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Christmas Eve
BLAIR CLOSED THE DOOR after what she hoped was the last customer for the day. She’d only kept the store open for half a day, but Golden Age Antiques had never been more packed. Foot traffic had been constant since morning, with a rush of customers coming in to buy out most of the items from the Bennett mansion. Which meant that right after Christmas she’d have to arrange another shipment of furniture. But that wasn’t what had been weighing on her mind all day. She had been thinking about Colson and the gift she’d chosen for him. The gift she had brought to the store for their rendezvous this afternoon.
Since helping spring his father out of jail last night, Blair had been getting regular updates from Colson. So she knew that his dad was safe and back in Boston by now. But that didn’t help to shake the jitters she’d been feeling all day. They were supposed to exchange gifts. And talk. About the future. Which scared her because despite her optimism, she couldn’t help but worry that their time together was coming to an end. Her heart squeezed painfully at the thought of losing him. He’d said that he would be on his way back to Boston by New Year’s. That gave them a week left at most. Unless they both decided to take a crazy leap of faith. Blair knew that in her heart she could take that leap, but could he? And how would it even work with him living so far away? Would they visit each other every week? Once a month? None of it seemed practical, but while her head was trying to be sensible, her heart didn’t care about such things. Her heart just wanted him, practicality be damned. A long-distance relationship was so risky, and yet, she’d take that risk to be with him. Even if she suspected that eventually a long-distance relationship just wouldn’t be enough for the heart that loved him so much she couldn’t breathe.
Yes, she loved him. After just twenty-four days of knowing him, that was the one thing Blair was sure about. Her love for Colson.
Then, suddenly, as if by magic, he appeared at the front entrance. She spotted him through the glass, and with shaking hands, she pulled the door open to let him in. He wasn’t holding a gift box in his hands. Her heart sank a little. Maybe he’d forgotten. Or maybe he’d thought better of exchanging gifts and wanted to break some bad news to her. His handsome face was unreadable as they turned to face each other.
“It’s kinda early, but Merry Christmas,” he said.
“Merry Christmas. My nieces and nephews say ‘Merry Christmas Eve,’” she said, smiling. She’d spent yesterday evening with her family making dinner at her dad’s. Plus, her mother had made her appearance via video conference call. It had been noisy, loud, messy, and so much fun, that any other year Blair would have been utterly content spending all that time with her loved ones. And she had been content until her mind drifted to thoughts of Colson. Not even his texts had been enough. Spending time with her family had felt incomplete without him despite her joy at being with her loved ones.
He returned her smile. “I can’t wait to give you your gift.”
“You brought it?” she asked.
“Yup.” Colson nodded, his green eyes never leaving her. “I’ve got it right here in my pocket.”
“I brought your present, too,” she said, rushing behind the front counter to retrieve the huge box she had gift wrapped last night.
“Whoa.” He looked stunned when she set the giant box down on top of the counter. “Blair, you broke your promise.”
Her eyebrows went up. “What?”
“You said our gifts had to be a reasonable price. This doesn’t look reasonable,” he reminded her, except he was smiling. “Makes me feel a little better, because I broke that promise, too.”
“It is reasonably priced,” she insisted.
“Oh, yeah? Only way to prove that is if I open the box,” he said.
“Go right ahead,” she said, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. Because the gift was not reasonably priced. It cost several hundred dollars. Every penny was worth it for the chance to see the look on his face when he saw what she’d bought him. She hoped she had gotten it right.
Colson didn’t hesitate. The second she gave him the go-ahead, he started to tear into the wrapping paper, tossing it aside to get to the cardboard box beneath. Then, he got through that box to reveal the enormous tool chest inside.
“Is this what I think it is?” he asked enthusiastically as he popped the chest open. Inside were about five hundred tools, plus the electric drill that the attendant in the store had recommended. Blair knew a little about tools for her job, but these tools could do way more than what she usually did at work.
“I got you a tool set,” she confirmed. “When we were transferring all your great-grandmother’s stuff to the shop, you said that you used to love fixing up Opal’s house. You told me your family started off as builders, so I thought...”
The look on his face made her heart melt so much that she didn’t know how to finish her sentence. His gaze went to her and she saw so many emotions behind his eyes. Awe, gratitude, melancholy, happiness. The smile on his face was happy and sad all at once. As if something had shifted for him so completely that he would never be the same.
“You remembered I said that?” he asked, his voice gruff with emotion.
“Yes.” There was a lump forming in her throat so she had to take a second to regain her composure. “I thought they’d come in handy if you needed to visit the mansion before you sold it. Maybe do some renovations here and there.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He took her hands, pulling her away from the counter and closer to the Christmas tree they had put up all those weeks ago. “I’m not selling the mansion.”
At first, his words didn’t make sense. It all sounded scrambled and incomprehensible. Then, as the full meaning started to sink in, Blair’s mouth fell open. “You’re not? You’re not selling the house?”
“No, I’m not,” he said. “I’m going to sell a lot of the furniture and give the money to charity, but I want the house to stay in the family.”
“Oh, Colson, that’s wonderful,” she said, her optimism flaring into full blown hope. “That means you can visit whenever you like.”
