Page 80 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
“Not bad, huh?”
“And you didn’t even write it down?” I arched an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”
“I thought it was time to speak from the heart.”
Nat King Cole began playing through the speakers, and the choir members mingled amongst friends and family. North reached out to take my hand, but right before our fingers touched, Justin and Cami exploded onto the scene with eager grins plastered on their faces.
“Winter!” Cami threw her arms around me and bounced up and down, squealing.
Laughing, I hugged her fiercely back. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Justin nudged Cami aside so he could steal a hug as well. He gave me a friendly squeeze and stood back, holding me at arm’s length. “What are you doing back here?”
“Erm…” I trailed off and looked up at North.
“Right!” Justin let me go. “Of course, you’re here for the big guy. Remember that thing I said about Christmas miracles?” He winked up at North.
North slid his hands into his pockets. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
Justin held up his hands. “Whoa. Whoa. Shots fired. Cami, what do you say we go grab ourselves a hot drink and give these two a chance to catch up?”
Cami tapped the side of her nose. “Good idea.”
Just then, right when I thought I was going to get my moment alone with North, a woman with frizzy hair and big glasses came and stole him away, asking him to pose for some pictures with all his donation checks to local charities. He offered me a wordless apology before letting her steer him to stand in front of the tree to take picture after picture.
I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet to keep warm.
Cami draped an arm around my shoulders. “Come with us to get a drink. He’s going to be a little while.”
Justin and Cami wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I followed them through the market vendors to the espresso bar, where I ordered a caramel latte that tasted like heaven in a cup. I sipped whipped cream off the top that had been dusted in tiny, caramelized sugar pieces. While we drank, we wandered and talked.
“When did you decide to come back?” Cami licked whipped cream from her upper lip. “After our phone call?”
“I talked to my folks after we hung up and told them everything that happened here in Maple Hill. They know me better than anyone, and I asked them what I should do. My heart has felt so stuck since North sent me away. I couldn’t trust it to make its own decision. As soon as I breathed in the fresh air of Maple Hill I knew I’d made the right choice.”
“And just what are you here to do exactly?” Justin asked.
Good question.
I still didn’t have a defined answer for that.
“North and I need to talk,” I said. “I don’t know what’s going to come of it, but I refuse to leave things as we did. It’s not fair to either of us. There’s a lot weighing on me that I need to say and he owes me a chance to air them out.”
“Yeah, girl,” Cami said, nodding proudly.
Justin kicked snow out of our path. “But what about you? What do you want? If you could control the outcome, what would you hope for?”
Overhead, the stars began to disappear behind a heavy, snow-filled cloud. I could smell snowflakes that hadn’t fallen yet.
“I’m hopeful for a lot of things,” I said softly. “But I’m going to keep it to myself for now. I don’t have any expectations. He could tell me the same thing he did the other night. But at least I’ll know I put it all out there.”
Justin stopped walking and so did we. “Did you not hear his speech?”
Cami rolled her eyes. “Of course she did, she was standing right there.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Justin said.
Cami scoffed. “For once.”
