Page 110 of Stay this Christmas
I kissed him again, grateful this man was finally mine to keep.
epilogue
HARPER
Five monthslater
Sam and I stood on the beach, our toes in the sand, his arms around me as I leaned back against his chest. We stared out at the ocean as the setting sun behind us made the sky burn gold. We’d been this way for a while now, but neither of us had made any move to leave. The sound of the waves washing ashore, the smell of the salt in the air, and the light breeze over us made for ideal snuggling conditions.
“Have I mentioned yet how perfect this is?”
“Five times.” He drew his arms tighter around me, resting his chin on my shoulder. “I could stand to hear it again, though.”
“I love everything about this trip.”
He chuckled against my neck. “We just got here.”
“And I love it all.”
He’d planned every step of our four-day weekend away, from the flight that got us to Florida to the tiny house he’d rented for us near the beach. I especially liked that little touch. We’d become regulars at the Hideaway, renting it out several times over the last few months for overnights beneath the stars. The tiny house here didn’t have a skylight over the bed, but it did have an indoor toilet and shower, which I appreciated almost as much.
“Glad it’s a success so far.”
“Might be the best yet.”
Our schedules weren’t perfect, but we’d become pros at maximizing our time off. We didn’t have a lot of overlapping days away from work, but when we did, we made the most of them, even if we just stayed in and watched movies on the couch.
I’d talked to Olivia about how her marketing strategies were affecting my work/life balance, and we’d made adjustments. I still worked occasional evenings and weekends, but I’d thrown out the on-call idea, and advocated for more time off. She’d ultimately agreed, and even if she’d been hesitant, we’d had no complaints from the Village residents. No more than usual, anyway.
Sam wound up working a lot of weekends with the guiding outfit in Georgetown, leading multi-day hikes through nature preserves and parks in the Hill Country, but the exhilaration he got out of every trip made the time apart worth it. Plus, our reunions after being separated for three or four days were nothing short of explosive as we made up for lost time. I hoped the thrill of seeing Sam again never got old.
“Any way it could get better?”
I turned my head to try to reach him. “French fries?”
“Within walking distance.”
“Board games?”
He sighed, his breath warm on my neck. “I saw aSorrygame in the house. Try to show some mercy, won’t you?”
“Never.”
He shifted one arm away from me a moment before bringing it back, a tiny something perched in his fingertips. “What about if I gave you this?”
I registered what he held and my breath caught, froze, and went on vacation somewhere in my lungs. The small ring glittered in the golden evening light, but my brain had trouble processing it. Holding his hand, I pulled it closer.
Dark green filaments clouded the center stone, like a drop of paint pulled across oil. Haloed by small diamonds, the ring could only be one thing, but I needed to be sure before I shouted out“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“What is it?” Surprised I could speak at all, really.
“It’s a moss agate. It symbolizes friendship.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah?” His voice cracked on that small word, the first indicator he might be nervous.
I spun to face him, and he dropped down to one knee in the sand, still holding the gorgeous green ring out to me. My stomach flipped, my heart a giant, exploding star.
