"Best sleep I've had in years." She stretched, then settled back against him. "What time is it?"
"No idea. Phone's dead."
"Mm. Guess we're on snow day time."
"Guess so."
They lay there for a while, just talking quietly, touching lazily, in no hurry to leave the warm cocoon of the bed. Eventually, necessity won out, and they made their way downstairs.
The fire had died overnight, but the house was still warm enough. Grant rebuilt it while Riley started coffee on the gas stove, and within an hour they had breakfast going—eggs scrambled in the cast iron skillet, toast made over the fire.
It felt domestic. Comfortable. Like they'd been doing this for years instead of weeks.
"Think the roads are clear enough to get me home?" Riley asked, looking out the window at the snow-covered driveway.
The storm had passed, leaving everything blanketed in white. Beautiful and quiet.
"Probably. The plows will have been through the main roads by now."
"Good." But she didn't sound particularly eager to leave.
Grant wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chin on her shoulder. "What are you doing for Christmas?"
"The usual. Family dinner, church service, my dad's terrible eggnog."
"Sounds nice."
"What about you?"
"Same. Except my dad's eggnog is actually good." Grant paused. "Want to do it together?"
Riley turned in his arms to face him. "Together?"
"Yeah. Christmas Eve with your family, Christmas Day with mine. Or however you want to split it." Grant's heart was pounding, but he tried to keep his voice casual. "We're together, right? Seems like the kind of thing couples do."
Something flickered across Riley's face—surprise, then warmth, then something that looked almost like fear.
"Yeah," she said finally. "We're together. And yeah, I'd like that."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She kissed him softly. "I'd really like that."
Grant held her close, his face buried in her hair, and tried not to think about how much it was going to hurt when she left after New Year's.
Because she was leaving. She had a job, a life, an apartment in the city. This was always temporary—just a holiday fling that had gotten more complicated than either of them had planned.
Except it didn't feel temporary.
It felt like everything.
"Grant?" Riley's voice was muffled against his chest.
"Yeah?"
"Last night was really special. Thank you for sharing your mom's secret with me."
"You're part of it now. The family secret." He pulled back to look at her. "Now you have to pass it down someday."
