“Drop your pants and get in the bed.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “See what I mean?”
“Ronan,” I groaned in exasperation.
“I’m just teasing, love. Okay, not really, but I’ll behave,” he said and slid under the covers. “Now, come here and let me hold you.” When I was snuggled against his chest, he continued, “I could have lost you tonight. Right when I just got you. I know it’s sudden, but I don’t want to waste time. I want to get married as soon as possible.”
“Okay, when?”
“That’s all you have to say?” he asked, sounding surprised.
“I don’t have much interest in throwing a big, fancy wedding. I’d much rather have something small and intimate with only close family and friends present.”
“Sounds perfect, love. Let’s get some sleep and we can talk about it tomorrow.”
11
Jacquelyn
The next two nights ran smoothly. I really felt like I was more than capable of being on my feet and moving around, but everyone, including Gabby, insisted I sit on the new green love sofa that had been added to Santa’s home, so that’s what I did. I was able to hide the bandage on my neck with the strategic placement of a scarf and no one was the wiser.
Once the guests were gone and it was time to close up, I turned to Ronan with tears in my eyes. “I can’t believe this was the last night we get to play Santa and Mrs. Claus.”
“Are you about to cry?”
I turned away from him and quickly wiped my eyes. “No.”
He chuckled and came over to hug me. “Jacquelyn, we can dress up as Mr. and Mrs. Claus any time you want,” he whispered in my ear.
“Behave yourself,” I playfully scolded.
“Let’s go, love. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it’s bound to be a busy day.”
* * *
“Gigi!”Gabby squealed as she burst into the kitchen. “It’s snowing!”
“What?” I asked and headed for the nearest window. “The weatherman didn’t say anything about snow.”
“I’m going to build a snowman and a snowwoman. Do you know what the difference is, Gigi?”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
“It’s snowballs,” Gabby giggled.
“Papa taught you that one, didn’t he?” I asked.
“Yes,” she managed to say through her laughter.
I peered out the kitchen window, and sure enough, it was snowing. At least we didn’t have to go anywhere and would be safe at home for the holidays. I clapped my hands together to get Gabby’s attention. “Let’s go find your sister and see if she wants to make Christmas cookies with us.”
“Can we make some brownies for Papa so he won’t eat all the cookies?” Gabby asked.
“Of course, we can,” I promised.
We spent most of the day baking Christmas goodies. By dinner time, we had several inches of snow on the ground and they were calling for a few more before all was said and done.
Ronan approached me from behind and wrapped his arms around me while I was watching the snow fall. “If I asked you to do something for me without questioning it, would you do it?”
