Page 35 of Mistletoe Kisses at Cwtch Cove

‘Not a marriage proposal. Notyetanyway. Give a man a chance.’ He winked and she glowed inside at the promise in his words. Jack wasn’t in this for a fling or without serious intention; he wanted more than that, just like her. ‘My proposal is that… if you’d like to… uh… I’d really like to see where this could go.’

‘This?’

‘Us.’

‘Oh Jack, me too.’

He cupped her face with his hands. ‘Will you be my girlfriend, Lucy?’

‘I absolutely will.’

When he kissed her, she melted against him, feeling like all her Christmases had come at once.

EPILOGUE

‘You look fabulous!’ Ellen said as Lucy trotted down the stairs.

‘Do I?’ Lucy paused on the bottom step. ‘Are you sure this dress is OK?’

She ran her hands over the black silk dress with a silver star print. It had long sleeves, a round neckline and was gathered in at the waist with a pleated skirt that fell to her knees. She’d put on glossy tights and black leather ankle boots with a small heel.

‘It’s beautiful and so are you.’ Ellen smiled.

‘How’s she doing?’ Lucy stepped forwards and peered into the sling that Ellen had wrapped around her chest.

‘Fast asleep. For another five minutes probably, then she’ll want feeding again.’ Ellen yawned. In the past week since Peggy had arrived, Ellen had seemed to be constantly feeding the tiny baby. Lucy had been glad she was there though, helping with chores and making nutritious meals so that Ellen and Billy could rest when Peggy was sleeping. Lucy had worried about getting under their feet, but Ellen and Billy had both expressed their gratitude for her company. She had, however, spent some time out of the house when she’d been with Jack, so she was trying to give them time alone as a family. This evening, she was off to Jack’s parents’ house for a New Year’s Eve party.

‘Make sure you keep drinking plenty of water and juice and that you eat the snacks I’ve put in the fridge for you.’

‘Will do.’ Ellen reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair away from Lucy’s forehead. ‘I wonder if Peggy will have beautiful black curls like you or if she’ll be ginger like Billy. Perhaps she’ll have ginger curls.’

‘You can’t really tell yet, can you?’ Lucy said as they both gazed at Peggy’s downy head. Lucy had the urge to kiss her niece’s head again and to breathe in her incredible scent, that gorgeous baby smell that made her womb flutter. She’d never experienced the yearning to be a mum this powerfully before, but now, being around Peggy was making her think that she’d like this for herself one day. Also, she knew that being around Jack had something to do with it too.

‘You look nice,’ Billy said as he emerged from the kitchen.

‘Thank you.’ Lucy slid her arms into her coat then hooked her bag over her shoulder. ‘Are you sure you don’t need me to stay home?’

‘Of course we don’t.’ Ellen laughed. ‘We have a wonderful evening planned that includes TV, lots of cups of tea and all those snacks you left. I suspect there will be napping on the sofa and that we might not see midnight, but I don’t think either of us minds.’

‘It depends on our daughter, really,’ Billy said, wrapping an arm around Ellen’s shoulders. ‘She might want us to see in the new year with her. She does seem to like late nights.’

‘It’ll get easier, I’m sure,’ Lucy said, knowing that her sister and brother-in-law to be didn’t mind losing sleep because it meant having more time with their beautiful baby.

There was a very gentle knock on the door so she opened it to find Jack there.

‘I didn’t wake the baby, did I?’ he whispered.

‘Hi Jack. No, you didn’t.’ He was always conscious of disturbing Peggy, Ellen and Billy when he came round and Lucy adored how considerate he was.

‘Wow! You look gorgeous.’ He hugged her then pressed a kiss to her lips that made her heart race.

‘So do you.’ She could see a shirt collar where his coat was open at the neck and his dark jeans and boots. But it was his handsome face that she liked most of all, and his eyes that always made her feel like she was the only person in a room. No man had ever made her feel that way before.

Jack had been given New Year’s Eve off because he’d worked all over Christmas. Lucy had been to his home in the past week for dinner and loved the clifftop house with its tall windows overlooking the cove and the sea. So far, their time together had been snatched hours between his shifts and her helping out at Ellen and Billy’s, but now they had the whole evening and next day together and she was excited at the thought.

‘Ahem!’ Ellen waved a hand to get their attention. ‘Have you forgotten something?’ She pointed at the mistletoe she’d got Billy to hang near the front door.

Lucy turned back to Jack and he pulled her towards him then kissed her in the way that made her feel like she was floating and happier than she’d ever been.

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