Page 33 of Two Hearts Reunited

When she was finished, she stood.

Eric sighed. “I’ll get your coat. Did you want me to warm up your truck?”

“Nah. I don’t have too far to go.”

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow and let you know what time to come over. I think we’re going to try and wait on at least one set of parents to arrive before we eat,” he said.

She nodded.

“Well,” she said after Eric helped her put on her coat.

“Well,” he echoed, grinning and pulling her into his arms.

When his mouth covered hers, he could still taste the chocolate. “Yum. You taste like cheesecake.”

She giggled when he ran his tongue gently across her mouth, before smacking her lips with his.

“Goodnight, Eric,” she said, smiling as she headed through the mudroom to the door.

Reaching for his coat, he slipped it on, following her outside to make sure she got off alright.

Eric stood and grinned as she stepped into her beat up pickup, starting up the engine. At least the motor sounded like it was in a lot better shape than the exterior, he thought.

“Goodnight,” he called out and waved.

Holding up her hand first, she put the truck into gear, turning in the driveway and heading toward the exit onto the road.

* * *

When Anya returned home, she still had a smile on her face. After parking in the garage, she was inside the cabin about ten minutes later, dropping all the gifts she’d purchased earlier along with the gift wrap and bags on the kitchen table. She’d even purchased something from the Dragonfly Pointe Inn sale for Eric.

What she needed was a hot bath, she decided. It was such a relief that she was no longer freezing. Even the water in thesmall water heater was a little hotter when she showered or took a bath.

Another thirty minutes later, she was choosing clothes to wear both to work tomorrow and later that night. After pulling out the sofa bed, she quickly bagged and labeled all the gifts she’d purchased, leaving them on the kitchen table so she could load them in the truck tomorrow afternoon.

When she finally fell asleep, she still had a smile on her face. It had been a long time since she’d had something to look forward to.

Chapter Seventeen

Christmas Eve morning, Eric was sitting with Ashley and Brian at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. Arielle was a little crankier this morning, and Eric suddenly remembered what Anya had said last night.

“I’m sure she didn’t sleep as much yesterday as she does for you,” Eric confessed.

“That must have been why she slept a little longer last night though,” Ashley admitted. “I can’t tell you how grateful we are that you don’t seem to mind watching her. I’m not sure what we would have done yesterday otherwise. I guess we should be searching for an occasional sitter, but with COVID, we haven’t wanted to take any chances.”

“I just remembered something,” Eric said. “Anya has a work friend who has a baby about the same age as Arielle and supposedly she’s getting her first tooth,” he admitted. “Anya said that Arielle’s bottom gum did seem kind of red last night, just like the other little girl’s. Oh wait, I put a pacifier in the freezer for Arielle last night just in case she needed it.”

Standing, Eric walked over to the fridge, opening the freezer door and pulling out the pacifier.

Ashley huffed out a breath, standing and gently tugging on Arielle’s lower lip. “You’d think we would have realized thatourselves. There’s still so much we don’t know since we’re first-time parents.”

“Is that what’s going on?” Brian asked. “She was cranky this morning when I was giving her the bottle.”

“It sure looks like Anya was right,” Ashley said. “Hopefully, Arielle won’t be crabby during the entire holiday.”

“Why don’t you see if this helps since she’s done eating,” Eric said, handing over the frozen pacifier, which Ashley promptly popped into Arielle’s mouth.

Arielle sucked on it so hard, the sound echoed through the kitchen.

---