Page 45 of Gumdrops and Garland

“For what?” I asked quietly.

“For letting me be here with you tonight. This will be what I remember about the tree lighting now. The sweet words you shared and the beauty of your soul as the tree shines down on us.”

I squeezed his hand. “I wouldn’t have let you be anywhere else.”

“I know,” he whispered as the Madrigals finished the last verse of the song. “You care, and you aren’t afraid to show it.”

The song ended and from somewhere behind the gazebo you could hear jingle bells. The crowd broke into a chant of, ‘Santa, Santa’ as the little kids waited for the man himself to arrive and kick off the season. The adults in the know knew Ellis was the man in the suit, but we were still half convinced he might just be the big man himself.

The sleigh came into view, pulled by real reindeer, and the crowd went wild, little kids dragging their parents over to be the first to sit on Santa’s lap. A not so little elf jumped down from the sleigh and started directing the kids to line up and wait their turn. With her elf ears and pointed shoes, the kids didn’t recognize our resident taskmaster, Holly.

“That girl is something else,” I said, leaning back into Lance’s chest and staring up at the tree as the snow fell from the sky in glittery flakes.

“So are you, Gumdrop. So are you,” he whispered before he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me.

"When you stand here by the tree and the blue lights shine down on you, you look like an angel,” Lance said, climbing the steps to the gazebo where I was waiting for him. “You truly are the only reason I will get through December with any kind of holiday cheer."

I smiled and brought my hand up to cover his resting on my shoulder. "Thanks for saying so, but I think you'd do just fine without me."

"But I'm glad I don't have to," he whispered, leaning in for a kiss.

It was a gentle kiss that ended before it began, but also told me more about how he was feeling after a full night of Christmas cheer.

I turned and braced my hand on his chest. "Are you okay? You don't have to lie and say you are out of deference to me."

He grasped my hand with his and squeezed it. "I’m tired, but otherwise I’m okay. I know that's because you're here with me. If I had to be here tonight, I’m glad it was with you."

I glanced up at the tree and what I saw stole my breath. “Lance,” I whispered, “look at the bell.”

He turned his head skyward and froze when he saw the brilliant red bird resting at the top of the tree. “It’s a cardinal.”

“They say a cardinal appears when your loved one is near.”

“She’s trying to tell me it’s okay, right?” he whispered, his gaze still pinned to the motionless bird.

“It is okay, Lance. It’s okay to be sad, happy, hopeful, tearful, angry, and any other emotion that fills you. She’s telling you it’s okay to live and be happy because she’s okay and she’s watching over you.”

With a flick of its wings to rid it of snow, the bird flew off and disappeared into the darkness. I turned and smiled up at him. “What a way to end the night.”

“I think she’s been telling me it’s okay to share my life with you, Gumdrop,” he whispered right before his lips stole mine and warmed me head to toe.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him to me, his tongue seeking mine. The kiss heated quickly and so did his desire, which was evident as we kissed. Secretly, I liked that a kiss from me excited him equally as much as it excited me. That told me we were right to see where this could go and what we could be together. He moaned when I cuddled my tongue alongside his and pressed my belly tight to his need.

“Indie,” he hissed against my lips, “do you feel what your kisses do to me?”

“All I can say is, it’s a good thing you’re wearing a heavy coat.”

He chuckled and rested his forehead against mine. “It is, but we’re going to have to wait a few minutes before we can walk home.”

I kissed his lips again, his tasting like peppermint. “Mmm, someone was sampling Santa’s candy canes.”

“Funny thing about that,” he said, leaning back to make eye contact. “The cutest little elf insisted I needed a candy cane. She must have known I was going to be the next one to kiss under the gazebo’s roof with the Bells Pass tree shining in the background.”

“The way you worded that makes me think it’s a thing around here.”

“Oh, it’s a thing alright,” he agreed. He took my hand and walked me down the steps onto the snowy path. The lights from the tree made the freshly fallen snow sparkle as if glitter had fallen. It piled up and blew around, but the entire time, it glinted an incandescent blue. “Legend has it, if you kiss under the roof of the gazebo when the tree is lit, you’re the official Bells Pass Christmas couple.”

I lifted a brow in question. “Who made that up? Do that many people make out under the roof of the gazebo?”

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