AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Kelly.”
“Oh.” Katelyn waved it off. “Kelly just…I don’t know. She worries about me and I don’t think she trusts men very much.”
“You mean she doesn’t trust me.”
“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “Not you in particular. Men in general.”
He put the car in gear and muttered under his breath. “She was okay with frat boy, though, wasn’t she?”
The zoo was a different place in the dark, transformed into a holiday wonderland. Lights danced and flashed everywhere in synchrony to music. Another amazing spectacle to see at every turn, and Katelyn stopped at each one. He watched her eyes light up, the sparkle in them, as she took delight in every festive display, her arm linked with his.
Brendan had always loved this place, found it magical in every season. Like the lake house, it was special to him, and that she loved it too made it even more so. Katelyn was shivering in spite of the layers she wore. He couldn’t keep her out here much longer.
He pulled her closer against him. “Want some hot chocolate, sweetheart? Warm you up a little.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
She drank it as they walked away from the crowds and all the lights. Brendan stopped when they reached the lily pool. He wrapped his arms around her and they swayed to the music playing far off in the distance.
It had to be here. Right here in front of the lily pool.
Brendan took her face in his hands. He brushed his thumbs across her cold cheeks, and gazed right into those eyes that were neither blue nor green. “I love you, Katelyn.”
He’d been wanting to say it for weeks, but it had to be here.
Her lips parted with a silent gasp and a tear slipped out of her eye. Brendan hoisted her up to him like he always did. She held onto him so tight.
Katelyn spoke through her tears. “I love you too, Brendan. I’m so happy.”
That’s all he wanted. To love her. To be happy with her.
Brendan kissed her slow and deep and sweet, holding her in front of the lily pool. Then he set her down. “Close your eyes and no peeking.”
Katelyn did as she was told. He took the vintage bracelet out of his pocket. An aquamarine, the color of her eyes, set in platinum and surrounded with diamonds. It reminded him of her as soon as he saw it.
He fastened it to her wrist. “Merry Christmas, sweet girl.”
She opened her eyes and gasped. “Oh, Brendan, it’s beautiful!” Then she threw her arms around him. “You said no presents.”
“I lied.”
“But I don’t have anything to give you.”
He leaned down to kiss her. “Sweetheart, you just did.”
Katelyn still shivered beneath her layers and her scarf and her knitted cap. “Still cold?”
“A little.”
“Let’s get some dinner and go home.”
They went for pizza pot pies. It was an hour wait for a table, but it was her favorite place, so Brendan didn’t mind. She came first.
When they were boys, he and his cousins had been taught that. It had been instilled in them by word and example, from the men of the family—his father and his uncles. Family first. Above all others, your love and loyalty belonged to them. Traditional in that sense, it’s the reason they were as tight as they were today. And Katelyn was his. His to love. To keep safe and care for. She was his family now.
After dinner and the zoo, with their bellies full, comfortable and warm, they snuggled together under a blanket on the hammock bed suspended from the ceiling in the sitting area of the bedroom to watch a movie. Brendan had thought it ridiculous when the interior designer first suggested it, but now, with Katelyn curled up flush against him, he thought it perfect.
Yeah, this night was just beginning.
