Page 31 of A Constant Christmas

This is the house where my ex, James, found me after all those years and beat the shit out of me. This is the house where he stalked me and watched me for months on end. This is the house where we had our final showdown. The house where he would have killed me if the cops hadn’t killed him first. He was shot in our bedroom.

It was at that point, I decided we had to move. I couldn’t stay there any longer. There were too many ghosts.

Tears silently stream down my cheeks as memories cloud my thoughts. One thing about Samantha Wendell is my impeccable ability to shove all my emotions down until they all explode out of me. Avoidance is my middle name, and for years, I have avoided thoughts of this place.

Tyler takes his thumb and wipes the tears from my cheeks. “Baby, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have come here. I was just thinking of all the good things that happened in this house.”

He pointed to my old bedroom window. “Remember, right up there is where I told you I loved you. You were packing your stuff to move out, and we got in that huge fight. And then…”

I stopped him. “And then, you kissed me for the first time. I remember.”

He presses his lips to mine. “And I haven’t been able to stop kissing you since.”

I smile against his lips. “And you better never stop.”

We are both silent for a moment as we gaze upon the house. It had been in his family for a while because he and all three of his older siblings went to school here in Boston. His parents bought the house a long time ago for the kids to stay in while they were in school.

Thankfully, his parents fully understood the reason for us wanting to sell, and since the house was in their names, they handled all the paperwork. They offered to give us the money from the sale, but we refused. After all, it was their house…at least on paper.

In our hearts, it was ours. I remember finding out I was soon going to be homeless, and I came to a party Tyler was having to drink my sorrows away. After a little too much whiskey, I suggested we have one fun, sexy night together…no kissing and no strings attached.

Who would have guessed that over ten years later, I would have fallen in love with the rich playboy that was Tyler Wendell? If you would have told me back then that we would be married, I would have laughed my ass off.

But the second his lips hit mine for the first time, I knew that I never wanted to kiss anyone else for the rest of my life. It was as though that kiss cemented everything I had been trying to lie to myself about. Despite everything that I had convinced myself, I had fallen in love with the rich guy I swore I never would.

As I stare at the house, I think of all the good times we shared. All of our laughs. Our crazy sex on every surface we could find. Our movie nights.

A smile pulls at my lips.

“What are you thinking about, Kansas?”

“You gave me Mason in this house.” Mason is our golden retriever who is now quite the old man. When Tyler gave him to me as a Christmas gift though, it was right here in the living room of this house.

Snow begins to fall outside the car windows, and it’s almost as if it’s a sign. A sign that the good in this house will always outweigh the bad.

“I’m sorry we can’t go inside, Kansas. I didn’t want to seem weird asking the people who live here now if we can take a walk down memory lane in their home.”

“No, instead, we will just be the creepy people parked on the street staring at it,” I say with a giggle.

He chuckles. “Didn’t really think about that.”

“Besides, it’s better this way. I want to remember this house the way it was. I’m sure the new owners have changed quite a bit in there. I don’t want to remember it their way. I want to remember it ours.”

“Okay, beautiful.” He kisses my cheek. “Where to?”

“Home. This trip has been wonderful, and it’s definitely taught me that I need to remember what’s really important, but I miss our kids and our life. Take me home, Trust Fund.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Sam

“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! It’s Christmas morning! Wake up!”

Two tiny munchkins are jumping up and down on my bed. I wonder why it’s only me they are talking to, but when I reach over to find Tyler next to me, he isn’t there.

Sitting up quickly, I grab the girls, one in each arm, and pull them down to lie with me. They struggle against me, but when I start tickling them, giggles erupt in the room.

It’s been a few days since we have been home, and I’ve been loving every second. I’ve been taking more time to enjoy the little moments with them instead of always being so stressed out. Instead of rushing out in the crowds to go Christmas shopping, I did all my shopping online from the comfort of my couch while I sipped coffee and watched movies with the kids. Instead of baking thirty different kinds of cookies for everyone we know, I opted for just a couple of batches that the girls helped me make. They may not look all that pretty, but they taste even better knowing we did it together. And as for the house? No, it’s not spotless. And I don’t care. I keep up on chores when I can, but I leave it at that. I don’t spend every second of the day worrying about picking up every single little thing.

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