Page 36 of Storybook Christmas

“Finn. That’s amazing!”

“When one door closes…” he trails off, smiling.

“Another opens.” I finish his sentence, my heart bursting. “And you didn’t even have to make your own door.”

“Nope. Not this time.” He sighs a happy sigh. “Don’t you love companies that care about people instead of loopholes?”

“I do. But honestly, I wouldn’t have cared as much before as I do now. I’ve been very blessed and sheltered.” I bite my lip. “And that’s just another way you’ve changed me for the better.”

His voice is hoarse. “I don’t know what to say. Except that means everything to me.”

Tears are threatening to burst, and I don’t want that—not now. So, I smile and hitch a thumb over my shoulder. “I have another confession—I’m kind of dying to see what you wanted to show me.”

Finn chuckles. “Yes, ma’am.”

We walk hand in hand through the streets of downtown Buckhead.

When Finn guides me into the grand lobby of the Whitleaf Hotel, he steps in front of me with his arms in a spreadeagle. “Okay, don’t look. Yet.”

“All right.” I fight off a smile.

“So, I figured since you couldn’t go to Paris, I’d bring Paris to you.” He jumps out of the way, revealing a stunning fountain with several arcs of spraying water from the mouths of ornately sculpted fish.

He says, “It’s a replica of Paris’s Fontaine des Mers, or Fountain of the Sea.” Finn opens his palm like a tour guide.

I put a hand over my mouth. “This is…incredible.”

“So, you like it.”

“I love it.” I approach the fountain, thinking about all the expensive gifts I’ve received, and how this one is, by far and away, the best. Indeed, the greatest giftsarefree. “Finn…” I trail off, shaking my head. “I mean Ireallylove it.”

“Good.”

Then, without a word, he slips off his sneakers and starts rolling up his jeans.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking over where Bertha left off.” He stands and steps into the fountain before extending his hand. “So, are you gonna let me?”

I laugh and stare at the floor. “I don’t know.”

“You can do it.”

I gnaw at my lip, loving it when he says that to me.

I hesitate, but then I take off my shoes, roll up my pants, and step into the fountain with him. But I leave my coat on—I don’t need to show everyone at the Whitleaf my pumpkin-flour covered shirt.

Finn says, “Dance with me.”

I swing an arm around his shoulders. He takes my other hand and holds it out as he starts to sway to the beat of nothing. Well, nothing but possibly the sound of my heart trying to escape my chest. A breeze from the opening rotating doors whips my hair in my face, and he brushes it away. I laugh as he swings me into a dip.

He smiles ear to ear. “You only live once, Lacy Callahan.”

When a passerby yells, “Get a room,” I’m tempted to stop, but I don’t.

Finn pulls me close, brushing my hair off my shoulder.

I don’t have words, so the best I can do is pull him closer. It’s a strange feeling. Touching his body that’s so hard and strong, yet so vulnerable. Realizing the trust he must have in me to allow himself to open up gives me a sense of fulfillment I’ve never felt before. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with him here in this moment.

---