Page 14 of Christmas Agreement
And I knew, without a doubt, that I was completely, irrevocably, in love with this woman. I could see a thousand nights like this spread out before us. I could imagine how I’d spoil her after I signed with the Lynx. I could envision our future children, us sitting on our front porch and watching the sun set behind the western Adirondack mountains. All of it was there for me, clearer than it had ever been.
“What are you thinking?” she asked. “Are you worried about your teammates seeing us together? My brother?”
“No. Not worried.” I’d deal with those problems when or if they occurred. “I was just thinking of you. Us.”
“What were you thinking?”
“A lot. I’m kind of wondering your thoughts on Charleston,” I admitted.
“South Carolina? Or one of the other ones?”
“South Carolina.”
“It’s…far. Different from Majestic Falls.”
Her response didn’t reassure me.
“But would you ever think of going there?” I pushed. “Temporarily at least.”
Her tongue swiped over her bottom lip. “If the circumstances were right,” she hedged. “That’s months away, right?”
I looked down at what was left of my dessert. “Right.”
“Rugar,” she said, drawing my attention back. “Let’s see how you feel about me in May, okay?”
“Or how you feel about me.”
She shook her head. “My feelings aren’t going to change.”
My fingers tightened on hers. “Neither are mine.”
“Okay,” she breathed. “Then we’ll see right. Let’s… Let’s just not rush.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Ready to go?”
She nodded and since I’d already paid, I slid to my feet and held out my hand to help her from the booth. With our fingers locked together, we headed back to my Jeep.
“Oh my gosh! Look!” she gasped, pointing with her free hand when we were halfway across the lot.
“What—” I cut off as I gaped at the huge moose standing at the edge of the pavement. He just stared at us, while I tried to assessthe danger from the wild animal. Despite all the stories about Clarence, I knew that moose could charge, even if it was abluff charge. I needed to be sure Katie was safe.
Clarence seemed unconcerned with us. He regarded us for a long moment then went back to eating one of the decorative shrubs in theMangiamo’slandscaping. I couldn’t help but think the owners would be less than thrilled by their bushes being moose food, but I was more interested in getting Katie to my Jeep.
“You know he’s supposedly good luck,” Katie said after I’d handed her into the vehicle and rushed around to my side.
“Is he?” I asked, pretending as if I hadn’t heard the stories.
“Yeah. A lot of couples swear by him—including my boss Jessica and her best friend Melody. If you have a Clarence encounter, you’ll be blessed with an HEA.”
“HEA?”
“Happily ever after.”
I liked the sound of that. “Let’s hope then,” I said. “I’ll take any good luck Clarence will give.”
“Do you think we’ll need it?” she asked. “You know, since we’ve had secret feelings for one another for so long?”
“Everybody needs luck. Even the people with everything going for them.” I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “If ol’ Clarence wants to give us luck, let’s take it.”
