Page 43 of Blame It On The Reindeer

She had been going a mile a minute, and even with all of the help we had, it seemed like there was still a ton to get done.

“I have something for you.”

Her brows rose slightly as a smile graced her lips.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I didn’t technicallygetit. I made it.”

I felt my cheeks burn as they flushed with color. I had never made anything for anyone before, and I had no idea if she was going to hate it. When I first started, it seemed like the perfect idea. But now that I had to show it to her, I was reconsidering everything.

“Brody!” she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands. She hadn’t even seen it yet and she was already touched by thegesture. This did nothing to calm the nerves that were making me slightly nauseous.

“It’s okay if you hate it,” I started, leading her to the storage room where I hid it this morning with the help of Sam and Aiden.

“Why would I hate it?” She pulled her brows together and narrowed her eyes.

I shrugged, unsure of what to say.

“I don’t know. People don’t like things sometimes. It’s okay if you don’t. My feelings won’t be hurt.”

“I’m sure I’m going to love whatever it is if you’ll ever get around to actuallyshowingme,” she teased with a wink.

I pulled in a deep breath and forced it out through my mouth as I tugged the white sheet and pulled it off. She gasped as her eyes widened and she quickly made her way over to the arch.

She ran her fingers along the distressed wood frame and then touched the sign hanging from the middle. It wasn’t the same as the light-up sign that had been broken, but I felt it was a nice replacement. I’d used a spare piece of wood that I had left over and stained it red before hand paintingSanta & Mrs. Clausin a shimmery silver.

“Brody, this is amazing,” she whispered. “I can’t believe you did this. When did you even have the time to do this?”

I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from fidgeting and rocked back on my heels.

“I had some free time to kill this past week while mygirlfriendwas busy getting things set up for the Frozen Palooza,” I joked, grinning like a fool.

I’d spent a lot of that time going through stuff at the ranch now that I had decided to stay. In addition to the tools I found in the shop to make the arch, I also found a handful of journals that my grandfather had kept. They seemed to start shortly after I left, but they always had an entry after we’d talk on the phone,with him mentioning how proud he was of me. It was nice to have another piece of him to hold onto now that he was gone.

“I can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t like it. Brody, words can’t even begin to describe what this means to me. It’s gorgeous, but the fact that you took the time to do something like this for me... It just... I...”

She shook her head, frustrated she couldn’t get the words out as tears dotted the corners of her eyes. I stepped in front of her and pulled her against my chest as I kissed the top of her head.

“I love you too, Jasmin,” I said, surprised by how easy it was to admit that.

Her head whipped up as she looked at me, likely questioning whether I meant to say it.

“I do. I love you, you crazy boot lady.”

She laughed and playfully shoved my chest.

“And I love you, you grumpy ass.”

I lowered my head as our lips grazed each other’s.

“You guys just said you loved each other for the first time, didn’t you?” Sam’s voice broke through, ending the kiss.

I looked up to find him standing in the doorway with Aiden by his side as they both grinned at us.

“You would be falling in love with him too if he made you something like this,” Jasmin said, wiping her eyes with one hand while keeping an arm wrapped around my waist.

“I’m more of a sandwich kind of guy,” Aiden replied with a shrug. “If someone makes me a mean sandwich, I’m a goner.”

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