“Is it okay if we announce our engagement?” he asked.
“You do it.” Sandra gave him a quick kiss.
Eb put his hand on her waist, and they turned to face their friends. He cleared his throat.
“There really must be some Christmas magic going on around here because during the sleigh ride, Sandra agreed to marry me.”
“Yes!” Walt yelled. He and Linda were the first ones to reach them. “I knew you two would figure it out. When?”
Sandra and Eb exchanged glances.
“Christmas!” Rue shouted.
“Yes! How about at the Christmas Ball?” the mayor asked, squeezing in.
“But it’s in a week,” Sandra argued, her mind swirling.
“Don’t worry about a dress,” Linda said with a wink. “After I saw you two at an event together, I started on a design for your gown.”
“If you are okay with it, Sandra, I’m game,” Eb said against her temple after kissing it. “I can’t wait to begin our happily ever after.”
Sandra practically melted on the spot. “I agree, but only if we can get our families here in time.”
“Oh, yeah.” Eb grinned. “I don’t think I mentioned mine are coming for Christmas.”
Her heart rate spiked with excitement. With her parents living in California, there shouldn’t be a problem getting them here. “All right, then.”
“When the Christmas rush is over, we can use Linda’s office temporarily,” Walt said, “since I have other plans in the works.”
“What’s this about?” Eb asked.
“But you need to sell the Malibu property,” Sandra struggled to get her phone from her pocket.
“Already done, and I’ve put in that other offer which was accepted.”
“I am so confused,” Eb said, but Sandra thrilled as she remembered the adorable cottage.
“Walt, let’s get these two married first.” Linda took her husband’s arm. “Sandra, I’ll send you a sketch of the dress. Since you’ve both been married before, does it have to be white? I think you’d look beautiful in a forest green gown with gold filigree.”
“Sandra will look beautiful in anything she chooses.” Eb smiled down at her, and she lifted on her toes to kiss him.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Eb took several deep breaths, hoping to calm his racing heart. He checked his phone again to make sure Sandra hadn’t texted him to tell him the wedding was off. It was stupid, he knew, but the last three nights he’d wakened from nightmares of her doing just that. Which was completely unfair to her, since she’d done nothing to hint she was having second thoughts about marrying him.
“Daddy?”
“I’m coming.”
Eb gave his reflection one last look. Linda didn’t do men’s clothes but knew someone who’d agreed to make a suit jacket in a deeper shade of the green of Sandra’s dress. He’d been relieved it was dark, so he wouldn’t look ridiculous in a too-colorful tux. It had turned out to be classy.
“Daddy!” From the sound, Rue was using her palms to pound on the Community Center’s dressing room door.
He opened it, and his daughter’s hand stopped in the middle of a swing. She gave a little gasp before pulling her hands to her chest.
“Oh, Daddy. You look beautiful.”
Eb grinned at her. “You’rethe one who’s beautiful.” Sandra had found a burgundy dress for Rue, which she said went perfectly with the green in her wedding gown.
