Christmas in Pine Island: A small town holiday romance

by Christina Benjamin

  “Jake, I think you’ve given me the best Christmas gift ever.” She tips her head up, smirking at me tenderly.

  “What’s that?”

  “Peace of mind and a renewed confidence in us as parents. I should have been more open with you. I would’ve felt better a whole lot sooner.”

  I shake my head and lace my fingers with hers. “I should’ve been able to tell something was wrong and made sure you felt safe talking to me about it.”

  She sighs again and rests her head on my shoulder for a moment before suddenly looking up at me. Her eyes gleam like jewels, reflecting the stars overhead. “You know what though? There is another present that I might want . . .”

  I can’t help but laugh and playfully roll my eyes. “Alright, lay it on me so I can be sure to tell Santa.”

  Shaking her head, she wets her lips and leans closer, her breath hot against my neck. “No, no, no. I don’t want anything from Santa. This is a gift only you can give me.”

  Intrigued, I ask, “What is it?”

  Stacy’s face blushes, but eventually I coax it out of her. “Well . . . everyone’s been telling me that there’s a frisky part of pregnancy and I think . . . I think I just might be there.”

  “Really?”

  She nods, her beautiful face glowing as she grins at me in the moonlight.

  Gulping, I shoot up straight and signal to the driver at the front of the sleigh. “Excuse me! We have to turn around and cut this sleigh ride short—we’ve got to practice making babies back at the lodge!”

  The driver just laughs and shakes his head, like he gets this request a lot, but he happily steers the horses back around.

  Stacy curls against me, gently taking my face in her hands so I can gaze down at her. “I think we’ve got enough practice in that department. How about we just focus on us for now?”

  “You got it,” I promise her, embracing her lovingly against me. “Tonight, and always, I’ll make sure I take time just to focus on the two of us.”

  Morgan May

  Eric and I cuddle up together on the cozy, oversized sofa in our suite. It’s as soft as a cloud beneath us, and the blankets are perfectly warm. Our private fireplace gently crackles, occasionally popping and sending pretty red embers glittering through the air.

  The moment is simple but beautiful.

  Compared to the way we’re constantly jetting across the world, it’s like time is standing still right now. I close my eyes, memorizing the heat of Eric’s body beneath mine. I can feel his even breathing as his tattooed chest lifts and falls. I snuggle a little closer, half dozing off to the sound of his heartbeat against my cheek.

  Eric sighs beneath me. “Isn’t this the life?”

  “It really is,” I murmur. “It’s so nice to just stop and take a breath.”

  We go quiet and Eric’s fingers drift up and down my spine. The burning logs in the fireplace shift and crackle again, punctuating the stillness of our tranquil moment.

  He chuckles faintly. “I'm glad we didn't go snowshoeing. After dinner, I was as stuffed as a sausage. It sounded way better before I gorged myself.”

  Grinning, I crack open an eye to look at him, my chin resting on his solid pec. “I could tell by your big grin that you were happy to head back into the lodge. You weren’t fooling anybody.”

  Our shared laughter rises over the crackling fireplace.

  “I guess when your lives are so go-go-go all the time, you forget what it’s like to relax. You and I are always traveling, always performing . . . it’s a lot,” he trails off and lets his head rest against one of the couch cushions so he can gaze up toward the high ceiling of the lodge. “It’s amazing though, how far we’ve come in our careers. I'm selling out shows and you’re being begged by top designers to walk their runways.”

  “Yeah,” I agree, softly. “We have our dream jobs . . . but . . .”

  A rare crease of concern forms between Eric’s brows. “But what?”

  “Sometimes . . . I mean, I feel bad even saying it because I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but most people don’t get the reality of doing what we do. It’s hard to be in a different bed every night. It’s hard not to be with you. We share hotels and cities when we can, but it just feels like that’s becoming harder and harder when our fame demands we share so much of our time with everyone else.”

  Eric doesn’t answer at first, his eyes still gazing upward. I can tell he’s contemplating what I’ve said though. I can see it in the way his brow has knotted as his jaw muscles tick.

  Have I said too much? Does he not agree with me?

  I clear my throat hard. “I'm not saying I don’t love traveling the world and having people celebrate us, I know how hard we’ve worked for it. But that’s not all that matters to me, you know? You matter to me, Eric. Spending time with you matters the most to me.”

  Finally, he tips his chin down so that he’s again gazing into my eyes. “I feel the same way, Morgan. The exact same.” His hand palms my cheek as he stares at me with conviction. “I’ve been wanting to bring it up to you, but I was worried you’d think I was trying to stunt your career.”

