“I’m so sorry I made him make that promise.”
She laughed and gave me a hug. “Don’t be. It all happened how it was supposed to.”
Together, we walked arm and arm down the back stairs and into the kitchen. Mom was there waiting in her best dress, tears in her eyes as she pulled us both in for a hug.
“You girls look gorgeous.”
Maddie did a kick-ass job on our hair and makeup. Everything was perfect for my brother and his soon to be wife.
“Thanks, Mom. Is everything ready?”
“Almost. First, can you go into the study and grab the bouquets? I put them on your father’s desk earlier.”
“Ok.” I gave Penelope’s arm one last squeeze before heading toward Dad’s office. I wasn’t sure why Mom put the bouquets there, but…
Alex.
He was standing by my Dad’s desk, holding a bouquet of roses in each hand. I sucked in a breath before running into his open arms. He wrapped them around me and held me tightly against him.
“You’re here,” I whispered, leaning back to trail my hands down his chest and back up again. “You’re really here.” The tears came before I could stop them, streaming down my cheeks. My hormones were a mess from the pregnancy, and I missed him like crazy. “I can’t believe it.”
Alex laughed. “I’m here. God, I missed you.” He pulled me back into his arms again and captured my lips in a hard, welcoming kiss. “Fuck, I missed you, baby.”
“I don’t understand. How are you here? I thought you were hitting the road again?”
“When I told you that, I meant it. I was hitting the road and heading back to Santa Claus to you. I was only in California long enough to put my condo on the market and pack up my stuff.”
I froze. “What are you saying?” I had to ask because I couldn’t allow myself to believe what I thought he was telling me—but I prayed my instincts were right.
“I’m saying, I’m going to need to start searching for real estate in Santa Claus. While Mrs. Roop’s bed-and-breakfast is great—I can’t stay there forever.”
“You’re moving here?” My heart was in my throat and I couldn’t stop the flow of tears falling from my eyes.
“I’ll move wherever you are, Everly Chase. I love you.”
I smiled up at him, my heart so full of love for the man in front of me. “I love you, too, Alex.”
We shared a long, sweet kiss. I wanted more, my body responding to his nearness, but I knew we didn’t have time for that. It would have to wait. But before we left the office, I had to tell him my secret.
“Alex.” I pulled back, biting my lip as I looked into his eyes nervously.
“Yeah, baby?” His voice was husky and thick with need. God, I loved the sound of it.
“Whatever house you find, we’ll need a nursery.”
Epilogue
Xander
Isat out on the front porch, my eyes on my son, Jacob, where he was stumbling across the yard as fast as his little two-year-old legs would take him, chasing after our new puppy. My fingers played over the strings of the guitar I held as my thoughts swam over the past couple of years.
Everly and I had gotten married before Jacob was born, just two months after Noah and Penelope’s wedding. My wife had wanted a Christmas wedding, but I didn’t want to wait, so we compromised. An April wedding with a Christmas theme. It had been interesting, but worth it to see the joy on Everly’s face.
We picked out our acreage to build on and began construction right after the wedding, and I paid extra to have it done before our son was born. I still went on tours, but not as often as I did before I met Everly, and sometimes she went with me. Her wedding planning business was thriving, and I knew with winter coming soon, she was about to get even busier. But, no matter how busy she was, she always made time for me and our son.
Noah and Penelope just had their first child a few months ago. A little girl named Hope. They started construction on their house right after we did and now lived just half a mile away. Everly and Penelope had become best friends, and I considered Noah one of my brothers. I now had a large family and couldn’t be happier.
Maddie was seeing a guy a couple of towns over. I still wasn’t sure he was good enough for her, but was any man ever good enough for your little sister?