Page 24 of When You're Home for the Holidays
Tori shrugged. “That was from Santa.” Fielding pushed his tongue into his cheek and just shook his head. “Fine. Hand it over.”
He wrinkled up his nose and cocked his head to the side. “So that’s the thing. It’s not something I can hand you. At least not yet.”
“Then what is it?”
He paused again and shifted his eyes back up the tree. Tori’s curiosity morphed into worry. Why was he acting so funny about this?
“So, when we were at the Christmas store and I picked up the bulbs from our pal Martha, I also placed a preorder for next year.”
She tilted her head in question but stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue.
“I know the ornaments were your mom’s tradition, but I saw how excited you were to share them with us. So I preordered one hundred more for next year. I thought you could give them to your campers… get their names on them and send them a thinking of you gift after Camp New Hope is over? I know you want more kids to come back to camp each year, so maybe sharing that tradition would make them feel remembered and seen.”
He was talking just above a whisper, picking at invisible lint on his joggers as he tried to explain his thinking. “The ornaments and personalization are already paid for. I just have to send Martha the names by the first week in August, then they’ll be ready in October. I don’t mind picking them up, and I can help with shipping, too.”
Tori lifted her hand to her heart, rubbing at the tightness that had blossomed as he explained what he had done. She couldn’t make sense of the rush of emotions vying for dominance in her mind. She burst into tears a moment later. The fact that he remembered everything she had told him about Camp New Hope, about the campers and the retention rates and her dreams of finding a way to make sure kids came back year after year…
It wasn’t just about the money. His thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit were so devastatingly beautiful. She couldn’t have held back the tears if she tried.
“Fielding,” she choked out, scrubbing the tears away from her eyes with her sleeve before she shifted to close the space between them. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. She might not have had the words, but she was determined to make him feel her gratitude.
His large palms circled her back and returned her embrace. She felt the rise of his chest against her own when he inhaled.
“Thank you,” she repeated, pulling back to look up into his lagoon blue eyes and let him see her truth. It was honestly one of the most thoughtful gifts anyone had ever given her. “Now I feel bad. All I got you was a small kitchen appliance.”
“Oh stop,” he insisted, pulling her in for another hug and positioning his mouth right by her ear. “Meeting you was the best gift I received this year.”
Chapter thirteen
Tori
Shewokeupona gasp. She sucked in a shaky breath, grimacing as she felt the dampness that puddled at the small of her back and underneath her thighs. Clamminess made her shiver on the next inhale as realization set in.
She hated when this happened, but she especially hated when it surprised her at night. Never mind the fact that it was cold enough to be snowing, they had the fireplace off, and the heat was set low. The hot flashes that had plagued her since her hysterectomy had a mind of their own.
She had started hormone replacement therapy immediately after her surgery in July. The HRT leveled out most of the side effects from removing her ovaries, but the hot flashes still crept up and took her by surprise a few times a month. Dr. Silko assured her that they would decrease over time, and that they could adjust her dosage after her mastectomy. She knew her body was still recovering from surgery and adjusting to its new normal. But it was frustrating and gross to wake up in a pool of her own sweat, especially when Rhett was home.
The room was eerily quiet other than the rhythmic sound of her husband’s breathing. She shifted away from him, carefully removing his hand from where it rested on her lower abdomen.
“You okay?” he questioned groggily as she tried in earnest to sneak out of bed. When she didn’t answer, he reached out across the sheets and caught her wrist in his grasp. “V?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, lifting his hand to kiss his knuckles before pulling her hand out of his hold. “Just a hot flash. Go back to sleep.”
He was out of bed before she had even taken two steps toward the bathroom. “Are you getting in the shower?”
She nodded wordlessly, then glanced at the clock on his bedside table to check the time. It was just after three am… way too early to be up. “I’m fine, really. It’s the middle of the night, Rhett. Go back to sleep.”
He raised one eyebrow and shook his head slowly, eyeing her like she had suggested a preposterous idea instead of just suggesting he go back to bed. “Good try. But we’re in this together, beautiful. You know that.”
She tucked a strand of damp hair behind her ear and sucked in a steadying breath. She felt so gross and grimy. She was desperate to scrub her body clean.
“Fine,” she relented, knowing that arguing with him was futile. Her best bet was to give him a task or something to distract him while she cleaned herself up. “Will you get me some water, please?”
“On it.”
She paused in the doorway of the bathroom, watching the muscles coil in his back as he strode out of their bedroom with purpose. She knew letting him take care of her was one of the best ways to let him love her, to make up for the years she had spent holding him at arm’s length. But she still felt ridiculous making him get up with her just so she could shower and go back to bed.
She pulled the damp T-shirt over her head and let it fall to the bathroom floor. She peeled off her underwear next, grateful for the coolness of the tiles under her feet. She didn’t even wait for the shower to warm up before moving into the stream. The lukewarm water made her shiver, but it was a welcome sensation in contrast to the heat that still lingered in her chest and face.
