Claire

It was Christmas Eve, and there was a knock on the door.

Hesitantly, Claire opened the door but there was no one there. There was, however, a red velvet bag on the stoop, full of presents.

She had a feeling she knew who had put this there.

After everything that had happened, she was not surprised that Devin had dropped the gifts and taken off.

On top of the entire mess caused by her lying about their parents, Devin and Claire did not have to wait until the day after Christmas for the rest of the shit to hit the fan. Yesterday morning, Wynn had called her via FaceTime and had given her the bad news while Claire was still recovering from the tequila shots. There was also a lawyer and Human Resources on the call as well, in case she had any questions.

“I’m not going to sue the company for firing me, Wynn,” she had said.

Wynn appeared surprised by the assumption. “I’m not going to fire you, Claire. I’m just moving Devin to our Denver branch, where he’s needed on the ranch. Things aren’t working out with him as regional vice president, as you probably know.”

Claire didn’t hear the rest of it. When Wynn had finished speaking, Claire resigned, effective immediately.

She would be OK. There was an opening in the office at the elementary school, and frankly that environment suited her even more. Plus, she could keep a more direct eye on her younger siblings there.

In the meantime, she would enjoy her Christmas Eve in her pajamas, by their little tree, eating junk and watching Elf all day long.

But this new pile of presents was a painful reminder of the one missing piece this Christmas. Devin wasn’t here. And he wouldn’t be showing up anytime soon. He had said he needed space, and she knew what that meant. Breaking up in the middle of the honeymoon phase of a relationship must be some kind of record.

May was the first person to jump off the couch. “What is that?” she asked, eyeing the sack of gifts.

Claire swallowed back the lump in her throat and pasted on a smile for the kids. “Looks like Santa came early.”

There were more than five or six boxes per kid, each label with their gender and age. Layla opened the large box containing her bug-out backpack, and squealed in delight. Claire had never heard that kid squeal about anything. Then she ripped open another box, and there was a pile of ready-to-eat meals, a top-of-the-line Swiss Army knife, a stainless-steel flashlight, headlamp, and another box full of batteries of all sizes.

“Oh my god, Claire, I could wander off right now and survive for weeks on all this stuff!”

“Don’t you dare!” Claire laughed.

May and Stan opened their boxes, both completely over the moon about their respective gifts of art supplies, a massive sticker collection and stacks of superhero sticker books and cards. Tucked into one of May’s boxes was a card, which she opened, and it contained a gift certificate for 10 art lessons. Maggie had done this. The lump in Claire’s throat was fighting back, hard.

“Guys, there’s another present in here. Whose is it?”

Layla picked it up and tossed it at Claire. Curious, she looked at the tag, which read 22-year-old female.

What in the world had he done now? This was too much.

She opened the box and in it was the most beautiful leather-bound journal she had ever seen. On the cover was an engraved tree with branches covered in gilt leaves.

She opened the journal and turned to the first page. It read: May I come in? I’m freezing and I need to ask you something.

Her heart began to pound and there was no holding back the tears now.

Claire threw open the door and there stood the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Devin took off his hat and held it against his chest.

Claire started to blubber and said, “Thank you for the presents. You’ve made some kids very, very happy. And thank you for the journal. I’m sorry, I don’t have a gift for you.”

Devin was closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“You do have something to give me. I should never have told you I needed space. That was the wrong thing to ask you. I came here because I don’t care what has happened in the past, I just want to be with you and with the kids. I love you and that’s all I know.”

“Devin, I love you too and the kids love you. But I can’t move them to Denver right now. Maybe after the end of the school year. They’ve been through so much. And I want to give our parents a chance to get out of their situation and have a relationship with the kids.”

Devin hushed her with a kiss amidst a chorus of “eeew” from the nut gallery.

“Claire, I’m not asking you to move to Denver. I’m not going to Denver.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I was in the room on that call yesterday. My sister flew in from Denver and hauled me into the office to ‘right the ship,’ as she called it. Right after you quit and hung up, I told my sister to shove it. I don’t want that job if you’re not there.”

“Oh my god, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. We’re in quite the pickle, aren’t we?” He smirked and her heart about pounded out of her chest.

Then, Devin got down on one knee and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it and her knees almost buckled. It was a ring, but instead of a diamond, it was a ruby ring that matched her grandmother’s earrings that she always wore.

“Claire, will you marry me?”

Would he resent her for letting him pass up a huge opportunity to advance to a much bigger ranch, with more money, in one of the most beautiful spots in the country? So many questions ping-ponged around in her head.

But one look at his face and she knew that he knew the answer to all of that. He just wanted one thing. He meant exactly and only the words he said.

It took Claire about three seconds to decide. “Yes, Devin, I’ll marry you.”

This time, the kiss was met with cheers instead of “eews” from the nut gallery.