“You even got the scary pout.” She moved closer and slung an arm around my shoulder. At the same time, the streetlamp came flickering on, driving away the evening gloaming. We stood there, examining our crappy Snow-Neil. As I stared intently at him, I realized that I had missed a few details. I arranged another pebble in the corner of his mouth.
See there, I’ve found a way to have you with me on my birthday.
And, naturally, the traitorous tear I’d been trying to hold back for too long slid down my cheek. I swiped it away immediately. I didn’t want my mother to see me hurting.
“Let’s go inside, Selene. It’s getting colder.” As we walked up the drive, my eyes continued to sting.
“Go upstairs and have a nice hot bath before dinner,” my mother instructed, and I obeyed her. Maybe a relaxing soak would ease some of the melancholy that hovered over my days.
I walked into my bedroom and stopped short when I saw something bizarre.
I walked forward numbly until my legs hit the edge of the bed, staring down at the…bouquet of candy?
I studied it for a long moment, afraid I was having a very bizarre hallucination.
But now…there really was a bouquet of candy wrapped in a red bow.
Next to it was a small box, and I instinctively looked over my shoulder for any observers before picking it up. There was a small pink tag on the box that said “Happy Birthday,” and my hands shook as I breathed deep and sat down the bed to slowly open it.
Immediately, I saw something shiny. A bracelet.
It was silver with a single gleaming pearl suspended from it. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I felt hope beginning to unfurl in my chest. But I didn’t want to delude myself because I couldn’t take another disappointment.
No, Neil was in Chicago.
I was dreaming.
I squeezed my eyes shut and gave my arm a pinch. I waited a few heartbeats before cracking one eye open and looking around the room.
Nothing had changed.
It was still my room; I was still on the bed with the pearl bracelet in my hands.
“Not dreaming, then,” I whispered as I tried to delicately clasp it around my wrist without dropping it. I ran my fingers over the assorted candy;some were honey-flavored, others coconut. Nestled in amongst them was a fortune cookie.
I picked it up, cradling it in my hands as though it were a precious jewel before breaking it. I pulled out the slip and read:“Don’t kiss me like you love me. Kiss me because you love me, and because I’m ready to love you back. Come outside.”
I pressed my hand to my lips and glanced around in disbelief—he was here?
Flustered, I pulled on the first pair of shoes I could find and raced out of my room. I hurried down the stairs, tripping on the last few steps. My heart was in my throat, and my legs were trembling. Before I could get to the front door, my mother appeared and handed me my winter coat. She didn’t have any of her usual questions for me, and I looked up at her, wide-eyed.
“I’ll probably regret this,” she sighed. “But I couldn’t keep watching you be miserable…”
She smiled and opened the door for me. I ran down the porch steps, and then I saw him.
He was leaning on the Maserati he’d parked right in front of our house, and every muscle in my body felt frozen. My arms fell uselessly to my sides as my eyes locked on his.
How many hours did it take him to drive here?
Why didn’t he just fly?
But I didn’t really care about that. Neil was right there with his golden eyes, just as angelically beautiful and irresistibly sexy as ever.
I felt like my soul had been drawn out of my body toward him, but when I recovered from my trancelike state, I ran down the driveway, stumbling clumsily in my eagerness.
He shook his head and smiled, and I blushed.
Hope bloomed again, love burst forth, and the snowy city suddenly had every bit of the charm it had for me as a child as I got closer and closer.
