Page 18 of Wish You Faith (Christmas Sweethearts #1)

CHAPTER NINE

“W hy have you been avoiding me?” Travis Boone’s voice boomed. He sounded desperate, but not rash.

Rosie wasn’t afraid of him, but she’d been avoiding him, so she hadn’t prepared for his unexpected confrontation. Now that he had cornered her in the tree farm, between two rows of seven-foot fir trees, where nobody could see them right away, she was concerned.

Rosie could scream, but would that be overreacting? She patted her apron pocket. No phone. Bummer.

Oh, she remembered it now. She had left her phone charging in her office on the other end of the tree farm.

Well, she hadn’t expected to be away from her phone for more than fifteen minutes.

Mom was at SSLR all afternoon, so Rosie needn’t worry about her.

But if the phone rang, she wasn’t there to hear it.

However, she could use her phone now to call Lorenzo for help.

“I need to get back to the office.” She kept her voice even. No need to add to the scene.

“Give me one minute.” Travis didn’t move from where he stood, arms stretched out, preventing Rosie from leaving.

“Sorry.” Rosie tried to sidestep Travis anyway, hoping he wouldn’t grab her.

Thankfully, it was the middle of a workday.

Like any other weekdays in December, this Monday should bring foot traffic to this part of the tree farm.

The tall spruces around her ranged from five to seven feet.

Wearing platform clogs, Rosie was about five feet nine, and her head should show among the trees if she had to run.

Still, she tried to remain calm and professional because she didn’t want Travis to cause trouble for Christmastown in the last two weeks of their busiest time of the year. Christmas was thirteen days away.

Above them, the sky was sunny this afternoon. She hoped that the good weather would bring more walk-in customers to the tree farm, and then she wouldn’t be alone with Travis.

She couldn’t tell him to leave because the tree farm was open to the public from Monday to Saturday. He was free to come and go as a potential customer. Potential? Yes, because Rosie treated Talon Gym as a separate corporate entity from its owner, this increasingly desperate man.

If she were to tell Amy about Travis, Rosie was sure that Christmastown wouldn’t be doing business with Talon Gym anymore. That would be a dent in their profits.

Rosie took a deep breath, and prayed for God to protect her. She didn’t know why she was scared of Travis. Perhaps it was because he’d come after her too strongly.

Okay. She made up her mind to talk to Amy about it. Let corporate decide whether to cancel their contract with Talon Gym and all other businesses that Travis Boone owned. There was no reason for anyone to threaten Christmastown employees.

“Why, Rosie?” Travis stepped closer. He was a big man. Muscular in his arms and shoulders. Rosie—who hadn’t gone to the gym in ten years—wouldn’t have the strength to push him away if he forced himself on her.

He sighed. “I’ve spent thousands of dollars buying free skating tickets for the children in your church. Maybe thousands more in flowers in the last six months. At least give me an answer.”

“I have. Many times. I said no repeatedly a long time ago.” Rosie stepped back, and there was only one way to run, but it would be a dead end. The fence—and thus the edge of the Christmastown Tree Farm property—was maybe twenty feet away behind her.

“No is the wrong answer, Rosie.”

“That is my answer. If you don’t back away, I’m calling 911.

” Rosie started to shake, and wished that she hadn’t stayed behind to check the trees when everyone else had gone to lunch.

Their client was super picky about which tree she wanted for her ballroom, and insisted that Rosie selected one for her.

Only Rosie Hamilton. Year after year, she did the honors.

She could only pray that someone would be done with lunch in the next minute. Or right now.

And bring me my phone!

“You don’t have a boyfriend. You’re not married.” Travis’s eyes darkened.

Boyfriend? Wasn’t that Evan? He had kissed her on Friday night.

On Sunday, Evan had driven both Rosie and her mom to church. Paid for lunch afterwards.

Monday morning, Evan had picked up Rosie from her house so that they could carpool to work together. He’d shown up early enough to be invited in for breakfast. Mom made pecan pancakes and totally accepted him.

Oddly enough, Mom was the one who had no problem with a whirlwind romance.

In fact, she reminded Rosie that her maternal grandparents had gone on a blind date, and by the end of lunch at the soda fountain counter, Grandpa had proposed and Grandma agreed.

They were married a month later and went on to be happily married for sixty years until Grandpa passed away.

That insta-engagement record still stood in the Hamilton family.

So, was Evan her boyfriend or not?

