Page 8 of Candy Kisses with the Mountain Man
Jackson kisses me, reassuring me. “Go on.”
I smile up at him. “My dad always taught me to appreciate the glass half full. Or as he said, it doesn’t matter if the glass is half full or half empty, if you’ve got a glass then you’ve got something to be grateful for. And so that’s how I lived. But secretly I wished for more.”
Jackson hugs me to him. “It’s okay to want more. I think your dad’s ethos was a good one, but he wouldn’t want you to settle for less than be gloriously happy. Just like me, I’ve always been the older brother, the Deputy Sheriff, looking out for everyone else. But now I’ve found you and I want my own slice of the pie. You. This. Us. And I’m going to try to be less serious. I love how much you love life and cookies and festivals and Christmas. I want to share in that joy with you.”
I laugh. A laugh of pure happiness. Running my hands over his chest. “I don’t think you are all that serious. Except for putting me in jail when I drank too much…”
“I didn’t!” He interrupts but I go on.
“You laughed with me when we turned over the trailer. And you enjoy arguing with me as much as I enjoy arguing with you.”
He kisses me and I can feel the grin on his lips. “That’s because you rock my world. Literally and figuratively.”
We both laugh between kisses.
And when he rolls on top of me, his kisses turning slow and sensual, my whole body goes warm and soon hot for him.
“We should stay naked forever.” I whisper, loving the feel of his hard body moving over mine.
“Agreed.” His voice is muffled as he kisses the side of my neck. “At least until Christmas. You should get dressed for Christmas so that I have something to unwrap on Christmas morning.”
As it was only two days later, we were, in fact, in much the same position on Christmas morning. Making love by the fire, talking, sharing, laughing together. When I got up saw it had snowed overnight, leaving a layer of pristine white snow over everything, Jackson joined me at the window.
Seeing my joy at the winter wonderland, he suggested we get dressed and go for a walk. It was beautiful. Christmas card perfect. Though it was a little hard to walk in Jackson’s huge borrowed boots and we were soon laughing. Picking me up as though I weighed nothing at all, he carries me back to the cabin. I could not wish for a more perfect Christmas morning.
But it was later that evening as we joined his family for Christmas dinner, when I met his brothers and sister, his cousins and his mother and saw how they all teased and loved each other. A real family. A real family Christmas dinner. They all welcomed me with so much warmth and love. That’s when I felt it. Something in my heart whispered.
My cup runneth over.
This is the life and love I have wanted for so long. And here it is. Found in a small mountain town at Christmas.
Epilogue
Candy
Three Months Later
“Wait, hang on, I’ve got to get a picture.”
The realtor gives a patient smile as Jackson gets out his phone. “Okay, hand her the keys.”
I take the keys in my hand and Jackson and I grin at each other. The realtor doesn’t understand but Jackson and I do. This is one of those life moments. The kind of thing we used to just watch other people do. And Jackson is determined that we photograph every single one of our life moments together.
The keys to my new bakery. It’s on the main street of town and needs some fitting out but I am so excited to have my own place. My own commercial kitchen. My own store front. My own bakery that won’t tip over if there is more than one person in it.
“Will we be painting this pink?” Jackson asks me as we let ourselves in and look around the space.
“The pinkest!” I reply with a grin.
We have been living together in his cabin for the past three months and it has been an experience mixing my love of bright colors with his more somber tones. But at the end of the day, if I am happy then he is happy and he has already built me my own kitchen hutch to hold my baking stuff, accepted that his kitchen is now home to a pink mixer, pink mixing bowls and appliances.
Jackson enjoys watching me potter around the place making muffins and cakes during the day, as long as things are cleared away for him to cook dinner as it turns out he is quite the cook and he enjoys trying out new recipes for dinner.
But now I will have my own bakery and he swears the whole Sheriff’s office is going to get fat with all the donuts they are going to be eating.
“Will you miss the trailer and the festivals and traveling around?” He asks.
“Oh no. I’ve always wanted my own bakery on solid ground. I suppose I’ll sell the trailer though that will be a bit sad.”
