A Mountain Springs Christmas

Chapter 19

nineteen

RACHEL

Rachel would accept Nick’s wooing any day of the week. It didn’t take long for Holly and Aiden to run off to see and play with Holly’s Christmas presents. Rachel took the moment alone as an opportunity to tell Nick all the things she loved about him.

When she said the first thing, he placed a gentle kiss on her hand. When she said the second thing, he moved up about an inch and placed the next one. She told him everything that she could remember from her list, and he placed a kiss on her arm with each one. She even came up with new ones, because she wanted him to make it up to her neck before he stopped. With each kiss, it sent more and more tingles up her arm and so much dopamine to her brain that she could barely think.

When the kids and the dogs came back into the kitchen, dining room, and family room area, racing around and being crazy, Nick brought everyone together to play Outfoxed, a board game that they’d gotten for Christmas. Playing the cooperative clue game together was so much fun. Aiden and Holly actually worked together to solve the mystery instead of working in competition against each other. That, in itself, was a miracle.

Once the game was over, Nick left her side to go make hot chocolate for everyone while they put the pieces back into the box. He set Aiden’s and Holly’s mugs down on the table, where they were getting out a new game to play. When he came back with his and Rachel’s mug, he nodded his head toward the couch, an eyebrow raised in question.

So they both went to the couch and she curled up next to him, the fire crackling in the fireplace, and he handed her a cup of hot chocolate. She wrapped her hands around the warm mug and inhaled. Her eyes went wide. “Is that cinnamon and ginger I smell? I can’t believe you remembered that!” It was what she had put in her hot chocolate in the Allreds’ yard, right before they got on the hay ride.

“Well, it was the day I fell in love with you, you know.” He winked, and it did something to her heart. She took a sip of it and savored the feel of the warm sweet chocolate and the taste of the spices on her tongue and knew that she would forever connect that taste with Nick falling in love with her.

Both dogs had followed them into the family room area and curled up just under the Christmas tree. The last time she’d been enjoying this fire with Nick, this house had been empty except for the fake fireplace that they had created. Now, the place was finished, furnished, and so inviting.

She snuggled into him even more, and he put an arm around her shoulders. Everything about this evening felt perfect. It was like all that had been missing this morning when it was just her and Aiden and cinnamon rolls was finally righted. It was all here.

Rachel placed her mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table and was resting her head against Nick’s shoulder, watching the fire, when Aiden came and stood just in front of Nick, his coat in one hand. “I brought something.” He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled the object out. He let his coat drop to the floor and cradled it in both of his hands.

He stepped closer and showed them what he held. It was one of the doves from their tree. One of the ones that Aiden spent so much time running his fingers across every Christmas.

“It’s a dove. It’s got a little clip here instead of feet so you can clip it to a branch of your Christmas tree. Doves bring peace and happiness and they can even grant wishes!” Aiden shot a quick look at Rachel, almost like he was checking to see if she remembered that the wish he’d given to the dove in the park was for a new dad. “Can I put this one on your tree?”

Nick nodded. “I’d really like that.”

Aiden carefully clipped the dove onto a branch of Nick’s tree, then ran his finger along its back a couple of times, petting it. He turned and smiled at both of them before running back to the table to rejoin Holly in whatever game they were playing.

They both just looked at the bird for a long moment. Christmas really was about the people you spent it with and not about everything that was on—or not on—her planner. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t understood that before. She looked back at Nick. “For as long as I’ve gone without a man in my life, I now know that I never want to go without you again.”

Nick smiled. “I came to the same conclusion.”

“So what happens if one of us freaks out again and lets fear rule things a bit? I doubt we’ve gotten over the only hurdle we’ll face.”

“Well, we apparently know people we can go to for great advice.” He chuckled softly, and she felt the rumble of it in his chest. “But mostly, I think we should go to each other first. Because I don’t want this to ever end.”

“I don’t, either.”

Nick’s smile spread across his face gloriously, and he hadn’t fully stopped smiling when his lips met hers for a kiss. She got it—she could barely stop smiling long enough to kiss him, too.