Travis dropped down to one knee, and he held up the biggest diamond engagement ring that Rosie had ever seen. It glittered under the midday sun.

“Will you marry me?” Travis yelled.

“She can’t! She’s taken!” A male voice yelled out from among the Christmas trees.

Rosie’s breath caught. She recognized the voice because she had been listening to it every single day for more than a week.

Evan stepped into the dirt path between the trees. He was half a foot shorter than Travis, and was no match for the bodybuilder and gym owner.

Regardless, relief washed over Rosie. She thanked God that Evan was here with her. She didn’t want to be afraid of Travis, but he was making her uncomfortable by the day.

Truth be told, she just wanted a peaceful life, to do her work, and be with Mom in what might be potentially her last year on earth if her cancer returned.

It hadn’t been in Rosie’s plan to have a boyfriend in the midst of it.

Evan stepped closer.

“What did you say?” Horror washed across Travis’s face.

Rosie almost pulled Evan behind her to protect him from any physical blows that Travis might inflict—although she didn’t believe that Travis was violent. He was simply desperate.

He had broken up with Bellina to free himself up for Rosie. To Rosie, that was a silly mistake that she’d tried to clarify many times to no avail. Bellina hated her, but they still had to cross paths at the tree farm.

Evan put his arm around Rosie’s waist. “You can’t marry someone else’s girlfriend.”

Are we like high school kids here?

Rosie dared not say a word.

Wait a second.

Did Evan just make a declaration?

Rosie’s knee almost buckled. If not for Evan holding her, she might not be standing right now.

She was finally someone’s girlfriend after years of being single. She hadn’t dated since… Oh, she couldn’t remember when. She hadn’t expected to find a boyfriend anytime soon. She’d been so busy working and taking care of Mom, at the expense of her personal life.

Along came Evan, and two weeks with him was enough to move her heart and make it warm up every time he was around. He was nice to Mom, and she liked him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t cook, and that was a negative.

Wait...

What am I doing? Evaluating him?

“I thought she was single.” Travis’s broad shoulders slacked. Both of his knees were on the ground, and he looked so dejected that he was almost crying.

Rosie started to feel sorry for him. “I pray that God will bring you the right girl.”

Travis frowned. “Don’t you bring God into this. If God was so good, He’d give you to me.”

“Someday you’ll find your Mrs. Right.” Evan’s arm felt warm around Rosie’s waist.

Rosie liked the feeling of being with Evan. The quality time they’d had with each other either in person or on the phone made her quite confident that he was the one.

She had prayed for a confirmation from God, and here they were today on what would’ve been a normal Thursday in December, hearing Evan call himself her boyfriend.

Rosie felt giddy trying to wrap her emotions around the feeling of belonging.

Slowly, Travis rose to his feet. “I’m sorry, Miss Hamilton. I thought you were available. If I’d known sooner, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself.”

Rosie didn’t reply. It had happened so fast for her that she hadn’t had time to sit down and process it all. One day she was single, and the next day she was a girlfriend to this lovely man who was still holding her waist.

Rosie heard footfalls. Someone running toward them. She could guess who. He was always running.

Lorenzo appeared around the corner. Behind him were tree farm workers and a family of four, chatting about the “perfect tree” for their living room. They had brought a dog with them.

After he caught his breath, Lorenzo, who was lanky but slight and had perhaps a third of Travis’s muscles—which he made up for with his big brain—handed Rosie’s phone to her.

“You left your phone at your office.” Lorenzo panted. “It’s been ringing.”

“Oh no. Mom!” Rosie didn’t know why she said that, but every time the phone rang, she worried that something bad had happened to Mom.

Rosie grabbed her phone and swiped it. Mom did not call. SSLR did not call. But she had a voice message from the oncologist.

Hand shaking, she briskly walked away from Travis and Lorenzo. She could hear Lorenzo say, “May I interest you in a Christmas tree, Mr. Boone?”

Rosie realized that she was walking fast and that Evan was keeping up with her pace—or perhaps he was slowing down to match her strides. He had longer legs than she had and could have walked ahead of her, but instead, he walked slightly behind her, as though to protect her.

From Travis.

As she reached a pair of sliding glass doors at the greenhouse, Rosie glanced back, didn’t see Travis, and expelled her breath. Relieved.

She had to listen to the voice mail from the oncologist again for a second time because she hadn’t paid attention. Thank God it was only a wellness check from the nurse. They wanted to know how Mom was.

A smile crept up her face.

“Good news?” Evan asked.