Page 75 of Merry Little Sugar Rush
“I can deal with a few weeks, as long as I know you’re coming back.”
“I promise I’m coming back,” I confirm, loving the way she fits so perfectly against my body. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with not having her with me while I’m gone.
“Where are you going? When you get back?” she asks.
“I’ll stay with Gram and Gramps until I find a place. Gramps says I can store my belongings in the barn and his shop for as long as I need.”
“I might have a lead for you,” she says, her eyes lighting up.
“Yeah?”
Nodding, she bites down on her bottom lip and slips her fingers inside my coat pockets for warmth. “My sister and John are going to rent out his house. He officially moved in with her and Miss Snowflake. They were planning to list it but were wanting to wait until after the first of the year.”
“I’d love to talk to them,” I tell her, feeling another bubble of excitement in my chest. If I have a place to move into when I return to town that would be even better. Not that I don’t want to stay with my grandparents, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to potentially move once and be done.
“I’ll see them at lunch.” Her eyes brighten. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Well, I’m supposed to work. I think the biggest job will be keeping Gramps up at the house and not down at the barn, bossing us all around and telling us he can do it better.”
She giggles the sweetest sound. “Well, I was going to invite you over for the lunch. Eve and John are going to open presents, and you could talk to them about the house.”
“I do appreciate the invite. If we’re not too busy, I may take you up on it and stop by.”
“I’ll get you John’s number, and you can discuss details with him.”
Slipping my arm around her shoulder once more, we start to head back toward her apartment. “Come on, Easy-Bake. Let’s get you back home. As absolutely amazing as this dress looks on you, I must confess, I’m even more curious to see how it looks lying on the floor.”
Almost three weeks later
I pullopen the door to The Sweet Escape and smile.
There she is.
The woman I love. The one I relocated across the United States to be near. The one I haven’t seen in almost three very-long weeks.
Even though we’ve talked on the phone or sent text messages every day since I left Snowflake Falls to return to South Carolina to pack up my life, it wasn’t the same. There was too much distance between us, and I hated every minute of it. That’s why I worked hard to wrap up the work I had put off in December and got everything I needed done, so I could leave town a couple of days earlier than planned.
Which is why I’m here.
Joy has no clue.
When we texted earlier, she thought I was just getting ready to pull out of the town I called home for the last fifteen years in my U-Haul, but the truth was, I was already back in Snowflake Falls. I got to town around ten this morning and met John at the house I’ll be renting from him.
Fortunately, he was leaving a decent amount of furniture in the house, so I was able to sell a lot of what I didn’t need to bring cross country. My personal belongings and all my woodworking tools fill the back of the small trailer, which of course, is sitting in the driveway, waiting to be unloaded. But first, I needed to see the woman I love.
And maybe steal a kiss or two.
I stand at the door, holding the bouquet of flowers. She’s finishing up a coffee drink before placing it on the counter. The moment she does, she looks up and our eyes meet. A look ofshock transforms to a grin as we just stare at each other for several seconds.
Then, she’s moving.
Watching her pace pick up as she makes her way to me gives me plenty of time to brace myself for the impact. Joy leaps at me, crashing into my chest. I’m able to help stabilize her with my left hand without dropping the flowers in my right.
“You’re here!” she whisper-yells, her legs wrapping around my waist.
“I’m here,” I confirm.
“How? When?”
