Bella didn’t dare to hug him, lest she fall apart right there in front of the entire town. Instead, she sat next to Papa and took his white gloved hand in hers. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it.”
“It wasn’t right, Bella.”
She looked at him and tried to read his eyes. How could he know what the situation was? She hadn’t said a word except to lie to him about how great the band was and how awesome Kyle was. She regretted that now. Like so many other things.
“But it will be.” He squeezed her hand. “Fate had other plans for you this Christmas.”
She narrowed her eyes in question.
“Perhaps it wasn’t right this time because you had more important things to take care of right here?”
“But you told me to follow my dreams.”
He smiled, his beard twitching up. “I also told you that there’s always more than one path to get where you’re going, and if you aren’t paying attention you could miss the path that will change everything, remember? Sometimes life has a way of working out that you wouldn’t expect and that you’d never experience if you didn’t keep your eyes and your heart open to it.”
She thought about what he’d said for a moment.
“But what if it’s too late?” It was too late. Jeremy was gone already, and she hadn’t had the chance to tell him how she really felt.
Papa winked and nodded his head to the right. Bella followed his gaze as he said, “It’s never too late.”
And it hadn’t been. The band was more than happy to help her out with her song choice. The moment she stepped out there with the microphone in her hand and started singing directly to Jeremy, she poured everything she had into the performance that was just for him.
The rest of the night had gone by in a blur. There had been hugs and well wishes, Merry Christmases and even a few congratulations, but through it all, Jeremy had been right there at her side and that was all that mattered.
He was there. She was there. And they loved each other.
She looked over her shoulder. He was still asleep. As much as she didn’t want to leave the warmth of his embrace, she was also very aware that it was Christmas morning and Papa would be up soon. As quietly as she could, she tried to slip from the bed.
Jeremy’s arm tightened in response. “Where do you think you’re going?” He pulled her back into his embrace and kissed her neck.
A small sigh slipped from her lips, but she needed to be strong. “I need to get up. It’s Christmas.”
“More the reason to stay in bed.” He flipped around and was over top her, framing her with his strong arms so quickly, she didn’t have time to react. “I want to give you your Christmas present.” He dipped his head and started to kiss her chest, working his way down her body.
The temptation was strong.
“You gave me my present last night.” His head popped up over top her once again. “And I enjoyed it very much.”
“As did I.” His grin was wicked. “So much so, it’s time for another.”
She laughed. “Later. I want to get breakfast started for Papa. It’s Christmas.”
His eyes grew wide. “You’re cooking?”
She narrowed her eyes.
“In that case, I better get suited up with a fire extinguisher. I mean, I’ve seen what you can do to an innocent lasagna.”
She smacked his chest lightly, rolled out from under him, and swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed. “It’s a good thing I did burn that lasagna,” she said as she reached back to pull her hair into a ponytail. “Or we might not have met again.”
She moved to stand, but before she could, Jeremy’s strong arms were pulling her back down to the bed and into his lap, where he kissed her hard. “Babe, our paths would have crossed no matter what you burned.” He kissed her again. “You were my Christmas wish, after all.”
It had been the best Christmas Jeremy could remember. After an easy breakfast—where no one burnt anything—they’d video chatted with Jeremy’s parents and sister. They were all thrilled to meet Bella virtually and were excited to meet her properly when they returned from their trip. They hadn’t discussed what their next step was, or whether Bella would be returning to the city right away, but this time Jeremy knew they would talk about it and whatever they decided, they would decide together. There were sure to be some hard decisions, but Jeremy was confident they could face anything life threw at them as long as they did it together.
They opened the few presents there were, and spent a lazy afternoon working on jigsaw puzzles and watching Christmas movies. Roy even let them discuss the seniors homes he’d consider moving into, and Jeremy happily agreed to help out by taking him on any tours or visits if Bella or her mom couldn’t make it. Jeremy could tell that the older man didn’t want to admit it, but he looked more than a little excited about the prospect of moving. Especially considering they’d just heard that his next-door neighbor, Lydia Arthur, was also considering a move. The twinkle in Roy’s eye when he got the news confirmed what Jeremy had long suspected—there was more than a neighborly interest there.
Bella had just started to drift off, her head on his shoulder, when Roy stood up from his easy chair and announced it was time to get ready.
“For what?” Bella sat up, awake again.
“Dinner.” Roy looked at her as though she were crazy. “It’s Christmas. We have to have dinner.”
“Papa, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think of dinner.” Bella shook her head. “I didn’t prepare anything. I don’t even know if we have—”
“Nonsense. We’re not cooking.” Roy laughed, clearly happy to have fooled his granddaughter. “We were invited to the Langdon ranch for dinner. Well, I was, anyway. But I assume that invitation will be extended.”
Jeremy wiggled his eyebrows at the old man, who only chuckled.
“Debbie Langdon is young enough to be my daughter. We’re old friends is all. And she’s a nice lady who took pity on an old man alone on Christmas.” He shook his head and muttered as he shuffled from the room to get ready. “Damn kids, thinking everything is more than it is.”
As soon as he left, Bella looked up at him with tired eyes. “I’m so exhausted,” she said. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
He hugged her tight, afraid she might actually cry from exhaustion. “We don’t have to go,” he said in her ear. “I’ll drive Roy over and come back and make us grilled cheese. It’s Christmas. We don’t have to—”
“Exactly. It’s Christmas.” She forced a smile. “They’re your friends.”
“And yours.” He kissed her gently. “Which is why they’ll understand, Bella. It’s okay. We just saw them last night. It’ll be fine. I promise.”
Jeremy wasn’t surprised when, forty minutes later, after he’d deposited Roy on the Langdon ranch, gave everyone his best wishes and made his apologies for him and Bella and finally returned to Roy’s place, the house was quiet. Bella was fast asleep on the couch. He pulled an afghan over her and went to the kitchen to, as quietly as he could, prepare a grilled cheese holiday feast.