Chapter Eleven
I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my cheeks.
“I can’t believe you can have that many people in a room at once and be able to hear a pin drop.” I slid the video off my screen and glanced up at Colton, who seemed as amused as me.
“What did I tell you?” He shook his head. “It’s the weirdest thing. The family is just silent.”
“It’s like everyone is playing that mannequin game or whatever it was where people stayed frozen.”
“Yeah, only most of my family calls it living.” He chuckled.
“Did my video scare you off?” I asked.
“No. It made me wish I was there even more.”
His words did all kinds of crazy things to me. “You wished you were at my house on Christmas?”
“And every day after.” He took a sip of coffee.
“You certainly know what to say.” I grinned.
The video I sent him was right after my dad and I came in from outside and my sister was busy singing in her nasally voice while my grandma and mother were debating—or arguing—about whose method for cooking the ham was best, all while Ken and my father yelled at the television or one another with the play by plays. I’d spun the phone around and asked him if he was still sure he wanted to come over on New Year’s Eve, to which he responded, hell, yeah.
“This is a really good place,” I said, taking a bite of my turkey and cranberry sandwich. “I can’t believe how much has changed since I was here last.”
“Funny how that works.” His eyes connected with mine. “People changed, the town changed . . .”
“All for the better.” I glanced around the small café. There were only a few tables filled, but that was because it was a couple of hours past lunchtime. “I’m really going to miss this town.”
“The town is going to miss you.” He reached over and grabbed my hand. “Especially one person in the town.”
“Who’s that?” I squeezed his hand back, reveling in all the emotion flooding through me.
“Me.” He drew his hand back and sat back in the chair.
“If you’re going to miss the town so much, why not move back? Your grandma mentioned your family wanted you to run the store.”
“I always thought I might someday, but I’ve got an entire life in Washington. I love the little house I rent, my friends are incredible, and I have to confess I have a really easy job.” I smiled and let out a silent sigh. “But I do miss home. I miss my parents and seeing my grandma.” I shook my head, not wanting to think about things.
“Speaking of . . .” He twisted his mouth into a peculiar pucker and all I could think about was how sweet and full his lips looked.
“Yeah? You want me to set you up with grams?” I teased.
“Well, that is an option.” He smiled and took another sip of coffee. “I probably need more caffeine before I start down this path.”
“What path?” I asked, confused.
“So, I looked up Lester and Wilma back at the senior housing.”
“Yeah?”
“And they did pass away. They actually died thirty-six minutes apart in the apartment.”
“When?” I already knew the answer. Their son told us, but I didn’t want to let my mind go there.
“Precisely when their son said.” He shifted in his seat. “I can tell you it wasn’t Christmas morning.”
“I can’t even wrap my head around this.” I stared at Colton in genuine disbelief. “That has to put us into the crazy bin, right?”
He pushed his lips into a frown, and I noticed several little lines forming around his eyes. There wasn’t a look this guy couldn’t pull off, sexy, brooding, confused—they all looked good on him.
“And it sounded like we weren’t the only people they visited.” He let out a deep sigh.
“Why us?” I asked.
“Why not? We’re two young people, attractive, with a lot to offer,” he teased.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” His expression fell blank. “What if they helped push us together a little and we didn’t even know it?”
“You think?”
“I mean, you no longer seem to want to bite my head off every time I look at you now.” He smiled. “And I don’t feel like my life is in danger if I’m near a cliff.”
“I told you I’d never do a cliff. I meant that.” I grinned and let my mind race with wild ideas about Wilma and Lester. “Well, if we’re going to take this seriously, I’d say the message was to keep doing the work you’re doing.”
“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“The message I got was that love doesn’t need to be complex.” He smiled. “That either there’s a spark to begin with or not. Do you feel that spark?”
His words froze me in place. Never in a million years did I expect to be sitting across from Colton McAlister during my holidays and talking about feeling a spark.
“It’s hard for me to miss,” I confessed. I bit my lip and pulled my hand back. “But I’ve played around with my heart too many times. I’m more realistic now. For instance, here’s a red flag right off the bat.”
Colton’s features pulled together as he listened carefully.
“I live in Washington and you live in Colorado.”
“I don’t think that’s a red flag, Gina. I think that’s a matter of proximity and an excuse.”
“An excuse?”
“Yeah. If you box yourself in really tightly, you won’t ever have to worry about opening yourself up to get hurt again. By telling yourself that your living in Washington and me in Colorado ought to squash it before it even begins is sad. Some might even say depressing.”
“But I’m just being honest with myself.”
“Are you, though?” He tilted his head slightly and his eyes flecked with curiosity. “Didn’t you say you missed your family? Hell, I’m already missing grandma, and I only saw her a couple of days ago.”
