Page 33 of Christmas Spirits

Wait until I told Jade about everything that’d happened. She was going to flip.

Beside me, Laurence shifted uneasily. Since I was leaning on him on the couch, I sat up and turned to him. “Everything okay?” I asked him. “Was it getting uncomfortable?”

“No. It’s just…I have a present for you,” he said.

My eyes widened. “A present? But we told each other no gifts for us this year.”

I had kept my side of the promise and hadn’t gotten him anything.

He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I know, but I couldn’t help myself.” He wiggled so he could get his good hand into his pocket. Suddenly, something outside the window beeped loudly.

I stared at him, confused.

Again, a horn beeped, sounding like a car on the street below.

Or…a van.

“What!” Excitement spiraled through me as the realization hit. Slowly, he pulled out a set of keys and held them between us. I gaped. “You didn’t…”

He handed me the keys and nodded toward the window. “Go, look.”

I did, almost tripping over the blanket that had been wrapped around my legs. At the window, I stared down at the street in front of my store and saw a white work van parked there, its lights flashing when I pressed the lock button down again. It beeped loudly, too.

“Oh my God, Laurence! How did you—I mean, the money? Rhys!” I spun around to see him standing there, a smile on his face.

“I’d been putting some money aside with every paycheck, figured this was where it needed to go. Toward your dream,” he said.

I didn’t know what to say. It was too big of a gift. Too generous. How could I accept it?

Then, a bit wobbly, he dropped to his one knee and produced a small box from behind his back.

My heartbeat galloped instantly. Was he going to… Really?

“And this… ismydream,” he whispered. “Youare my dream.”

With a flick of his fingers, he opened the box to reveal a beautiful solitaire engagement ring. “Will you…?”

Before he could even get the words out, I flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and squeezing tight. We both teetered over, falling onto the ground together.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Laurence cried. I scrambled to my knees and helped him up, realizing he had landed on his broken wrist.

“Sorry,” I said. “I guess I was a little too excited.”

He grinned. “Is that a yes then?”

“Abso-freaking-lutely.” I let him slide the ring onto my finger before I grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him hard. Behind us, Zach clapped his little hands and giggled.

The doorbell rang.

“That must be Arianna,” I said, my head still in a tizzy from the unexpected proposal. “I’ll get it.”

I hurried down the steps to open the front door, giddy with excitement. The moment I turned the handle, the door swung open, revealing a shivering and visibly cold Arianna. Behind her, the snow was now coming down in drifts, with thicker flakes, already sticking to the ground.

She jumped inside and tugged off her hood. “Did he do it yet?” Gaze dropping to my hand, she spotted the ring and squealed with delight. “He did! I can’t believe he found the balls to actually do it.”

“Wait, you knew about this?” I asked.

She snorted. “Knew? It was all he could talk about for months. Was so nervous, he almost threw up last week.”

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