Being the boss’s girlfriend had certain privileges like not having to give two weeks notice at Silver Bells. Adam promptly promoted Harmony, who vacillated between crying that I was leaving and squealing that she’d received a promotion. As sad as I was about leaving, I was really excited to be starting at It’s All Downhill From Here.
I looked around my new office and smiled. Unlike my small (but much loved) Silver Bells office, this one was big and airy, and had the most magnificent view from the mountain, and of course, more room meant more space for Christmas decorations, even though it was already Christmas morning.
I danced along as I put the final touches on my tree, singing happily, “Santa Claus is coming to town.” I smiled, remembering the last time I’d heard that song, which seemed like an eternity ago. So much had changed since then.
It turned out that Adam was Santa Claus. He’d saved Silver Bells, and subsequently me. It had taken me a while to realize that I didn’t need saving at all. I carried Melody King and Larry Kline in my heart, but I could stand on my own two feet.
I stood back to examine my handiwork. It had taken the best part of the morning to sort it all out, but now that I had my desk and all of my own belongings in here, as well as the decorations, it finally looked like my office.
I heard a cough behind me, and turned around. “Adam Kline, do you hang around in every girl’s doorway at Christmas?” I asked.
He stood at the open door, looking relaxed and happy. He was back in a suit, but gone was the New York style tie and in its place a candy cane-striped version. I walked over to him and straightened it, before standing on tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek.
He smiled at me. “Are you all set?”
I looked around my office, and nodded. “I think so, yes, although I have to say I’m glad it’s Christmas Day, because I’m exhausted.”
“Not too tired for Christmas dinner, I hope?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not. I can’t wait for The Christmas Extravaganza, too.”
Adam was taking me to dinner at Silver Bells and it would be the first time I set foot inside it as a visitor and not as an employee. I was excited to be seeing it from a different perspective, and happy that I was still a part of the place that had played such an important role in my life.
“Good, because people are waiting for you.” He held my coat out for me to put on, and then wrapped my scarf around my neck. “Your stepfather’s flight just landed, so he’ll be there soon with your mom. Morgan and Dallas have said they’re dropping by, along with her brother, and so is Ruby. Harmony’s boyfriend is meeting her there, although she asked me to tell you they’re arguing again.”
“They are?”
He raised his hands. “I don’t want to know any more.”
I rolled my eyes. “You really don’t.”
He looked serious as he slipped his arms around me. “Thank you, Faith.”
I smiled up at him. “For what?”
“For everything,” he said, looking into my eyes.
Without any more words, I knew exactly what he meant. “It was my pleasure.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I was thinking about the Johnsons again today.”
“Oh? Between driving all of my stuff here?”
He nodded. “They had the right idea. I’d like our children, and one day our grandchildren, to take over Silver Bells.”
My eyes filled as I nodded, too touched to say more.
“Ooh, before I forget . . .” He pulled something from his pocket, picked up the hammer and one of the nails I’d been using earlier to hang up pictures. He went to the doorway and placed our old sprig of mistletoe above the door, hammering it in gently, its leaves still bent and creased, and its berries still squashed.
I laughed. “It’s looking a bit worse for wear, isn’t it?”
Adam pulled me under the mistletoe with him and wrapped his arms around me. “No matter how big the challenges, some things are just meant to survive.”
And then he lowered his lips to mine and we shared a long, lingering kiss that promised our future would be merry and bright.
The End
If you enjoyed spending time with these characters,
be sure to read Emma’s story in
One Complicated Christmas
(Christmas Mountain Clean Romance Series, Book 5)