Read A Kiss in the Snow (Kindle Single) (Fool's Gold) Online
Authors: Susan Mallery
A Kiss in the Snow (Kindle Single) (Fool's Gold) (6 page)
CHAPTER NINE
S
HORTLY
AFTER
NINE
the next morning, Nancee heard a truck pull into the driveway. She’d just mixed up batter, and now she set down the large mixing bowl and raced to the front of the house. She nearly collapsed from relief when she saw Shep’s truck. Despite the cold and the falling snow, she raced out to greet him.
“You’re back! Where have you been? I’ve been texting you. We have to talk. I have so much to tell you. Please say it’s not too late. Please.”
Shep looked at her and frowned. “Didn’t Gladys tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Where I went.”
“No. She didn’t say anything.”
He shook his head. “That woman and I are going to have a talk.” He opened the rear door of his extended cab pickup and pulled out a small pet carrier. “I went to DC, Nancee. To bring you this.”
He handed her the carrier. She took it and stared inside. Familiar green eyes looked back at her, then Calvin meowed loudly.
She dropped to her knees and unzipped the front of the carrier. Calvin flew out and into her arms. He was warm, and his thick fur smelled so good. He purred loudly, and the sound eased the ache inside her. She wrapped her arms around him.
Tears formed again, but these were the good ones. Happy tears.
“Baby boy, I’ve missed you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I had to leave you. I’m so sorry.”
Calvin hung on, purring and butting her chin with his head. She patted him, barely aware of Shep urging her to her feet and getting her into the house.
Still holding Calvin, she faced him. “You flew to DC to get my cat?”
“Uh-huh. Day before yesterday. I met with Sean—then Calvin and I took the red-eye back last night. Gladys knew. I don’t know why she didn’t tell you.”
Because she’s smart enough to know I needed to figure out my next step by myself
, Nancee thought.
“This is so like her,” she said, then understood why Gladys had made a point of saying she had a brunch meeting with friends.
Shep’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, then smiled.
“She said to tell you there’s a litter box set up in the laundry room and Calvin’s favorite food in the pantry.”
“She’s amazing. When I see her I’m going to hug her as hard as I can, then yell at her for not telling me what was going on.” She smiled. “Okay, I probably won’t yell.”
She took Calvin back to the laundry room and set him down so he could discover his new bathroom and start exploring the house.
When she returned to the kitchen, she found Shep pouring himself a cup of coffee. He looked good. Tired, but still very much the man she loved. The man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. The one who had flown across the country to get a cat he’d never met, simply because she missed Calvin.
“How did you do it?” she asked. “Convince Sean that—” Her gaze dropped to his bruised knuckles. “No! Did you hit him?”
Shep sipped his coffee. “What? No. He and I had a nice talk, and then he gave me Calvin.” He pulled a letter out of his shirt pocket. “And this. It’s a release. I asked for that because I know you’re still a lawyer at heart.”
She scanned the letter. Sure enough her ex was giving her the cat and releasing all ownership. Four simple sentences, then his signature. She eyed Shep’s knuckles.
“I know you hit him.”
His green eyes were wide with faux innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She decided to let it go. Sean probably needed a good smack upside the head, and she had Calvin back. Now she just had to find the courage to tell Shep how she felt and then wait to see how everything would work out.
“I need to show you something,” she said.
He sat at the island. “Okay.”
She got out her pages of notes and pictures of different trailers she’d found online.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About you, and us. I know what I said before—about it not working out. I’m sorry about that. I jumped to conclusions. The truth is moving around all the time is something I could make work. As long as we’re together.” She drew in a breath and looked at him. “I love you, Shep. I have from the first time I saw you. I’ve tried to forget you, to get over you, but I can’t. You’re a part of me. You always have been. So if you meant what you said—if your moving on isn’t about me—then take me with you.”
His gaze locked on her face. “You’d do that for me?”
She nodded. “I’ve been looking at trailers online.” She showed him what she’d found. “We could live in the front, and I’d bake in the back. I’d get my own website and still be doing shipping for Shelby. I haven’t talked to her about it, but I’m sure she’ll agree. We’d have to take Calvin with us, but he’d be fine. He’s a good boy. You’re going to like him.”
Shep picked up one of the pictures. “You’d uproot your whole life?”
“Yes. I meant what I said. I love you. I want to be with you, and I hope you want that, too.”
He looked at her for a long time, then nodded. “Get your coat. I want to show you something, too.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“I’m not leaving Calvin.”
“You can bring him along.”
She put on her coat, then collected her cat. Calvin snuggled close and purred as she held him in the car.
Shep headed out of town, along the familiar road leading to his trailer. There was snow on the road, but his four-wheel-drive truck handled it easily.
They turned onto the narrower road. This time Nancee knew about the trailer. She wouldn’t mind spending a little time in it so she could figure out how much stuff she could bring with her. Maybe Gladys would let her rent one of her small back bedrooms for extra storage. If they were going to be coming back here every Christmas.
But instead of stopping at the trailer, Shep kept driving. She saw that the narrow road continued around another bend. They cleared it, and she saw a large, partially constructed, two-story house. There was siding and a roof. Windows, but no driveway or garage doors. He turned off the truck, and the only sound was Calvin’s purr.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
Shep unbuckled his seat belt, then turned toward her. “I haven’t told you I love you.”
Her mouth dropped open.
Oh no!
