Page 111 of Romance and Peppermint Lattes
“Be careful, it might break,” she warned, knowing there was no chance of that happening.
Carefully he removed the bows, then unwrapped his gift. Cait watched expectantly as he lifted the book from the layers of bright paper. “A book on baseball?”
Cait nodded, smiling. “As I recall, you used to collect baseball cards.”
“I ended up trading away my two favorites.”
“I’m sure it was for a very good reason.”
“Of course.”
Their eyes held until it became apparent that everyone in the room was watching them. Cait glanced self-consciously away.
Joe cleared his throat. “This is a great gift, Cait. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome very much.”
He leaned over and kissed her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It felt right, their kiss. If anything, Cait was sorry to stop at one.
“Surely you have something for Cait,” Virginia Rockwell prompted her son.
“You bet I do.”
“He’s probably keeping it in the refrigerator,” Cait suggested, to the delight of Joe’s family.
“Oh, ye of little faith,” he said, removing a box from his shirt pocket.
“I recognize that paper,” Sally, Joe’s sister-in-law, murmured to Cait. “It’s from Stanley’s.”
Cait’s eyes widened at the name of an expensive local jewelry store. “Joe?”
“Go ahead and open it,” he urged.
Cait did, hands fumbling in her eagerness. She slipped off the ribbon and peeled away the gold textured wrap to reveal a white jeweler’s box. It contained a second box, a small black velvet one, which she opened very slowly. She gasped at the lovely cameo brooch inside.
“Oh, Joe,” she whispered. It was a lovely piece carved in onyx and overlaid with ivory. She’d longed for a cameo, a really nice one, for years and wondered how Joe could possibly have known.
“You gonna kiss Uncle Joe?” his nephew, Charlie, asked, “’Cause if you are, I’m not looking.”
“Of course she’s going to kiss me,” Joe answered for her. “Only she can do it later when there aren’t so many curious people around.” He glanced swiftly at his mother. “Just the way Mom used to thank Dad for her Christmas gift. Isn’t that right, Mom?”
“I’m sure Cait... will,” Virginia answered, clearly flustered. She patted her hand against the side of her head as though she feared the pins had fallen from her hair, her eyes downcast.
Cait didn’t blame the older woman for being embarrassed, but one look at the cameo and she was willing to forgive Joe anything.
The day flew past. After the gifts were opened—with everyone exclaiming in surprised delight over the gifts Joe had bought, with Cait’s help—the family gathered around the piano. Mrs. Rockwell played as they sang a variety of Christmas carols, their voices loud and cheerful. Joe’s father had died several years earlier, but he was mentioned often throughout the day, with affection and love. Cait hadn’t known him well, but the family obviously felt Andrew Rockwell’s presence far more than his absence on this festive day.
Joe drove Cait back to her apartment late that night. Mrs.Rockwell had insisted on sending a plate of cookies home with her, and Cait swore it was enough goodies to last her a month of Sundays. Now she felt sleepy and warm; leaning her head against the seat, she closed her eyes.
“We’re here,” Joe whispered close to her ear.
Reluctantly Cait opened her eyes and sighed. “I had such a wonderful day. Thank you, Joe.” She couldn’t quite stifle a yawn as she reached for the door handle, thinking longingly of bed.
“That’s it?” He sounded disappointed.
“What do you mean, that’s it?”
“I seem to remember a certain promise you made this morning.”
