Page 10 of Turtle Dove

“Cadence? Have you listened for the bells yet?” I ask, serving her a few more potatoes. She just shakes her head. “Well, why not?”

“I don’t know,” she says with a shrug.

“I bet you’ll hear them tonight if you listen extra hard.” I feel Grayson put his hand on my thigh, squeezing. He’s thanking me.

“What if I don’t?” she asks.

“Do you trust me, Cadence?” I say in return.

“Mmm hmm.”

“Then listen for the bells.”

Grayson

“Is everything set?” I ask Case, as I walk he and Nora to the car after saying their goodbyes to Cadence and Mills.

“Set. I’ll wait for your text.”

“Don’t go far.”

“We will be around the corner.”

“Perfect. Thanks, brother.” I pat him on the shoulder then I give Nora a hug. “See you tomorrow?”

“I wouldn’t miss leftovers for the world. I’m all about that free food. I’ll stop by after my shift,” Case replies. He doesn’t really get much time off, especially not a full holiday.

“And I’ll be there when he comes. I wouldn’t miss it either. Amelia leftovers are the best leftovers,” Nora adds.

“We’ll see ya then. Be careful driving.”

I wave as they pull off, then I head back inside, finding Cadence and Mills coming down the stairs after changing Cadence into her Christmas pajamas. It’s warm here in Georgia, even in the winter, so she’s in a simple snowflake nightgown.

“Ready for your story?” I kiss the top of her head when she reaches me. I read “The Night Before Christmas” to her every, single Christmas Eve. My father did that for me, and now I’ve extended that tradition to her.

“Can Melia listen too?” she asks.

“Of course she can. She even made us special hot chocolate to have with our story.” I watch her little eyes light up.

“With whipped cream and everything?”

“The works,” Mills chimes in.

“Yesssss.” Cadence bounds off into the living room and takes a spot by the tree.

“Step one complete.” I wrap my arms around Mills and rest my chin atop her head.

“Case and Nora all set?” she asks, with her face buried in my chest. I can feel the heat from her breath and the vibration of her voice.

“Yep. They are around the corner. I’ll text when we are ready. They will just need to kill a little bit of time.”

She looks up at me. “Perfect.” I feel her press up on her toes, angling her face so I am able to steal an easy kiss. “Honestly, they were eye fucking each other so much at dinner, I’m sure they were all to happy to kill some time if you know what I mean.”

She’s not wrong about that. They are ridiculous. Like Mills and I.

But we have an excuse. We have over a decade to make up for.

I pull away just a little and kiss my way over to her ear where I whisper, “Later, I want to unwrap you under the Christmas tree.”

---