Page 111 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

“I want this one,” she says, her eyes glistening as she slips it onto her finger. Because I ran her ring size past her brother, who had no fucking idea, and Tina, who put forth an educated guess, it fits. “I want this. I wantyou.”

“Thank God for that,” I say, letting out a breath as she wraps her arms around me and squeezes. She kisses me, and I kiss her back thoroughly, so grateful I can’t put it into words.

I pull back slightly and say, “I didn’t ask your father for permission.”

She laughs. “Good. We both know he wouldn’t have given it.”

That, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated as if his opinion matters. He’s never paid Kennedy that compliment. She’s always been told to do things, never asked.

Her parentsdoknow about us, however. Zach was right about them. They haven’t disowned her, but they’ve made it very clear that I’m not allowed to attend any family events or even visit their house. Suits me. I want upper crust parents-in-law about as much as they want a blue-collar son-in-law. Kennedy has other relatives, though, including a great aunt, who made sure to call to wish us a happy Christmas Eve. Her other brother, Phillip, did the same. It was awkward as hell, but I appreciate that he made some kind of effort. Although I don’t want to drive a wedge between Kennedy and her family, she insists that if her parents had approved of me, she’d have been worried. I get that.

My own mother doesn’t know we’re together, or at least she doesn’t know fromme. I was done with her before I found out the truth about Jay, and now I’m more done with her than ever.

“I didn’t ask because it’s a ridiculous tradition,” I tell her, “and yes, he would have said no. It’s always better not to ask if ‘no’ isn’t an acceptable response. But I did ask Zach for his blessing.” My mouth hitched up. “He gave it, and he seems pretty pleased you’ll be staying in Highland Hills.”

She gives me a broad smile. “As it happens, I’m pretty pleased too.”

“I also asked Olive and Nanny Rose for their blessing.”

“You did?” she says, her heart showing in her eyes.

“They said no.”

She pushes my arm. “No, they didn’t.”

“No, they didn’t,” I confirm. I reach up and trace her bottom lip. “They seemed pretty pleased.” They’d come up to see us for a couple days after the ski trip, and we’d brought them to Christmas All Year Coffee…which was shut down for us so there weren’t any gawkers. Although the production team didn’t want to include anything related to Christmas on the show, I made the argument that the place always looks like that, mostly because I knew how much Kennedy wanted to share it with Olive. I could have happily spent the rest of my life without stepping foot in it again…if it didn’t make her so damn happy.

“I love you,” she says, and I’ll never get tired of hearing those words from her. If that means I’m exactly as much of a sap as Holly and my other sisters have always accused me of being, then so be it. I’ll hear I told you so five million times or more, but I’ll develop selective deafness. She’s worth it.

“I love you too.”

We spend the next twenty minutes playing with the car, which Jester doesnotlike. We really are like kids on Christmas morning, and Kennedy tells me at least three times that we have to pursue her business plan because every child in America needs one of these. I’m not so sure about that, but I like the idea of bringing joy to kids. Kennedy’s brought joy to me, and now I feel like everyone could use a little more of it.

After we get coffee from downstairs, which is empty because Holly is with Cole and Jane, and Harry is in Asheville with his mother for the morning, we put Jester’s leash on and leave for our next destination—Jay’s house. Because thereisone parent I’d like to share my news with.

I expect Ivy to answer the door, or maybe Jay himself, so it’s a shock, to say the least, when that guy from Ziggy’s opens it. Leo. Or maybe Lou.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I burst out, because my initial reaction is that he must have broken in or roofied Ivy or something. I’d intended to ask Willow about him after our dinner at Ziggy’s, but what with the fire and the Rolex ceremony and the ski trip, it escaped my mind. Still, I’m fairly sure he has no place in my father’s house, on Christmas, no less. I don’t like it, and I have a strong suspicion I don’t like him.

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” he says with a slight upward movement of his lips. Then he steps aside, holding the door open wider.

“Your sister’s a late sleeper, and your dad is lying down in the living room,” he says. “I offered to get the door.”

I notice, distantly, that he said dad and not stepdad. Does he know? Did Jay tell him?

“You still haven’t said what you’re doing here,” I grumble, adjusting where I’m standing so I’m in front of Kennedy and Jester.

“I live here,” he says, laughing. “When everyone got kicked out of the inn, the innkeepers let me stay with them for a couple of nights, but Moira said she knew of someone who was looking for a roommate. That someone turned out to be your dad.” He waves a hand. “You know what they say about small towns.”

“What do they say?” I ask, still confrontational. I don’t like that I didn’t know about this, but I suppose it’s my own fault for being so wrapped up in Kennedy. Actually, I wonder when Ivy found out. She flew back to Charleston last week for a few days to grab some things, so she must have been gone while all of this went down. Something tells me she would have told Jay to say no.

“That there are no strangers in them. So I probably shouldn’t have come here to escape my problems. Go figure. There are no bad ideas, just dumb people who come up with them.”

He seems like he’s talking to himself more than me. “Excuseme?”

He shrugs. “Come on in. Don’t worry. I’ll make myself scarce.” He steps back to let us in. Kennedy enters the house first, unclipping Jester, who immediately rushing up to Lou as if they’re long-lost best friends. I’d be more moved by his approval, but he treats everyone as if they’re a long-lost best friend. I take some satisfaction from the thought that he’s probably drooling on Lou’s socks, if only because Lou looks like the kind of guy who wears, I dunno, cashmere socks or some shit. Cashmere socks deserve to get dog drool on them, if you ask me.

“Are you coming to Bryn and Rory’s house later?” Kennedy asks him. “Rowan says Willow’s going to be there.”

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