Page 77 of Miss Humbug
We ended up in her grandmother’s office at the back of the house off the hall from the kitchen. Besides a desk and bookshelves, the room offered a bench seat by a window, and even better, a door that fully closed.
Without speaking, we embraced. Her hands traveled up my plaid flannel shirt and connected at the back of my neck. “Merry Christmas, Ethan Sawyer.” Her voice came low and downright sexy.
“Bah Humbug, Marlowe Holly.”
She tipped her head back laughing. “A humbug wouldn’t wear this, right?” She looked down at the sweater.
“A humbug with a heart might.”
“Tyler gave me this as a counterpoint.” She hooked a finger beneath the sweater collar to reveal a necklace with a black sort of crystal pendant. “It’s coal. Fake, but it’s supposed to look like a lump of black coal. Maybe humbuggery runs in the family.”
“Maybe so.” I wanted to kiss her. So badly. We hovered in this in between zone of flirting and questionable futures. She looked so beautiful in her ridiculous sweater. Her beauty had nothing to do with her clothes or makeup. Joy radiated from her that couldn’t come from those things.
Before I kissed her, before I let myself fall all over again, I had to know what was making her glow. “What’s going on with you? You seem…happy.”
She pressed her lips together and a big smile exploded she couldn’t hold back. She returned both hands around my neck. “In January, I’m headed to California.”
She let her statement sit a torturous beat before continuing. “To pack. I’m moving back. For now. To this house, first. To an apartment TBD.”
Marlowe was coming back. She was coming home. “I—”
She pressed a finger to my mouth. Was I nuts to call this sexy too? Silencing me with a simple touch?
“I’m moving for me. To find what I want to do. I have a few ideas, but nothing set in stone.” Her face grew more serious. “I wanted to make the decision myself before you and I saw each other again. Even if things don’t work out between—well, I mean I want us to work out, but in case they don’t, I wanted to decide on a plan regardless.” She sighed with force. “I’m sorry for the dramatics with my family. I understand if I’m too much.” She released her hands. “I’m not sure why I’m clinging to you—I’m sending a mixed message. Gosh, I am messing this up.”
Marlowe was moving home and wanted us to work out. I’d heard all I needed.
I closed the distance between us and kissed her. She melted at my touch, slumping even, until she angled an arm around my neck and pressed in.
Another new kiss. How were they all so different? I tasted her joy, her minty excitement. Probably the candy canes, but all of it together tasted perfect and so very Marlowe.
We broke free. “I love you, Marlowe.”
She responded with another kiss. Then: “I love you too, Ethan.”
Our lips met again. Nothing, not pounding feet outside the door or a ringing kitchen timer could take me out of this room right now.
Eventually, Marlowe pulled back. “You said you had a present?”
“There’s the holiday spirit.” I took her wrapped gift from my bag.
We sat on the floor facing each other. She tore into the wrap. “Ethan, wow. You made this?”
“You liked the stamp, so... It’s a welcome home key shelf. For wherever you end up hanging your house keys.”
Her eyes watered. “It’s perfect. Thank you.” She tangled her fingers with mine. “I can leave it here since I won’t need it for my trip to California.” She paused. “A trip to California. Not going home to California. It already no longer feels like home.”
I squeezed her hand. “Selfishly, I’m glad you feel that way.”
“Selfishly, I am too.”
“Why selfish for you? I’m the one who benefits.”
“I resisted coming back for so long because it felt like the easy choice. It was almost like I sought out difficult circumstances.” She shook her head. “Suddenly, the choice did feel easy. It’s easy because I miss my family. I miss you. I don’t need to be hung up on the past because the past is gone. If anything, nosy people in town are going to remember the Holly and Sawyer boys fighting in town square over anything I ever did.”
“Can’t argue there.” I wished I could. “Speaking of town and reputations, I talked with some farm owner friends about a potential idea for our farms.”
“Yeah?”
