Page 50 of A Family Affair: The Plan
Three daysbefore Christmas
It had been snowingsince late yesterday, and with Christmas so close, the town expected at least another ten inches. Sam had joined in with several others in town to plow out driveways, businesses, whatever the local crews couldn’t keep up with. He’d returned to the farmhouse a little while ago to a fire, a bowl of chicken soup, and Hope. How had he ever imagined living in this place without her?
They’d already talked about the “no buying gifts” for Christmas because as Hope kept telling him,You’re the very best gift I could ever imagine.He felt the same way about her, but there were one or two other gifts that could make their world even brighter.
They lay on their new leather couch, facing each other, his arm slung around her waist, a fire crackling several feet away. “Are you warm enough?”
She laughed, trailed tiny kisses along his jaw. “How could I be cold with a fire, a blanket, and you?” Another laugh, more kisses, and a sigh.
Sam kissed the top of her head. “Good answer.”
She eased away, eyes bright, lips pulling into a slow smile. “I missed you today.”
“I missed you, too.” Like Pete Finnegan told him the other day,She’ll own your damn oxygen and you won’t care if everybody knows it, including her.Pete was right. He loved Hope in ways he’d never believed possible, and it was the small things like coffee in the morning, walking the property, or discussing the house plans that gave him more joy than any trip or high-end purchase ever had. The reason was Hope.
“Your mother said you and your sister used to string popcorn and cranberries on your Christmas tree. I thought that might be kind of fun to do.” Her voice shifted, filled with the tiniest hint of uncertainty. “Would you like that?”
“Sure. I like anything that has to do with making memories with you.” Was that gushy fool really him? Ugh. He sounded like an idiot, but Hope loved to hear him spill emotion and if it made her happy, it gave him the courage to do it.
“I know we already decorated the tree, but I bought popcorn and cranberries, just in case.”
She really wanted to do this.“It will look fine. There’s not necessarily an order of operation.” Though the strings or whatever usually went on the tree before the ornaments. Who cared what order they used as long as it made them happy?
Her smile inched wider. “Okay, maybe after dinner?”
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Sure.” She hardly ever pulled her hair back anymore…or wore suits…or heels. Sometimes she even let out a cuss word or enunciated the wrong syllable. And the pearls? She’d given those to Lily Desantrobecause Lily thought they were fancy and beautiful.I don’t own any jewelry like that, she’d said. Well, now she did.
Hope had finally become herself.
“Harry invited us to his Christmas Eve event, and your mom and dad would like us to join them for Christmas dinner. And your sister called and?—”
“Wait a minute. Is my family taking over our lives? And Harry? Just because I admitted he was right about us does not mean he gets to write our story.”
Hope laughed, settled her hand on his thigh. “Wewrite our stories. They’re just happy for us.”
“You mean because we finally figured things out, especially me?”
“No, silly, because they want to watch our story unfold. I’ve never been part of a real family and it feels very special.” She bit her bottom lip, eyed him. “Your father said I could call him Dad if I wanted. That made your mother tear up and she said I could call her Mom.”
Wow, his parents really did love Hope. His sister said it was the best move he ever made and he better not screw it up. Of course, she would say that.
“I was thinking that maybe we could invite everybody here after Christmas… You know, all of the people who helped us through our—” she paused, cleared her throat “—difficulties.”
“You mean my hardheadedness? My stupidity? My?—”
She placed a hand on his lips, whispered, “I like to think we had to travel this path, and it wasn’t easy or fun, but it was always meant to be. It was our destiny.Youwere my destiny.”
“You’ve become one of them, haven’t you?”
She raised a brow. “Meaning?”
“One of the people of Magdalena who never give up on destiny and meant-to-be. You know who they are: Harry Blacksworth, Lily Desantro, Mimi Pendergrass…you… I couldkeep adding to the list, but I guess after what happened between us, I’ll have to add my name.” He toyed with a lock of her hair. “I actually like the idea of a thank-you get-together at our house.”Our house. Our home.“We just have to add a few things and I think we’ll be all set.”
“We still have to figure out the wall art. I like photographs of this place…the fields…the sunsets…the gravel road…” She leaned forward, brushed her lips over his. “Us.”
“Great, I like the idea.” Hedidlike the idea, and it was wild how Hope seemed to know what fit him. “But I wasn’t thinking about wall art. If we plan something for the middle or end of January, that will give us enough time to get Hank acclimated to the house.” Hank was the rescue dog Sam was performing ACL surgery on next week. The owner had “inherited” the two-year-old lab mix from her granddaughter, who’d moved to California. Bad knees, a fixed income, and the dog’s health issues had prompted the owner to confide in Sam that she couldn’t keep the dog. Hank would be Sam and Hope’s first rescue and they couldn’t wait. Hope had already bought the dog way too many toys…
“I’m really excited.” She paused, said in a soft voice, “I’ve never had a dog before.”
