Cole hopped out and made his way around to open her door.
“Whatever happened to making the most of things?” He stared up at her, his eyes glossy and playful.
“I totally will,” she said. “But this is—I just wasn’t expecting this.”
“This is where I met you. I thought it would be fitting. Besides, we’re painting the town.” He grinned like a fool and offered her a hand.
Saylor took the opportunity to look him over. “You do know how to make an impression,” she said. “First the Santa suit. Now this.”
“You miss that Santa suit. Admit it.”
She slid out and landed in his arms. “It definitely had its charms. You helped me get what I wanted more than anything else.”
Seeming to sense the seriousness of her tone, his lively demeanor vanished, turning into something more thoughtful. “That’s right. I asked you what you wanted for Christmas, didn’t I?”
Captured in his gaze, she bit her lip and nodded.
“You never told me what it was.”
“To feel whole again.” She couldn’t believe she’d said the words, just like that. But they swirled, true and unretractable. She had no desire to take them back.
Cole’s eyes softened. The space around them seemed to open as he released her to stand on her feet. “I’m glad,” he said, stroking her face.
“Although, an admission like that should have taken place while I sat on your lap.” She stuck up her chin, adding a smirk. “Isn’t that how it works?”
“Maybe you can show me later. We’ll have a redo.”
“I like redo’s,” she said.
Cole kissed her long and hard, right there in the middle of the lot. Saylor whirred and spun, captivated by his heat, his heart, his willingness to look past her flaws and accept her as she was.
“You ready?” he said.
She clung to his arm to keep from sliding on the icy ground on their way to the double doors. A young man and woman lingered outside, standing close enough to touch. They couldn’t be older than twenty, and it was clear from their secret glances, these were no siblings waiting for a ride.
Who said it still needed to be Christmas for there to be magic in the air?
Saylor pulled Cole to a stop and tiptoed up to whisper, “I have an idea.”
Without another word, she led Cole to the couple and handed the woman the box in her pocket.
“For luck,” Saylor told her, making a mental note to send some mistletoe to her brother as well.
The young woman’s mouth gaped before a smile formed. The young man wrapped an arm over her shoulder before he returned the smile.
With Saylor’s hand in Cole’s, the two of them walked through the doors and into the warmth of the stores.
Epilogue
Norah bowed over the casserole dish, spoon in hand, and scowled right at Saylor. “That can’t be all you’re going to eat.”
Saylor patted her stomach. She was grateful for the new pants she’d started to wear. Her belly was already starting to bulge, and she’d gotten tired of using a rubber band to keep her pants from falling off.
“I’m fine, really,” she insisted. Norah’s creamy tortellini casserole had been hearty and thick, and oh, so comforting. The perfect soul-food. Saylor wouldn’t mind taking a helping home to have later, but for the time being, she was pleasantly stuffed.
“You can’t fool me,” Norah said in her maternal way. Saylor had become used to how endearingly meddlesome the woman could be. “You’re eating for two now. It won’t do you a bit of good to skimp out on a meal like this. I made pasta.”
“It’s no use resisting.” Cole placed his napkin beside his own empty plate and draped his arm around Saylor’s chair. “I’ve learned that the hard way.”
Christmas music wafted from the old-fashioned radio on a doily near the window. Heat spread from their glass fireplace, similar to the one that had been in Cole’s apartment when Saylor had first met him. A sprightly but thin tree was lit and spangled with strings of popcorn and twinkling lights.
“I’ll have more,” Parker said, holding up his plate. He was sporting a full-fledged gap where his two front teeth should be, a feat that usually made Cole sing the token Christmas song every time he helped Parker get ready for school in the mornings. Parker often joined in, making Saylor smile to hear it.
Expecting her first baby with Cole had rendered her quite sick for the last few months. This was the first time she’d felt well enough since they’d discovered the good news—not more than two months after their own marriage. Though it was exciting, Saylor had been sick. Sicker than she’d been with Parker, even.
It raised her hopes for a girl. She could just imagine Cole with a beautiful baby girl to wrap him around her finger.
Cole had insisted Saylor quit her job after they’d married last October, which was fine with her. They both wanted a family, and she wanted nothing more than to be home with their children and raise them the best she could.
Jack and Norah had been insisting on their monthly dinners, dinners which had been taking place since Cole and Saylor had officially been engaged earlier that fall, but this was the first time Saylor had been feeling up to it. Even opening the fridge at their new home across town was enough to send her to the toilet, though Cole claimed not to smell a thing.
“Must be a pregnant lady thing,” Parker would say. Cole would rumple his hair and agree.
“Leave her be,” Jack said, waving Norah down. “If the girl said she’s full, she’s full.”
“It really was delicious,” Saylor insisted, needing to let Norah know how much she enjoyed it.
This seemed to appease the older woman. She lowered the spoon and cleared her throat. “Alrighty then. Who’s ready for some carols?”
“Me!”
Parker’s enthusiasm would never get old. Saylor exchanged a smile with Cole, whose glance said he agreed with her. She loved that about him. It didn’t matter to Cole that Parker wasn’t his son
