Trig woke to the beeping of machines. He felt the telltale tug of an IV line in his arm. While his right side was cool, his left side was hot and heavy.

A body moved next to him. He didn’t have to see her to know it was Charlie. She smelled like cinnamon and sugar—like toaster pastries or maple syrup. She smelled like happiness.

The last thing he remembered was sitting on the ice with the guys. He had a vague recollection of being put into a bed.

He shifted and she flew up from a sound sleep. “Are you okay?” She rubbed at her eyes, which were rimmed in deep shadows.

“I’m perfect. Where are we?” He tried to lift up, but she pushed him back down.

“Don’t move,” she said.

She grabbed her phone and called her father while Trig took in the situation around him. He was still in his room at the bed and breakfast.

“What happened?”

Charlie tried to move off the bed, but he pulled her back to his side.

“I got my wish. That’s what happened. I asked for you to get healthy and to wake up and look at you.”

He pieced together the bits that he knew. “You didn’t let them take me to the hospital.” He leaned into her and kissed her lips.

“You begged me not to but I would have if it meant saving you. However, there was an ice storm.”

“Give me a kiss.”

“How can I deny a begging man?”

“You like me.” He knew his smile was broad because he saw its reflection in her eyes. Eyes that looked tired with worry but happy with relief.

“I more than like you, mister. While you were sleeping I decided I could love you.”

“Is that right?”

She nodded. “Of course, that means we’d have to spend more time together because I need you to learn to love me too.”

He chuckled. “Charlie, look at me. I’m a mess and you want to love me?”

She brushed back his hair and peppered his face with kisses. “Too late. I think I already do.”

“It’s settled then. I will love you forever, too,” he said.

She scooted close to him. “You’ll have to because we’ve slept together and my father knows. I told him to bring his shotgun.”

“You slept with me last night?”

“The last two nights. It’s Christmas, silly. Merry Christmas, Trig Whatley. I’ve got nothing to give you but my heart.”

It was hard to maneuver with the IV, but he managed to roll on his side and wrap her in his arms. “You’ve given me so much already. You’ve given me hope. Now kiss me,” he repeated. “I miss your kisses.”

She laughed. “There’s so much you missed while you were sleeping.”

“Tell me.”

“I’ve given you at least a hundred Christmas kisses.” Just as he was getting his one hundred and first, Doc Parker walked into the room and cleared his throat.

“Good morning, Trig. Merry Christmas.”

Trig sat up, but didn’t let Charlie escape from his side. “Good morning, sir. Merry Christmas.”

Doc took his vitals and deemed he was going to be all right. When he asked Charlie to leave so he could remove the catheter and IV, she laughed. “I’ve seen it all, Daddy. Trig isn’t hiding anything from me.”

Doc gave them both a dark look. “Son, when you’re feeling better, you and I are going to have to have a talk about your intentions toward my daughter.”

Trig gave Charlie’s hand a squeeze before he asked her to step out of the room.

Doc removed everything that kept Trig tied to the bed.

“Sir, I think I love your daughter. My intentions are as follows. Number one, I plan on buying us a house and staying here in Aspen Cove where I’ll partner with Bowie and provide for your daughter. Number two, I plan on marrying her as soon as she’ll say yes. Number three, I plan on making her the happiest woman in the world. If you give me your blessings, I’ll get to work on it right away.”

Doc sat at the edge of the bed and looked Trig straight in the eye. “Son, if you’re not feeling too weak, get yourself dressed and meet me in the living room.” He pointed to a pair of crutches in the corner. “Use those until your leg heals a few more days.”

Trig wasn't sure if meeting him in the living room was a good thing or not. That certainly put him closer to the front door. Was Doc getting ready to boot him to the curb?

“Should I be worried?”

“Only if you don’t make her happy. I may be old, but I’m determined.” Doc rose from the bed and walked to the door. “I’d ask if you needed help, but you’re the stubborn type. Just don’t fall and break your head. She’d never forgive me.”

