Page 33 of The Bear's Christmas Wish
“Sorry about that,” he murmured, prepared to remove his arm immediately.
But Sarah didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned slightly into him, her body warm against his side. Michael’s heart hammered in his chest as they stood there, connected in a way that felt both casual and monumental. The weight of her against him, trusting and close, made it hard to focus on anything else.
“Look, Mom! The star!” Emmy’s voice cut through his thoughts as she pointed excitedly toward the top of the massive tree.
Michael reluctantly dropped his arm, letting it fall back to his side.
He wanted nothing more than to pull her back, to hold her against the December chill and never let go. To tell her everything, about his bear, about mates, about how he’drecognized her the moment he saw her across the snow-covered yard at North Peak Pines.
The time had better come soon,his bear growled impatiently inside him.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mayor Wilson’s voice boomed through the speakers. “It’s time for the official lighting of the Bear Creek Christmas tree! Let’s count down together!”
Emmy bounced on her toes, her mittened hands clutching Sarah’s arm. “This is it, Mom! This is it!”
“TEN!” the crowd shouted in unison.
Michael watched Sarah’s face, illuminated by the moonlight and the glow of nearby lanterns. She looked happy—truly happy—as she joined in the countdown with Emmy.
“NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!”
Emmy’s excitement was contagious, her entire body vibrating with anticipation as she shouted the numbers at the top of her lungs.
“SIX! FIVE! FOUR!”
Michael found himself counting, too, caught up in the collective enthusiasm of his town, of his people. Of his mate and her daughter standing beside him.
“THREE! TWO! ONE!”
The square plunged into darkness for a split second before thousands of twinkling lights blazed to life on the massive spruce. The star at the top burst with golden light, casting its glow across the upturned faces of the crowd. A massive cheer erupted as people clapped and whistled.
Emmy let out a squeal of delight, jumping up and down. “It’s so beautiful! Mom, look! Look!”
Sarah turned to Michael, her face radiant in the glow of the Christmas lights. Her smile was so full of wonder that it stole his breath. He couldn’t help smiling back, his chest tight with emotion.
“Thank you,” she mouthed over the noise of the crowd.
“For what?” he asked, leaning closer to be heard.
“For this,” she replied, gesturing to the tree, to Emmy’s excitement, to the festive square. “For making our first Bear Creek Christmas so special.”
Before Michael could respond, the town choir began to sing, their harmonized voices rising above the crowd in the first notes of “Silent Night.” People hushed each other, turning toward the gazebo where the singers stood in neat rows, their faces illuminated by candlelight.
Emmy slipped between them, taking Michael’s hand in one of hers and Sarah’s in the other. The simple gesture—so trusting, so natural—made his throat tighten with emotion.
His bear rumbled contentedly inside him.Our family.
Not yet,Michael cautioned.But someday soon.
And then they would have forever.
Chapter Fourteen – Sarah
Magical. That was the only word she could use to describe the sight before her. The huge Christmas tree that dominated the town square twinkled with colored lights that reflected off the ornaments. It looked different this evening, even though they had seen it lit for a test run last night; it seemed to shimmer brighter, as if the gathered crowd had somehow illuminated it more with their collective wonder.
Sarah took in a deep breath of winter air, tinged with pine and cinnamon from nearby vendors. The entire square had been transformed. Storefronts were outlined in twinkling white lights, lampposts wrapped in evergreen garlands, and strings of multicolored bulbs crisscrossing overhead like a canopy of stars.
“Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” Emmy whispered beside her, her small mittened hand squeezing Sarah’s tightly.
