Page 41 of A Gift for her Festive Firefighter

“You can’t change your mind!”

“I’m not,” he laughed. “I promise I’m not.”

“And you can’t get tired of me…”

“Not gonna happen,” he grinned, hugging her close and burying his face against her shoulder as he held her, spinning her around slightly before setting her down. “I love you, and I really want this to go far between us – and I’m hoping you feel the…”

“I love you,” she blurted out, clasping his hands within hers between the two of them, her eyes huge. “You are my very own Hostess snack-and-a-half. I love you and think you’re sooo incredibly appealing, taste divine, and I crave this between us like a crack addict needing a fix. I’ve had a crush on you for the longest time and…”

Cade laughed happily – and tugged her back into his arms, hugging her again. They were just standing there, holding each other, giggling like a couple of fools, and savoring this moment between them, between stolen kisses.

“I love that you have a crush on me…”

“I can’t believe all of this… are you sure?”

“I know this is fast, but I really mean it. I want to date, to hold hands, to be around each other all the time.”

“Oh gosh,” she exclaimed in a gush, laughing. “This is the best Christmas present ever – and it’s not even Christmas yet!”

“Does that mean we’re celebrating together?”

“You are never gonna shake me,” she admitted, laughing happily as a tear slid down her cheek. He leaned forward to kiss the tear away, smoothing back her curls, and smiled. “I’m going to be the best girlfriend, I swear.”

“Just be you,” he whispered, kissing her tenderly.

Two days later, Cade was still in heaven. He was so happy and had so many wild things running through his head. He hadn’t been joking about the holidays making people reckless because he was considering buying Holly an engagement ring.

Him… married?

He could actually see it, too.

“Guys?” Cade asked unexpectedly while they were all sitting around the television watching the news one evening, eating dinner. Mayberry had made a thick, salty beef stew, and the cold front that had come through had finally put a nip in the air. They were even talking about a chance of snow flurries in the twenty-one-day forecast, which just blew his mind. “I need something special to do with Holly for Christmas. Do they do something in town here like they did at Halloween?”

“Oh yeah, Sweet Bloom puts on a big ol’ show,” Rodney admitted, looking at him slyly. “Why? You gonna pop the question?”

“Ignore him,” Mayberry grumbled. “Darn fool. Everyone knows you wait until springtime and do it at the wishing well…”

“Wait, what?”

“The wishing well. In the center of town, just off Bluebonnet Drive, there’s that big Christmas tree and that white well in the distance – that’s the wishing well.”

“Oh yeah! He’s gotta propose at the wishing well in the spring. It’s so pretty with all the flowers and you can hear the marching band sometimes in the distance practicing. It’s just really romantic and dreamy,” Jude sighed dramatically, and you could have heard a pin drop as all of them stared at the man. “What? A guy can be romantic and emotional, you know?”

“Jude, that’s actually pretty nice,” Cade admitted. “But I thought about asking Holly to marry me at Christmastime. Do you think she would mind if there weren’t any flowers? I mean, if I had to, I could go put Christmas lights on the well and make it look festive…”

“Oh, pshaw,” Jude waved him off. “The whole town square will be lit up, brother. We go all out here. There’s gonna be a Santa Village for the kids with reindeer, caroling, a nativity scene, plus there’s the annual window decorating contest.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Rodney said with a full mouth, nodding. “You could ask her to marry you over there.”

“Scoops puts out their holiday flavors. Does ol’ Beary like ice cream?”

“Wait… everyone decorates their windows near the town square?”

“Yeah.”

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