“Hi, beautiful.”
“Hey, yourself. How's Maggie?”
“Sleeping like a log with a kitten snugged up under her chin. What are you doing? What time should we expect you?”
I set the phone on the counter, hit the speaker button, opened the fridge, and foraged for food. “I'm picking up Amee and Uncle Marty at noon.” Ah. An English muffin lurked behind the mayonnaise on the bottom shelf. I split the muffin and dropped the halves into the toaster. “Did Shelly make it home OK? And are you sure she wants to cook for the three crashers that will be arriving on your doorstep?”
“You guys were coming over anyway. Now you just get dinner, too. There'll be tons of ham, and Mom's making her famous scalloped potatoes. She'll love feeding more than just Maggie and me. Besides, I miss you. It's been ages since I've seen you.”
I checked the clock over the stove and chuckled. “Gee whiz, it's been what? Six hours since we've been together? Poor man. I can see why you're lonely.” Actually, I could, because I was aching to be with him, too. His chaste kiss goodbye in front of Maggie had been way too short. “Did you get a chance to sleep at all?”
“Well no, but I'll sleep later. I keep sneaking into Maggie's bedroom just to watch her breathe.” His voice broke. “Peri, if I'd lost her⦔
“But you didn't. After we hang up, grab a blanket and take a nap on her floor. You'll be there when she wakes up.”
“Good idea. Peri?”
I pulled the butter and orange marmalade out of the fridge and closed the door with a bump of my hip. “Uh-huh?”
“I love you, you know. I don't know how I'd have made it through the last few hours without you.”
We'd just met. And yet we knew so much. I knew his heart. I eased down in a kitchen chair, suddenly a tad woozy.
“Peri? You there?”
My hand found its way to my heart and I checked for a beat. Yep. There it was. Steady now. “I'm here, Chris.” My voice croaked, but then, it wasn't everyday a handsome, eligible, hunk told me he loved me. I snapped my eyes shut and answered from my depths. “I love you, too. Bunches.”
“Bunches?” A low rumble hummed over the line as he laughed. “I'll take it. See you soon, thenâ¦honeybunny.”
The sound that came out of my throat wasn't very ladylike, but I'd been caught off guard. “Soon, sugarlips.” I moved to the counter and hung up the phone with a chuckle. My toast had cooled, but I ate it cold. I forgot the butter. And the jam.
And I couldn't stop grinning.
~*~
Amee and Uncle Marty had set out for home after Christmas dinner, and Shelly had just pulled out of Chris's driveway.
I was checking out Chris's bookcase when he came in the living room, all smiles.
“Maggie's sound asleep with Sven the reindeer. She loved your gift.” Chris banked the fire in the fireplace, stirring up glowing embers. A gentle current of warmth flooded the room. He flipped on a Christmas CD and plugged in the tiny white lights on the balsam fir.
Together, we gathered discarded scraps of wrapping paper and stuffed the remnants of Christmas in a big plastic bag.
With a sigh of contentment, Chris slouched on the sofa and patted the cushion next to him. He didn't have to invite me twice.
I snatched a throw pillow and placed it in his lap, settled my head on the cushion, and threw my feet over the arm of the couch. “Nice,” I murmured.
“Yeah, nice.” We reveled in the contentment of the moment.
Chris smoothed back my hair. “Victor called a little while ago. They got Desmond. You should get your car back in the next couple of days.”
I half-rose on my elbow. “What a relief. How'd they catch him?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Remember you left your phone in the car? The FBI tracked the signal to his cabin. He gave up without a fight.”
“Sweet.”
”It's funny, but Maggie doesn't seem to recall much about last night. She was so zonked out, I'm betting she slept through most of the drive. Mostly what she remembers is that a strange man gave her a donut with pink icing and sprinkles.”
“Doesn't sound too traumatic, thank God.”
“Between the photos I snapped and the DNA under your nails, the police have plenty of evidence. Armed robbery and assault charges should keep him in jail for years to come. Kidnapping and crossing state lines will probably get him life in prison.”
Chris gazed down at me with moist eyes, his heartbeat slow and steady under my left ear. “On another subject, now that we're finally alone, I have a gift for you. Stay right there.” He slid out and searched behind the Christmas tree, coming out with a little box. He plunked back down and hesitated, his eyes darting to the carpet. “Before you get your hopes up, it's not an engagement ring.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, reached over, and untied his newest purple tie ala Maggie, pulling the ends out of his sweater. “There. All better. And can I say thank goodness? I'd hate to clutter up this relationship with too much romance.”