He shook his head. “No Blair, I’m not going to visit.”
Her hopeful heart plummeted. Pain knifed through her. The ache she had been trying to ignore for days now gripped her. It wasn’t the dull pain that she had found a way to live with. This was a sharp, ceaseless pain that lanced through her chest down to her stomach. It crushed her lungs, drawing all the breath out of her, then tore the heart out of her, leaving her so raw that she didn’t think she could stand it.
“You’re not?” she gasped out, tears stinging her eyes.
“I can’t visit if I move here,” he explained. “Which is exactly what I’m doing. I’m moving to Mislin Bush.”
“I don’t...I don’t understand.” The world tilted on its axis, making her squeeze her eyes shut. “You’re moving to town? For how long?”
“Permanently.” He kissed her nose gently, a gesture that made her open her eyes. “If you’ll have me.”
“I...but what about your family. You can’t leave them,” she said. “You’ve only just reconciled with your dad—”
“My dad, the thief?”
“Well, he isn’t perfect, but he’s your family—”
“What if you’re my family, Blair?” Colson asked gently.
Her eyes really did fill with tears then. She was utterly speechless.
Colson slid his hand into his jacket pocket. “My move isn’t contingent on whether you agree to be with me. If you’d rather not, I understand. We can be friends. Or go back to being strangers. I’ll give you whatever space you need—”
“Are you insane? Of course I want to be with you.” She started laughing through her tears.
He exhaled the loudest sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”
“Did you really think I was going to reject you?” she asked.
“Blair, you have not made this easy,” he reminded her. “After you got the message that I didn’t care what my dad thought, I worried you’d hold out because you didn’t want your family to have a say in your love life.”
“I don’t care what they think anymore,” she said, swiping at her tears. “I only care what I think. And what you think.”
“What do you think, Blair?” he asked gently.
“I think I love you,” she confessed in a shaky voice, still terrified of how he’d take that declaration.
“I love you, too,” he said plainly. He winced. “I swear I spent all night rehearsing how I was going to say it and I completely forgot the speech I was going to give.”
“I don’t need a speech,” she assured him. “I just need you.”
“I love you, Blair.”
Her heart oared and she didn’t know what to do with herself. “Does this mean we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?”
He paused to pull something out of his pocket. “Yeah. It also means that I have a question to ask you.”
Blair’s pulse raced. She pressed a hand to her chest in a desperate, futile attempt to get her heart to slow down. “What?”
Holding out the familiar silver ring box, Colson said, “It’s a promise ring.”
“Your great-grandmother’s ring.” Instinctively, Blair started shaking her head. Never in her life had she been given something so extravagant. Not only that, the ring meant so much to him and his family. How could she accept it?
What if you’re my family, Blair?
“I couldn’t possibly accept it,” she stammered, as he took her left hand to slip the band onto her ring finger.
“Yes, you can,” he said firmly. “You can’t turn it down if it’s a gift from the heart, remember?”
More tears. Her chest started heaving as she cried. “It’s beautiful.”
“Will you move in with me?” he asked.
“What?”
“Will you move into the mansion with me?” he repeated. “I want to live with you. And then, when you’re ready, I want to marry you. If that’s okay with you?”
“Okay?” Tears streamed down her face and she was pretty sure that she was making a complete spectacle of herself. This was beyond embarrassing. Weeping in her store over a boy. Thankfully, she remembered that she had a packet of tissues in her pocket, so she quickly pulled one out to dry her face. “What do you mean okay? I would be more than okay. It would be the best gift of my whole life. Yes, I’ll move in with you.”
Colson started laughing and he pulled her close to kiss her damp cheeks.
“Don’t,” she warned. “I’m all gross.”
“You have never looked more beautiful,” he told her as he pulled back. “I can’t wait to decorate the house with you. We can make the place look however you want.”
That was when she remembered something else. On the table beside her was a sprig of mistletoe that a customer had insisted on giving her. Mostly because the whole town knew how she felt about mistletoe. Blair still found the tradition ridiculous, but now it came with one exception. The Colson exception. The tradition couldn’t be all bad if it meant that she got to kiss him.
Dabbing at her eyes, she reached for the mistletoe on the table.
“Is that an invitation for another kiss?” he asked, grinning.
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you a little short to hold that mistletoe over both of our heads?” he teased.
“I am not short!” But she started laughing and handed over the mistletoe.
Colson held the mistletoe over their heads, sweeping her towards him with his free arm. He lowered his mouth to hers. Their lips met, passion sending sparks through her as they kissed.
When he pulled away, Colson looked as dazed as she felt. “What are we doing for Christmas?”
“We can spend Christmas Day at my dad’s house,” she told him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
“Which means that later we can spend the night together at our house,” he told her, a glint in his eyes.
Her heart fluttered. She liked the sound of that. Our house. “That would be perfect.”
“What should be do in the meantime?” he asked her, giving her another kiss.
Blair already knew what she wanted to do. Her brothers would make all their jokes, but that was to be expected now that she was bringing the love of her life home for the holidays. “I say we go to my dad’s house and tell my family the good news.”
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THE END
