Nick opened his box and inside was a piece of paper folded up.
“I… can’t read this,” he said.
Kara took it and unfolded it. “It’s a promise agreement from the Food Mart to sell Florence’s Jams in their store all throughout the state of Wyoming.”
“Thanks.” Nick smiled.
“It was the least I could do. Since my biggest gift is a head for business, I figured I’d put it to use,” Liz said with a smile.
“Thank you.” Kara walked over and hugged her friend.
“Your first order of business is to hire a good friend to help you set up the business. I just happen to know a gal for the job,” Liz added.
Kara laughed. “I can’t wait,” she said, knowing it was the truth. She hadn’t thought she would be excited, but she really was. Deep down in her heart, she’d wanted to jump at the chance of going into business. And thanks to Liz, she was. “Thank you,” she said again as she hugged Liz. Liz’s phone went off again, and her friend rolled her eyes.
“Okay, that’s the second bell. If I don’t go now, they’ll come up after me,” Liz joked. “Bye, Merry Christmas,” she said as she rushed out.
“Are you happy?” Nick asked when she sat back down next to him.
“Very.” She sighed. “You?”
“Very.” He pulled her closer. “You never did answer me,” he pointed out.
“About?” she asked, running her eyes over his and noticing his eyes were now focused on her face.
“Marrying me.”
She smiled. “You haven’t officially asked me. I hear there’s a ring and all.”
He chuckled. “Okay, we’re going to play it this way?”
She laughed. “I guess so.”
He pulled her into a hug. “Okay, until tomorrow then.” He kissed her. “I’ve waited this long, what’s one more day?”
At ten that night, the manhunt was still on for Nick’s uncle and cousin. Mike and Dean had been taken into custody.
It was hard for either of them to fall asleep that night, so they stayed up and watched television as they held one another in the hospital bed. Nick’s vision was back, for the most part. He was still having a difficult time reading but could see faces clearly.
By the next morning, even that had cleared up. A few hours later, they rode with Daryl in the truck back to Nick’s place. The dogs were so excited to see them that it took almost ten minutes to get them to calm down.
Her parents finally video called her once she and Nick had settled down to eat the pre-made meal Liz’s mother had made for them as a thank-you for saving her daughter.
Even though it wasn’t fresh caught free-range turkey and Nick’s mother’s recipes, it was still a wonderful Christmas meal.
“Merry Christmas, honey,” her parents shouted.
She set the phone down so both her and Nick could see both of her parents.
“Merry Christmas. Nick’s here,” she said quickly. “Where are you two?” she asked after seeing the view behind them and hearing loud noises in the background.
“We’re on the Eiffel Tower,” her mother answered and the phone was flipped around to show the city of Paris below. “At the top.”
“Wow, and you picked now to call us?” Kara joked as the phone was flipped back to her parent’s faces.
“We just wanted to let you know we were thinking of you,” her father said. Then her parents looked at one another.
“Looks like our secret Santa gift worked out pretty well.” Her mother added.