EPILOGUE
“Got any fours?”
“Nope, sorry.” Andrew pressed his lips together to hide his smile. “Go fish.”
“Awesome!” Sophie lunged across the table towards the pile of cards, and the pile of candy beside it.
Years ago they’d started a Christmas Eve tradition of pairing a particular type of candy with each game they played, and this one was Sophie’s favorite, because of the little red “penalty” sweets. Rachel’s too, it seemed.
Beside him, his love groaned. “I love Swedish Fish! I can’t believe I haven’t gotten any yet.”
“You’re just lucky I guess,” Sean said from across the table, his attention on his hand. “You’ve been winning since the beginning.”
“Yeah.” Heather winked at Rachel. “Are you cheating?”
Rachel’s eyes widened innocently. “If I say yes, can I get a bunch of penalty fish?”
Sophie stuck her tongue out—it was bright red—and her family laughed. Rachel too, which was fitting, because she was part of this little family now.
The game continued fast and furious—Rachel did eventually get some Swedish Fish—and Sean ended up winning. Sophie jumped up from the table.
“I’ll get the hot chocolate!”
Heather shook her head. “I thought we were doing dominoes next?”
“Hot chocolate first, then dominoes,” Sean corrected in his serious manner. “Dominoes’ forfeit is peppermints, and those go really great with the chocolate. It’s tradition.”
Heather reached over to fluff her son’s hair, and he ducked out of the way with a good-natured grimace. Andrew smiled at both of them.
“Come on, sweetie-poo,” she teased the boy. “You can help me get it ready.”
Sophie frowned at them. “You can’t leave me in here with Unca Andrew.” She lowered her voice to a stage whisper and jerked her thumb. “He’s probably going to kiss Rachel.”
Andrew choked on his laughter and pretended great interest in shuffling the discarded pile of cards.
“There’s nothing wrong with kissing,” Sean informed his sister.
She put her hand on her hip in entirely too-sassy a manner. “Not when it’s Kayla you’re thinking about kissing huh?”
Sean blushed. “I’m not thinking about kissing Kayla,” he mumbled.
Andrew’s brows went up as he met his sister’s bemused gaze. Just who was Sean thinking about kissing, then?
Heather blew out an exasperated breath before her kids could bicker further. “If you don’t leave your uncle alone to do whatever he feels like doing with his girlfriend, then Santa won’t visit tonight.”
It was almost funny the way her kids both rolled their eyes and said in unison, “Moooom!” But they followed her into the kitchen without complaint. Of course, Sophie tried to elbow her brother as they rounded the corner, and Sean grabbed her in a headlock which had her squealing, but that was a typical Christmas Eve around these parts.
Chuckling, he turned back to Rachel, and was surprised to see her staring at him in a sort of wide-eyed breathlessness.
“What?” he asked, suddenly wondering if he’d grown an extra head.
When she glanced down and smiled in that almost-embarrassed way she had, his heart softened. She shrugged.
“I was just wondering if you were planning on kissing me.”
He laughed and, grabbing her by her hand, pulled her to her feet. “I’ve got bigger plans.”
She didn’t have time to respond before he’d tugged her towards the foyer. For the first time ever, this year Andrew had installed mistletoe in the foyer of his home…for just such an occasion.
He settled her under the mistletoe, her arms around his neck, and smiled down at her. She blinked innocently up at him.
“Well, Mr. Chief Engineer? Are you just going to stand there? I thought you were the type who, when he saw a problem, rushed to fix it?”
They’d been working together for almost a full month, and he loved it. Of course, he didn’t have to report directly to her, which was a bit of a relief, but it was fun to sit in the daily meetings with her and Bob and make jokes and suggestions, and solve problems. Things had started off rocky between him and Bob—years of bitterness wasn’t easy to forget—but Andrew had pushed through the awkwardness with a stubbornness Rachel had said she’d loved, and each day his relationship with his uncle had gotten better.
And it was all thanks to the woman in his arms.
“What problem?” he asked, pretending not to understand. “What needs fixing?”
She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m standing under the mistletoe with the man I love and he hasn’t kissed me yet is the problem.”
“Hm.” Andrew frowned and pretended to consider the problem. “That is serious.”
“Yeah. Soooo?”
“Well, you see, I’m thinking about something besides kissing.” She was so much fun to tease.
“Under the mistletoe? On Christmas Eve? When you know I have to go down to Boise tomorrow to see my parents? What could you possibly be thinking about besides kissing?”
He had to admit, it was becoming increasingly harder not to think about kissing her. But he had plans.
