Monday, December 26
Opening the front door, Emma pulled Sammy through it with a small squeal of delight. “You’re finally here.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Sammy cringed. “I know I originally said I’d be here this morning.”
“It’s alright. I got your text explaining you didn’t know when you’d get here.”
“We had family from out of state show up at the last minute.”
“It’s been the hardest on Ethan,” Emma replied taking her friend’s coat to hang in the closet next to the front door. “I’m sure he’s asked me at least fifty times since you sent that text this morning if I knew yet when you’d be here. There were a couple times I thought he was just going to take off and go get you. I’m surprised he didn’t ambush you at the door.” Well, I have an idea why he didn’t.
“The temperature has dropped below freezing out there again,” Sammy grumbled, not wanting to talk about anything to do with Ethan right then.
“Okay, we won’t be talking about Ethan yet,” Emma chuckled. “We can get to why you’re so angry at him later. He and Cade did say it feels like there’s more snow coming.”
“Are they both going to be up here at the main house tonight?” her friend asked, almost looking panicked.
“Yes,” Emma chuckled, pulling the other girl along to the dining room. “Cade is staying here because with you here, this is where I’m going to be.”
“So, he’s openly admitting that he’s staying up here because it’s where you’ll be?”
“Of course,” Emma laughed, finally flashing her engagement ring, so Sammy could see. “If you weren’t here, I’d be at our house with him.”
“You’re finally engaged.” Sammy come to a stop just inside the door to the kitchen with a gasp, slapping her hands to her mouth.
“Yes, we are,” Emma grinned, moving over to sit back down with Cade.
“Is that your grandma Warren’s ring?” she asked, turning to Cade for an answer.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Well, it was. Now it’s Emma’s.”
“It’s beautiful,” she smiled at Emma. “When did he ask? Or do I even really need to ask?”
“Yesterday,” Emma laughed.
“Well, I guess I didn’t need to ask after all. You got your one and only true wish. On Christmas day no less.”
“You said I would,” Emma laughed.
Glancing nervously over to where Ethan stood propped against the counter, she whispered. “I’m sorry I got here so late.”
“It’s alright,” Momma Jane smiled warmly. “You’re here now. That’s what counts. Have you eaten? We just finished cleaning up from supper, but we have some left over if you need it. I’d be happy to warm it up for you.”
“No,” she whispered, still staring at Ethan. “I ate before I left my parents’ house.” Noticing his frustrated look, she turned her head, only to see a similar one on Cade’s face. Not understanding, and feeling she wasn’t likely to, she just shook her head. “So, are you going to plan the wedding for after you finish college. With only the one semester left, that wouldn’t be too long to wait.”
Hearing Cade’s grunt of irritation, Emma just laughed. “I haven’t told Cade this yet, but I had already arranged to finish this last semester online before I came home for the holidays. That’s why Papa Zeke upgraded the internet. So, I wouldn’t have problems completing my schoolwork.”
Finally glancing at Cade and noticing his mouth was hanging open, she reached over and pushed his chin up with a light laugh. “It’s a good thing it’s winter, or you’d be catching flies.”
“You’re a brat,” he huffed, shaking his head at her.
“Why do you say that?” she laughed again.
“You could have told me sooner,” he growled, shooting her a look of irritation.
“I was looking for the right time,” she smirked.
“Why are you finishing online?”
“What, would you rather I went back to Saint Louis to finish classes?”
“Of course not,” he growled, literally lifting her up to sit in his lap. “I’ve just been going nuts, trying to figure out how I’m going to survive without following you up there. You could have saved me a lot of frustration.”
“Well, now your frustration is all gone,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pressing her forehead to his. “And to answer your question, I had decided, if you didn’t get around to asking me to marry you soon, I was going to be the one doing the asking. I was done waiting for my happily ever after. I was going to reach out and make a grab for it.”
A growl rumbling deep in his chest, Cade buried his hands in her hair and brought their mouths together for a very passionate kiss.
Laughing, Ezekiel shook his head at them. “They’ll be doing that for a while. How about that dessert you mentioned earlier, Janie?”
“Of course,” she smiled. “Would you at least like some dessert, Sammy?”
“No, that’s really not necessary.”
“You could at least wait to see what desserts she has,” Ethan grumbled low, eyeing her with such intensity, she felt like she was going to catch fire just standing there.
“Oh, yeah,” Jane nodded. “We’ve got chocolate cake, cherry pie, and as per Ethan’s request, cheesecake with strawberries.”
“Why would you ask for cheesecake?” she frowned. “Your favorite is chocolate cake.”
“Oh, he requested the cheesecake for you, My Dear,” Momma Jane answered for him.