A sheepish smile flitted across his face. “I didn't mean⦔
My laugh echoed. “Chris, I'm just kidding. I'm not expecting or even wanting a ring at this point.”
“Good. So we're on the same page.” He slid his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder.
“I have something for you, too.” I got up and snagged my voluminous purse from the kitchen. “Me, first.”
I pulled out a not-so-neatly wrapped giftânot my forteâand handed him the flat package.
“For
moi
? How kind.” Chris whisked it out of my hands and commenced paper ripping. The look that skipped across his features was priceless. He stared down at the framed photograph in his hands. “How'd you ever get this? I have so few pictures of Aunt Margaret, much less a picture of the two of us when I was a little kid.”
“When Keaton's bought up your Aunt Margaret's estate jewelry, that precious picture was in her jewelry box. I didn't think anything of it at the time, what with âBaby C.J. age three' written on the back, but once I figured it out, it seemed like the perfect gift. Plus, you're just so darn cute in that diaper with your hand resting on your tummy, I couldn't resist.”
He leaned over and kissed me. “Thank you. I love it. And the silver frame's nice, too. Now open my gift, please.”
Kittens in red Santa hats cavorted on the paper. Inside the box, I found one of the prettiest necklaces I'd ever seenâand I'd seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of necklaces. A sleek feline made from two enchanting peridot gems stared up at me. A large round stone comprising the cat's head sat atop a larger pear-shaped jewel forming the body. Around the neck, joining the two stones, a delicate gold bow swirled, and two tiny gold ears and a tail finished the piece. I squealed. I couldn't help it. It was gorgeous, and soâ¦me.
“Where did you ever find such a marvelous necklace?” I shut off the part of my brain that appraised jewelry, but it certainly wasn't cheap. The delicate diamond cut chain glittered in fourteen-carat gold and the deep chartreuse-green peridots glinted in the firelight.
Chris's grin stretched and he waggled his head. “I called Amee and she referred me to Todd. We had it Fed-Exed. It arrived yesterday morning, just in time.”
“I'm overwhelmed. How much more perfecter could it get?”
“Perfecter?”
“Yeah. Perfecter.”
Chris fastened the necklace around my neck. Then he slung his arms around my waist and we kissed as if we'd been practicing for years.
After the second, thirdâ¦maybe the fourth kiss, I pulled back, and we locked eyes instead of lips. “Chris?”
Those dreamy eyes blinked lazily. “Hmm?”
“We have a slight problem.”
“We do?” He pulled off the tie looped around his neck and lassoed me with it. “What's that?”
“You're
too
perfect. I don't know any of your flaws and we haven't had any fights yet.”
“That's a problem?”
“Sure. How will we have a real relationship if we don't know each other's faults? I bite my fingernails.” I held out my chewed up, too-short nails for inspection. “And I'm really grouchy when I wake up, and I have piles of books sitting around the house in random locations.”
“Good to know. I stay up way too late, I eat crackers in bed, and I'm addicted to doughnuts. Here's an idea. We each write down a few shortcomings and exchange lists sometime? Besides, it's all part of the fun of getting to know each other. Which brings me to this burning question. Where do we go from here, Ms. Peridot Keaton-Jones?”
I fluttered my eyelashes and feigned ignorance. “What do you mean, Christopher a.k.a. C.J.?”
“Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but we're crazy about each other. As I recall, you âlove me bunches.'”
I nodded. “Uh-huh. I did say that.”
“And I love youâ¦heaps.”
“Heaps? That's encouraging.”
“What do you say we keep doing what we're doing?” With his tie now draped around my shoulders, he started reeling me in.
“Sounds promising. What is it we're doing?”
He pulled me closer. “Well, we could tell people we're headed for the altar, but we're taking our time. Would that be OK?”
Snowflake skittered crab-like into the room and pounced on the wrapping paper we'd tossed on the floor. Chris pulled me closer still until we were eye to eye.
I kissed the bridge of his nose and nuzzled my cheek against his shirt collar.
The bouncy kitten vaulted into my lap and mewed loudly.
“You're right, Snowflake. Couldn't be more perfecter.”
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