Ava tried to smooth her hair down, then sniffed. “Well, are we going to get this over to Molly’s house or not?”
“You’re going to help me?”
“Of course. I don’t trust you to put all the furniture back in the right place.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow. “You know Molly’s just going to mix it all up anyway.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, but I want it to be perfect when she first sees it.”
He smiled at her as feelings of love washed over him. “It will be. We make a good team.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“What do you say we get married and build a house of our own?”
Ava’s mouth dropped open and Hunter wanted to kick himself. He had a whole plan worked out for how he was going to propose to her if he was able to work things out with her tonight. It did not include her garage or not having the ring with him.
“Hunter Newman, did you just propose to me?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Ava’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
“Oh crap,” Hunter said, grabbing her by the shoulders. “I mean, I wanted to, but just not like that. I wanted it to be, you know, special.” He took a deep, calming breath. “But will you?”
Ava looked as if she was trying to repress the smile growing on her face. But then she grinned and jumped into his arms. “Yes, I will. A hundred times over. But boy am I going to tease you about that proposal for the rest of our lives.”
Then she kissed him with so much enthusiasm, he had to reach for more sawdust.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ava couldn’t remember a Christmas morning where she’d been happier, and all because she woke up to it on a couch in the clothes she’d worn the day before, with a crick in her neck. She wondered if Krista and Josh realized that Hunter had ruined their couch by sleeping on it for a solid month.
Really, her happiness had more to do with the fact that Hunter was sleeping on the floor nearby, and that he’d proposed to her in a fantastically awkward way. She didn’t even care that she still had sawdust in her hair.
Hunter was so sweet to invite her to spend the night at Krista and Josh’s house just so she could see Molly’s face when she woke up and saw the dollhouse. Especially since it meant he had to sleep on the floor. She turned on her side so she could see him better, and laid there watching him sleep, loving the chance to just look at him. He was a handsome devil, but mostly, she couldn’t take her eyes off him because she loved him so much. Thinking about getting to wake up with him as husband and wife gave her fluttery jitters inside.
Just as she was trying to figure out how to wake him up, a shriek of excitement filled the room. Molly had woken up.
Hunter’s eyes shot open and he sat up, combing his fingers through his messy hair. He blinked a few times, trying to make his eyes open.
“Mommy, Daddy,” Molly squealed. “Santa came. He brought me a dollhouse! Come see! Come see!”
Ava sat up and pulled her feet up under her, tucking her blanket in as she watched Molly discover everything about her dollhouse. Her own heart was so full of excitement, she thought she might burst.
Hunter moved to the couch, making cushions sink down as he sat next to her. He pulled her into his arms, and as she nestled in close, he grumbled, “Do kids always wake up so early on Christmas?”
“Didn’t you?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, Merry Christmas,” she said, smiling up at him.
He smiled back, and the grogginess in his expression disappeared. He answered by singing, “Merry Christmas, darling.”
But Ava groaned and rolled her eyes. “I’m so glad the Christmas music is going away for a year after today.”
“Man, I thought I’d converted you, Scrooge. Looks like I still have some work to do.”
Krista and Josh came in and Molly spent ten minutes pointing out every last detail of her dollhouse to them. But eventually, they were able to redirect her towards dumping out her stocking and opening presents. Ava had brought in her gift for Hunter, so she smiled when Krista found it under the tree and passed it over to him.
He raised his eyebrows when he looked at the tag, and she could barely keep from laughing as she anticipated his response.
When he opened it, he stared at the teddy bear in his hands with deep confusion. In fact, he looked appalled. Ava had made a little black lace dress for it.
“Don’t you get it?” she asked.
“I’m afraid to.”
Ava laughed. She pointed to the piece of green garland around the teddy bear’s head. “This is a clue.”
Understanding dawned on his face and he threw it at her. “Gross. If that’s supposed to be Mrs. Garland, I am not touching it again.”
Ava laughed until her sides hurt. When Hunter stood up, she wiped at her watering eyes so she could see where he’d gone. He stood next to the couch holding his hand down to her. “Come get your present.”
She was incredibly curious, and let him pull her up. They waded through the sea of wrapping paper and empty gift bags, and he pulled her down to kneel in front of the dollhouse with him. Molly, who was playing with her new fashion dolls at the moment didn’t look too pleased.
“Do you see it?”
Ava looked through the little rooms, bewildered, until her eyes landed on a black velvet box. She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Hunter.”
He smiled and reached in to pick up the ring box. “I told you I was already planning to propose.” Then he turned the box toward her, opening it as he spoke. “Ava, I know you need someone you can count on. This ring is a promise that I will be here for you the rest of our lives. Nothing will ever be more important to me than your happiness.” His voice faltered for a moment and grew rough with emotion. “I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?”
