He raised a brow. "Are you sure?"
I smiled. "Am I sure I'm in love with you?"
"Yeah," he said gruffly.
"I've never been surer of anything. I was worried that you're not ready or that you don't want a long-term relationship. But none of that matters. I needed to tell you how I felt." I wanted to give him a chance to react to my declaration.
He moved closer, his hands on my shoulders. "I love you too."
"I'm sorry I've been working so much. I'm going to rebalance my life so that you and Sofia come first. Where you should be."
He tipped his head back. "You're saying everything I wanted to hear. But I wanted to apologize too. I shouldn't have assumed that you could get away the weekend before Christmas. That was insensitive of me. I think, on some level, I wanted to test your priorities. I wanted to know if we'd come first."
"You were right. I wasn't making our relationship or Sofia a priority. But to be fair, I've never been in a relationship like this before."
"And what kind of a relationship is that?" he asked gruffly.
I rested my palms on his chest. "One where I want to spend the rest of my life with a man and his daughter."
His hands went to my hips. "I can't believe you came into the firehouse wearing this red dress. You were all I could think about the first time I met you."
I grinned. "I wanted to get your attention."
"It worked."
I looped my arms around his neck. "Can I kiss you now?"
"Mmm. I thought you'd never ask." He lowered his lips to mine, and he tangled his hand in my hair. His free hand kept a tight grip on my hip. "I can't wait to get away with you this weekend."
I smiled up at him. "Me too."
I wanted to put him first and balance my work and relationship better. There might be some hiccups along the way, but we'd figure it out together.
"To think this all started right here in this room. And now I have my dream job and my dream woman."
"I like the sound of that," I said as he kissed me again.
EPILOGUE
MADDOX
The weekend away at the B and B was exactly what we needed to reconnect and get our relationship back on track.
Eve was adjusting to the idea of delegating things at work. If she took on too much, Clara and Natasha stepped in to help.
The town was becoming a place where everyone worked together to make it better. The shop owners were invested in making it a tourist hub that was enjoyed by all. Or at least most of them were. A couple were still salty that the town was sold, and new shops had been allowed to lease space on Candy Cane Lane.
When we got back, Eve planned a party for recipients of the toy drive and those who donated and volunteered to collect and then deliver the toys.
On the day of the party, Eve, Clara, and Natasha decided to make getting ready for the party a girls' day.
I was on my own while they prepped and primped. They'd even insisted that Sofia was part of their girls' friend group and had to be included.
I was starting to feel like I was outnumbered by women. But Sofia was excited to be surrounded by so many people who loved her.
I'd gotten ready early and met Tucker at a small bar in Christmas Town with Ford, Hudson, Cooper, Morgan, and a few of my fellow firefighters.
Like the rest of the town, there were garland, lights, and a large, decorated tree in the corner.
