Jackie opened the program to see how many choirs were performing. The list was longer than she’d imagined. They’d come from far and wide to pit their caroling against the best in the region. The number of gold stars beside previous winning choirs was impressive, and a little worrying for the choir from the smallest town.
She moved her legs as someone side-stepped along the row to sit beside her.
“Is this seat taken?”
The program fell out of her hands. With eyes that were suddenly full of tears, she looked up at Aidan. “What are you doing here?”
He smiled and her heart raced out of control.
“I saw the photos Mabel posted on Facebook of everyone decorating The Fairy Forest for the competition. It looked too good to miss, so I flew home this morning.”
Jackie frowned. Did Aidan sayhome?Before she could ask him what he meant, Pastor John introduced the choir. A spontaneous round of applause greeted the local favorites. Before everyone stopped clapping, Mabel took her place at the front of the choir, lifted the baton, and glanced at her husband, the designated music maestro of the evening.
With heads held high, the first notes of “Silent Night” filled The Fairy Forest with the most magical sound.
Jackie looked at Aidan to make sure she hadn’t dreamed he was sitting beside her.
He picked up her hand and smiled. “It’s okay. You’re not seeing a ghost.”
“Why are you here?” she whispered.
A man behind Jackie cleared his throat and pointed to the choir. A blush warmed her face and she sank a little lower in her seat.
“It’s okay,” Aidan whispered in her ear. “He’s just jealous you aren’t his girlfriend.”
Jackie didn’t think it was possible for her heart to beat any faster. She should’ve had a lot more questions for Aidan, but her brain had stopped working the moment he sat down. She didn’t know how long he was staying, but it didn’t matter. He was here now, and that meant more to her than he could know.
* * *
Aidan closedhis eyes and let the choir’s soulful rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” wash over him. He couldn’t imagine not being with Jackie this Christmas, or any other Christmas in the future. He’d known as soon as he landed in New York that being separated from her wasn’t the life he wanted.
Because, against all rhyme or reason, he desperately wanted to be part of her life—regardless of where that was.
Jackie’s hand tightened on his. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
He opened his eyes and leaned closer. “I’ve never been better. Can we talk?”
With a silent nod, she picked up her bag and whispered something to Paris.
Aidan glanced at the scowling man behind them. They hadn’t madethatmuch noise. Whatever was on his mind must be worse than two people whispering a few words to each other.
Crouching as low as possible, Jackie led the way out of The Fairy Forest.
As soon as they closed the large door behind them, she sent him a confused frown. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here, Aidan?”
“I missed you.” His simple explanation brought tears to her eyes. He swallowed hard, trying to remember all the things he needed to say to her. “I’ve done a lot of thinking. About us. About how I feel about you.”
Jackie’s eyes searched his face. “And how do you feel?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“I love you. When I went back to my apartment, it felt cold and lonely. All I could think about was spending the evenings with you in front of your fireplace, enjoying our home-cooked meals, and talking about what was happening in our lives.”
A single tear rolled down Jackie’s cheek, and Aidan wiped it away with his thumb.
“I love you too,” she said, her voice breaking. “But what about the job in Miami? Have you accepted the position?”
“I’ve spoken with the chief executive and turned down their offer. David’s happy for me to split my time at BioTech between Manhattan and Sapphire Bay. Once most of my team has moved here, we can decide what’ll happen next.”
Jackie held his hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to make a long-distance relationship work. I was being stubborn and unreasonable. While you were gone, I thought about what we could do and realized staying in Manhattan for long weekends mightn’t be a bad thing. As long as someone reliable looks after the store, I could use the time to buy more supplies and find retail outlets for hand-knitted garments from Montana.”
