AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"It's perfect," she said, pulling the necklace from the box. "I love it. It's exactly like the one I got all those years ago… I never knew what happened to it." She held it out to me and then turned, lifting her hair. After I fastened it around her neck and she turned back to me, I kissed her gently.
The crowd broke off in the midst of “Jingle Bells” and cheered when they saw us kissing.
"Thank you," I called down. "Thanks for all your help."
"Come down for some hot chocolate at the cafe?" Lottie Turner called up hopefully, and then turned to the crowd. "Everyone's welcome. Come have a drink!"
The crowd made a rolling noise of assent, punctuated with laughter and smiles, and they moved around the sidewalk toward the cafe across the square.
"I had kind of hoped to keep you up here for a while," I said, leaning down to bite the shell of April's ear.
She shivered against me and moaned. "We'll just go for a bit."
I nodded and helped her into her coat after closing the window. Downstairs, Annabelle broke into tears when she saw us and came running around the desk to pull us both into a hug.
"Come to the cafe for a drink?" I asked her.
Annabelle glanced around the empty lobby and then nodded, first putting up a sign that read: "Be right back."
25
Festooned for Good
April
The town square gleamed and glowed as I crossed beneath the huge sparkling tree with Callan and Annabelle, and for the first time in my life since I’d been very young, Christmas felt a little bit like magic. I held Callan's arm, Annabelle's arm linked with mine on the other side, and a crowd of people moved into Lottie Tanner's bakery and cafe ahead of us—a crowd of people who felt more like family than anything I had experienced before.
It was a lot to process, I thought, because so much had happened in a very short amount of time. From the devastation of my last television implosion to the idea of moving across the country for my fantasy job and the man of my dreams. The words Callan had given me, along with the heart necklace, closed the open wound I’d been carrying for two decades, or at least went a long way toward healing it. I smiled up at him as he held open the door, and wondered if I could possibly be happier. I didn't think so.
Maybe if Lynn and my mother were here, I thought, but as soon as I’d had a second to think this, I was swept up in the excited greetings of the townspeople who'd been caroling out in the cold beneath my window.
"Oh, look at this," Mrs. Wentworth beamed, stepping in near to see the little heart hanging around my neck. Her husband was at her side, nodding knowingly. "It's beautiful dear," the older woman said, and then she turned her gaze to Callan, letting her eyes travel slowly the length of his body, roving down and back up, hanging for just a moment longer than necessary right around his waistline. "And you've done very well for yourself here," she said, her voice deepening slightly.
"Indeed," her husband said. "You know," he added, giving me a lascivious grin, "sometimes it can be fun to switch things up, do a little sharing, if you know what I mean."
I did not know what he meant, but I had a feeling I would if I thought enough about it. Had we just been invited to swing? "Erm," I managed to say.
"That's very flattering," Callan said gallantly, and I wondered if he’d gotten Mr. Wentworth’s full meaning. "But for now we're happy just having each other." Yep, he had.
Mr. Wentworth nodded. "Of course, my boy. Of course you are. Well, you enjoy this spicy little tamale, and if you start to need another flavor, you know where to find us!"
"Sure thing," Callan said, tightening his grip on my arm.
"Oh my god," I laughed, my body warming as he met my eyes and grinned.
We got our coats off and went to sit down on a low couch where Lottie was directing us to go. Cormac and the girls were in the chairs next to us, and the entire cafe was noisy and warm and full.
Before I had a moment to think about what I might like, a mug of steaming chocolate was pressed into my hand, and Lottie gave me a wink. “Hot chocolate," she said.
"Thank you, Lottie!"
Callan and I touched our mugs together before taking a sip, and our eyes locked for a long moment. I felt my stomach tighten as I stared into the deep coffee eyes I loved, and inside them I saw everything Callan had talked about—friends, family, future…love.
Cormac leaned over the back of the couch and said, “The chocolate packs a punch,” He stared down into his mug after taking a sip. Like everything else, the hot chocolate tasted like it had met the Half Cat. Then he looked up suddenly, and his gaze traveled between Maddie and Taylor, both drinking greedily from their own mugs. "You don't think she might have…"
"I'm sure theirs was undoctored," Callan assured him. "But they might sleep extra well if not."
Annabelle came to sit on the arm of the couch. "That was really so romantic," she gushed. "It was very exciting to get to help a little bit."
