Page 18 of A Forever Home
“Merry Christmas!” Lucy said.
“Merry Christmas to you too. Do you want to come inside?” Della asked.
Lucy shook her head. “Oh, we can’t stay but for a minute. Miles and I were just driving around to look at all the beautiful Christmas lights on your street, and we thought we’d stop by to give you a holiday hug.”
“Well, I do love holiday hugs,” Della said, wrapping Lucy in a tight embrace first. Afterward, she gave Miles a hug.
“Is this your new dog?” Lucy bent to pet Jingle for a moment. Miles petted Jingle too.
“Yes, this is Jingle Bell. We rescued her from a gas station,” Della told them.
Lucy straightened. “You and the guy who gave you a ride home the other night?”
Della looked down for a moment. Just thinking about Roman made her feel bittersweet emotion. “Yes.”
Della had told Lucy all about the shared ride with Roman on the phone the other night.
“Have you spoken to him lately?” Lucy asked.
“Not for a couple days,” Della said. “He texted me earlier, but I haven’t responded.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes. “Hmm.”
“What?” Della asked, noticing the shared look between Lucy and Miles.
Lucy shrugged. “Oh, nothing. Just, you must really like this guy if you’re too afraid to even respond to a Merry Christmas text for fear of falling even harder for him.”
Della shook her head on a nervous laugh. “You can’t fall for someone you only met for a day.”
Miles raised his hand. “I beg to differ. I fell for Lucy the first moment I saw her. I still fall for her every time I see her.”
“Aww,” Lucy said on a sigh as she looked over at him. Then she looked at Della again. “Text him back. A heart is a resilient thing. Even if you fall for this guy and your heart gets hurt, you’ll be okay. It’s Christmas, and you said he’s all alone, right?”
Della nodded. “His family lives in Sweetwater Springs, but he doesn’t go home for the holidays.”
“So he could probably use a little Christmas cheering up.” Lucy stepped in and gave Della another hug. “It’s supposed to snow some more tonight, so we should probably get home.”
“Thank you for stopping by,” Della told Lucy and Miles. “Merry Christmas.” She shut the door behind her and headed back to her glass of wine. Then she picked up her cell phone again, gathering her courage to text Roman. She pulled up their thread of messages, and her heart skipped at just the sight of his name. She started to tap out a message, but her doorbell rang again.
Jingle Bell took off running toward the front door once more, barking all the way.
Della set her phone down and headed in that direction. She opened the door, expecting to see Lucy and Miles standing there again. Instead, her heart lifted high at the man who’d been just a stranger a few days ago. “Roman. What are you doing here?”
He was wearing a heavy coat dusted in small white snowflakes. It was snowing! And Roman was standing on her doorstep.
“I was in the area,” he said with a shrug and a smile. “Well, in Sweetwater Springs anyway. I spent the day with my family.”
Della’s mouth dropped open. “You did?”
He nodded. “I did. My dad called to invite me, and he also apologized.”
“Wow,” Della said. “That’s amazing. And you forgave him?”
Roman nodded. “Someone taught me earlier this week that you only get one family.”
“I thought you taught me that,” she said, leaning against the doorway.
“I guess we taught each other. Anyway, since you won’t return my texts, I thought I’d drive down here to wish you a Merry Christmas in person.”