Trig swung his leg over the edge and stood up slowly. Lucky for him he’d had plenty of fluids the last few days so he wasn’t particularly dizzy or unstable. His stomach growled, telling him he was hungry. He hopped to the bathroom, took a quick shower, dressed, and hobbled his way into the living room, where Doc and Agatha sat on the sofa together. Cannon and Sage sat cross-legged in front of the tree. Clovis and Otis were spooned in the dog bed.

Charlie came out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee. “I thought you might like some more liquid.” Trig made his way to an empty chair and as soon as Charlie set the cups down, he pulled her into his lap. She squealed with delight.

“Merry Christmas,” he said to everyone present. “I’m sorry to put a damper on the holidays.”

Charlie smiled. “You didn’t. You helped us see it’s not what you have, but who you have that matters. Christmas is about family and friends.”

Doc rose from his seat and walked a plain white box to Charlie. “I’ve been holding on to these for years hoping that someday you would find it in your heart to come home.” He handed her the box.

Trig swiped the tear that ran down her cheek.

Charlie cleared her throat. “You know what’s so funny about that statement? I had to come home to find my heart.” She opened the box and inside was two keys. “Really?”

Trig had no idea what that meant, so he looked between father and daughter.

“They have always been yours. Your mother would have wanted you to have the house and the space next to the clinic has been waiting for you since the day you left.”

She turned to him. “I’ve got a house and a clinic. Now all I need is a partner. What do you say, Trig Whatley? You want to take a chance on me?”

He turned toward Doc Parker.

“Son, I took care of number one on your list. It’s up to you to take care of the rest.”

He would have liked to get up and shake on the deal, but that would require letting go of Charlie. In his heart, it was too great a sacrifice. He knew he’d never let her go, not even for a moment.

Trig spent the rest of the Christmas day enjoying his new family. When the sun set, he feigned exhaustion and led Charlie to his room which Sage had turned back into his very own romantic getaway with wine for Charlie and candles for ambience. While Doc warned him not to exert himself, there was no way he wasn’t making love to her. He didn’t care that his body was recovering. Nothing mattered except Charlie and making her realize she was his for all time and eternity.

“So you saw it all, huh?” He tossed his crutches to the side and pulled his T-shirt over his chest. His hands skimmed over the countless scars running across his skin. “Everything?”

He tugged at the button of his jeans and pulled the zipper down one tooth at a time.

She blushed, but her eyes never left him. She didn’t look at him in horror, but in awe. He watched as her chest rose and fell and her breath picked up.

“Everything. How could I not? You’re so perfect.”

“You’re so blind.” He bent his finger and motioned for her to join him. She didn’t hesitate. “Charlie, I’m going to make love to you tonight. You belong to me. You belong with me. I know it’s quick but…”

She placed her fingers over his lips. “Stop talking and do it.”

Trig wasted no time getting her naked. She lay in the center of the mattress. Her soft white skin glowed against the blue sheets. He climbed on top of the bed resting on both knees and, while his left was painfully sore, nothing would be more painful than not making love to her.

He brushed his lips against hers and trailed down the column of her neck to her shoulders and then to her perfect breasts. As he plucked a pebbled nipple into his mouth, the only thing he felt was alive.

He made love to her breasts, making sure to spend equal time between them before he moved south. His tongue ran down her stomach until he dipped inside her belly button. And when he came to the sweet spot between her thighs, he loved her for long minutes. When she shook and shuddered beneath his tongue with a whisper of his name on her lips he knew he’d be hers forever.

He shifted up her body. His erection lay painfully heavy between his legs. “Would you be unhappy if you got pregnant our first time?”

She stalled for a second and then gripped his hips and pulled him deep inside her. “Haven’t we wasted enough time?”

He stilled inside, knowing he’d never felt this good in all his life. Here was a woman who knew he was lacking and yet she made him feel whole.

He thrust forward and pulled back until her breath caught in her throat and his name left her lips again. The flutter of her release pulled him deeper until he sailed over the edge with her.

They lay in each other’s arms. “How did you know I was the one?” she asked.

He laughed. “You told me with every kiss. While I might not have known in my head, I knew in my heart.”