I laughed and shook my head. “See? I think you’re just angling for her.”
He shrugged. “There is a certain spark about her.”
“There is.” I nodded in agreement, catching the way he looked at me, and all I could think of was his kiss.
“So.” His voice quieted. “We can both agree that something otherworldly happened.”
“Definitely.” A chill cascaded over me, and I glanced around the café.
“We just can’t agree on what message was sent.” He rubbed his fingers along the day’s stubble along his chin and I caught myself fantasizing about feeling the whiskers against my skin.
“Right.” I nodded, whipping my thoughts back to angels and ghosts. “Maybe the message wasn’t even meant for us.”
“Has grandma been out dating a lot?” he teased.
I rolled my eyes and leaned closer to the table. “What do you want that message to be?”
“Don’t make dating complicated.” He sat back satisfied, and I laughed.
“Well, I think that’s a good life lesson all the way around.”
“Good.” He chuckled. “Now, what are we going to do after New Year’s Eve when you go back to Washington?”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly that.” A flicker of heat ran through his gaze and my stomach flip-flopped.
“Well, I imagine I drive away on New Year’s so I can—”
“You know what I mean.” Mischief rested behind his gaze. “I like you. You’re fun to be around, and I want to get to know you more.” He sat back triumphantly. “Now, how’s that for being blunt and to the point?”
“Grandma would be proud,” I teased, feeling my insides warm from the way he looked at me.
“Well?”
“I suppose we should do what normal people do—text, call, email . . .” I wasn’t sure what more he wanted me to say.
“I’m not all that into normal.” He straightened up, and my mind started spinning with where he was headed because I had absolutely no idea. “I want to visit you.”
“Already?” My brows shot up in surprise.
“Well, by the time New Year’s rolls around, it’ll be a week where we’ve gotten reacquainted. Do you really think that’s enough to keep this thing going? You’ll probably ride the ferry into the sunset and forget about me.”
“I doubt that,” I assured him.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what Lester and Wilma said.”
“Have they been visiting you at night too?” I smiled, still unwilling to completely deal with what we’d just encountered on Christmas Eve.
“No, not yet.” He threw a coy smile in my direction. “But I let you get away once because of my foolishness. I don’t want that to happen twice.”
My breath hitched in the back of my throat and my gaze fell to the tablecloth.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Colton asked.
“Nothing. I just don’t want to disappoint you.”
“Disappoint me?” He nearly choked the words out. “How in the world could you disappoint me? We’re still trying to get to know one another. There’s no way you could disappoint me.”
My heart squeezed as I looked at Colton McAlister. He seemed so genuine and so determined. I wanted to believe that it wasn’t just the holiday spirit that filled him a little too much with the idea of love, peace, and joy.
“Well? What do you say about that visit?” He sucked in a breath and waited for my response.
“I’d like that. A lot.” I grinned, unable to believe that even with our history, I couldn’t stop daydreaming about the possibilities. “I’d even pick you up from the airport, and let me tell you, with the ferry schedule, that’s saying something.”
“I’m honored.” He held his palm over his heart. “Have you told anyone about Wilma and Lester? Does your grandma know?”
“I didn’t want her to think she was getting senile, or worse yet, that we were.”
“Do you think we should?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, the son had no idea that we’d run into his parents or that his parents had run into us.” I twisted my lips into a pout. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Maybe just our secret?”
“Maybe.” I nodded. “It’s kind of nice to share such a special one.”
“I have to tell you, I never in a million years would have thought I’d be spending my holidays with you, Gina. I assumed I’d never see you again. It’s been so long since you came back here.”
“It has.” I nodded, feeling him take my hand in his again. “Way too long.”
The server brought our check and Colton quickly paid. As we made our way out of the café and onto the outdoor patio, Colton looked up and smiled.
“What?” I asked, following his gaze.
“This has definitely been my year.” He stepped into me, circling his arms around my waist and causing my pulse to soar as I felt his hardness pressed up against me.
“Does it still count if it’s after Christmas?” I asked, nearly breathless.
“In my book, it does.”
I closed my eyes and felt his mouth touch down to mine. He tasted sweet, and all I could think about was wanting more.
He broke free and smiled as my eyes fluttered open and I centered myself.
Being in his arms was intoxicating and disorienting and oh, so wonderful.
“You’re really good at that,” I said, catching my breath.
“I was thinking the same thing about you.” He looped his arm around my waist and pulled me into him as we walked along the sidewalk to my car.
The thought of leaving him after only a lunch out literally made my chest ache a little because I knew this was one step closer to the end. Even though he made promises of visiting and probably had sincere intentions, I just couldn’t and wouldn’t let myself believe that seeing Colton McAlister over my holidays was anything more than a Christmas wish come true and nothing more.