Page 64 of A Whiskey River Princess

“Allow me,” he offered, reaching for her cloak.

She gave it to him, and her heart stirred as he slowly placed it on her shoulders. Gabriella tied it at her neck, and then turned to face him. But his hands lingered a bit too long on her arms as he looked in her eyes, taking her breath away.

Dirk looked away, recovering himself as he took a step back. “Well, we really should be going.” His voice was husky.

She nodded as her heart fluttered and her breath caught, momentarily dazed by his scent, a combination of musk, leather, and rain. “Yes, we should.”

Dirk opened the door for her, and she stepped onto the wooden porch. Although Kyle had cleared it for them earlier in the day, Dirk offered her his arm and escorted her down the stairs to the waiting sleigh.

“I could get used to this.” She beamed, the happiest she’d ever been.

He leaned over and whispered into her hair, “I hope you do.”

The snow glistened in the moonlight as they headed toward the church, casting a blue hue over the snow and sending the pine trees into shadow.

“Do you think you could be happy here?” Dirk asked, his voice merely a whisper.

“Dirk, I….” At that moment, she almost told him the truth about her family. About the monarchy… her duty to marry well… everything. But something stopped her. She didn’t want to ruin the holiday.

Dirk let out a deep breath. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, you misunderstood.” Gabriella paused, wanting to word it correctly. “And the answer is yes. I could be happy here. But—”

“Shh.” He placed a finger gently on her lips. “That’s good enough… for now.”

She nodded, and then turned her attention to the scenery, warring with herself over whether to tell him or not, when a lovely stone church appeared in the distance. It was as if God himself had assembled it out of the most beautiful sparkling stone on earth and had set it in the snow, dusted snow across the roof, and then cast the blue hue of the moonlight over it.

“It’s beautiful,” she gushed as Dirk pulled the sleigh to a stop. More people pulled up in their sleighs and carriages.

“Yes, it is.” Dirk wrapped the reins around the metal pole that stretched across the front of the sleigh. His eyebrows drew together in concern as he let out a deep breath and took her hands. “Gabriella, let’s just enjoy Christmas together, no matter what happens.”

Gabriella nodded. Everything was going so well that the last thing she wanted to do was to ruin the holiday. “Dirk, no matter what happens, I want you to know that it was one of the best holidays I’ve ever had.”

For a moment, it looked as if he was about to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he headed around the sleigh to help her down. Dirk offered her his arm, and she took it. Then they headed toward the front door of the church through the snowflakes, falling lightly to the earth.

The minister was standing in the doorway, greeting his parishioners, dressed in a dark suit and tie that seemed to be popular around here. “Welcome!” He beamed as he shook Dirk’s hand. “I’m so glad to see you here tonight.”

Dirk smiled. “I’m just happy that the snow slowed down enough so the service didn’t have to be cancelled.”

The preacher nodded his agreement.

“Reverend Henley, may I present Miss Gabriella Grimaldi?” Dirk placed his hand gently on her back. “Gabriella, this is Reverend Caleb Henley.”

The preacher took her hand and patted it softly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss.”

“The pleasure is mine,” she answered.

His eyebrows pulled together in concern. “I hope you enjoy your stay while you’re here in Whiskey River.”

“Thank you.”

Gabriella tucked her arm in Dirk’s, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Inside, the church was filling up fast. In the front row, two small children sat next to Mrs. Jenkins. Gabriella assumed they were the preacher’s children. She couldn’t imagine what he and his family were going through. It reminded her of when she had lost her own parents and went to live with her uncle. But he had been so busy that it was actually the governess who had raised her. But she was lucky; her governess had been very kind. Not all royals could say that.

Gabriella and Dirk spotted the sheriff sitting with his two children to the left. When Daxton saw Dirk and Gabriella, they slid over to make room for them. “It’s good to see you here.”Daxton looked over at his son. “This here is my son, Andrew—he’s ten—and my daughter, Lillian, is eight.”

Gabriella nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” she greeted the children.

Just then, a man handed them little white candles with hard paper around the bottom. Daxton took one and passed the others down the pew, until Lillian gave her two, one for her and one for Dirk. Then the man lit Daxton’s candle, Daxton lit Andrew’s, and the flame was passed along until it came to Gabriella and Dirk. Before long, the whole church was bathed in the golden glow of candlelight.

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