“Oh,” she whispered, her cheeks staining pink. “Do you need me to help get things out?”
“No,” Ethan grumbled, finally pushing away from the counter. “You just come over here and sit down. I’ll help her get things out.”
Nodding, her cheeks still pink from embarrassment, and not having a clue as to why, she quickly moved around the end of the table, doing as he’d said.
“Gee,” he huffed, already sitting the cheesecake down in front of her, the cherry pie in his other hand. “If only it were that easy to get her to marry me, I’d be a happy man.”
“Ethan, please,” she sighed. “Not right now.”
“We are going to get married one day. Just hopefully sooner, rather than later. I do want kids.”
Her only answer was a shake of her head as she started cutting the cheesecake into serving sized pieces.
Minutes later, with Ethan propped against the counter once again, and him along with the other three nearly done with their dessert, Emma pulled back with a groan. “If we don’t stop, I’m going to end up dragging you down the hall.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t resist,” Cade grinned.
“You’re not helping.”
“I was going to be very helpful. I was going to follow you like a happily devoted puppy.”
“Stop it,” she huffed, smacking him on the arm. When she started to stand up, he pulled her back down, obviously with the intentions of not letting her go. “If I don’t take my own seat, we’ll start kissing again.”
“I’m alright with that idea,” Cade whispered, holding her tighter.
“I’ll make a deal with you.”
“What kind of deal?”
“If you let me go back to my own seat, and have a piece of cherry pie, we can do that thing we were talking about this morning before we got out of bed. You know, tonight when we go to bed at the normal hour.”
“Just so I know we’re on the same page, and I’m certain of which thing you’re talking about first,” he croaked out. “You’re talking about what I suggested, right?”
“Yep,” she answered with a pop of her lips and a small nod.
Letting her go, he nodded and helped her to her feet. “Certainly,” he swallowed, eyeing the three desserts on the table. “Have your pie. I’d bettered eat at least one piece of each of those. I’m going to need the fuel later.”
Eyeing the two thoughtfully, Jane shook her head. “I don’t want to know.”
Ezekiel laughed, and pushed his dessert plate towards the center of the table. “No, I’m sure you don’t want to know.”
Standing to her feet, Sammy took her plate, along with Papa Zeke’s and Ethan’s to the dishwasher. She wasn’t going to say anything, but she was certain she didn’t want to know either. Her cheeks already felt like they were on fire just from the things she could imagine. She didn’t need to make it worse.
Not thinking anything of it, she turned to head back to the chair she’d just vacated, passing Ethan on the way. He had reached out and snagged hold of her, pulling her into his arms before she knew what was going on.
“Ethan, what are you doing?” she huffed, trying to pull away.
“I got you now.”
“Well, you can let me go now.”
“You’re under the mistletoe,” Momma Jane laughed. “You have to kiss him. It’s tradition.”
“What?” she gasped, looking up at the lamp hanging down from the ceiling.
Shaking her head, she looked back at him. “Did you know that was there?”
“Of course,” he grinned. “Why do you think I’ve made sure to stand here the whole time.”
“That’s entrapment,” she huffed. “I’m not kissing you.”
“Oh, your daddy may be a police officer, but I am not, and you’re definitely kissing me,” he growled, already lowering his head.
“No, I’m not,” she growled, pushing at his shoulders.
“Why not?” Emma shrugged. “Look what it did for Cade and I.”
“That’s different.”
“No, it’s not,” Ethan frowned.
“You might as well give in,” Cade cut in. “He’s the one that put the mistletoe up there. He worked close to thirty minutes to make it hard to see, so you wouldn’t realize it was there and do your best to avoid getting close to him.”
“None of that stuff matters,” she grumbled, shaking her head. “This is still a different situation from yours and Emma’s.”
“Then prove it,” Ethan smirked.
“How?” she snorted.
“Kiss me,” he shrugged, doing his best not to let his nerves show. If he went bust on this gamble, he was going to end up dying a slow and painful death. After living an even more painfully lonely life. “If our situation is truly so different from Emma’s and Cade’s, it’ll end up being nothing more than a mistletoe kiss. And I’ll leave you alone. I’ll even stop asking you to marry me.”
“Fine,” she huffed, moving in like she intended to give him a quick peck on the lips.
“Whoa, hold up,” he growled, putting his hand up to stop her. “You’ve got to put some effort into it. It’s not going to be that easy.”
“What then?”
“Well, you don’t necessarily have to slip me tongue, but you’ve got to make it feel like you mean it. You should be aware though, just because you don’t have to slip me tongue, doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and slip you mine.”
“Fine,” she growled, actually stepping into his arms this time. “Is this better?”
“Well, it’s definitely a start,” he grinned, already lowering his head…