Page 11 of Wyatt the Military Veteran

“Yeah, this is kind of a surprise.” I shrug but stand tall. I'm here for my girl. Determined to meet the woman I've been falling for since her first letter.

“Okay…” he drawls, his eyes narrowing. “Follow me.”

We pass the group watching us curiously, until we run into three women stringing lights between painted PVC pipes.

“Kennedy, you have a visitor.”

“What?” The brunette in a knitted beanie glances up from detangling a bundle of lights, and my breath seizes in my lungs.

Damn, she's gorgeous.

We never exchanged photos of ourselves, despite adding text messages to our correspondence. I might have been desperate to put a face to the humorous anecdotes and sweetly sincere insights Kennedy wrote, but I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, so I kept the desire to myself.

Stepping forward, I wave her letters in the air—they’re my insurance that I am who I say I am.

“It’s me. Wyatt. You said I should visit Suitor’s Crossing, and Christmas seemed as good a time as any.” I inject as much lightheartedness as I can muster while I wait for her response.

Maybe I should have inserted myself into Dugan’s holiday plans and returned home with him. He has leave this year, and it would have been easy enough to drop a few hints here and there to garner an invite.

Except I didn’t want to rely on Dugan.

Especially when I’m not one hundred percent sure of where he and Kennedy stand. She continued to send him letters, though they became infrequent compared to mine.

“Wyatt? Oh my god!” Kennedy rushes forward and throws her arms around me in a hug full of warmth and the sugary scent of her shampoo, before she quickly retreats. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to attack you.” A blush deepens the red of her already rosy cheeks.

“Don’t apologize.” My voice drops lower, so our conversation remains private. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been hugged, and there’s a backlog I’d be happy to give you.”

Truthfully, hugs have never been my thing. Physical affection in general has been few and far between, so if I’m a bit touch-starved, Kennedy is the woman I want to remedy the problem.

Maybe this wasn't such a terrible idea, after all.

CHAPTER EIGHT

KENNEDY

Wyatt is here.

In Suitor’s Crossing.

Because ofme.

A volcano of giddiness pulses through my veins, but I try to rein it in. It's bad enough I already jumped the poor man with my overexcited hug.

Motioning to the side to put space between us and the contingent of volunteers curious to know what’s going on, I ask, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? We could have met in town instead of you trekking out to the middle of the woods.”

“It’s not the worst place I’ve ever trekked,” he says with a grin. “I wanted to surprise you. Is that okay?”

Okay?It’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.

Can it be romantic if our conversations never ventured past playful flirting?

“Of course! I’m happy you’re here.” Even if I’m internally freaking out.What does this mean?“I volunteered to help set up Holiday Lane, but we can drive to town if—”

“I don’t want to mess up your plans. Let’s do this together, then we can figure out what’s next.”

A man after my own heart.

I love volunteering in the community, creating opportunities for citizens to gather and bond. Wyatt’s willingness to stay rather than feeling put out after traveling all this way to see me is a solid point in his favor.

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