Page 59 of Getting Wrapped Up

She laughed and hugged him again. “We’ll work up to the normal-life stuff.”

He squeezed her, leaned back and pulled something from his coat pocket. “By the way, you left this behind.”

He handed her the Sapphire Falls ornament.

Her eyes misted again. “I tried,” she said, taking it from him. “But it really is impossible once you’ve been there.” She knew that he knew she was talking about more than the ornament.

He kissed her again, and when they finally pulled apart, Kate knew exactly what she wanted for Christmas.

“Levi, would you be my date for the Christmas formal in Sapphire Falls?”

It took him only a second to give her a big grin and a, “Hell yeah. And wait until you see what I did for the formal,” he said, shouldering her carryon bag and taking her hand.

She laughed. “I’m sure whatever it is, it’s perfect and thoughtful and a little out of the ordinary.”

Levi didn’t protest any of those things.

“And—” he gave her another grin, “Joe taught me how to build a fire in the fireplace while I was waiting for the helicopter.”

“But Phoebe and Joe are home now. We can’t use their fireplace,” Kate said. But wow, did she want to. Her body hummed with the memories of the night before.

“No. But the house I bought has a fireplace too.”

“The house you…” She trailed off and shook her head. “We’re definitely going to need to work up to thenormal-life stuff.”

The helicopter was waiting for them, prepared to take them on to San Francisco based on Levi’s initial plan, but the pilot was happy to take them back to Sapphire Falls instead.

A couple of hours later, they finally flew over the tiny Nebraska town and took in the sight of the town square from the air. It looked so much like the ornament Kate had in her pocket that she sucked in a quick breath.

Levi leaned over and said softly, “You know what that is don’t you?” he asked softly. “That’s the view of our Christmas future. And not a ghost in sight.”

She laughed, but gazing at the brightly lit gazebo, trees and even the hot chocolate stand, she knew it was more than that. She took Levi’s hand and squeezed it. “Actually, I think that’s simply the view of our future. For all seasons.”

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