The red velvet Maid of Honor dress swished as Tori walked down the hall with Maddy and the bridesmaids towards the big room where the wedding would be held. She felt pretty in the dress and even though this was Maddy’s big day, the dress gave her a sense of confidence she needed when all eyes drifted towards her and the bridesmaids who were dressed in their green velvet dresses.
As she walked slowly down the aisle behind Maddy, Tori caught sight of Matt in a suit and was happy they’d had the last twenty-four hours together to talk and gain footing in their budding relationship. Her eye caught his and she thought he winked ever so slightly. If the man she’d gotten to know this week was a true representation of who Matt Kingfisher was, Tori knew she was a lucky woman to have caught his eye. They’d talked about staying on after the wedding to play in the snow and spend Christmas together at her mother’s house in Mistletoe.
“My parents know not to expect me until later in the week,” Matt said as his way of saying yes.
Tori wasn’t sure if he was offering to spend Christmas with her because she had nowhere to go this year, or if he genuinely wanted to spend the holiday at her mother’s house in town but she wasn’t going to question it. She’d made him swear that he wanted to stay on in Mistletoe for Christmas day and he’d sworn up and down he did. They’d decided to move down the road to her childhood home on the twenty-fifth to cook a turkey, build a fire and eat until they were bursting.
They’d even made a plan that Tori would look after Diesel while Matt visited his parents later in the week. People in her building had dogs and she was sure there was no rule about having pets. Having Diesel reassured her that Matt would come back after he saw his family. It might take a while for Tori to completely trust another man, but she was sure if anyone deserved to be trusted it was Matt.
As she stood at the front of the room with Maddy, listening to the vows her best friend had written for her wedding, Tori knew that they only way to move forward was to bravely open her heart again.
At the reception, Tori watched Matt from her chair at the head table, counting the minutes until the dancing started and she could find her way to the dance floor with Matt. He kept looking over at her and smiling, an expression that made her feel all warm and safe.
Matt was a good dancer and Tori fit into his arms perfectly as they danced under the twinkling Christmas lights of the great room. She thought about the Christmas window at Nordstrom’s and the couple who danced in the snow. She thought about the strange feeling that had overcome her that day, standing on the street, watching the dancers and thinking about if anyone would ever love her the way she hoped to be loved. She thought about the first time she looked into Matt’s dark eyes and saw something profoundly intriguing, something she’d never experienced before. Someday she hoped to be able to admit to Matt that she believed that some form of divine intervention had led her to him and brought them together. The feeling that she needed to get on with her life, the challenge, meeting Matt twice near the Bean, then finding out he was a friend of Clint’s. So many pieces fit together to make Tori believe in the magic of Christmas.
Tori was both exhilarated and exhausted by eleven o’clock and knew she’d barely make it another hour if she didn’t catch a second wind. When Matt found her talking to Sasha and Zoe and suggested they take Diesel outside, Tori broke away from her friends. Upstairs, they grabbed their coats and found more appropriate footwear for the snow. Tori traded her expensive, sparkly shoes for snow boots and met Matt in the hall.
Walking through the Mistletoe Lodge front door with Matt, something caught Tori’s eye up above their heads in the rafters of the alcove and for the first time that week she noticed something. A sprig of Mistletoe hung directly above anyone coming or going into the Lodge. It was so far up that it wasn’t easy to see, but Tori was now well aware it was there.
She stopped Matt, pointed to the greenery above them and smiled. “We’re under mistletoe.”
He grinned and took her in his arms, not even looking around to see if anyone was close. “Don’t mind if I do,” he said.
Tori melted into him as their lips met in a passionate kiss that told her this guy wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. His lips were warm and the passion in his kiss made her knees threaten to buckle.
When they pulled apart, Matt sighed against her lips. “You might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Tori.”
She had to agree that at this moment, things looked very promising for the doctor with a rescue dog he spoke Haida to. And all because of the Christmas Challenge. And a little Christmas magic.
Very promising indeed.
She leaned in for another kiss and praised the fact she was brave enough to let love into her heart again.
Christmas Eve had proven to be romantic and hopeful, beyond her wildest imagination, and Christmas Day promised to be wonderful as well.
Merry Christmas, indeed.
~ THE END ~