The last few days had been a miracle. A mini-vacation from my real life. But the real world was making sure I felt the sting of my consequences now.
My landlord had already told me if I paid my rent late one more time, they’d start the eviction process. I was currently paid up, but rents had skyrocketed in the last year, and they knew they could raise the rate by a couple hundred dollars if they got rid of me.
Everything was falling apart.
I sat down on the bathroom floor and hugged my knees while loud, angry sobs echoed against the walls.
After a few minutes, I heard a quiet knock on the door. “You all right in there, Chloe?”
“No. I’m not all right.”
He turned the knob and let himself in, then hunkered down on the floor and sat down next to me.
I tried to wipe the tears off my face. “I was right. They’ll fire me if I don’t show up, and there’s no way I can get there today. Not safely. And that job’s not worth risking my life for!”
He slipped his hand over mine. “You’re right about that. How can I help?”
I rested my head on his shoulder. Then I joked, “You could marry me and give me a roof over my head. I’ll get evicted if I don’t pay my rent on time, and I don’t think I can find another job fast enough.”
Tex sucked in a breath. “Your solution seems extreme, but… okay.”
Looking at him in confusion, I said, “W-what?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “You can move in here if you want. Uh, and Rod’s a wedding officiant. He has his license and everything. He likes to do Christmas weddings. It would rock his world if I showed up with a beautiful elf bride and asked him to marry us today.”
I busted out laughing until I looked at his face. “Oh, you’re serious?”
He wrinkled his brow. “Is that so crazy? Yeah, I, uh, I like you alot, Chloe. These last few days have been magic. And I’ve been dreading the countdown, knowing that this is temporary. People do crazier things. Like the ones who get drunk in Vegas and end up married. We could be wild and make it happen.”
My heart soared at the idea.
Itwascrazy.
Crazier than crazy.
But at the same time, it wasexactlywhat I wanted to do.
I started laughing again. “Tell me what it would look like.”
“Well, if you really want, I’d put on my Santa outfit and you could put your elf costume back on. Then we’d snowmobile our way to Rod’s—”
“No. I meant us living together. Being married. What wouldthatbe like?”
He gazed at me with so much yearning and passion on his face I almost couldn’t handle it.
Gruffly he said, “I’m not a rich man. But I make enough to keep this property going. So you wouldn’t need to work. Unless you wanted to. If you did, I could help you find a job here on Red Oak Mountain. I’m a simple man with simple needs. I’d like to spend time out on the back porch with you, watching the leaves wave in the wind. In the winter we could build a snowman. And in the summer we could make sand castles down at the lake shore. In the spring there would be firefly nights and lots of stargazing. And in the fall, I’d let you decorate the place however you wanted. I’m a decent cook. I do my own laundry. And I brush my teeth every morning and every night. I like to think I’d be a good partner for someone. And… I’d like that someone to be you.”
That was the best marriage proposal I could have ever imagined.
“Okay, but I’m holding you to the laundry. If you don’t mean that part you better retract it now.”
He laughed, then kissed me. “Let’s go get married, Chloe.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were on the snowmobile. Anyone who saw us would have wondered what Santa was doing driving his elf through the countryside. But it was just the crittersand the trees out there with us, driving through the winter wonderland on our way to his uncle’s house.
Chapter 18
Tex
