Mallory went back to Athens four weeks ago today. Four weeks of video chats, text messages, and phone calls just isn’t cutting it. I’m counting down the minutes until she graduates college. That day can’t come soon enough.

The distinctive tone of the video chat ringing fills the cab of my truck. I’m waiting for her to pick up so I can see her beautiful face.

“Hello, honey. How’s your day?” Her smile brightens any gloomy winter day.

“Much better now that I can see you. What are you up to?”

“I’m on a date.”

“That was today?”

“Yes, it’s right now, actually. I’m sitting here with my date at this very moment. Don’t pretend you didn’t know that when you called.”

For the record, she told me about this date when she was still home over her break. I’m not jealous that she’s on a date with another guy. At all.

“Where are you? That restaurant looks very nice.”

“Doesn’t it? It’s one of the rare four-star restaurants in this area. I can’t recommend the chef highly enough, but it’s really the company that makes the meal.”

“In that case, I’ll have—” I end the video call just as I reach her table and pull out a chair. She looks up at me with her eyes as wide open as her mouth. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“Hunter, this is Scott. Scott, this is my boyfriend, Hunter. He just surprised me by showing up here all the way from Pennsylvania.”

“Hi, Scott. Nice to meet you.” I extend my hand to shake his.

“Hi, Hunter.” He takes my hand and gives it a firm shake. I can see why Mallory would accept a date with him. He’s handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes.

“What are you doing here?” She reaches over and grabs my hand, but her eyes tell me she wishes she could do much more than that.

“My office manager said I had to use my vacation time or lose it, so I took two weeks off to come down here and spend it with you. I hope that’s okay.”

“You mean you were driving your mom crazy in the barn, so she threatened your life if you didn’t get out of her hair for at least two weeks?”

“Semantics. You say potato, I say tomato.”

“That’s not the saying, Hunter.”

“It is now.”

With a smile in place, I turn my attention to her date. “Are you trying to steal my girl from me, Scott?”

Scott laughs, revealing his two front teeth are missing. Another snagglepuss to add to our collection. His eyes light up with his smile, as does his face. “She’s one of my teachers!”

“Hey, you’re the one who took her to lunch.”

“She’s having lunch with the whole table. This is our school lunchroom.” His eyes shine brightly with mischief.

“That’s a likely story, Scott. I’ll have to keep an eye on you. I can already tell.” My smile shows him I’m teasing, but he already knows that.

“It’s time for recess, so I gotta go now. But after recess, you have to leave because Miss Mallory promised to make me some popcorn before we watch a movie together. Just me and her.”

With that, Scott jumps up from his seat, dumps his tray, and dashes outside with the rest of his class.

“You just ran off my date, Hunter.”

“That’s just not possible, Snagglepuss. I’m still here, and I’ll always be here, just for you.”

“Congratulations, Mallory. I’m so proud of you. You’re officially a teacher now. This has been the longest six months of my life. Can we pack everything you own into my truck and move you back to Cringle Cove now?”

I’ve made more out-of-state visits over the past few months than in my entire life. But every trip has been more than worth it. Every moment with her has been better than the last. The whole time she stayed away from home, I knew I missed her—my broken heart was evidence of that. But exactly how much didn’t strike me until we started spending every spare moment together—whether that was on the phone or in person.

I tried to fill the gaping hole in my life with work and money for so long. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt, only one quirky, funny, wonderful woman could possibly make me feel wealthy. The one standing in front of me, looking at me like she’s completely head over heels in love with me.

She laughs as she wraps her arms around my neck. “Hunter, don’t act like you haven’t already loaded all my stuff into the moving truck and sent them on their way. I know you better than that.”

“Fine, you caught me. I’m just trying to be efficient.”

“Or, you went ahead and did it because I told you to make sure the movers were reserved over a month ago.”

“Semantics. Same difference.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself to make you think you’re in charge. We both know the truth, though.”

“Babe, you can be in charge any time, all the time, or none of the time. Whatever you want. I only have one hard-and-fast rule that you cannot break under any circumstance.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“That warning label you gave me applies to us both. ‘Mistletoe not required’ is now our shared motto.”

We seal that deal with a handshake. And by handshake, I mean a long, deep kiss that’s completely inappropriate for public displays of affection. But she’ll have to get used to that, because we’re spending an entire lifetime together, and there will be many more kisses without mistletoe, exactly like this one.