Page 26 of The Christmas Reunion

It was the first time she’d gotten to really be alone with him since coming home, and a feeling of utter contentment washed over her, making her emotional.

“I love you too,” Clark responded, squeezing her a little tighter and enveloping her in his warmth.

They stood like that for a few heartbeats, the peaceful feeling of the moment amplified by the quietness of the town around them. Small snowflakes began to fall from the sky, dancing in the streetlights and the light on their porch, and Valerie watched them, feeling more full of joy than she had in weeks.

“Did the last day of the shoot go okay?” Clark asked, pulling back just enough so that he could look at her.

“It went great.” She nodded, reluctantly separating from his embrace as the cold began to creep in again.

Clark took her hand, heading up the paved and shoveled walkway to their front door. As they neared the house, a wave of emotion crashed into her. She loved filming, she truly did. But there was something about the way Clark’s hand felt in hers as he led her homethat pushed her over the edge, and she spoke without even thinking, blurting out the words that had been in her mind all night.

“I don’t want to wait,” she said quickly as Clark put the key in the door and began to unlock it.

He turned to glance at her, his face scrunched up in confusion as he turned the key. He pushed open the front door to their house, allowing her to walk in first before he followed and began kicking off his boots and shedding his coat.

“Don’t want to wait for what?” he asked.

“To marry you.”

Clark’s head snapped up, his hand stilling on the zipper of his coat.

“You want to get married right now?” He grinned, sliding his hand back up and taking his zipper with it. “Because I can run down to Mayor Thornton’s house and have her open everything back up. I’ll marry you tonight.”

Clark made a big show of putting his boots back on, and Valerie snorted a laugh.

“No.” She shook her head at the man she loved so much that she felt like her heart was going to explode. “Not tonight. But very soon. I don’t want a long engagement, I want to start our life together.” She gasped as a thought struck her. “Oh! What if we did it at the Christmas party at St. Nick’s Place? If Lacy is okay with it.”

Clark cocked his head at that, taking the briefest of moments to consider it before nodding.

“I love that idea.” He began to take his coat off again, the smile never once fading from his handsome face. “We can talk to Lacy tomorrow. I’ll tell her we’ll handle the decorating and everything if she’ll let us commandeer her party a little.”

“You know she won’t let us do all the decorating ourselves,” Valerie pointed out with a grin.

“She’ll let us help, at least.”

Now that his coat and boots were off, he extended his arms to her again, a request for her to step into them. Valerie did so gladly, wrapping her arm around his waist and hugging him tightly as Clark planted a kiss to the top of her head.

“So, we’re really doing this?” he asked, his voice muffled against her hair.

“We’re doing this,” she agreed in a whisper.

And never in her life had she thought that three seemingly simple words could sound so wonderful.

* * *

Mindy crouched with one knee on the floor, moving Gus’s little legs to and fro as she pulled on his sweater for the day. It was red, with a Christmas tree that lit up on the back. She knew that it would garner plenty of attention, which her precious pup would absolutely love.

“And then Clark knelt down on one knee, and everyone went wild,” she explained to Gus, who rewarded her by licking her face. “It was like something straight out of one of Valerie’s movies.”

She’d been talking to Gus all morning, giving him the rundown of everything that had happened the night before. When she’d come home, she’d been so exhausted from the exertion and the emotional highs and lows that she’d just taken Gus out for a quick final potty break and then gone right to bed. But now, in the light of the morning, Mindy was feeling much better—which translated into her talking to the furry white creature before her.

Gus cocked his head to the side, and Mindy nodded.

“Yeah, I did spend time with Noah last night too.” She and the pup shared a look as she stood and grabbed his leash from the wall. “Oh, don’t look at me like that! It’s part of what everyone asked me to do. I can’t very well convince him that the town doesn’t need an industrial complex without spending time with him.”

Gus just looked at her again, which she immediately took as him agreeing with her, and now that she was satisfied, they trotted out the door for their morning walk. She couldn’t help it if her thoughts drifted to Noah from time to time, especially not as she and Gus walked past the very spot where they’d had the snowball fight the night before. And each time, she couldn’t help but think about the way his eyes had softened when she mentioned the breakup, or the way he seemed softer as they’d talked after.

Mindy had to keep reminding herself that despite their past, Noah was technically the enemy. He was the whole reason the town was worried in the first place. And she knew that was something she couldn’t afford to forget.

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