Tears filled his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. “You don’t have to worry about that no more,” he drawled. “I know now, and I’m so glad I do, because I love you too.”
When she relaxed against him, her trembling finally subsiding, Gunnar closed his eyes. He had her back, she was in his arms, and they loved each other.
All he wanted to do was hold her tight and never let her go.
CHAPTER 34
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced.”
—Matthew 2:10
Twenty-four hours later, Kimber felt as if everything that had been so broken in her life was at last coming together. Her rocky relationship with her parents had been smoothed over at last. Her stalker was gone, her career was now tucked firmly in her past, and Brett, her loser agent, was now safely behind bars.
She wasn’t beating herself up about her future anymore, either. A lot of soul searching had taken place during Brett’s wild ride. Most importantly, she’d realized that she didn’t need to have a smooth, set-in-stone plan for her future. No one cared what she wanted to do or what her name meant in modeling circles—especially not the people who loved her. They just wanted her to be happy.
She thought that was a pretty good thing to concentrate on as well. Being happy was a wonderful goal.
So, while her life was currently a little messy, it was slowly mending together nicely. Kimber had a feeling her future wasn’t always going to be perfect and well put together. Instead, she thought that it was going to be more like her wrist now. A little scarred but just fine. Instead of perfection, she was going to settle with living in the real world.
She was actually starting to think that maybe her scars gave her a little bit of character anyway.
“Do you want more tea?”
Kimber looked up at Jeremy. Since Shannon was going crazy at the theater near Dance With Me, getting ready for the last rehearsal before tomorrow night’s Nutcracker performance, Gunnar had brought Kimber to his house for the day.
She’d taken a long nap and then had been hanging out and watching TV on the couch in Gunnar’s living room for most of the afternoon. Well, now she was hanging out with Jeremy. Gunnar had had needed to do some work in his office, so Jeremy was “Kimber sitting.”
Gunnar’s phrase, not hers.
Looking up at the teenager, who had really come out of his shell of late, she handed him her mug. “Thanks. That would be great.”
“No prob.”
When he returned, a mug in one hand and a plate of sugar cookies in the other, Kimber sat up straighter. “You have cookies too?”
He gave her another grin that spoke volumes about how silly he thought she was. “Your friend Jennifer brought them over while you were sleeping.”
“That’s so sweet.” As usual, Jennifer had made something so simple into small works of art. “Oh! They’re nutcrackers!”
Still holding that plate, he nodded. “I guess they’re for the ballet.”
She gave him a break and took the plate so he could sit down at last.
Looking at the simple white outlines on each, Kimber said, “These cookies are perfect. I like my cookies light on the icing.”
“Not me. I like them chock-full of frosting.”
“That makes sense,” she said as she plucked a cookie off the pile and set down the plate on the coffee table. “I used to like lots of frosting too. Hey, where’s yours? Aren’t you going to have some?”
He shook his head. “Nah. They’re supposed to be for you.”
“Of course I’m going to share with you.” She held out the plate. “Take one.”
After a second’s hesitation, he took two. “Thanks.” He bit down and smiled. “They’re good.”
“So are you ready for tonight’s dance?”
A shadow filled his eyes. “I guess. Gunnar picked up Bethany’s corsage while I was at school.”
“Did you choose the wrist corsage?” She’d recommended that style when they’d talked about the dance a couple of days before.
“Yep. And I picked pink roses.”
“Good job. What about your clothes? Are you all set?”
“Yeah. I’m wearing khakis, a button down, loafers, and a navy blazer.”
Jeremy looked like he didn’t know whether to be excited or worried about the outfit. Smiling softly, she said, “Sounds like Gunnar took you shopping, as well.”
“Yeah. My friend Phillip told me what everyone was wearing.” After peeking down the hallway, he added, “Gunnar was really nice about it. He didn’t even complain about how much all the clothes cost.”
“That’s because I’m not going to complain about clothes, Jeremy,” Gunnar said as he walked into the room and joined Kimber on the couch. “Besides, we can’t have you looking like you don’t know any better. I mean, you are taking the head Sugar Queen or whatever she is to the dance.”
Kimber shared a look with Jeremy, who rolled his eyes. “Bethany is the lead Sugar Plum Fairy, Gunnar. You need to remember that.”
“I’m trying.” He ran a hand over his eyes. “There’s just been a little bit going on lately.”
Kimber winked at Jeremy. “I guess we could give you a break then. What do you think, Jeremy?”
Jeremy grinned. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Thanks, guys,” Gunnar said sarcastically.
After talking a couple more minutes, Jeremy took off to his room, saying that he needed to go get ready.
When they were alone, Gunnar kissed Kimber lightly on the lips. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good.” She actually felt like she’d gone for a wild ride with a royal jerk across southern Ohio, but she didn’t see any sense in dwelling on that.
He reached for her bandaged wrist. “What about this? Do you want some pain reliever?”
“I’ll take you up on it later. Right now, all I want to do is sit in front of your fireplace and just appreciate that I’m here.” She loved how he encouraged her to simply relax.
“That’s all I want to do too.” Lowering his voice, he said, “Yesterday scared the heck out of me. I can’t tell you how many prayers I said when I was in the back of that police cruiser.”
“I said quite a few prayers too. I was pretty sure Brett was going to get us in a wreck. All I kept thinking about was how stupid I’ve been, overthinking about everything in my life. I was so afraid I wasn’t going to get the chance to make changes.” Knowing Gunnar was listening intently, she shifted so she could be nestled more securely in his arms. “But most of all, I just wanted to see you and my sisters again. I didn’t realize how alone I was until I met Shannon and Traci. And now I have you too.”