Even as her heart pounded and a flood of joy washed over her, something about the ring box was wrong. Her brows drew together in confusion as she realized there wasn’t anything on the velvet pillow in the ring box. “Hunter, I love you too—so, so much. Of course I’ll marry you—but, uh… Hunter—there’s no ring in there.”
“What?” Hunter turned the box toward him and his mouth dropped open. “Where is it?” He stirred through discarded gift wrappings and toys, tossing discarded paper and bows into the air. He searched through the dollhouse, frantically trying to find the ring.
Krista and Josh, who’d been watching, started searching too, and Ava helped of course. This was a crisis.
Hunter turned to Molly as she put her doll on the little purple couch Ava had made. His voice was urgent as he asked, “Molly, have you seen a ring with a big jewel on it in your dollhouse?”
Molly nodded. “Yep.”
Ava could feel the impatience coming off Hunter in waves. “Well, where is it?”
She pointed at the Christmas tree and went back to playing.
All the adults in the room looked at the tree and lunged for it. Finding one little gold ring among all these branches and ornaments was not going to be easy.
“Okay,” Josh said, “It won’t be at the top. She can’t reach.”
“Unless she stands on the window sill,” Krista said. “She does sometimes. Hunter, is it gold or silver?”
“It’s sort of a reddish gold. I forget what they call it.”
Ava smiled. “You got me a rose gold ring? I bet it’s so pretty.”
Hunter gritted his teeth. “It is. I’d love to see it on your finger.”
Nodding, Ava went back to looking. She’d love to see it there too. Remembering where she’d found Hunter’s keys last time she moved toward the back of the tree, and after looking for a few seconds, found it threaded around one of the branches. With the twinkle lights behind it, the cut of the diamond gleamed with color and sparkle like she’d never seen. The rose gold gleamed, and it looked like a fancy Christmas ad for a jewelry company. Feeling a bit selfish, Ava took out her phone and snapped a pictu
re. She wanted to keep that memory forever.
Then, with reverent fingers, she took the ring off the branch and slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand. It was perhaps the tiniest bit loose, but only fractionally. Seeing it on her finger took her breath away because of all it meant. Commitment. Promises. Trust.
She extended her hand around the tree and waved her fingers in front of Hunter’s face. He straightened and his eyes lit up. He pulled her fingers close and kissed them, their eyes meeting around the tree.
“That’s forever,” he said.
“I know.”
Epilogue
Hunter didn’t hear Ava come into the workshop because he was concentrating so hard on his work. Applying stain to the walnut china hutch was delicate work, so he jumped when someone smacked his butt.
Turning, he saw Ava smiling up at him. He would return the gesture if his hands weren’t covered with stains.
“I still say you should have let me paint it.”
Hunter shook his head. “Not beautiful wood like this. It would be a crime.”
“It is beautiful. Even if you spent two weeks on it.”
The teasing note in her voice let him know exactly what she was hinting at. “I know, but I’ve also gotten everything on your list finished. Including the coffee table.”
“Really?” she asked, perking up. She looked around the room and he pointed her to the table he’d recently finished.
“Is that what you wanted?”
“Yes. It’s perfect. You put a darker stain on it than I planned.”
Hunter put his rag down and closed the can of stain before cleaning his hands with mineral spirits. “It looks better that way.”
She went up and put her arms around him, leaning against him in a way that always made him want to close up shop for the day. “I’ll have to keep an eye on you or you’ll be trying to take over my design business instead of just focusing on your furniture.”
“Keep an eye on me all you want, honey.”
She kissed him, and he was more than happy to take a quick break with her. Or a very long one. Maybe he could even talk her into moving things upstairs to their apartment over the workshop. He enjoyed his work immensely, making furniture and helping her with her design projects whenever she needed. They were a good team in more ways than one.
“Oh gross. I swear,” Olivia said from somewhere behind them. “I thought you guys would chill out once you got married.”
Hunter ran his hands down Ava’s waist and reluctantly let her go. “Not a chance. Did you need something, Olivia?”
Olivia wove her way around the workbenches and scattered projects, pushing a dolly ahead of her. “I come bearing news and packages.”
Hunter went over to check the package and saw that it was the gift he’d ordered for Ava. Dang it. Trust Olivia to bring it to Ava’s attention. Maybe he could quietly move it somewhere else and she’d forget about it.
“What’s the news?” Ava asked,
Olivia smiled and showed her phone screen to Ava. “McBrady Design is officially closed.”
“What?” Ava asked taking the phone. While she was distracted, Hunter moved the box to the other side of the workbench.
“Hunter, look!” She walked over to him.
Olivia had snapped a picture of Marcia’s building with a big “Closed” sign on the front entrance.
