cassidy [Cassidy, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Bella

I immediately regretted how I’d spoken to Jesse. All day he’d been attentive, kind, funny, and undeniably charming. He’d saved me from an avalanche, for crying out loud, a fact that seemed to have spread like wildfire throughout Maple Falls. Aside from the Peppermint Twists, three other people I’d never met had already asked me if I was okay. Endearing, for sure, but clearly the small-town gossip line was in working order, and that riled me, too.

Still, over the course of the day, it had become increasingly obvious Jesse was a man of many layers, someone I’d believed at first to be rude and standoffish. Except when we’d sat on his back deck and he’d told me about his parents, I’d seen a softer side. If I’d known him better, I’d have got up and put my arms around him the way he’d done to me on the mountain, especially when his voice wavered a couple of times.

I couldn’t imagine how it must’ve been, living through a tragedy of such magnitude. It emphasized my own selfishness, too. I’d missed another two calls from my mother—missed meaning ignored—plus she’d left me an uncharacteristic voice mail, which I’d not yet listened to. Yes, there were reasons for the silence between us, but after a near-death experience and hearing Jesse talk about his parents, I wondered if it was finally time to consider being less stubborn. Although Jesse’s and my familial situations weren’t the same. From the sound of it he’d always had a great relationship with his folks. He wasn’t idealizing them just because they were gone.

However, my carrying this amount of animosity around suddenly felt stifling and heavy. I questioned whether I was still defending my prolonged, principled, and cold-shouldered stance, particularly toward Mom, for any of the right reasons. Consequently, and for the first time in years, I thought about the possibility of a family reconciliation. What would happen if I stopped letting these old wounds fester but treated them instead? Over the past day, actually since I’d arrived in the tiny town of Maple Falls, a door in my heart had reopened. I wasn’t ready to burst through it quite yet, but I could no longer exclude taking a peek either.

It was strange how being here, a place so similar to my hometown in size and feel, wasn’t making me quite so claustrophobic as I felt in Bart’s Hollow. I realized that come Friday I’d almost be a little sad to leave this place, which I could barely bring myself to admit.

I’d definitely be happy to get this rotten singing challenge over with though. The main reason I snapped at Jesse was fear. Singing in front of, well, anyone, had a top spot on my list of ultimate nightmares. Some people woke up in a sweat when they dreamed about being naked in the middle of the street. Granted, that wasn’t something I’d do for fun on a Monday early evening either, but if I had to choose

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.