Page 36 of Loving Words
Normally, a big change like moving would have given me great anxiety. It was the reason I’d stayed in Connecticut even though I could live anywhere in the world with my job. This time, all I felt was excitement.
After I shut the laptop, I returned it to my bag and cleaned up. Once I’d made sure nothing was amiss, including the hole Gran had created, I padded up the stairs. There was a beautiful woman I couldn’t wait to hold in my arms.
Carefully, I slipped back into her room. She hadn’t moved much since when I’d left hours ago. I removed my clothes and joined her under the sheets. Wrapping myself around her warm, soft body, something in my chest clicked into place.
Kennedy Baker was no ordinary woman. She was the one made especially for me. Now I just needed to convince her of the truth.
?Chapter 13
?Kennedy
Iwoke up with butterfliesfluttering about in my stomach. It was Christmas Day! Ever since I was little, I’d woken up early. Glancing at my clock, I noted it was 6:00 a.m., later than normal for me. I thought about snuggling back against the warm body behind me. I couldn’t go back to sleep, now that the excitement of the day had hit. I slowly moved Jack’s arm from my stomach and gently rolled out of bed. I stood looking down at him sleeping soundly, a slight smile on his face. I hoped his dreams were worthy of his smile.
My heart clenched at how easily I’d fallen for him. I wanted to see this same image day after day. If only he wanted the same. I shook my head as I grabbed my robe and donned my slippers before quietly leaving the room. I made it to the top of the stairs before another door opened and closed.
“Kennedy,” Harrison whispered.
I grinned as I waited for him to join me on the stairs. “Happy.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “Merry Christmas, sis.”
Turning toward his body, I hugged him tightly. He may annoy me most of the time, but I loved him with every ounce of my being. “Merry Christmas, bro. Let’s go get the coffee going.”
“Yeah, I’ll get the oven started for the rolls.”
This had been our routine for the last five or six years. Though, my parents used to bring a regular coffee pot with them so we didn’t have to use the percolator. Downstairs, I looked out the kitchen window as I filled a pitcher to pour into the silver contraption. A light layer of snow had fallen and dusted everything white. I slowly took it all in, my eyes pausing at the log at the end of the short walkway.
“What the fuck?” I shut the water off and leaned closer to the window, trying to wrap my brain around what I was seeing. “Harrison, come tell me I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing.”
“Is that a fucking gnome?” His eyebrows raised almost to his hairline as he looked at me.
“Let’s go check it out.” I set the water on the counter, setting the coffee-making process aside for a moment.
“How many of them do you think we found as kids?” Harrison asked as he followed me to the wall lined with coats.
I stuffed my slipper-clad feet into a pair of snow boots, wrapped a scarf around my neck, and pulled Jack’s coat on. It was the first one I found.
