Page 112 of Falling for the Grinchy Bad Boy

I took a shaky breath, feeling some of the tension in my chest start to ease. Everything had been building up for days, and it needed to come out. The crying had helped, and Aunt Victoria’s honest advice had given me a sense of direction I’d been lacking.

“Thank you,” I said, squeezing her hand. “For finding me, for listening and telling me what I needed to hear instead of what I wanted to hear.”

“That’s what aunts are for,” she replied with a smile. “Now, are you ready to go back out there and show that goat who’s boss?”

I laughed despite myself, remembering the chaos I’d fled from. “I suppose someone needs to deal with Gertrude. And the crying baby. And Brad’s pushy advances.”

“Let’s go handle some livestock and inappropriate volunteers,” she said with a laugh. She stood and offered me her arm. “And tonight, after all this festival business is sorted out, you’re going to have that conversation with Cooper. No more hiding.”

“No more hiding,” I agreed.

We walked back toward the nativity scene together. I could see that my absence had not improved the situation. Gertrude was now standing in the middle of the pen, but she was eating Joseph’s costume. Chester the donkey had somehow gotten loose and was wandering among the vendor booths, perusing their wares. And baby Jesus was still crying.

I had work to do, problems to solve, and a festival to run. These were concrete challenges with practical solutions. That was my thing. I was good at finding practical solutions.

“Okay, everyone,” I called as we approached the disaster zone. “Let’s get this nativity scene back on track.”

It took another thirty minutes, but we finally got Gertrude properly positioned, Chester back in his designated spot, and baby Jesus calmed down enough to look appropriately peaceful. Brad got a firm talking-to about keeping his thoughts to himself, and the whole scene began to resemble the peaceful biblical tableau it was supposed to be.

The festival would be a success. The vendors were happy. The visitors were enjoying themselves, and the Christmas market was everything I had envisioned when I first started planning it.

Tonight, after everything wound down, I would have that conversation with Cooper. I would stop hiding from the difficult questions and the scary possibilities.

Gertrude bleated contentedly from her pen. I smiled and shook my head. “You’re not the only stubborn goat in here.”