Page 75 of Meet Me at Christmas
Stella set her cloth napkin in her lap. “This is amazing.”
“I wanted to do something special for you. I tried to take you dancing, but you ran away, so I figured I needed to weigh you down with a chair and good meal this time.”
She laughed at his lighthearted way of softening the explanation of the previous night, but then she sobered. “I’m sorry I always run away when things get hard. I’m going to try not to do that anymore.”
The silver flecks in his blue eyes gleamed in the candlelight, and he gave her an adoring smile.
After they ate, she turned her attention to the baubles. “We had a great life, didn’t we?” She looked back at him.
He nodded.
“Look at all those memories.”
“You missed one,” he said, then stood up and reached deep into the tree. He pulled out a box that hung from a red velvet string.
Stella gasped, a tear escaping down her face when he opened it. She blotted her eye with her napkin.
Cushioned inside on a little tuft of more red velvet was her modest gold engagement ring with the little diamond chip embedded in silver on the top.
Henry opened the ornament and took out the ring, pinching it between two fingers and holding it between them. “The band is back at the house. I was wondering if you’d like to wear this ring as a promise that we’ll see where we go from here—together.”
“I’d love to.” She held out her hand.
He gently took it across the table and threaded the ring onto her finger, peering down at it fondly. “It’s finally back where it’s always belonged.”
Stella moved her finger under the light of the chandelier against the gray sky, the little diamond shimmering. How long it had been since she’d worn it…
“Right now, this is just a reminder—no pressure of any kind. It’s a reminder of how much I adore you.”
She couldn’t deny their bond and how he seemed to make everything better. But would he really want to settle for less than everything he wanted, just to have her?
“Stella, I’m going to ask you to do something that I never got to ask last time.”
“What is it?”
“Letmebe your answer to whatever you have to deal with in life. I’m strong enough to handle it.”
She could see forever in his pleading eyes. It felt like catching her first breath in years. She took his hand. “I want nothing more than to try again. But I need a little time,” she said, looking at the ring. “Not to think about what you just said, but to figure out therestof my life.”
“Don’t take too long.” Henry squeezed her hand. “I don’t want to spend a single minute more without you.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Our future—whatever we might make of it—starts now.” He checked his watch. “It’s about time for the parade.”
With an air of festive excitement, she held Henry’s hand as they left the gorgeous table behind and made their way back into the crowd, weaving through people to the side of the street where they could see the first floats were already coming down.
The eclectic grouping started off with the local police department, the sheriff leading the way in his cruiser with its blue lights flashing as he tossed candy from the open window. He blipped his siren at a few kids who cheered him on. Next came the Boy Scouts, all wearing their uniforms and Santa hats as they sat on bales of hay in a trailer pulled by a tractor, followed by the girl scouts who were singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” An antique Cadillac rolled by with its top down and the local insurance salesman, Marty Johns, was sitting on the back, dressed as Elvis. Then came a pedal tavern with two rows of townspeople pedaling and drinking hot cocoa while throwing T-shirts that said, “Get your Christmas on.”
The local animal shelter employees all wore matching green sweatshirts that said, “Bring home a little love this Christmas” while they walked a pack of dogs all dolled up in red scarves and reindeer antlers and let the parade goers sneak a little pet here and there.
The high school band lifted everyone’s spirits with a jazzy rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock,” their drumbeats pounding in Stella’s chest. As they all moved in unison, dancing while marching through the street, Stella couldn’t help but wish that Pop could see this.
Stella’s favorite grouping was the alpacas from the nearby farm, walking with their handlers. They clopped along wearing red bow ties. After that, Mary Jo walked with the Junior Rodeo Association, the three rodeo girls decked out in white fringed shirts and cowgirl hats while riding their horses, one of them from Henry and Mary Jo’s farm.
One of the local fire trucks bleeped its horn as it roared down the street, the firefighters throwing peppermints and candy canes to the crowd. The local distillery also came riding through with a banner. Their driver wore a foam hat in the shape of a whiskey bottle.
In the middle of it all, Mama found Stella and Henry when they’d finally reached their old parade-watching spot. “There’s nothin’ quite like this, is there?” she asked, handing them each a peppermint.
Henry chuckled. “Definitely not.”
The three of them wrapped up in Mama’s blankets to keep warm. The parade was just as lovely as it had been when Pop planned it, and Stella wondered if he’d been with her all along.
