“Gabe’s a good helper, Mommy.”
“I know he is. Keep watching your show. I’ll be out in…” A few minutes would have been my usual estimate, but Gabe’s appetite ensured it would be longer. “…soon.”
I hurried after Gabe, closing the bedroom door and hearing the water running. Dropping my robe, I joined him under the water where he pinned me to the tiled wall and reminded me again of all the ways my body belonged to him.
Chapter 37
Gabe
This is the one.” Reid put his hands on his hips as if readying himself for an argument.
I looked over at Tori, who was trying to hide her smile.
“Is that your final decision?” I asked him, giving her a wink.
“Final.”
Folding my arms, I walked around the tree, pretending to evaluate it. “Good structure. Sturdy.” I bent and peeked through the branches. “Space for plenty of decorations.” I rose and eyed the top. “And a nice spot for a topper. I think that decision is a wise one.”
“So we can take it home?”
I laughed and gave him a nod. “It’s all ours.”
He bounced on his toes, grabbing Tori’s hand.
“Let me pay and have it loaded onto the car. Then we can shop for decorations.”
Tori gnawed at her lip, and my brow creased as I questioned whether I’d said something wrong. I’d had to change the regulations regarding the top floor suites of the hotel to allow for a live tree and was still trying to figure out how to avoid violating any fire codes. Getting it up to the suite was going to be its own feat, but for Tori and Reid, I would make it work.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
She looked from me to the tree to Reid and back to me. “I have decorations,” she said with hesitation. “The ones you bought me in Jacksonville.”
The admission left me dumbfounded. I had never considered she would keep them.
“I couldn’t part with them. They held too many memories.”
Swallowing, I said, “They’re not here, though.” I was certain she had them stored at her parents’ house like her wedding dress.
“I… They’re in my closet. When the movers brought our things from my parents’ house, I had them include the two bins.”
The way my heart jumped was almost painful. She’d brought them here like she had known we would shop for a tree together, and the decorations would no longer remind her of a past that had left her broken. They were reminders of our story.
Reid kicked the snow with his boot, and I knew he was anxious to move, but Tori’s admission had me wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her. “I love you, Victoria Abigail Hent.”
She giggled against my mouth, and Reid tugged her hand. “All you do is kiss.”
I joined her laugh and kissed her once more before saying, “And you’re going to get used to it because I plan to kiss your mother every day that I can.”
She stepped out of my hold and took my hand. “Do you think…” That serious expression returned. “Well, the house in the Hamptons is so empty and…” This time my heart expanded threefold, making it difficult to breathe. “…maybe next Christmas we can have the tree there?”
I loved her more every day.
“If that would be okay. I know it holds unpleasant memories.”
I stopped her by pressing my finger to her lips. “I told you. I bought it from my father so we could make new memories and bring joy to it again.”
“You couldn’t have known we would get back together,” she said.