“I’m not surprised,” Hunter said. “She caught a lot of flack for the way she treated you over the Candy Cane Ball last year. She made a mistake by trashing you online.”
Olivia nodded. “I heard she’s moving to St. Louis or Reno or something.”
Ava laughed. “Those are two very different places.”
“Both bigger cities,” Olivia said, shrugging. “Regardless, you just lost your main competition. I’d say you’re now the undisputed queen of design in Willow Falls.”
Ava grinned. “Perfect. But we won’t stay that way if we slack off. What do you say, we all get back to work?”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “I’m going. Man, I’m really sick of looking through curtain samples.”
Ava grinned. “Think how I feel with Christmas right around the corner.”
Hunter smiled. “You’re looking forward to Christmas. Come on, admit it.”
She bit her lip, but gave in and smiled. “Yeah, I am. But some things will still get monotonous, so let’s all remember how much we love our job.”
Olivia mumbled something and went out. Hunter looked sideways at Ava to see if she would follow her friend and assistant back into their office. No such luck.
“So, what was in that package?” she asked, coming up next to him.
Hunter busied himself with organizing his work table. “Oh, nothing important. Just something I ordered.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Since they talked about everything, it didn’t surprise him that she was suspicious. She didn’t say a word, she just picked up a box knife and headed for the box.
“Ava, don’t. It’s a surprise.”
“Really?” She looked at it. “Can’t I have it now?”
“No.”
“What if I gave you a surprise too?”
He grabbed her by the hips. “I’m pretty sure I can talk you into that without giving you my present early.”
She pushed at him, laughing. “Stop that. Come on. Let me open it.”
Hunter sighed. He hadn’t really known when to give it to her anyway. “Fine. I still don’t manage to win many arguments with you.”
Ava knelt and cut the packaging tape. When she pulled the flaps back, she looked inside and gasped. “A nativity set?”
“Since I know it’s your favorite Christmas decoration, I figured you should have one. And that I should give it to you before you get all Scroogy again.”
Ava looked at the picture on the box for a moment, studying all the different pieces it came with. Then she stood and hugged him, pulling his face down for a kiss. “Thanks. It’s perfect. Now we’ll just have to put it up high next Christmas so our little one doesn’t break it.”
“That shouldn’t be hard—Wait. What little one?”
Ava took Hunter’s hand and pressed it to her belly. The one who will be arriving in May.”
Hunter’s heart pounded like a sledgehammer. “Really? You’re pregnant?”
She nodded. “Don’t act so surprised.”
He grinned. “I know I shouldn’t be, since I’m obviously a stud, but I am.”
“Are you glad?”
Pulling her tighter to him. “I can’t even find words for how happy I am. Do you know when it happened?”
She smiled. “I think when we took a trip to the cabin.”
“See, I told you a vacation would be good for you.”
Ava laughed. “It was, but if you think about it, it ended up causing me a lot more work in the future. It’s not going to be easy being pregnant and running a business. Or having a toddler and going to work every day. And you might start wishing you still had your free and easy life on the road after a while.”
“I wouldn’t trade a minute of the life we have together for the life I had before. I love you, Ava.”
“I love you, too, lumberjack.”
***
Don’t miss Book Two in the Christmas in Willow Falls Series!
Sugarplums and Mistletoe
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077H34RPL
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my family, as always, for their love and support. Especially my husband for supporting me and my kids for listening to Christmas music in October.
Thanks to my cover designer, Victorine Lieske, who is amazing, obviously.
I get so much support from Amy Meyer, Victorine (again), and Judy Corry, that I am grateful every day for the blessing of having them in my life.
I couldn’t do this without my critique partners, beta readers, editors, and proofers.
You guys are all amazing and I am ever aware of how much better you make me.
>
Christina Tarbet, Hannah Lanman, Jenny Flake Rabe, Carol Malone, Sara Cardon
Julie Spencer, Jessica Randall, Lorena Rodgers, Lynn Lee, Cara Seger
Jen Geigle Johnson, Heidi Kimball, Lori Johnson, Diana Brickell, Ariel Lee
Thank you for reading my book.
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If you loved this story, you should also read,
A Tree for the Billionaire
About the Author
Michelle Pennington writes clean, heart-pounding, sigh-inducing romance across multiple genres. Her books include Young Adult, Contemporary, Regency, and Fantasy. The genre might change, but her characters will always be falling in love.
She spends her days quoting movies with her husband and making messes faster than her four kids. She also has two cats, Boots (who is really Hessian Boots, the perfect Regency gentleman, complete with a snowy white cravat) and a new rescue kitten, Coconut. She loves to make magic by stringing words together, but she also creates designer sugar cookies, sings loud in church, and kills too many house plants.
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