Page 72 of Wood You Knot

“What kid doesn’t.” I grinned. “Heck, I love them too. Can’t beat the cotton candy and the food trucks.”

“It’s a date, then.” Sage grinned at me, her eyes dropping to my mouth. Her tongue darted out, licking the seam of her lips. I couldn’t resist the pull, leaning in to kiss her how I’d wanted to all evening. My other hand framing the side of her face, I poured everything into the kiss, letting her know exactly what I felt about her.

When she pulled away to catch her breath, her eyes were smouldering. “Did you want to stay a little later?” She arched a delicate brow suggestively.

“Damn right I do, but first…I have something to give you,” I said, reaching into my pocket.

“Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything,” Sage exclaimed.

“It’s just a little something I made for you,” I told her, handing it to her. She looked at it, her eyes widening as she took in the intricate hand-carved Celtic love knot pendant. It was made up of two interlacing knots forming the shape of a heart. The knots weaved between each other to make one heart facing downward and the other facing upward, and was made of one continuous line.

I’d carved it from walnut hardwood and sanded it with a high grit sandpaper for the smooth, shiny, even surface. I oiled it twice and rubbed it with natural beeswax paste to protect it from humidity before looping it through a black leather cord.

“Oh, Nix. It’s beautiful!” Sage whispered, running her finger over its smooth surface.

“You’re beautiful,” I told her, rubbing her shoulder with my fingers. She looked at me, like she couldn’t believe her luck. In reality, I couldn’t believe mine. That this incredible woman had agreed to trust me with her heart. I would spend all of eternity happily proving to her I was worth that trust.

“What does it mean?” Sage asked, glancing back down at the pendant.

I swallowed, preparing myself. “It represents two people joined together in love. The continuous line represents the eternity of love. Sage, I know we’re just starting out on this path together…but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had strong feelings for you for a while now. I’m so head over heels in love with you.”

“I—I—” She seemed to be at a loss for words. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, although they didn’t appear to be sad tears. Unable to formulate a sentence, Sage leaned in and kissed me, conveying all she couldn’t verbalize with her lips. She pulled back, drawing in a stabilizing breath. It was like she was still trying to figure out what to say.

I framed her face, running my thumb along her jaw and urging her to meet my eyes. “You don’t have to say anything, I just wanted you to have this—and I wanted you to know how I feel about you,” I assured her.

She shook her head, smiling. “I love it, Nix. And…I love you. I think I’ve been in love with you for a long time too. There’s always been something about your soul that’s called to mine, and I’m ready to answer that call.”

I grinned as I helped her put the pendant on, and she admired it for a moment before climbing onto my lap and kissing me deeply. Her hands trailed over my shoulders, running down my chest to toy with my abdomen, making my muscles tighten in anticipation.

Epilogue

Sage

Daphne skipped ahead, her plastic jack-o-lantern bucket bouncing around with each step she took. “Come on! We’re going to be late,” she called out, looking back over her shoulder at us with impatience.

We were on our way to the Tout de Sweets to meet Nix’s family for the Halloween Spook costume contest. The Halloween Spook was the big celebration the town put on, and the costume contest event was one Daphne had been looking forward to most. The shops put on spooktacular sales and vendors offered psychic readings and seances. Visitors and tourists could also learn about the original Hartley sisters and the lore of the love elixir.

Every local and tourist in attendance wore costumes, even the pets got in on it. Earlier that afternoon, there had been a pet parade where locals dressed their pets up in costumes and walked the streets. Hannah Wood and Klaus Bauer had dressed up Chewpacca as his namesake, wearing a bandolier and a fake bowcaster while they dressed up as Princess Leia and Hans Solo. Daphne had loved that event, and immediately started asking for a puppy so she could enter next year’s pet parade.

Nix had warned me the town of Hartwood Creek really went to the extremes at Halloween, but I’d still been surprised. They’d spared no expense, every single shop in the downtown core was decorated. There were elaborate fall arrangements from Hartwood Creek Flowers with skeletons peeking out hanging from every streetlamp. Each store participated in the pumpkin carving contest, displaying their carved pumpkins outside.

There was a giant pumpkin weighing 2,560 pounds in Hartwood Park that had been painstakingly carved in the original Hartley triplet’s likeness, with a witchy spin. According to the local newspaper, it had taken eleven hours to carve.

Hartwood Creek put on a lot of town events, but I had to admit—this one was shaping up to be my favourite.

Nix held my hand as we walked, to Nellie’s absolute delight.

Nellie had come out the day before to join us, and she absolutely adored Nix. She’d given him the stamp of her approval within twenty minutes of meeting him. “I get a good vibe off him,” she’d told me with the biggest grin on her face. That approval had only grown when Nix showed up to pick us up dressed in full costume.

We’d all dressed as monsters from the “Monster Mash” song—Nellie’s grand idea, of course. She always came up with the best costume themes, and although she originally balked at the number of people she’d have to coordinate this year, she’d managed to pull off a great idea that everyone had been on board for.

Nix was Gillman, the fish monster, while I was dressed as a mummy with bandages wrapped all around my body, including my face. Daphne was a witch, and Nellie was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, her costume a perfect split of both characters. Her makeup was incredible—it was so good she’d made Daphne gasp in horror when she first walked out of my bathroom.

“Is that them?” Nellie asked, squinting toward the boardwalk at the group gathered there. The Bride of Frankenstein waved frantically to get our attention, a megawatt smile on her face, while Frankenstein looked a little less enthused.

Tabitha was holding Bryson in her arms; he was a baby Frankenstein. Bella and Brielle were dressed as zombies, while Preston and Paxton had gone all out with their costumes. Preston was Igor, and Paxton was the Mad Scientist.

Even Laurel and Keith had shown up in costumes, both wearing matching skeleton onesies.

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