Page 44 of A Cozy Holiday
“Okay, heater’s on,” Jamie calls to the girls while snatching up his keys. Then he turns toward me. “Wanna come drop them off?”
“I should go check on Arrietty.” I’ve probably encroached enough on family time today. I don’t want to push it.
“She’s fine. If you don’t want to come, at least grab one of my books. Stay. Enjoy the fire. Finish your tea. I’ll be back in twenty.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’d like the company.” He winks at me before leaving, and then I’m standing in his living room alone with too many emotions to name.
It’s summer.
The twins are older, maybe sixteen or seventeen. Honey’s showing me photos on her phone, talking about some boy from her chemistry class. Kiki’s arguing with Jamie about college applications.
“Dad, I’m not going to veterinary school just because Joy did—”
“I didn’t say that.” Jamie laughs. “I said you’d be good at it.”
I’m curled on the porch swing, bare feet tucked under me, watching fireflies blink across the meadow. The reindeer graze in the distance. Arrietty’s grown calf—healthy and strong—grazes beside her.
Jamie appears with two glasses of wine. Sits beside me. His hair’s grayer at the temples, his laugh lines deeper around his eyes.
“You good?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“Yeah.” I lean into him. “I’m good.”
His hand finds mine. There’s a ring on my finger—simple, worn smooth.
“Happy?” he murmurs.
“So happy,” I whisper.
And I am. God, I am.
“Joy.”
A voice, comfortable and close.
“Joy, wake up.”
My eyes fly open. Jamie is kneeling in front of me, haloed by the firelight. He skims his pinky along my temple. Am I still dreaming?
“You okay? You were making sounds…”
I rub my eyes with the back of my hands. I’m on his couch. Tangled in a furry green blanket.
“What time is it?” My words come out groggy.
“Almost eleven.”
“Oh my god.” I jerk up on my elbows. The blanket slips to my hips. The room is dark except for the fire’s low, steady crackle. I’ve been asleep for nearly seven hours…in a man’s house I met a week ago. “You should’ve woken me up!”
“You looked like you needed the sleep.”
“What about the girls?”
“They went to bed an hour ago. Exhausted from the dance.” His eyes drift over me. Fondness and adoration are written all over his handsome features. “You were dreaming.”
My heart races at his proximity. At the memory of my dream. He’s eye level. And I’m so focused on the thin rim of espresso around his irises that I don’t notice myself drifting closer until the air between us disappears. “I—I guess I was. I can’t remember the last time I took a nap.”
