Page 9 of His Christmas Promise

“I am, and while I was doing that, I started my cybersecurity firm.”

“Wow. That’s great, Alex,” She smiles.

“See, you’re pissed at me, but you want to make sure I’m okay. So sweet,” I say, grabbing her hand and bringing it up to my lips to kiss. When I bring our hands down and rest them in my lap, she doesn’t pull away.

“I’m not pissed, Alex. I’m frustrated and so confused.”

“Let me make it clear then. When I left you to join the Marines, I wasn’t sure I’d come back. I was still angry at the world, but then there was you—my beautiful, sweet Zoe, with eyes that twinkle like Christmas lights. I promised you something that day that I hoped I could one day deliver. I left, but everything I did was to bring me back to you so that one day, I could give you a family and, by the grace of God, be a part of it. You deserve a man who takes care of you, who gives you the things you want and should have always had, like a warm home filled with love. I’ve kept an eye on you from a distance because I knew if I gave you anything else, I wouldn’t be able to stay away from you. There were things I needed to do, things I needed to have in place before I could beg you to be mine.”

“Oh Alex, you’d never have to beg,” She says with a quivering lip.

“I chose Mistletoe, Montana because this place reminded me of you and everything you represented. I built a home that would be perfect for a family, our family. I made moves to bring you here, so you’d fall in love with it all on your own and hopefully want to stay.

“Wait, you’re the reason I got my job?” She asks.

“I’m the reason they heard about you. You’re the reason you got your job. Zoe, I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen.”

Tears fill her eyes as she bites her bottom lip and shakes her head.

“Yes, Zoe girl. It’s always been you, and it always will be,” I say, brushing my thumb across her bottom lip, releasing it from her teeth.

When her tongue darts out wetting her lips I lose all control. I pull her face to mine and kiss her. I pour everything I’ve ever felt for this woman into the kiss, showing her with my mouth how true my words are, how pure my actions are.

When we finally pull apart she stares up into my eyes, with her twinkling ones, and smiles. “So, you’ve been here this whole time?”

“I moved here over a year ago, to set everything in motion.”

“I can’t believe you,” She laughs. “I feel like I should be angry with you, but I can’t. I’ve wanted you for so long. I just figured you started your life with someone else, and you only sent me gifts once a year out of guilt or something. Alex, you have to know, you never owed me anything. It was a promise made when we were kids. I need you to know that.”

“And I need you to know that I owe you everything. It’s because of you that I’m where I am today. Your warmth and kindness got me through my darkest days. Dreaming of the future, we could have pushed me harder than anything.”

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