Page 63 of Architect's Christmas Nanny

“Come on,” he said, his voice a little rough. “Let’s go look for deer.”

But instead of walking to the living room window, he headed out the back door and onto the porch. She followed, pulling her cardigan closer around her shoulders. The brisk air felt good to her heated cheeks, and she drank in the beauty of the snowy woods as the first drops of cold mist began to fall, tick-tacking gently on the porch roof above them.

“I waited too long,” Brad said softly, his own eyes on the trees. “Years too long, to tell you how I felt.”

“But we got to know each other,” she offered. “And we gave all we had to Josie.”

“We could have known each other better,” he said, turning to her. “We could have given her brothers and sisters by now.”

The heartache she had tried to hide from these last few years hit her like an anvil in the chest and she turned to face the trees again, praying that he wouldn’t read her sadness on her face.

Jillian was nearly thirty. She wasn’t getting anyyounger. If she was being realistic, she knew that being a mom was becoming less and less likely for her as time went by, and it had been on her mind a lot lately. But during those times when she couldn’t put the thought out of her head, she reminded herself that she had been all but a mother to Josie, so she should have no regrets.

“Jillian?” he murmured.

“All I ever wanted was a nice little family,” she heard herself admit. “I wanted to be a wife and a mother.”

“Of course you did,” he said immediately. “And you’re part of our family, no matter what your answer is.”

She turned to him, but he was kneeling now, holding up a ring with a tiny diamond that winked and twinkled merrily, reflecting the colors of the Christmas lights.

“Brad,” she breathed, gazing down into his beautiful dark eyes.

“Jillian,” he said. “You mean the world to Josie and me. Please let me be your husband. I don’t want to waste another minute.”

“Josephine Williams,” Annabelle’s voice came from inside the house. “Get back in here and give them some privacy.”

Jillian looked up to see Josie smushed between the Christmas tree and the window. Her little nose was flattened against the glass as she smiled at Jillian, nodding her head as if to remind her that she had to say yes.

Jillian couldn’t help smiling back.

“Yes,” she said to Brad.

The way he looked at her in that moment filled her chest with so much happiness that she thought she might float away into the sky like a helium balloon.

Brad stood and slipped the ring on her finger, and then pulled her close. She stole another glance at the window to be sure Josie wasn’t looking before she closed her eyes and let him kiss her.

Jillian had dreamed about this kiss for years. But being enveloped in Brad’s warm arms, his mouth finally claiming hers, was better than any fantasy.

22

JILLIAN

On Christmas morning, Jillian awoke early and slipped out of bed, making her way down the stairs as quietly as possible so as not to wake Josie.

The excitable girl had been up half the night, planning a dream wedding for Jillian that was so over the top that Jillian had to shake her head in amazement at the little girl’s ingenuity. But after such a late and eventful night, Josie was still sleeping hard with Moose curled up at her feet. And Jillian was still smiling as she thought about all of Josie’s big plans from the night before.

“This one is the best,” Josie had said finally, after scrawling another outrageous scenario in her notebook with a flourish.

“I love all these ideas,” Jillian told her right away. “I think they’re amazing.”

“But only becauseIcame up with them, right?” Josie teased.

“Well, maybe that’s your own wedding you’ve been planning,” Jillian suggested.

“I do love fireworks and tigers,” Josie said thoughtfully. “But I don’t think I’ll get married. I have a lot of other plans.”

“If you find the right person, they might help you with those plans,” Jillian suggested.

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