Page 46 of His Christmas Gift

“I wanted to,” I replied as I reached out to take her hand. I rested our arms on the center console as I got off the ramp and headed down the street, admiring the unique architecture and style of the buildings. There was no place like New Orleans.

Autumn smiled to herself and peered out of the window until I parked on the side of the street. She got out of the car, joining me on the sidewalk so that I could lead her wherever I had in mind. To my surprise, she took my arm as we walked together.

I walked all the way to the French Quarter with her, being surrounded by Creole townhouses, music-filled bars, lively restaurants, and unique shops. Groups of people walked up and down the sidewalks, enjoying the historic neighborhood.

“Man, I missed this place,” I said, already smelling the delicious aroma of Creole and Cajun food. We would leave here feeling full and satisfied.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Autumn said as she glanced around with an excited look on her face.

“Well, it’s still early. How about a cup of coffee and some beignets?” I asked her, lifting an eyebrow at her. She knew exactly what place I was talking about.

“Café Du Monde?” Autumn replied, brightening up. “We have to go.”

I led her down the street before crossing another one to get to the café, which was already starting to fill up. With each year, it got more and more popular and for good reason. No other place had beignets like this place. After getting through the long line and ordering two orders of café au lait and some beignets, we took a seat with our coffee and beignets.

Autumn took a bite of one of her beignets, immediately laughing as powdered sugar got everywhere.

“I forgot how messy these are,” she said as she tried to wipe all the powdered sugar off her lips.

I reached forward and gently brushed a few last flecks off her top lip.

“Totally worth it,” I replied before biting into my own. There was nothing better than fried dough covered in powdered sugar. There was just something about it, especially paired with hot coffee. I watched her sip on her coffee, looking as radiant and beautiful as ever.

It was easy to imagine us doing this all the time, spending various, normal moments together. Besides my family and Ethan, there was no one else that I could think of with whom I wanted to spend moments like this. I believed that moments like these would be boring without her.

“What did you have in mind next?” Autumn asked, overcome with excitement for our day out in New Orleans.

I smiled, feeling glad that she was so excited. I had hoped that this was a good Christmas gift for her. I was used to gifting expensive gadgets or fancy accessories. It was easy, and the cost didn’t matter to me. When it came to Autumn, I had to do some thinking to figure out what would make her happy.

“You’ll see,” I replied, shooting her a wink before finishing off my last beignet. The sugar and coffee were just what I needed to get the kick of energy that would help me take this day by storm. New Orleans was an adventure.

Once we finished up, we strolled down the Moonwalk, a boardwalk bordering the Mississippi River. We leaned against the railing, peering out at the water with our arms brushing. The sun beamed down on us from up above, warming us as the temperature stayed at a steady 60 degrees.

“I should open up a gym here,” I said.

“You haven’t yet?” Autumn asked, giving me a curious look.

I shook my head, wondering why I hadn’t thought of that yet.

“No, I haven’t even been back to my original gym in St. Francisville in forever. I’m always chasing the next best thing for my business,” I replied.

“What’s the next best thing?” Autumn asked, a soft wind whipping through the air around us.

“I know it’s kind of wild, but I want to go international next,” I said before chuckling. “Maybe it’s an excuse to travel more, but it would be cool to have my gyms in Europe.”

Autumn nudged me encouragingly.

“You should do it,” she told me.

“It’s a big venture. I have to convince my investors that it’s a good idea. We’d have to do a thorough study of the market over there,” I replied. I wanted to go after the opportunity, but I hadn’t gotten the nudge to risk it yet.

If my gyms only existed in the United States, I would still be happy and proud of that accomplishment. I never thought that my business would get this big. I just kept working hard, and things kept soaring. I didn’t want to stop soaring, which I thought a relationship would ground me. My brothers showed me that if I got with the right woman, she would support me instead of making me stop.

“It’s important to do that research. Gyms have to appeal to the local people, to the neighborhood. My aunt’s gym did so well for a while because she knew the people. She knew what they wanted. Then, people moved. The neighborhood changed,” Autumn explained to me. “You just have to know the people over there to succeed.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just looked at statistics and plopped my gyms down where I thought they would succeed. Some gyms did very well, while some took a lot of extra work to get up and running properly. I supposed I didn’t do as much groundwork as I could’ve been doing.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told her.

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