He was right. He hadn’t. Was he saying—
He touched her cheek. “I love you, Nancee. I didn’t want to say it before because all the other times we were together, I kept telling you how much I cared, all the while showing you I wasn’t going to stick around. Love requires more than words. I finally figured that out about the time I realized I was ready to be in one place. Ready to settle down, as long as I could be with you.”
He pointed to the half-finished house. “So I came here and bought this land. I’ve been working on the house for a while now and living in the trailer. I could have been finished, only I kept hoping you would eventually come back so we could finish it together. I want you to be happy in this house, because I built it for you.”
She stared at him, holding Calvin and letting Shep’s love surround her.
“I’m showing you I love you,” he continued. “In the only way I know how. By putting down roots. I have my job with HERO and I’m teaching part-time at the community college. I have friends here. I’m hoping I have you here, too. I love you, Nancee, and I want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me.” He smiled and stroked Calvin. “We’ll be a family. The three of us.”
She set her cat on the floor of the truck, then undid her seat belt so she could lean toward Shep.
“I love you, too,” she said as he took her in his arms. “I can’t believe you’re building a house.”
“I can’t believe you were going to live in a trailer.”
She was going to say she would do anything for him, but then he was kissing her and speaking seemed highly overrated.
CHAPTER TEN
C
HRISTMAS
MORNING
, N
ANCEE
stood in her great-aunt’s bedroom while Gladys carefully buttoned up the dress Nancee had bought two days ago at Paper Moon. It was a sample, but it fit her perfectly and luckily hadn’t needed many alterations. She wore the sapphire earrings her mother had left her along with a veil borrowed from Gladys’s best friend, Eddie.
The old, new, borrowed, blue items taken care of, she waited for Gladys to finish with the buttons before turning to hug her.
“You’re so good to me,” she said. “You gave me a place to stay, then nudged me when I needed it. I love you.”
Gladys hugged her back. “I love you, too, child. How could I not? As for giving you a nudge, you would have found your way. It might have taken a little longer, but you would have gotten there.”
Calvin wandered into the bedroom. Gladys swooped him up and held him close. “No you don’t, young man. No cat hair on the dress.” She kissed him and set him on the bed, then smiled at Nancee. “Are you ready?”
Nancee picked up her bouquet along with the simple gold band she would give to Shep.
“I am.”
“I need two minutes to get the music going,” she said. “Then you can come out.”
Her great-aunt hurried down the hall. Nancee stayed where she was until she heard the familiar wedding march. The fact that it was being played over the old stereo only made it more special.
She started down the hall. Anticipation quickened her step. She turned the corner and entered the living room, only to stop in surprise.
She’d expected to see Shep and Gladys, along with Mayor Marsha, who had graciously agreed to take a half hour out of her Christmas to marry them. But there were other people there, as well. Madeline and Jonny, Kipling and his wife. The women she’d met at the lunch with their husbands and children. The living room was filled to capacity. All the guests smiled at her, as if to welcome her. Nancee smiled back before turning to see Shep standing by Mayor Marsha and the Christmas tree.
He wore a dark suit. She tried to remember if she’d ever seen him in one before and didn’t think she had. He was so handsome, he made her heart hurt. Or maybe that was the love filling her. Love for this wonderful man who had decided to show her how much he cared.
She walked toward him, knowing that whatever happened, they would be together always. When she reached him, she handed Gladys her bouquet, then faced him. He took her hands in his.
“Still want to marry me?” he asked with a smile.
“You know it.”
He kissed her knuckles, then turned to the mayor. “We’re ready.”
“I can see that,” she told them before looking at the people who had come to witness the happy event. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God and this company to join Nancee and Shep in holy matrimony.”
Calvin walked up to Nancee and meowed. Everyone laughed.
“I think he’s giving his blessing,” Mayor Marsha said.
“I know he is.” Nancee patted him, then turned back to Shep. She squeezed his hands, and he winked at her. Funny how everything had turned out so perfectly, she thought happily. It was her very own Christmas wedding miracle. And here she was, marrying the man of her Christmas dreams.
* * * * *
There’s nowhere better to spend the holidays than with #1
New York Times
bestselling author Susan Mallery!
Don’t miss these sparkling tales of love, joy and kisses underneath the mistletoe.
Yours for Christmas
(novella)
Only Us: A Fool’s Gold Holiday
(novella)
Happily-ever-after is just waiting to be unwrapped...
Available wherever ebooks are sold.
Connect with us on
Harlequin.com
for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
#1
New York Times
bestselling author Susan Mallery invites you to celebrate the event of the year with her brand-new story!
With Joy, Love and a Little Trepidation,
Courtney, Sienna and Rachel Invite You
to the Most Emotional Wedding of the Year…
Their Mother’s
Find out what happens in
Daughters of the Bride
, a must-read for anyone who has survived the wedding of a sister, a mother, a daughter—as told by the master storyteller of the genre.
Order your copy today!
“Susan Mallery is one of my favorites.”
—#1
New York Times
bestselling author Debbie Macomber
Experience the best in contemporary romance with the charming
Fool’s Gold
series by Susan Mallery. Be sure to get all of the titles in this captivating series full of hope, laughter and love to last a lifetime.
A Kiss in the Snow
(novella)
Yours for Christmas
(novella)
Halfway There
(novella)
Almost Summer
(novella)
Only Us: A Fool’s Gold Holiday
(novella)
Sister of the Bride
(novella)
Love. Laughter. Happily-Ever-After.
“Romance novels don’t get much better than Mallery’s expert blend of emotional nuance, humor and superb storytelling.”
—
Booklist
Available wherever ebooks are sold.
Connect with us on
Harlequin.com
for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com