“I hope you will be happy here. It’s not much but …”
“Hey,” I say, turning his face to me, “I’ve never been happier.” I lean in and kiss him softly. “I love it here.”
“I just worry, what if you get here and decide you hate small town life?”
I turn in his arms. “What if it’s perfect? What if this is exactly what we’re supposed to be doing? What if we are about to build something amazing together?”
He lets out a heavy sigh and relaxes. “Then we’re the luckiest people alive.”
“Exactly.” I kiss him softly. “Stop borrowing trouble. We’ve got this.”
“We’ve got this,” he agrees.
We stand there for a long moment, just holding each other, watching the snow fall.
“Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for this Christmas. For your family. For making me feel like I belong.”
“You do belong. Here. With me. Always.” He pulls back to look at me. “This is just the first of many Christmases together.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
From inside, I hear his grandmother calling everyone for dinner.
“Ready to do this all over again?” Jax asks.
“With your family? Always.”
We head back inside, hands linked, and I think about how much my life has changed in just a few weeks. I went from lost and broken to found and whole. How one snowstorm led me exactly where I needed to be. To Jax. To his family. To this town. To home.
Dinner is even more chaotic than breakfast. The table is crowded, and voices overlap with everyone talking, laughing, and teasing each other. It’s perfect. I’m sitting between Jax and Riley, and across from us, I notice Maggie and Ford are deep in conversation about something that has them both smiling.
“You see that?” I whisper to Riley.
“Oh, I see it. Your sister is totally into him.”
“And he’s into her,” I whisper back.
“We’re going to have to play matchmaker.” She grins.
“Let’s not. Let’s just let it happen naturally,” I warn her.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Riley laughs.
After dinner, we’re all lounging around the living room, too full to move, when Jax’s grandmother stands up.
“I have an announcement,” she says, and everyone quiets. “This has been the best Christmas in years. Having all my boys here. Having new faces at the table. Watching this family grow.” She looks at me, Riley, and Maggie. “You girls are welcome here anytime. In fact, I insist you come to every holiday from now on.”
“Grams …” Jax starts.
“Hush. I’m not done.” She smiles. “I’m getting old. I won’t be around forever. And it does my heart good to see my boys finding people who make them happy. So, Jax, don’t mess this up.” Then she looks at Maggie, Riley, and Jax’s brothers. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of you, too.”
Maggie and Riley’s cheeks turn pink.
