Page 91 of Tacos & Toboggans
After tucking it back in the bag, I turned to her. “We?”
“The girl gang, of course,” she said with a smile. “Fair warning, Audrey is fit to be tied and will be by at some point. Major may as well know even his army doctor routine isn’t going to hold her back.”
My laughter was soft in the quiet room. “I’ll be sure to warn him. Thanks for everything, Ivy. I’ll pay you back for the supplies and buy everyone a round the next time we go out. You’ve saved Christmas for me.”
“Something tells me that waking up to see your sweet face alive and smiling is the only gift he needed this year.”
“You might be right,” I agreed, a smile on my lips as I thought about spending the day with him.
“With that, this Santa’s helper is going to take her leave. We have a busy day at the community center, and someone will be by with your meals around noon. Good?”
“Ivy, no. They don’t need to bring us lunch. You already brought us breakfast,” I said.
“When I say someone will be by with your meals around noon, what I mean is, Audrey Violet will be bringing your meals at noon, and you darn well better let her in the house.” Hand on her hip, she stared me down until I laughed and held up my hands.
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll be here.”
She walked to the door and turned for another quick hug. “Merry Christmas. I’m glad I got to say that to you today in a way that means more than it has any other Christmas we’ve spent together.”
“Me too,” I agreed, holding her tightly. “Give Lucy and Bryce a kiss from their Auntie Jae-Jae and thank Shep for sharing you for a few minutes today.”
“Trust me, after all these years, he’s so used to sharing. See you soon,” she whispered, waving as she headed to her car.
After closing the door behind her, I set the oven to warm and slid the rolls in, leaving the door cracked. Soon, the scent of cinnamon and apples filled the room, so I carried his present in to set it by the tree. Once I was comfortable on the couch, I stared into the lights, thinking back to September and the first time I met the man who had completely transformed my life. Would there be challenges? Yes, but now I knew we’d face them head-on.
Once he’d tucked me into bed yesterday, he’d sat on the edge of it and told me every little thing he could think of about his past relationships. I shared the few I’d had and the lies they’d told, which not only hurt me but left a lasting impression that I struggled to overcome. His willingness to be open about all his past relationships, even touching a little on his experiences after being injured, reassured me that he hadn’t intentionally kept the situation about Kaylee from me. We simply hadn’t gotten that far.
“Baby doll, what are you doing up? Are you in pain?” he asked, sitting beside me on the couch. He held his hand to my forehead. Finally satisfied that I was fine, he dropped it and took my hand.
“Was,” I answered. “I think I’d been in bed too long. Once I got up and moved around a bit, that helped. The pain ismostly gone now. I think not moving allows my side to cramp up.”
“That makes sense,” he agreed with a nod. “You don’t want to overdo it, but moving is important. You should have woken me, though. You aren’t the steadiest on your feet when taking pain medication.”
“All I’ve had is Tylenol,” I said. “It’s taking care of the pain just fine, so I see no point in taking the heavy-duty stuff. You’re looking very handsome today, Dr. Warren,” I said sweetly to switch his focus. He wore a pair of buttery soft jeans and a red cashmere sweater that brought out the color of his eyes in unexpected ways.”
“It’s an important day,” he said, kissing my cheek. “It’s our first Christmas together. Merry Christmas, my love.”
“Merry Christmas,” I whispered, putting my arms around him carefully. “I love you.”
“Maybe about half as much as I love you,” he promised, kissing my temple. “Do I smell cinnamon?”
“Yep,” I said, laughing at the look of consternation he sent me when he looked down. “I didn’t make them. Ivy stopped by with rolls and your Christmas present.”
“Why did Ivy get me a Christmas present?” he asked, confused.
“She didn’t. I had been working on your Christmas present at her house so you wouldn’t see it. That meeting I was supposed to have with her was to finish it off, and when things went south, she rallied the girl gang, and they stepped in.”
“That was sweet of them,” he said, leaning in to kiss me. “I missed waking up to you in my bed.”
“You were so tired,” I explained, trailing a finger down his cheek. “I woke up early, but you were out like a light. There was no way I was going to wake you up after the last few days. You have to go back to work tomorrow, so you need the rest.”
“Wrong,” he said, tapping my nose. “I have clinic on Friday, but Becca will stay with you. Dr. Russel took all my on-call days for the week. It will be next Tuesday before I have to be out of the house for any extended period.”
“Major, no. I’ll be fine here alone. I have plenty of book work to do. You can’t afford to take time off this early in your tenure here.”
“I’ve logged more hours than any new doctor ever has, so the administration encouraged it. They didn’t want me to return with my head only half in the game because I was worried about you being here alone. I couldn’t disagree. I’m a surgeon, but I’m also human. Once I’m confident you’re okay to stay alone, I’ll pick up my call days again.”
As far as I was concerned, that was an incentive to improve more quickly. I loved him and wanted to spend time with him, but I didn’t want him to jeopardize his career. “We’ll take it day by day.”
