“All day.” I nodded. “When I walked into that bar, I was hoping you’d be waiting for me instead of Bixby.”
“Yeah, how did that go?” Oh, he was smiling now. Full wattage.
“It went about the way you expected. You should have warned me. I suppose we’ll laugh about this one day.”
“We’ll have plenty of other things to laugh about, I’m sure.” He kept on smiling.
It was reassuring, that smile. “As for the answer to your promposal…” I eased closer to him. “It’s yes. It’s yes to being your date. And your girlfriend. And your happily-ever-after.”
He kissed me then, proving that patience had its limits.
And when he was through, I smiled into those sparkling brown eyes. “I’ve got a secret.”
His smile dimmed.
I pulled something out of my other coat pocket – the wooden rocking horse ornament my mother and I had painted twenty years or so ago. “You might not know this, but just around the corner is a path that leads to Christmas Falls, the Sharing Tree and the Kissing Bench. Local legend has it that if a couple hangs an ornament from the Sharing Tree and exchanges a kiss on the Kissing Bench, they have a pretty good shot at the forever kind of love.”
“I like the sound of that, but…” He glanced down at my impractical, high heeled sandals. “You aren’t exactly dressed for a walk in the snow.”
I frowned. That was something I hadn’t contingency planned for.
He grinned. “Good thing I keep a pair of snow boots in the back.”
I glanced down at my faux fur coat. My ensemble didn’t matter, but…
I looked at my best friend again. “The only way I’m going to wear your snow boots to Christmas Falls is if you open your Christmas card.”
He carefully opened the envelope and then read the message I’d inscribed.
Rudolph, will you marry me. Love, Prancer.
“Yes.” His arms came around me and he lifted me off my feet. “But…” He set me down. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I hadn’t thought a lot about it, but like running the boutique, it felt right. I was going to have to learn to trust my feelings. “That’s why I asked. I wanted you to know that when I look at you, I have more than kisses on my mind. I’m thinking of marriage and forever because I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Oh, that grin. It made my heart flutter.
There were more kisses and more endearments exchanged.
A few minutes later, after he’d parked the truck, I’d put on his snow boots, and we’d found our way to Christmas Falls; after we’d hung our unorthodox ornament on the Sharing Tree and snuggled together on the Kissing Bench; after I told him about my decision to run the boutique and we’d puckered up beneath the soft whoosh of falling snow, Nick held my hands in his. “How did you know I was Rudolph? I took great pains to change my writing style and used a felt tipped pen that I hid in the kitchen.”
I grinned, proud of myself. “It was the banana nut bread.”
“What?”
“The day you made banana nut bread, you had a blue felt tip smudge on your finger. I saw it when you carried the banana nut bread from the kitchen.”
His smile grew just as big as mine. “And then you kissed me.”
I nodded. “But I was still confused about everything.”
“And I was still afraid you’d go back to New York.” Nick kissed the back of my hand. “After I calmed down, I realized I would have followed you there if you’d taken that job in New York. I was that determined to make you see that we belong together. I came to the Chop House tonight to apologize and tell you as much.”
“And now, you won’t need to go anywhere.” I did so love this man. “It’s Christmas Mountain for us. It’s a Bowlful of Jelly and The Nutcracker Boutique with time made for coffee breaks spent cuddling on a bench.” One of the three benches in our lives, not counting the one we were sitting on just then. “But you owe me the truth for figuring out who Rudolph was. What do you dream about every night if not food?”
“You dancing with me on our wedding day.” Nick kissed the back of my other hand. “Why do you think I took dance lessons?”
Epilogue