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“Let’s look at it from all angles, okay?” Blake held out his hand, and when Amelia took it, the two of them circled the tree.
“It’s perfect all around,” Amelia declared. “Can we get it?”
Taking a deep breath, Blake looked over at Will. “So, how do we get this chopped down?”
“I’ll go find one of the tree choppers,” Will said. “Be right back.”
Blake hadn’t talked to Amelia about what was going on between him and Charli for a couple of reasons. First, he didn’t think she’d be able to keep it to herself. Second, he already knew how she felt about Charli, and that there would be no protests from her about them dating.
When he glanced at the others, Jay, Misha, and Janessa were pretty clearly gloating. For once, though, Charli didn’t look annoyed by it.
Hope burst into a blazing inferno at that point.
Was this moment for real?
“Can I tell Amelia?” Layla asked her mom, keeping her voice low enough that Amelia wouldn’t hear her as she circled around the tree again.
“That’s up to Blake,” Charli said.
When Layla looked at him, Blake didn’t hesitate to nod. Amelia would probably love to hear about the answer to her prayers from her best friend.
“I knew you were meant to be together,” Janessa crowed. “And I was right. I can’t wait to tell Kayleigh.”
Charli gave a huff of laughter. “You didn’t know anything of the sort.”
“Well, the bouquet and garter do not lie.”
Will returned right then with a man dressed like a lumberjack who greeted them all gruffly, then turned his attention to the kids. It didn’t take long for the tree to be chopped down, and with the help of a younger man, the lumberjack transported their tree to the front, where they’d pick it up later.
They still had two more trees to find, but Amelia’s shriek of excitement distracted them from that goal for a moment.
“Really, Daddy?” she asked as she ran up to him. “You’re dating Miss H?”
Blake picked her up, so they were eye to eye. “Yes. Is that okay?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his and whispered, “It’s perfect.”
Blake had to agree. It did feel perfect.
After he set her back down, Amelia looked over at Charli and grinned before she rejoined Layla and Peyton, and the trio led the way once again.
This time, as they walked side by side again, Blake held out his hand to Charli. Giving him a smile, she took it without hesitation. Though they both wore gloves, having her hand in his felt amazing.
“That was a bit of a surprise,” he murmured as they followed the others.
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all. I was just taken off-guard.”
“I figured it was probably better to just… do it. I didn’t want to overthink things.”
Blake gently squeezed her fingers. “I sure missed you these past few days. Not being able to talk to you every night was hard.”
Charli nudged her head against his shoulder. “I missed you too. I’m glad you’re both back.”
“I don’t think we’ll be going back to California for a while. I’ll tell you about it during our next call.”
“I look forward to hearing all about it.”
