Page 50 of The Bear's Christmas Wish
“Mom?” Emmy tugged at her sleeve. “Maisie wants to know if I can come over to her house. Can I? Please?”
Sarah turned to see Maisie standing nearby, hope written across her face. “If it’s okay with her dad.”
“Of course,” Daniel said. “We’re making gingerbread houses, and Maisie has been badgering me to invite Emmy over since they met.”
“Please, Mom?” Emmy clasped her hands together. “I wouldloveto make a gingerbread house.”
Sarah hesitated, glancing at Michael, who was now walking back toward them. The Christmas market in Wolf Valley...they’d had to cancel because of Liam’s no-show. But now, with Emmy happily occupied...
“I can drop her home before dinner,” Daniel added. “Around six, if that works?”
“That would be perfect,” Sarah said, making her decision. “Thank you for including her.”
Emmy squealed with delight and threw her arms around Sarah’s waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“You’re welcome, sweet pea.” Sarah hugged her back, breathing in the scent of her daughter’s shampoo mixed with winter air. “Be good for Daniel, okay?”
“I will!” Emmy promised, already edging toward Maisie, who was practically bouncing with excitement.
As Daniel led the girls toward his car, Sarah felt a momentary pang of separation anxiety. Not that she didn’t trust Daniel—he seemed wonderful, and Maisie clearly adored him—but letting Emmy out of her sight still triggered that instinctive maternal worry.
“They’ll have a great time,” Michael’s voice came from beside her, low and reassuring, as if he’d read her thoughts.
Sarah turned to find him standing closer than she’d expected. Close enough that she could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes, close enough to catch the scent of pine and something warmer, something uniquely him.
“I know,” she said, forcing herself to relax. “Emmy could use some friend time. With packing and the move and everything, she’s had to put up with me for company for too long.”
“I’m sure no one would complain about being in your company,” he murmured.
Sarah wasn’t sure how to answer that as they watched as Daniel’s car pull away, Emmy and Maisie waving frantically from the back seat. When the car disappeared around a bend in the road, an unexpected silence fell between them.
Michael cleared his throat. “So,” he said, hands in his pockets, suddenly seeming almost shy. “I know we had to cancel our plans for the Christmas market in Wolf Valley earlier...”
Sarah’s heart skipped a beat. “We did.”
“Would you still like to go?” He met her eyes directly, and the hopeful expression on his face made her pulse quicken. “It’s only about a thirty-minute drive, and we’d have plenty of time before Emmy gets back.”
The question hung in the air between them, laden with possibility. Sarah thought about the stack of chores waiting for her at home, the emails she should answer, boxes to unpack, the laundry that needed folding. All the responsible, sensible things she should be doing.
Then she thought about walking through a Christmas market with Michael, surrounded by lights and music and holiday cheer. Just the two of them.
“Yes,” she said, surprising herself with how easily the word came. “I’d like that very much.”
Michael’s smile bloomed slowly, transforming his entire face. The tension in his shoulders visibly relaxed, and Sarah realized he’d been genuinely worried she might say no.
That she might have changed her mind and not want to spend time alone with him.
“Great,” he said, the single word carrying more warmth than it had any right to. “Let’s go.”
As they walked toward his vehicle, she had an intense sense of freedom. For the first time in a long time, she was putting herself and her happiness first.
And it felt wonderful.
Michael’s truck wound its way through the mountains, the road a ribbon of cleared asphalt cutting through pristine snow. Sarah watched the landscape through the passenger window, mesmerized by how the afternoon sun caught on ice-laden branches and transformed ordinary pines into crystalline sculptures.
“It’s like driving through a snow globe,” she murmured, her breath fogging the glass slightly.
Michael glanced over at her, his profile strong against the backdrop of white mountains. “Wait until you see Wolf Valley at sunset. The whole place glows.”
