Page 37 of Dasher

She placed the pan of rolls into the oven and turned to find him watching her with something warm and quiet in his eyes.

“What?”she asked.

He shook his head.“Just thinking.”

“Dangerous.”

“I was thinking how lucky I am,” he said, voice rougher than before.“That you gave me another chance.That I get to wake up here.With you.With Maddy.”

Ellie softened.She crossed the kitchen and slid her arms around his waist.“You’re part of our lives now.You always were, even when you weren’t here,” she said.

He pressed his forehead to hers.“I didn’t think I could have this.Not after everything.”

“You do,” she whispered.“We do.And you’re not screwing it up.”

He nodded, jaw tight like he was holding back emotion.“Sometimes I worry I will.”

Ellie leaned up and kissed him, soft and reassuring.“Then we’ll figure it out together.”

They sat at the kitchen table while the rolls baked, sipping coffee in the cozy hush of the morning.The tree in the corner of the living room blinked with colored lights.A paper snowflake garland Maddy had made dangled crookedly from the window.Everything felt full and quiet and whole.

Dasher reached out and took her hand, thumb brushing over her knuckles.“You ever think about making this a real tradition?”

Ellie blinked.“You mean cinnamon rolls on snow days?”

He gave her a look.

She smiled.“You mean us.”

“I mean being here.Every year.Waking up beside you.Helping Maddy hang glittery ornaments.Ruining your recipes.”

Ellie’s chest warmed.“I think about it all the time.”

He hesitated, like he wanted to say more.Then he reached into his flannel’s chest pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box.Her breath caught.

“It’s not a proposal,” he said quickly.“I mean, not yet.I want to do that right, when you’re ready.But I wanted you to have this.”He opened the box to reveal a simple gold pendant shaped like a crescent moon, etched with three tiny stars.

“For you,” he said.“One for you.One for me.One for Maddy.”

Ellie’s throat tightened.She took the necklace gently, the metal warm from his pocket.“It’s beautiful.”

“I wanted something that said I’m here.For good.”

She stood, moved around the table, and kissed him.“Then I’ll wear it every day.”

Later, they pulled the cinnamon rolls from the oven.They were misshapen and a little underbaked in the middle, but filled with butter and cinnamon and sugar.Dasher declared them a triumph.Ellie declared them edible.Maddy, who’d woken up at the smell, declared them amazing and promptly got icing all over her face.

The three of them curled up on the couch after breakfast, blankets over laps, cartoons playing low on the TV.Snow continued to fall outside, but inside the cottage, it was warm and filled with the smell of cinnamon and laughter.

As Ellie leaned into Dasher’s side, his arm around her, Maddy nestled between them with sticky fingers and a stuffed reindeer, she realized they weren’t just building new traditions.They’d built a home and this time, it was built to last.

The End

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