Page 50 of Say It Isn't Snow
When his attention falls to my mouth and he leans in, I meet him first in a languid, heartfelt kiss. He cups my cheek, thumbgrazing back and forth. A content sigh leaves him and I echo it, in no hurry to end the kiss.
Eventually we part. His handsome features are serene as he tucks my hair behind my ear.
I’m caught in his adoring gaze. Neither of us feel the need to speak.
We simply exist together. It’s the most at peace I’ve ever felt.
An incandescent happiness fills me. I never knew I could experience such an immense sense of joy.
I thought all I wanted in my life was to open my bakery. My business does fulfill me, but maybe I still need more. As I picture him at my shop, warmth spreads through me. Maybe all this time I needed to find my way back to him—the one person to completely own my heart.
The work I meant to get ahead on slips to the back of my mind, no longer as urgent to me when I accept that everything will be fine. I don’t have to break myself doing everything at once when I’m on a much-needed vacation extended by our circumstances.
Not when I can spend my time enjoying moments like this without rushing to the next thing.
CHAPTER 17
HOLLY
We don’t haveto spend Christmas at the cabin, after all. The following morning, we get the all clear from the road crew that plowed our exit.
The abrupt change from my bubble disorients me slightly.
We can finally return to reality, and I’m not sure how that may alter things between us.
Do Caleb and I work together once we leave our snow globe tucked away from the world?
I want to believe we can after all we’ve shared here. My heart is completely his, more entangled than the first time we fell for each other. It will crush me far worse if he breaks it again.
I swallow the sharp pain irritating my throat as I finish packing. Shaking my head at myself, I cram my slippers into my suitcase.
“Why did I overpack so much for a weekend trip?” I mumble.
The extra stuff I brought came in handy for the length the trip ended up being, but I regret my choices now that I have to fit it all back into my bags.
Caleb appears in the doorway and knocks on the frame. He has my hair ribbons and bow clips in a bag.
“Here, I got all the decorations off the tree.”
I hug the bag, fighting the swirl of melancholy. Sure, I have my freedom in time for Christmas. Except it ruins my mood to think of the tree he picked out and chopped down for me won’t make it through the holidays. The memory of decorating it with him causes a longing pang in my chest.
He lifts my chin with a crooked finger, eyes flickering between mine. Without another word, he kisses me. I drop the bag of ribbons to wrap my arms around his neck.
“There. That’s better. Now you’re smiling again,” he says.
My cheeks grow hot. I didn’t say anything, but he read me easily anyway. A laugh puffs out of me and I duck my face, twirling a lock of hair from my ponytail around my finger.
“Are the cars dug out from the snow?”
“Yeah. I’ll take your bags down for you. Leave them to me.” He catches me around the waist before I take more than a step and inclines his head with a pointed look. “I mean it. Don’t let me catch you trying to cart them downstairs by yourself.”
I fight off a smile and fail to hold it back. “Okay, okay. They’re all yours. Thank you.”
“Good.” He winks, stealing one more kiss before he leaves the room we’ve shared every night since we kissed in the hot tub.
I fluff the bedding I washed again, running my hands over his pillow. When I hug it and tuck my face into it, I still faintly smell his woodsy aftershave. Flopping onto the bed with a sigh, I close my eyes.
Going home means returning to my bed alone. I’ll miss sleeping next to his comforting presence.
