Page 50 of My Secret Santa Dallas

“I should triple it.”

“You should.” She smiled sweetly.

I laughed and took a seat; bittersweet memories of the Thanksgiving dinners I’d shared with my family before I’d left came back to me.

“Let's start,” Warrick took his place at the head of the table while the rest of us sat, and I felt a little relief when Blair was down the table, sitting with Connie.

“You know, before we eat, we say what we are thankful for. I’ll start. I am so thankful that my dear Zara came into my life and reignited a part of me that I thought was dead and gone—” he slid a look to Frankie, whose lips were twitching. “And no, Frankie, it's not that part. Get your head out of the gutter.”

He laughed, “The gutter is my summer home, bossman.”

We went down the table, and when it got to me, I said, “I am thankful that I am back home, that I reconnected with the people I thought I’d never gain forgiveness from, but thank god that I was wrong, that I was dead wrong. I am thankful that I found my family again.”

A soft silence followed my words, but Warrick broke it. “You never lost us, Dallas.”

Looking at him, I smiled. “I know that now.”

There was another pause before Frankie said, “I need that cherry pie.”

“No dessert before dinner,” Warrick chided him.

“Yes, Dad,” Frankie laughed, then cut the pie anyway.

It was past eight when we’d eaten our fill, and I helped clean up, gather a few things, and dropthem in the truck when I got Blair’s attention and pulled her to the side. “Take a ride with me?”

She cocked her head. “Um, sure. Where?”

“You’ll see,” I told her and plucked my hat off a hook near the door.

I felt her confusion on the back of my neck as we stepped into the night and headed to the truck. The moon had not come out yet, but the stars gave us enough light to get into the truck and drive away. I took a different road, one I knew Blair had never been on yet, and headed up to Eagles Point, the best lookout point in the town.

She peered out the window at the stark darkness. “Where are we going? This looks like the middle of nowhere.”

“It is the middle of nowhere.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“No.”

After that, the only sound echoing in the night was the rustle of the snow under the truck’s wheels as we headed into the mountains. We broke through the forest thicket and took the soft downslope to the point. There were gazebos and picnic spots up here, but there were also spaces for trucks to rest.

As I found a spot, I backed into it and turned to her. “Come with me.”

As she stepped out, I yanked the bag from the back seat and headed to the back to drop the tailgate and spread the blanket and pillows. Blair looked around at the snow that had already fallen. The mass glittered like diamonds in the moonlight. There were clouds to the eastern horizon, but we were now under a beautiful midnight moon. Stars filled the expansive black sky, making the whole world seem endless. It was stunning.

I got into the bed and helped Blair step in. With my back to the cab, I wrapped a second blanket around us as she got her first glimpse of the mountain range. The full moon lit up the peaks, but the valley was still in heavy shadow.

“That’s pretty,” she marveled.

“It’s prettier at sunrise, too,” I said. “You’ve been distracted all through dinner. What is going through your mind?”

She turned to look at me, then back to the mountains again. “I told my Dad I’d come back for Christmas, but something in my gut tells me to return before Christmas. I’ll come back, of course, but I— I don’t know, my instinct is telling me to go and find out what Wentworth is so hell-bent on getting back home for.”

“Ah,” I said. “If your gut is telling you something is wrong, maybe something is,” I said near her ear. “Trust yourself.”

“This place is beautiful,” Blair replied. “But I must ask, why did you bring me up here?”

“Because I wanted a moment alone with you,” I replied. “I never expected to find forgiveness here. I did. I didn’t expect to find a home here, and I did. The last thing I expected to find was someone like you, and I did. I don’t know where I am in my head, Blair, but I don’t want to lose you.”

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