“I love you, too,” she said, searching his eyes.
Smiling, he kissed her, showing her exactly how much he loved her.
After, they held onto each other once more. This time, he slipped into sleep, dreaming of the day they would have their own family.
When he woke, he could hear her moving around in the kitchen area. She’d built a fire and was cooking French toast.
“Morning.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around her.
“Morning.” She smiled up at him. “I thought I’d cook this morning.” She handed him a cup of coffee. “The weather report says we’re supposed to get a break in the snow today.” She motioned towards the muted television.
He walked over with his coffee and turned on the sound. Sure enough, the new report stated that they would have a break in the weather for the next two days.
He stood there with his coffee mug forgotten in his hands as he thought about them heading in two separate directions in life. What would happen? He’d drop Alice off at her parents’ place and go over to his sister’s. They’d be apart for Christmas. He’d never get the chance to make those plans with her he’d been hoping to.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. He heard the eagerness in her voice and avoided her eyes.
“Sure.” He turned off the television. “I guess this means we can head to Portland now.” He walked over and sat down at the table.
“If we want,” she answered. “The main roads probably won’t be clear for a few hours after the sun comes out. Who knows about the smaller roads off of highway one-oh-one.” She set a plate of French toast in front of him.
He hadn’t thought of that. “We can go for a short drive for lunch if you want, to test things out?”
“Sure.” She was still acting relaxed, as if leaving the cabin, going in separate directions, wouldn’t faze her at all, so he kept the conversation light during breakfast. They kept the television off and talked about all of the snow outside.
She told him a story about the last time she’d seen snow, and they talked about going sledding with Chris when they were kids.
He couldn’t remember a winter they hadn’t pulled out their plastic sleds and climbed the hill behind their neighborhood with the rest of the kids on their street.
“Remember when Chris broke his wrist before winter break?” he asked, laughing.
“He was so upset Mom wouldn’t let him go sledding, so he snuck out and we all went.” She laughed.
“He duct-taped a pillow around his cast just in case.” He chuckled remembering how big Chris’s arm was in that thing. “But it worked. He flew off the sled and landed without even hurting it.”
During a short walk to the beach, they talked about school and family.
When they were walking back up the cleared path towards their cabin, Alice turned to him.
“Do you think Chris and Dawn will get married?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I mean, the last time I went out with them, they were pretty serious.”
She sighed and stopped at the foot of the stairs. “What do you think of Dawn? I mean, I’ve met her once, but…” She bit her bottom lip.
“Hey.” He took her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “She’s great. Really. None of my warning bells go off with her.”
“Oh, well…” She smiled. “We all know just how great your warning bells are” She tilted her head and he knew what was coming. “I think her name was Krista?” He groaned.
“Shut up,” he said, chuckling. He pulled her closer and tried to kiss her, but she dodged him.
“Then there was Eva and Tiffany and—”
He shut her up by covering her laughter with his mouth.
“It’s the one I have now that matters the most,” he said to her. “You’re what I’ve been working my way up to.”
Chapter 15
Alice could tell that Eric was deep in thought as they pulled the car out of the bed and breakfast’s parking area. Todd had been out there earlier and had cleared away most of the snow. Even the drive out to the main road had been cleared already.
“So,” he asked, looking at the road in front of them. “Which direction?”
“Well, I’d like another look at the town.” She thought about it. “Since it’s Christmas Eve, maybe we can walk through the lights again. I didn’t snap any pictures the other day.”
“Sure.” He nodded and turned in the direction of town instead of the main highway.
They drove around the small town, enjoying the homes and the coastline views. He took a road that led them to a little dock area where fishing boats bobbed up and down in the cold water.
They drove past the town, but a few miles outside, the road was blocked off still by highway signs.
“Guess that answers that,” Eric said, maneuvering the car until they were heading back towards Pride.
“It would probably be safer to wait, anyway,” she added, thankful that they would be spending Christmas in Pride.
“Will it be so bad? Spending Christmas here?” he asked as they came around the corner and the small town came into sight again.
The sun was shining down on the town as if a sunbeam had been made especially for that moment.
“No,” she answered with a smile. “I couldn’t imagine a better place to spend Christmas.”
He reached over and took her hand in his. “Or someone better to spend it with,” he added.
When they hit the outskirts of town again, she noticed that all of the lights were on in the town square. Finding a parking spot in front of the drug store, he parked and looked up and down the quiet streets.
“Let’s walk a little,” he said, turning off the car. “I can’t believe how magical this place looks,” he said before getting out of the car.
“As I said before, I don’t want to leave,” she said as she got out. She was relieved that the road was closed.
Hand in hand, they started walking through the town square again. This time, they were the only ones around. The trees were weighed down with the heavy snow, but still the lights dangled and glowed from the branches.
She knew it had eaten at him this morning after they found out there was a break in the weather, thinking that they would be heading to their own families for Christmas.
No matter what happened, she would have made sure they had spent time together. Even if it meant ditching her family.
As they walked down the pathway, her mind wandered to what could have been. She shivered, not because of the cold, but because of the possibility of having been stuck in a hotel along I-5 instead of here. When Eric felt her shiver, he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.
“Cold?” he asked.
“No.” She sighed. “Just thankful I turned off highway five.”
He chuckled. “I am as well. Very.”
They stopped in the middle of the square and looked around. The town was even more beautiful now that the sky was clear and blue. There were still a few puffy clouds drifting by but, for the most part, it was a perfect day.
It reminded her of a perfect little snow-globe world, one blanketed in crisp clean snow.