Page 60 of A Cozy Christmas Escape

She’d decided on her way to the rink that she was just going to be up front and honest. And, while the statement came out with a little less emotion than she would have liked, she took another deep breath to get control of herself.

“Okay,” Rudolph said, slowly nodding his head as he considered her words.

“I just wanted you to know, because…” She gulped past the lump that was forming in her throat. “Well, I’d like to get to know you a little more. If my mother loved you so much, you must be an amazing person. And now that I know about her connection with Snowy Pine Ridge, how much this place meant to her all makes sense. It was because of you. And I think she’d be happy if we got to know each other a bit. If you’re up for it?”

Valerie’s heart was beating so hard she was sure that Rudolph would be able to hear it from where he sat. But the man just blinked at her.

At first, she thought he was going to say ‘no.’ But as she sat there and the seconds ticked on, tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

“Yeah,” he finally said, his voice thick and raspy with emotion. “Yeah, I think I’d like that a lot. And I think Paula would have loved the idea too.”

Valerie smiled at him, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as they made plans to meet for coffee later that day. And when she stood and finally strode out the door and back out into the rink, a feeling of home washed over her. One that she hadn’t felt in quite some time.

* * *

Clark patted the small box in his pocket, reassuring himself that it was still there as he threw the truck in park in the Hiltons’ driveway. Valerie was in the front yard, having a snowball fight with Stephanie while Margaret and the other kids watched, laughing, from the large bay window.

“I beat you!” Stephanie yelled as she planted a rather impressively thrown snowball on Valerie’s hip.

“Fine, fine.” Valerie laughed, and Clark’s heart danced at the sound. “You win!”

Stephanie threw her arms over her head, whooping out her enthusiasm but the sound of his truck door closing with a snap startled them both. Their wide eyes whirled toward him, widening a bit before they realized who it was standing before them.

“I’m going to go get a hot chocolate so you can talk to yourboyfriend,” Stephanie teased, giving Valerie a pointed look before sauntering up the porch and disappearing into the house.

Clark and Valerie both laughed, shaking their heads as they watched the seven-year-old run away before they turned to face each other.

“Didn’t mean to interrupt all the fun,” he said, grinning at her pink cheeks and red tipped nose. “But I have something I couldn’t wait to give you.”

Valerie’s eyes lit up. “A present?”

Clark nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the small jewelry box. Her eyes went wide and glassy at the sight, and Clark couldn’t help but laugh at the small bit of panic that lingered in her gaze.

“Calm down,” he said with a chuckle. “It isn’t a ring box. Just something else I wanted to buy for you.”

He opened it up, exposing the delicate silver chain with the silver pendant dangling from it. It had been carved to look like an old-time movie camera, and on the back, he’d had it inscribed with a small bit of text.

Always a star to me. -C

He watched as she picked it up delicately, her beautiful honey-colored eyes wide with wonder as she turned the pendant around in her slender, gloved fingers.

“Clark,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.”

“Want me to put it on?”

She nodded vigorously, handing the necklace back to him and turning. She held her hair up to give him easy access to secure the jewelry around the delicate column of her throat, and once the clasp was closed, she turned to face him once more.

“How did your agent take the news?” he asked, watching fondly as she ran a finger over the beautiful little pendant.

“Better than I expected,” Valerie admitted, pulling her gaze away from the necklace and back to Clark. “I turned down that role. But she’s on the prowl for something else that’s a better fit for me. Something that won’t require me to be gone so long for filming, and one that has a script that’ll knock your socks off.”

“That’s great,” Clark said, nodding. “I know I’ve said it a thousand times before, but I need to say it again. I support whatever you want to do, even if that means you have to be on the filming site for longer than we’d anticipated.”

Valerie threw her arms around his neck, brushing a soft kiss over his lips and grinning.

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“I try.” Clark shrugged, giving her a grin of his own.

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