Once the patient was stabilized and my second-best backhoe operator was pumped up with painkillers, Rand had him loaded onto the company jet with him and Becca and flown back to KC for surgery and to be reunited with his wife.
I’m a tick or two past exhaustion, cold to the core, and it’s too late to text Everly by the time I warm myself under the covers in the motel.
As I begin to drift, I remember Christmas Eve. Everly’s gift will require thought, but I’m completely done for tonight, so I’ll ponder that subject more tomorrow. Time is not on my side.
Claire and Oakley are simpler decisions. I switch on the bedside lamp and call up a website Judy has ordered client gifts from in the past. It isn’t the most personal gift, but at this point, should suffice.
I drop a healthy sum for roasted nuts, flavored popcorns, and an array of other goodies. Selecting overnight delivery costs me nearly as much as the gift basket itself.
Worth every penny.
I lie back, where, when I’m lucky, I can still catch the fragrance of Everly’s perfume on my pillow from time to time. I’ve hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob daily just so I could hang ontothispillowcase a little longer.
Aw…what the heck.
I grab my phone and fire off a text.
KNOX: Sweet dreams, my little Christmas gift.
Everly is the only present I need.
I have to give my guys credit. They’ve dug deep—ha ha—and are rising to the occasion, despite the fact they’re bummed about the way their Christmas is playing out. A few have rented a van to make a quick run home but assure me they’ll be back bright-eyed and bushytailed the day after. The bonuses LHS has promised should make up for their inconvenience, and during the night, I came to the conclusion that even if we don’t meet Rand’s criteria for the guys’ bonuses, I’m coming out of pocket personally to compensate them for their efforts.
If all my worker bees can just hold on until noon today, we can catch our collective breath until the twenty-sixth. Christmas has arrived none too soon. My guys look as beat as I feel.
Tonight, I see Everly, and spending time with her, holding her, will be the refreshment I need. We’ve texted a few times, not nearly as much as I’ve wanted to. More, my ears are shriveling up for want of her melodic voice.
Oh brother. I cast my eyes about the jobsite, half expecting work to have ground to a standstill as the guys wait for me to surrender my man card.
I’ve received a delivery notification that Claire’s gift has been dropped off at the motel office. Now, the most important task is to figure out what to get for Everly. It needs to be special, but not the kind of special that will spook her.
It also needs to be classyandavailable in not-so-cosmopolitan Chandor—between noon and five on Christmas Eve.
Boy, I’m in trouble.
I’ve wasted time this year. Precious days I’ll never get back. Now, the truth has crystalized. I see my time with Becca for what it was. A mistake. When she cut me loose, my pride was hurt more than my heart.
There. I said it. I’m a prideful man with a tender ego. I let myself get bent out of shape when the woman I thought I wanted to marry had the good sense to call a halt before permanent mistakes were made.
Becca showing up with Rand three nights ago turned out to be a blessing. I wasn’t moved by her presence. Not by her face, her figure, or by the memories. When she handed me that monstrosity of a ring, my first and only thought was,good—because I’m going to need to buy another one of these, a better one, sooner rather than later.
Crazy, I know. The timeline thus far has been condensed. I’m not going to rush things, for both my sake and Everly’s, butI can’t help the track my thoughts are running on. The future feels predetermined. Everly is the one for me. There’s been a recognition in my spirit and a sense of rightness that Becca never stirred.
Becca may have the kind of beauty that moves a man, but Everly does, too. And the great thing about Everly, what’s stolen my heart, is that she has the character to match. And the personality.
Best of all, she matchesme. She’s the last puzzle piece of my future clicking into place.
I crank the gearshift and drive forward a few yards. On the bright side, one complication I don’t need to worry about is Oakley. Everly did mention Christmas Eve is going to be just me and the two ladies again. She’s sad her dad won’t be around and irritated Oakley made a last minute decision to spend the holiday with friends.
Works for me. Now, I can break my news to Everly, and Claire, for that matter, on my own time. I’ll work the info about me owning the company naturally into conversation. It isn’t a big deal. Much ado about nothing.
I run my finger under my glove and scratch an itch. Gloves or not, my hands are in bad shape, chapped to the point of stinging. Becca would roll her eyes if I touched her with these babies. Everly?
Thinking of touching Everly promises to make the morning drag all the more.
Chapter 26
Everly
