Page 36 of Through the Snow Globe
Her fingers gripped the steering wheel as she listened. Instead of sleeping in, she’d been reading books on leadership, preparing for her new management role. “I’m sorry, Linus. Truly.”
He reached for her hand and squeezed. “Are you also sorry about stealing my bike?”
She laughed out loud. “No. I will not apologize about that because maybe I’m jealous of Byron,” she said, bringing up the time he gave his Schwinn bicycle a name. Of all the names to give, why that one? At least he hadn’t preceded it withLord.
“Growing old with you is going to be murder, isn’t it?” he asked, teasing her and slapping a palm against his forehead.
“Careful,” Diana said. “That’s my very attractive fiancé you’re hitting. And I happen to want to spend time kissing that face once we’re home.”
“Yeah?” He lowered his hand.
“Unless you think I’ve lost my mind, and you’ve decided to run as far and as fast as you can once you step foot out of this car.”
“I don’t run. I bike,” he said with his quick wit that she’d been missing these last three weeks. She’d missed hearing his voice and the way he made her laugh unexpectedly all the time. Growing old with him would be more than she ever dreamed she could have.
“Hardy-har,” she teased back.
“I think for Christmas I will get one of those two-seater bikes for us. What do you think?”
“We have a strict twenty-dollar-gift rule, remember?” She glanced over for a brief second.
“Well, it wouldn’t be a gift,” he said. “It’s transportation. A necessity, if you will.”
Diana laughed again.Ah, yes.This was what he meant byus. This was the banter that made her heartbeat quicken. The feeling ofuscame with an easy smile and a stolen breath. A disbelief that she would be so lucky to have this man in her life.Usfelt like magic. Like seeing a shooting star. Or watching the first winter snowflakes float on the crisp cold air.
“Back to your comment about running fast and far from you, I would never leave you, Di,” Linus said. “I’m being serious.”
He had, though. He’d left her over the last three weeks. Those weeks had given her a glimpse at a life without him, and it was likeA Christmas Carol’s Ghost of Christmas Future had come to visit her. A life without Linus, withoutus,was frightening. “I would never leave you either.” She squeezed his hand back.
“Almost home. Maybe we can seal that promise with a make-up kiss. And more,” he said in that low bedroom voice he got sometimes. He hadn’t used it in a while, though. That was her fault. She’d been subtly pushing him away, protesting that she needed to catch up on notes for work. Or saying she was too tired. Was she lying to him? To herself too?
They were approximately three minutes from home. She and Linus had almost made it. And once she was parked in their spot, safe and sound, Linus would be okay. They would make love until it was morning. Would it be December 5th? Or would she skip to Christmas morning since yesterday—her yesterday—was Christmas Eve? She didn’t know the ins and outs of whatever was happening. All she knew was, if Linus was with her, it didn’t matter what day it was.
Diana looked over and smiled. “I love you so much.”
“Warts and all?” he asked.
She couldn’t look away. He was so handsome. The first time she’d ever seen him, something inside her had shifted. She’d known then and there that he was special. “You don’t have any warts, but yes, I love everything about you.”
Linus leaned in to kiss her cheek as she turned her eyes back to the road. Then she screamed as headlights blinded her. She swerved left to dodge the oncoming vehicle, but it was too late. Metal screeched and Linus’s hand let go of hers as the truck hit his side of the car.
No. Don’t let go. I’m marrying you.
Her eyes shuttered closed and the world disappeared as one last thought ran through her mind:We haven’t even set the date yet.
Chapter 12
Play It Again, Sam
Diana opened her eyes and blinked the world into view. She was in her bedroom and sunlight streamed through the blinds to her right.
No.No, no, no.Her one day with Linus was over and now it was Christmas. She’d ruined her chance at saving him. He was gone. Or actually, he was back at New Hope Long-Term Care, lying lifeless like he had before she’d shaken that silly snow globe.
Diana sat up in bed. Her body felt heavy, weighed down with every terrible, horrible, no good, very bad emotion that ever existed. She just wanted to disappear back under the covers and return to sleeping, but her bladder was full. Groggily, she stood and shuffled toward the bathroom, stopping short when she heard a noise beyond the closed door. Her eyes opened fully and she stared ahead, her breaths coming out shallowly.
Why was the bathroom door closed? She was the only one here. Unless she was in the bathroom, the door would be left open.
Linus’s faint hum played on the air. Was she hearing things? The melody was a Christmas tune. Diana listened, trying to pick it out. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”? Linus was the only thirty-year-old man she knew who would hum a song about a red-nosed reindeer.
