Page 356 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

The other coupleshad all exchanged gifts at home, so Jack slid Maisie’s gift under the sofa on the sly, catching her eye as he did so. She winked and pointed toward the dining room, where he could see her purse hanging from her chair. Later, after all of the other gifts had been opened, Lee wandered off, either to his room or the bathroom, and Addy turned on the TV and foundA Christmas Storymid-film. Jack whispered into Maisie’s ear, “Let’s go open our gifts to each other on the front porch.”

She grinned. “I saw your moves with the sofa. How about we meet outside with our presents?”

“Deal.”

His was easy. He was sitting on the floor next to the sofa, so he grabbed the gift and went outside, suddenly worried it wasn’t enough. He was resting his butt against the porch railing when she walked out, carrying the small, wrapped box he’d seen at her house.

“I want to open mine first,” she said, setting her gift in one of the chairs and snatching his wrapped gift from him.

“Okay…”

She didn’t waste any time before ripping off the paper. When she opened the lid, she carefully lifted out the scarf.

“It was made by impoverished women in Vietnam,” he said in a rush. “So we’re contributing to the livelihoods of women in need.” He pushed away from the railing. “But that’s not the reason I bought it,” he said in a husky tone.

“Oh?” she asked as he took the scarf from her.

He looped it behind her neck and tugged her closer with the ends until she was flush against him. He held one hand up and brushed the soft fabric against her cheek. “I was right.”

“About what?”

“It’s nearly the exact color of your eyes.”

She smiled and wrapped a hand behind his neck, pulling his face down to hers. “Your turn.” She looked nervous. “I’m worried you won’t like it.”

“I’ll love whatever you give me, simply because it’s from you.”

“You have to say that,” she said as she pushed him down into one of the chairs and grabbed the gift up from the other. She hesitated, then handed it to him. “If you don’t like it, I can get you something else.”

“Maisie, I’m going to love it.” He snagged her wrist and tugged her to him, settling her on his lap before he tore intothe paper. He was surprised when he discovered an oversized jewelry box, and the gift inside left him nearly speechless. Having worked at a bar with wealthy clientele, he knew an expensive watch when he saw it.

Now he felt like an utter asshole for getting her a scarf.

“Maisie…”

“In the interest of transparency, you need to know I didn’t buy it.”

He grinned at her. “You stole it? There’s a whole bad-girl side to you I didn’t fully know about.”

“I didn’t steal it, and can I say you got far too excited over the possibility that I did?”

He kissed her, then pulled back, grinning like a fool. Maisie did this to him, but he didn’t mind one bit.

“It was my dad’s,” she said quietly. “He would have liked you. A lot.” She swallowed. “It sat in a box for years, like everything else. But what good is it to keep things in boxes? And…it felt right for my past and my present to merge into my future.”

A lump filled Jack’s throat. He was the luckiest guy in the world.

“You hate it,” she said, horror filling her eyes as she misinterpreted his silence. “I didn’t buy it, so I know that makes me cheap, but I—”

Jack kissed her hard. “Maisie.This is the best gift I’ve ever received. Thank you.”

“Are you positive?” she asked, looking uncharacteristically unsure of herself. “I really can get you something else.”

“Don’t you dare,” he said, removing the watch from the box. He slipped it onto his wrist and fastened the clasp. He tried to slide it up and down his wrist, but it barely moved. “It fits perfectly.”

“It’s like you were meant to have it.”

He stared into her worried eyes. “I know it’s hard for you to let go of the past, but you don’t have to let go of everything, and I’ll be there to help you. At your pace. There’s no rush.”

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