He raised an eyebrow.
“I want to be with you. I want a life with you. I loved traveling and I wouldn’t give anything for the adventures I had. It made me a more rounded person. But you know what?”
Caleb just shook his head, overwhelmed with love for her.
“Everywhere I went, the world over, villages and towns, cities and metroplexes, people would ask me what I was running from. Why I wasn’t with my family and friends.”
“What was your answer?”
“I told them I wasn’t running from anything, that I was running to adventure.”
“How did they respond?”
“Some people understood…” She shrugged, not caring the least what people thought about her. “Others said I was deceiving myself.”
“And were you?”
“I guess maybe on some level I was running from an ordinary life.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s insightful.”
“Ironic, isn’t it? Now all I want is a nice, quiet, ordinary life in Kringle. I’ve learned the shiny new experience only lasts for so long and by flitting from place to place, hiding behind a camera, I never went deep. I stayed on the surface where it was nice and safe.”
Was she being honest with herself? Did he dare hope she was home for good? Caleb worried about how much hope was in his heart. There was only one gift left to give her.
He took the little black box from his pocket and went down on one knee under the mistletoe.
Ava’s body trembled and her heart filled with utmost joy.
“Ava Miller,” he said. “This is the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done. I just bought the ring this morning, having no idea whether you’d accept me or not.”
“Caleb.” His name came out in a rushed whisper.
“I’ve spent my entire life planning. I kept thinking if I planned carefully enough, I could control how things in my life went, but you’ve shown me that was wrong. I was trying too tight to hold on to you. The first time around, I was trying to keep you in a safe little bubble. I won’t make that mistake again.”
She’d made so many mistakes too. She should never have accepted his proposal the first time. She’d been madly in love with him, but she’d simply been too young. Now, she’d matured and grown. She’d seen the world, met many people, and no one had ever taken his place in her heart.
“Sure, it’s good to make plans,” he went on. “But it’s also important to be flexible. I can’t plan for every event, and it’s wrong to try to control others. I need to be open to other ideas and to change.”
“It’s not a bad thing to plan,” she said. “Home for the Holidays would have been a disaster if you hadn’t shown up and organized the crowds.”
“And if you hadn’t spontaneously shown up to decorate my house, we wouldn’t be under the mistletoe.”
She knew he was right, and she couldn’t help smiling. “So what you’re saying is that we can depend on our individual strengths to build a life together.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and reassuring. “Well, I wouldn’t have said it that smoothly, but that’s the general idea. I’ve been so worried about you leaving and breaking my heart again that I pushed you away. I realized at the pet adoption event how foolish I’d been.”
“You’re not foolish, and I love you so much.” She was so happy to hear that he had changed his mind. She knew they were going to encounter obstacles in life. Everyone did. But she also knew that working together, they could overcome those obstacles.
“So what do you say? Will you marry me?”
Ava said softly, “It would be my greatest honor and joy to marry you, Caleb Sutton.”
She put on his ring and he got to his feet and gathered her in his arms, and there, under the mistletoe they kissed for a very long time.
Ava hadn’t just come home for the holidays. She’d finally come home for good and it was the most perfect Christmas surprise.
Dear Reader,
Readers are an author’s lifeblood, and the stories couldn’t happen without you. Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed A Perfect Christmas Surprise, I would so appreciate a review. You have no idea how much it means!
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Much love and light!
—Lori
Also by Lori Wilde
KRINGLE, TEXAS
A Perfect Christmas Gift
A Perfect Christmas Wish
A Perfect Christmas Surprise
TEXAS RASCALS SERIES
Keegan
Matt
Nick
Kurt
Tucker
Kael
Truman
Dan
Rex
Clay
Jonah
About the Author
Lori Wilde is the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers’ Weekly bestselling author of 92 works of romantic fiction. She’s a three time Romance Writers’ of America RITA finalist and has four times been nominated for Romantic Times Readers’ Choice Award. She has won numerous other awards as well.
Her books have been translated into 26 languages, with more than four million copies of her books sold worldwide.
Her breakout novel, The First Love Cookie Club, has been optioned for a TV movie.
Lori is a registered nurse with a BSN from Texas Christian University. She holds a certificate in forensics, and is also a certified yoga instructor.
A fifth generation Texan, Lori lives with her husband, Bill, in the Cutting Horse Capital of the World; where they run Epiphany Orchards, a writing/creativity retreat for the care and enrichment of the artistic soul.
Copyright © 2020 by Lori Wilde
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.