“You still love her, don’t you?” Evie noted.
“Always have, always will.” Cole pulled out his wallet and showed Evie the picture of him and Kristin at the high school prom, that he carried with him everywhere.
“You’re such a soft marshmallow of a guy. Tough army guy on the outside, sweet softie on the inside.”
He shrugged and gave her a half smile.
Cole wondered if Kristin had thought about his business proposal. He thought it unlikely, given what had happened since, but now she knew he hadn’t cheated, he prayed that she might consider it.
The idea had come to him suddenly and he hadn’t had any chance to think about the details, but the more he thought about it, the more the project blossomed in his mind. He and Kristin could make something truly special together, and maybe she would give him the chance, one day, to make up for the heartache he had unwittingly caused her.
A knock on the door made Evelyn leap to her feet. She rushed to open it. Cole only heard a few mumbled words, and then Evie was back, holding an envelope with his name on it. It was written in Kristin’s girlish scrawl, and the envelope was dog-eared and stained from years of being handled. “Kris wanted you to have this,” Evie said, and withdrew from the kitchen, leaving him alone. “She won’t be coming to the rehearsal dinner.”
Cole looked up at his sister quizzically and then eased the letter out of the envelope. Inside was a note, and a long letter. He picked up the note, and read it first.
Dear Cole,
I wrote this the day before you left, and wanted to give it to you, but I couldn’t find the courage to face you after what Jeremy had told me. You know now what that was. I went to see him today. He admitted that he lied. It changes part of the reason I ended things, but not everything. I thought it best that you know that now – before we mess each other’s lives up any further.
I loved you so much,
Kris xxx
Cole couldn’t help but notice the use of the past tense. It almost broke his heart to read that her feelings for him were truly in the past, but he picked up the letter she had written, all those years ago and read it anyway. Maybe it would provide the answers he needed to finally accept that their love really was something that had been and gone.
Just ten minutes later, he put the letter down on the table, pulled on his coat, and rushed out of the house. He ran to the house, just four doors down, and banged repeatedly on the door. He paced up and down on the porch as he waited for Kristin to answer. But, it wasn’t her sweet face that eased the door open. “Hey, Cole,” Mr. Love said. “How are all the plans for the wedding coming along? You all ready for the big day, tomorrow?”
“I think so. Evie is unusually calm,” Cole said with a wry smile.
“That girl has always been a whirlwind,” Mr. Love agreed.
“Is Kristin home?” Cole asked. It would be great to catch up with the Loves, to hear their tales about their new life, and fill them in on what had been happening in his own family, but right now, Cole needed to let Kristin know that he understood.
“She’s just out back. I’ll get her for you. Do you want to come inside? It’s pretty chilly tonight.”
“No, I’m good here,” Cole said. The cold air was keeping him alert, and he needed his wits about him if he was going to convince Kris that she had been right – about everything, but that he had changed.
Kristin appeared, biting at her lip. “Hi,” she said. “You read it?”
“I did. You’ve always been great at expressing yourself on paper.” He hadn’t meant to have it sound like an accusation, but he couldn’t help it. They had lost years, because neither of them had been brave enough to really talk about what was wrong. “Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”
“Because, you had listened on all the other occasions I tried to get you to understand.” Kristin said, her tone accusing, but not harsh. “Cole, we were teenagers, neither of us was that great at listening to anyone else’s point of view but our own.”
“You should have told me about the Lindy-Sue thing. Surely I deserved a chance to defend myself.”
“Would it really have made any difference? You would still have gone into the army, expecting me to follow you wherever you went. I had, and have dreams and goals of my own, but you didn’t care that I would have to put my life on hold while you did everything you wanted to do.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I was an idiot. I never even thought about your having to give up your plans. I just figured you could go to college wherever we were based, and that it would be easy for you to still do it. But, I’ve seen the wives and girlfriends, now. You’re right. They give up everything for their men. I would never have wanted that for you,” Cole said truthfully.
“I loved you so much, I would have followed you, but I would have hated you for it in the end,” Kristin admitted, through her tears. Cole reached out, and brushed them from her cheek with his thumb.
“I wouldn’t have understood then,” he admitted. “I would have been arrogant. I guess I was arrogant. I didn’t listen to you, and I should have. I just thought it was all about the uncertainty and fear of what might happen.”
“That was a big part of it,” Kristin said with a wan smile. “Every time you went away, I would have had to cope with the nightmares about whether you would come home—or not.”
“It looks like you had them anyway,” Cole said, noting the expression of fear that crossed her face as she spoke of it.
She nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“I should have fought harder for you, I should have listened more, and I should have been more prepared to compromise. You’ll be pleased to know, that being in the military has taught me all of the above,” he joked weakly. “Kris, I know you’ve managed to put your feelings for me in the past, but I’ve never stopped loving you. You’re not only part of my past.”
