“Remy!” I gave him a look. “What did you do?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t do anything. I guess Santa came.”
“I don’t have anything for anyone!” she whispered. “I thought we were keeping it simple.”
“This is simple. If I’d bought you a new car, like I wanted to, that would’ve been over the top. Don’t you think?” His eyes twinkled and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But it was Christmas, and his family was watching, so I had no choice but to be gracious. Well, there were always choices, but as I’d told him last night, I was helpless to refuse him anything, especially when it came in brightly wrapped packages.
One of them was long and stick-shaped, and I gave him a look. “Is that what I think it is?”
He laughed. “You’ll have to open it and see. I don’t know what Santa had up his sleeve.”
Deciding I was going to enjoy this, I dug into the gifts, and sure enough, he’d gone way overboard on the things he’d bought me, but I loved every single one of them. Especially my new set of hockey equipment and an amazing winter coat. There was also a limited-edition inaugural season Lauderdale Knights jersey—which wasn’t even available to the public yet—and hockey skates. There was a theme to most of his gifts, but the whole family had gotten the limited-edition jerseys and Kingston said he would wear his when he sang the anthem next fall.
I excused myself to get another cup of coffee after I’d opened all my gifts and took a minute to catch my breath. Christmas this year was too much and everything I’d ever dreamed of all wrapped up in one dark-haired, bearded, retired hockey player. I’d never imagined having feelings this strong for someone I’d known less than a month, but here we were. And I’d agreed to move to another country to be with him.
It was overwhelming but in a good way. For whatever reason, I trusted Remy, and more than that, I trusted us as a couple. I kept trying to rationalize it, but in the end, there was no explanation for falling in love this quickly. And frankly, I didn’t care anymore. I still had the money I’d been putting away for nearly a year, and I knew in my heart of hearts Remy wouldn’t let anything happen to me, even if things didn’t work out for us romantically. It was just the type of man he was.
“Are you all right, Noelle?” Aletha came in behind me, checking on something in the oven. “You looked a little overwhelmed by my son’s generosity.”
“I haven’t gotten a single Christmas present since I was about thirteen,” I admitted. “So yes, Remy’s generosity is a little overwhelming. But he’s such a great guy, it’s hard to say no to him, and I don’t really want to.”
She smiled. “He’s generous to a fault. Always has been. I didn’t have the best marriage, but I got the three best sons in the whole world out of it, so it wasn’t all bad.”
“Your sons seem wonderful,” I said, taking a sip of my fresh cup of coffee.
“I know this is all happening very quickly with you and Remy,” Aletha said, taking a casserole out of the oven. “But you can be sure Remy will be there for you. No matter what.”
“I feel that way too.”
“Love each other,” she said softly. “Communicate, and more than anything else, take care of each other emotionally. That’s something that was missing in my marriage, so that’s my advice to you, woman to woman. Don’t let him get caught up in work—it’s in the DNA of the Knight men to be workaholics—no matter how important he says it is. Don’t ever let him put you second. And if he tries, put your foot down. I never did and it’s my biggest regret. Anyway, enough of that.” She put her oven mitt down and looked around. “I think it’s time for breakfast. Will you help me take everything to the formal dining room?”
“Of course.”
Her words echoed in my thoughts as I carried the casserole out to the dining room.
Love each other and communicate.
That seemed overly simple.
Maybe it was.
It rang true, though. Secrets caused nothing but trouble and I didn’t have anymore. And it was so freeing.
* * *
Saying goodbye to Remy’s family was harder than I’d thought it would be. I’d only known them a few days but I already adored all of them. Aletha was smart, educated, and a warm, loving matriarch. Kingston was extremely good-looking and even more talented; having him play piano and sing Christmas carols on Christmas Day was one of my favorite memories ever. And though young, Ashton was funny, sweet and also going to be a hottie when he got a little older. There was no doubt they all loved each other deeply and had accepted me into the fold without hesitation. The brothers teased and joked nonstop, and it had only taken a day before Kingston and I ganged up on Remy and Ashton or Aletha and I ganged up on all three guys.
There had never been so much love or laughter in my house growing up and my eyes had filled with tears when Kingston hugged me goodbye, since we’d had to leave the day after Christmas.
“Keep him on his toes,” he’d whispered to me.
“Always.”
“I don’t know what you’re saying over there,” Remy yelled, “but stop talking shit about me!”
Kingston flipped him off before hugging his older brother. Then we’d hit the road back to Garland Grove. I’d forgotten about coaching the kids’ hockey camp and I couldn’t blow it off. I didn’t need the money now that I was going to Florida with Remy, but there was no one else and those kids would all be let down if I didn’t show up. Best of all, Remy was going to coach with me, which would be a huge surprise for the kids.
“Hey, listen to this,” Remy said as we settled into our room at Rudy and Vera’s B&B. “My attorney left me a message that two people are interested in the arena. I haven’t even put it up for sale yet!”
“I don’t want you to sell it,” I said softly.
“Babe, I’m not going to have time to breathe the next six months. Any free time I have will be devoted to you, so if things start going wrong here, I can’t just drop everything to deal with them.”
“Aren’t you hiring Connie to manage the place?” I asked. “And, once we get my visa sorted out, I can fly back and forth to take care of things if that happens.”
“Maybe one of them would want to be partners,” he said thoughtfully. “Then we could share responsibilities. That would make it easier for us and I’m not worried about making money.”
“Please make sure they can’t sell it, that both of you need to agree before you sell it.”
He leaned over to kiss my forehead. “If you don’t want me to sell the arena, I won’t.”
“Thank you.”
His phone rang and he made a face. “That’s my attorney. I should take this. Hey, Dennis, what’s up…” He seemed to be listening for a long time, his eyes moving to me and then looking away again. “Uh huh. Yeah. I’m gonna have to get back to you, okay? Yeah, thanks.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked automatically.
“Nothing’s wrong, per se.” He hesitated. “It’s just, well, the visa thing is complicated.”