Pulling her arms from around his neck, Andrew stepped back and took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about—” Ugh, he lost his nerve. “About your present,” he finished weakly.
“My—my present?” she blinked in confusion.
No no no.
This isn’t what he’d planned. But then, she was going to be with her parents tomorrow, so now was a good time to show her what he’d done.
“I guess it’s not really your present.” He’d also bought her a pretty silk scarf and— Well, and something even better. “But kinda.”
Before he lost his nerve, Andrew shoved up the sleeve of his gray shirt, all the way to his elbow, and held his forearm out for her inspection.
There was Sophie and Sean’s tattoos, their names and birth dates in the simple font he’d picked out all those years ago.
And beside them was her name. Just her first name, no hearts, no flowers, no embellishments. That’s who he was, and he hoped she could see why that was important.
Her hand shook a bit as she reached out and traced the simple block letters. And as always, the warmth from her touch filled him, body and soul.
“That’s— You got my name…”
Her whisper faded away as she looked up and met his eyes. And he could see that she understood.
“You once told me my niece and nephew were the most important things in my life, and that’s why I had their names tattooed.” Taking her hand, he placed it over his forearm once more. “But I’m adding you to the list.”
Her eyes were still wide. “I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful.” Then the mood was broken when she snorted and shook her head. “Way to make my gift to you look really stupid!”
He chuckled a little bit and suddenly had the guts to do what he’d chickened out on earlier.
“Earlier, you asked what I was thinking about.” He took a deep breath, holding it. “I wasn’t just thinking about your present. I was thinking about…well, about forever.”
Her eyes widened, as if she understood the gravity of the situation. “Forever?” she repeated in a whisper.
“Yeah. See, my grandfather told me that family is forever, and I want that. With you, I mean.” He swallowed. “I love you, and you’re a part of my family now. I want you to be…” He dropped her hands and fumbled for one of the pockets in his ubiquitous black cargo pants.
Clearing his throat, he held up the tiny jeweler’s box. “I want you to be part of my forever.”
Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as he opened the lid, revealing a simple diamond ring. She sucked in a gasp and reached for the box.
Not sure what to do with his hands now, and terrified because she hadn’t answered him yet, Andrew ran his hand over his hair. “I know it hasn’t been that long, and I’ll understand if you want to wait longer. But I wanted to...to ask you here and now. And we can take our time and plan a wedding if you want, it can be a while from now, if you want, I just thought—”
That’s when she squealed and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and smacking him on the back of his head with the jewelry box. He had just enough time to catch her in his arms before she was raining kisses all over his face.
He inhaled her beautiful essence and enjoyed her enthusiasm. He was laughing when he pulled back long enough to ask, “Does this mean yes?”
Dropping a kiss on his nose, and another on his chin, she said breathlessly, “Just imagine I’m saying ‘yes’ once for every kiss.”
She then kissed him about a million more times.
Best gift ever.
He looked up at the ceiling, judged the distance from the mistletoe, and lifted her in his arms. She didn’t stop kissing him as they moved under the little green plant, but he didn’t mind one bit.
Thanks to this woman’s fixing, he had a new job, a new chance at a future with his family, and a new forever.
He couldn’t imagine anything better.
Andrew’s been waiting a long time for his Happily Ever After—you might remember him from a dozen first dates with heroines! I’m excited to tell his sibling’s stories too…stay tuned for more Quinn Valley Ranch books!
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Back in May of 2016 I had the utter pleasure of meeting , , and in Chicago during a conference. Soon after, they invited me to be part of this delightful world they were creating, and introduced me to the wonderful . I was thrilled to join their team, and have had hours and hours of fun, playing via our imaginations at River’s End Ranch. Now we’ve added , , and , and are having just as much fun playing at Quinn Valley Ranch!
Thank you, ladies, for letting me be a part of the magic.
And thank you to Alyssa, to my beta readers and Cohort members, to Sonya, and to our continuity reader Amy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caroline Lee has been reading romance for so long that her fourth-grade teacher used to make her cover her books with paper jackets. But it wasn't until she (mostly) grew up that she realized she could write it too. So she did.
Caroline is living her own little Happily Ever After in NC with her husband, sons, and new daughter, Princess Wiggles. And while she doesn't so much "suffer" from Pittakionophobia as think that all you people who enjoy touching Band-Aids and stickers are the real weirdos, she does adore rodents, and never met a wine she didn't like. Caroline was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2006 and is really quite funny in person. Promise.
You can find her at .
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