“Stop.” Nick jogs over, and I turn to find him grimacing as if he were in pain. “Do you really have feelings for my sister?”
“Yes,” I say, exasperated. “I love her. And if she’ll have me, I’m going to marry her. I don’t want to waste another second without her in my life. Tonight has made me realize that.” A rush of adrenaline grips me, and suddenly I feel as if I could lap the circumference of the earth twice at least to prove this to Missy.
Nick sags as if he were defeated, and I wish he wouldn’t see it that way. “Okay.”
A flare of hope goes off in me, but I’m slow to get happy. “Okay? As in you’re okay with this?”
“Yes.” He slaps the back of his neck. “I’m going to live.” His frown slowly morphs into the idea of a smile. “So if she says yes, you’re legally going to be family.” He comes over and slaps me on the back. “You’ve always felt like family to me, man.”
“Same here.” I give him a light sock to the arm. “Thanks for not giving me a black eye.”
“I’m saving that for Christmas morning, sweetheart.”
I belt out a laugh. “If you tell me where your sister is, I might just let you.”
“She’s at Holly’s.” He shakes his head. “I’ll save the black eye for some other time. So, how’s this supposed to work? You think Missy will close up shop and move to New York with you? On second thought, don’t tell me. I don’t want to spoil my Christmas. I’ll take the news when it comes.”
I slap him five and pull him in. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good luck, man. You’re going to need it.”
I jump into my truck and head toward the orchard to pick up Noel. Christmas is in less than a few hours. My flight for New York leaves first thing the next morning. My stomach grinds for a moment. How exactly is this going to work? And then, it hits me.
New York feels like a lifetime away. I don’t know that I’m ever going back.
I know I’m not.
A thought comes to me. I think there’s one more stop I need to make before I pick up Noel. And I’m going to need my checkbook for this one.