“I never stopped loving you, either,” Kristin admitted shyly, never looking away from him.
He smiled. “I do still have a year. I meant what I said the other day. Start getting the groundwork in place for when I get back and we can build your dreams, if you want to?” Cole looked at her, hope filling his heart.
“You mean it?” she asked.
“Yes, and I’ve been keeping a little secret,” Cole said, a glint in his eye. “I’m going to be stationed in Georgia for my final year. I’ll be able to get home much more easily to see you.”
Kristin took a cautious step towards him. He waited for her to come closer, feeling his body go tense with anticipation. She stood on tip-toe, and pressed a kiss to his lips. “We’ll see how it goes,” she murmured, as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her fully, savoring the taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his.
“So, will you be my date tonight?” he asked as they finally pulled apart. She nodded. “And tomorrow?”
“I will,” she said grinning at him. “Evie is going to be so happy about all this.”
“Yes, she is, but maybe we shouldn’t tell her just yet. She can’t get everything she wants off her wedding and Christmas lists. She’s never been good enough to deserve all that,” Cole joked.
Epilogue
Christmas Day began with church. Kristin was glad to attend services with her parents on either side of her. Everything felt good and right with the world today. She couldn’t remove the smile form her face, and when the congregation made their way home to their turkey dinners, and family fun, she hummed happily to herself as she and Martha affixed the flowers ready for Evelyn’s wedding that afternoon.
Pastor Olson wandered through a couple of times, checking on their progress, remarking at the uniqueness of the designs. Kristin chuckled. “Evie had a very particular look in mind,” she admitted.
“She certainly did.” He chuckled and wandered off towards his office.
“It is definitely her special look,” Martha said, as she helped Kristin to hang some hand-cut paper decorations over the aisle, to make an arc
hway for Evie to walk through.
Kyle arrived thirty minutes early, looking very dapper in his tuxedo. “Wow,” he said, taking in the cornucopia of seventies Christmas decorations that now adorned the usually quite sparsely decorated church. “I’ll bet Uncle doesn’t quite know what to make of all this.”
“No, I think he’s wondering if you know what you have let yourself in for,” Kristin teased.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “Thank you, both of you for everything. It looks amazing.”
“Now, we’d better get changed so we don’t look out of place amongst your glamorous guests,” Martha said, ushering Kristin towards a room towards the back of the church.
As they got changed, they could hear people arriving, and the level of noise coming from inside grew louder and louder. Kristin checked her reflection in the mirror, and made her way out into the hallway. Cole was waiting by the door, in full military formal dress. Despite everything she felt about all that had happened, Kristin couldn’t deny that he looked unbearably handsome in his uniform. She moved towards him, and gave him a twirl of her new red dress.
“Very festive,” he said as he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. She batted him away, but he held her tightly against him. “If you didn’t want to be kissed, you shouldn’t have put up mistletoe.” He indicated the sprig hanging in the doorway.
“That was requested by the photographer for a shot of Kyle and Evie as they leave,” Kristin spluttered, as Cole dipped his lips to hers once more.
“Oh. My. Goodness,” Evie squealed as she came up the church steps. “You two are back together, and just in time for my wedding!” She hugged them both, and kissed them over and over, in between wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh, you were always meant to be, and my wedding brought you back to each other!”
“Evie,” Cole warned his little sister. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“Of course it does. And it’s the best present you could ever have given me.”
“That’s good news,” Kristin said with a giggle. Evelyn raised an eyebrow at her.
“That means I can take the sideboard back and get a refund,” Cole said chuckling.
“You bought me the sideboard?” Evelyn asked, looking even more delighted than she was about Kristin and Cole reconciling.
“I did, but I can take it back if my being with Kris is the best present ever,” Cole teased.
“Can’t I have both?”
“I suppose now you’ll want me to put a garden in for you, too?” Kris said, joining in.
“You two are just horrible. You miserable fools deserve each other,” Evie said in a fake pout. “But, I’m so happy you realized what you mean to one another. Sure took you long enough! Now, get inside, because I want to get in there and get myself hitched to my forever love.” She ushered them forwards, and began to fidget with her dress, pulling her veil over her eyes, and took her dad’s proffered arm.
Kristin and Cole walked into the church, hand in hand. They made their way to the front pew and took their places beside Cole’s mother as the congregation stood to welcome the bride.
“You’re my forever love,” Cole whispered.
“And you’re mine,” Kristin said, squeezing his fingers tightly. “You always have been, and always will be.”
“Merry Christmas, Kris. This is the best one ever.”
She smiled, happy beyond words at how it all worked out. Now was their time. Now was the right time. As the wedding ceremony started, Kristin vaguely wondered if mistletoe worked all year long.
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A Christmas Surprise (Second Chance Christmas) Page 8