AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Blake squeezed Charli’s hand again as he turned to her. “I’m all in and ready to go the distance.”
Charli felt like her heart would explode with the love she had for Blake. She thought of the promises of the past. The broken promises. And it surprised her that she was so at peace about trusting Blake after what had happened.
But she wasn’t going to question why. Instead, she was going to accept that for whatever reason, her heart wasn’t cautioning her. God had given her peace in a situation where peace didn’t seem likely.
As his gaze held hers, Charli hoped he could see everything that was in her heart for him. “I’m all in and ready to go the distance, too.”
EPILOGUE
Christmas music played in the kitchen as Charli pulled the cornbread muffins out of the oven. As she set the pan down on the rack on the island counter in front of him, Blake said, “Everything smells great.”
“Hopefully it all tastes good too.”
With just two days until Christmas, the girls were at Jay and Misha’s for the evening, decorating gingerbread houses, while Janessa and Will had gone over to Gareth and Aria’s.
Blake and Charli had initially been planning to go out too, but then Skylar had asked if she could come over to talk to Charli. She’d said she was fine if Blake was there too, so now they were going to be spending their evening hanging out with Charli’s little sister.
“Are you sure you both are okay with me being here?” Blake asked, wanting to give Charli one last chance to spend the evening with just Skylar. “I don’t want to impose on your sister time.”
“It really is fine,” Charli said, smiling at him in a way that made his heart skip a beat. The joy in her gaze made her even more beautiful. “Skylar said she was fine with it, too. That it would give her a chance to get to know you.”
“I’d like to get to know her too, since the last time I saw her, she was like seven years old.”
Charli transferred the cornbread muffins to a basket. “That’s crazy to think. Sometimes twelve years ago feels like an eternity, and then other times, it seems like just yesterday.”
“I have to consciously keep from thinking about how much time has passed, so I don’t start feeling like it was wasted time.” Knowing that Amelia had come from that time helped him to not feel like it was wasted.
“Yeah. I understand that.” Charli moved around the island to where Blake sat on a stool.
He shifted on the stool and drew her to stand between his knees, his hands resting on her waist. Charli gripped his forearms, her smile softening.
“We just have to make the most of the time we have from this moment forward,” Blake said.
“Exactly.” She leaned forward to kiss him.
They’d had a talk about the physical side of their previous relationship, and they’d both agreed to set boundaries. Even though she loved being close to him, they were going to do things differently this time around.
“Love you,” Blake said when the kiss ended.
Charli smiled. “I love you too.”
The sound of the doorbell had her giving his arms a quick squeeze, then she turned away from him and headed for the front door. Blake stayed in the kitchen, letting the sisters greet each other privately.
The days since they’d decided to go public with their relationship and also reveal their past had been a mix of good and not so good. Blake, Charli, and the girls had spent quite a bit of time together, and that had been a lot of fun. The anger her siblings had expressed toward him had been in direct contrast to the acceptance by her parents and his aunt and uncle.
He could only hope that the happiness they shared would win the siblings over. Charli had assured him that would be the case, and since she knew them better than he did, Blake was willing to be patient and let them process their feelings. After all, if he’d been in their position, he’d probably have reacted similarly.
When they came back into the kitchen, Charli had her arm around Skylar. The younger woman was carrying a large purse in one arm. Skylar was wearing a bulky sweater and loose sweatpants. It was an outfit that Charli favored too, when she was dressing for comfort.
“It smells delicious,” Skylar said as she approached the island where Blake sat. “Hi, Blake.”
Blake got up as he greeted her. Then they all worked to get the food on the breakfast nook table. Once they were seated, Blake said a prayer for the food.
As they ate, Skylar talked about how school was going. She didn’t seem to be very excited about being away on her own.
Blake had been thrilled to go away to college and expand his horizons without his parents hovering over him. Skylar didn’t seem to feel that way about her own experiences at college.
After they’d eaten their fill of chili and cornbread muffins, Charli brought out a selection of Christmas baking. Skylar declined coffee but asked for milk instead, which didn’t surprise Blake, as he’d discovered that Layla also liked to have milk with her dessert. Amelia wasn’t as big a milk drinker, usually just with her breakfast.
