and you’re a good agent
i’ve got to pick up henry in an hour
i’ll do as many as i can before then
He turned his phone off again, then slid it into his pocket, and opened up his email. Just as Sadie said, there were half a dozen requests from local non-profits for him to do taglines for their holiday messages.
Most of the taglines were absolutely ridiculous. But he smiled as he read them, knowing they would grab attention for good causes, and hopefully give his neighbors a well-deserved chuckle. And when he thought about it like that, he didn’t feel embarrassed about being a little silly anymore.
Thank you for this, Willow…
And of course she would be the one to open his mind to the power of a little silliness. She had used her own sense of humor to get through to both of the Webb boys.
Henry was so interested in knock-knock jokes now that he was sure to be talking more in his eagerness to tell a joke himself. Jensen had already heard the boy murmuringnah-nahto himself and then chuckling over the monitor after he put him down for his nap once or twice this week.
Willow had shone her light on the two of them for such a short time, and even that had been enough to help them both blossom.
Don’t think about it,he told himself sternly.She doesn’t want to talk to you.
He’d sent her a couple of messages, but at this point he knew he had to give her space, as much as it hurt.
And the truth was that he was committed to making things right with Ransom, and talking with him honestly about his feelings for Willow before even thinking about asking her out again. Her avoiding him just made it easier not to fall into temptation.
He lost himself in the next couple of taglines, recording each one a few different ways before cleaning them up a bit and sending them along to Sadie.
The time melted away, and before long it was time to head over to his mom and dad’s to pick up Henry.
“Smells like snow out there,”Dad said as Jensen came in the front door of the big cedar shake house.
“Sure does,” Jensen agreed, giving his dad a quick wave before heading back to the kitchen, where Mom had the radio playing.
“This is Ho-ho-Hope Holiday and we’re telling our listeners to get ready for some snow,”the deejay announced.“So, here’s Bing Crosby, hoping all your Christmases are white, and that you don’t get caught out in the storm.”
“That’s right,” Mom said, looking up from the peppermint cookies she was rolling out. Henry sat in his highchair watching her work while he rolled a bit of dough in his own little fists. “You can feel it on the air out there. Do you have plenty of groceries at home?”
“We’ll be fine, Ma,” Jensen assured her.
“Sounds like ano,” his mother chuckled. “Not to worry, your dad went to the store today. He’s got a couple of bags in the garage fridge for you to take with you.”
“You guys don’t have to do that,” Jensen said.
“Well, I guess you’ve been pretty busy,” Mom said, looking like she was trying not to smile.
“Go on,” he told her. “Say it.”
“Orange you glad we have juice?”she sang out in pure delight.
He had to laugh right along with her.
“I have been busy,” he told her. “Thanks to Willow.”
“Really?” Mom asked, fixing her eyes on the cookie dough, as if he might not be able to read how interested she was if she didn’t make eye contact.
“She helped me realize that it’s kind of nice to make people laugh,” he said. “I don’t mind lending my voice to a good cause. And what could be better than giving my family something to smile about?”
“That’s a lovely way to look at it,” Mom said, glancing up at him. “And she’s a lovely girl.”
That was an opening to talk about his feelings if there ever was one. But Jensen was determined to keep his thoughts to himself until he made things right with Ransom and with Willow. So he kept his mouth shut and grabbed a cloth to wipe down his sticky boy.
