Page 376 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
"Fuck you too." Marc turned his attention back to Jake. "Ma'am is a southern thing. No one up here is using that antiquated language."
"I do." Drake dropped to his knee and swung the axe at the tree. "It's called manners."
"I'm going to wait until we're back here and ask her on New Year's Eve. She's going to want you guys with us, and seeing that you all backed out of coming to Texas for Christmas..."
"You know we gotta see Sicily's family, Jake. It's the first one without her mother. Her brothers are not going to know what to do." Drake glanced up and gave them a knowing look before swinging the axe again.
"And you know I'm not leaving my mother alone on Christmas. Don't be a cock." Marc patted Jake's back before walking toward Drake. "Give me that. I want to tell Lisa I helped cut it down. It will get me laid later."
"You're getting laid anyway. It's Lisa." Drake got up and handed the axe to Marc before backing up with his hands lifted in false surrender.
"Watch it." Marc swung and the tree swayed hard.
"Wow. I'm impressed." Jake crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. The holidays were here, and he loved his friends, but he was ready to get home. His mother and father made the whole month of December a celebration when they were kids, and if he were being honest, he missed it - missed them - like crazy.
"What're the chances of you and Kari staying here after you're married?" Marc walked back toward them and handed the axe back to Drake. "You finish it. That's overrated." Marc panting was almost too funny. The guy was captain of the NYU basketball team, and yet a few swings of an axe and he looked faint.
"I don't know." Jake shrugged. "I'd love to move her back to Texas, but we both have created lives here. Guess we'll just take it one day at a time. She's gotta say yes first."
"She's going to say yes." Marc and Drake echoed each other.
Jake smiled. They were right. He had no doubt... his woman was going to say yes.
Best Christmas present ever.
CHAPTER 2
KARI
"So you excited about going to Texas?" Lisa moved up beside Kari and wrapped her arms around the top of Kari's shoulders.
"Yes. Very." She reached down and picked up a blank canvas pad as they stood in the small art store in the center of town. "I really want to start doodling again, but I don't want to dream too big, you know?"
"Dream too big?" Sicily moved up beside them and picked up a pack of colored pencils. "Is there such a thing?"
Kari smiled. "This coming from the girl that was terrified to move to Maine and start her bakery. And now it's doing great."
"Fear is always a sign of moving in the right direction. If it wasn't a little hard, we would all be doing it." Lisa released her and snatched the pad from Kari's hands. "Let me get this for you. I don't have a gift picked out for you yet."
"That's just asinine." Sicily leaned around Kari and gave Lisa a motherly look. "She's right here. At least put it down and we'll come back and get it. Christmas is supposed to be filled with surprises."
"Says who? I hate surprises." Kari glanced between her friends as her heart swelled in her chest. They'd come out to Maine together earlier that year in the spring after graduating college. Starting a new life on the East Coast sounded like the type of adventure Kari needed. Especially after her fiancé cheated on her the night before their wedding.
Love was something she never wanted to search out again. It was dangerous and painful in her mind. And then Jake showed up, and everything changed. Their courting had been quick, but there was something about him that left her wanting to try again - fast.
"What are you thinking about?" Sicily wrapped her arm around Kari's shoulders as Lisa disappeared somewhere into the store.
"Me and Jake." She leaned down and picked up another canvas pad. "I'm just so glad everything worked out. I can't imagine life without him."
"I understand." Sicily laid her head against Kari's shoulder. "Is it selfish that I don't want you guys going to Texas for the holidays?"
"Nope. You've been through a lot." Kari laid her head against her friend’s. They'd only met Kari's junior year at NYU, but they'd become fast friends. Sicily was feminine, sweet and one of the best cooks in the world. Her bakery was to blame for the five extra pounds that Kari was toting around.
"Yeah, we have." She moved back. "I'm hoping that Drake is going to want to go visit my family with me."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Kari smirked and glanced over toward her friend. "The last time your brother came down, things didn't go so well."
Johnny, Sicily's older brother was less than thrilled that Sicily was dating Drake for some reason, not that Kari blamed him. During a recent fiasco on the town square, the other bakery in town burnt down, and Sicily was framed for it. Drake pulled evidence out of thin air and got her cleared. Where Kari cared about the handsome guy that was quickly moving into their lives, she still had a million questions.
