“If she is, you’re fine,” Benny said. “If she isn’t, I will find it and take it outside to a nice burrow hole where it belongs at this time of year.”
Gracie’s heart folded in half as she leaned over and kissed her son on the head. “Proud of you, Benny.”
Marshall reached out to him, too. “You’re a good man, Ben. I like someone who has sense in a crisis.”
“I have sense!” Olivia exclaimed with a pout.
“And so do I,” Gracie said. “I don’t want them in an Uber. Let me drive us all home.”
Marshall huffed a frustrated breath. “Okay, Gracie. But can you come in the kitchen with me for a moment?”
Once again, they walked back to the privacy of his chef’s kitchen, but this time it didn’t feel romantic and secret. Just…sad.
Marshall rubbed the back of his neck and finally looked at her with that same soft, private smile.
“Well,” he murmured, “that happened.”
Gracie laughed. “It certainly did.”
“She’s a drama queen who wants something from me,” he said. “That’s a bad combination.”
“What do you think she wants?”
“A second chance.” He held up a hand at Gracie’s wide-eyed reaction. “Don’t worry, that isn’t happening. But I don’t like to antagonize her because I worry about her influence on Olivia.”
“I get that,” Gracie said. “And it makes me happy that Benny’s father is out of the picture and wants to stay that way.”
“I thought Bianca was, too, but something changed.” He stepped closer. “Sorry the night blew up like this.”
“No apologies necessary. We’ll finish the tree tomorrow or whenever we can. Lots of Christmas ahead.”
He closed the distance, reaching out to her. “True. Silver lining.” He folded her in an embrace, drawing her into his chest, closing every inch of space between them. “But this felt like…a glimpse.”
Her breath caught. “A glimpse?”
He took her face gently in his hands. “Of what could be.” He kissed her softly, tenderly, like he’d been thinking about it for a while and really had to get it right.
As for Gracie, she now knew the actual meaning of the word swoon. With a little dizziness thrown in.
While her eyes were closed, he kissed her deeper, this time slow and certain, his hands threading into her hair.
When they finally broke apart, foreheads touching, breath mingling, she whispered, “I like that glimpse. I like it a lot.”
“Good,” he said.
“I’m ready!” Bianca announced, her boot heels knocking on the floor as she approached the kitchen.
Gracie started to jerk out of his arms, but Marshall held her tight, as if he refused to hide their relationship.
Bianca stood in the doorway and sliced Gracie with a withering glare. “It’s snowing. Does that bakery van handle the snow?”
“You better hope so,” Gracie quipped, sliding out of Marshall’s arms and catching the flicker of amusement in his eyes.
A few minutes later, the bakery van rolled away. In the back with the dogs, Benny and Olivia sat quietly, both looking a bit disappointed.
Bianca took out her phone and never looked up or spoke to them.
So Gracie put on some cheesy Christmas music and tried not to sing, smile, or share the fact that she was, indeed, falling head over heels for Marshall Hampton.