  I sit up and take his hands. “Eric, please don’t ever think that. You come first.”

  “I know. I know,” he says, shaking his head. “That’s how I feel about you, too.” He strokes my hair, taking a deep breath before meeting my eyes again. “I need to be honest with you, babe. I’m exhausted. And when I’m on the road without you, I miss you so goddamn much it makes me sick.”

  “Eric . . .” I melt against him and wrap my arms around him, holding on tight. For a while we just stay like this, hanging on to each other in this perfect moment of stillness.

  Eric breaks the silence first. “I made the mistake of checking our schedules for after the New Year.”

  Biting back a groan, I ask, “Is it as insane as I'm afraid it is?”

  “Right off the bat, you’re in Paris, I'm in Tokyo. Then you’re in Tokyo and I'm in Rome. It’s like that the whole year, basically.”

  “So we wouldn’t be together at all?” I swallow hard. “I mean, maybe we could meet up somewhere in the middle?”

  “Maybe,” Eric sighs. “But even then, we’d be lucky to have twelve straight hours together before we have to jet off in opposite directions.”

  My heart suddenly grows heavy in my chest. None of that sounds good enough for me. I want to be with my fiancé. I can’t stand the thought of us being apart for such an extended time.

  Would I rather be walking the runway or laying in his arms? For me, the answer is simple. But what about Eric? For as long as I dreamed of modeling, he’s dreamed of rocking stages. Plus, he has the band to think of.

  It might not be as easy for him to step back as it would be for me.

  But spending the next year apart? That’s not what I want. And if I don’t say it now, I know I’ll regret it.

  “So, we could spend the next year traveling apart . . .” I offer hesitantly, trying to muster up the courage to say what I need to say. I take a shuddering breath and part my lips.

  At the same exact time, Eric and I both say, “Or we could just stay home.”

  Eric King

  My jaw drops as I stare up into Morgan’s gorgeous face. I'm so stunned that for a second, I can’t even react to the words that just came out of her mouth.

  Did she say what I think she just said? I mean, I said it too, but I didn’t expect it from her.

  Has she been craving a change as much as I have?

  Is that even possible?

  I sit up straighter, pulling Morgan into my lap. The blankets fall away as her hair tumbles over her shoulders.

  “Did we just . . . did you just . . .” I stammer out in disbelief. “What are we saying here?”

  “That we should just stay home together!” she repeats, enthusiastically grabbing my shoulders and sliding further into my lap.

  I instinctually wrap my arms around her, lost in her eyes. I hold her against me, fingers sp
layed against her hips. “By stay home, do you mean give everything up? Step away from the limelight? Settle down in one place for more than a few hours at a time?”

  When she nods, I hesitantly add, “But that would mean giving up our careers. They may not be waiting for us if we ever decide to go back.”

  I already know what my choice is. It’s been simmering in the back of my mind since my first day out on the road without Morgan. She’s my muse. I adore my band, but I adore her even more. She’s the one who saved me from a darkness that threatened to swallow me whole.

  I honestly think I might owe her my life. If I hadn't met her, I might’ve kept sinking into the bottle until I never emerged again. And if I keep going on this path, at this breakneck pace . . . well I wouldn’t be the first musician who got too tired to fight the darkness.

  But more than that, I just want to be with Morgan.

  I just never thought she could be thinking the same things. She’s such an adventurous spirit, I assumed she loved all the traveling—always waking up in new cities, setting trends, falling into bed as the stars begin to fade . . . But that kind of life isn’t meant to last forever.

  “You’re right,” she says, simply. “But I don’t think I care about what career I have waiting for me. All I want is you.”

  She settles down against me, her endlessly long legs still straddling my thighs. She’s wearing my t-shirt. It looks better on her than it ever did on me. The thin material drapes over her curves, slinking down over one of her shoulders, exposing her gorgeous, pale skin. I press a kiss against her flesh, wondering if she can hear my heart hammering against my ribs.

  Are we really having this discussion?

  I might start jumping from couch to couch with excitement. I knew this Christmas was going to be one for the books, but I’d had no idea the love of my life and I were going to have a conversation of this magnitude. For the rest of my life, I'm going to think of Pine Island as a place where miracles truly do happen.

  This is what I want . . . what I’ve wanted my whole life. A chance for normalcy, for love, for the family I never had.

  I always thought it was too late for me. That I’d never have that kind of life. But then I met Morgan. And I swear, that girl makes anything possible.

  Snapping out of my deliriously delighted daze, I focus back on Morgan. I take her face in my hands and look deep into her eyes, scrutinizing those lovely orbs for any hint of doubt.

  “Are you sure that this is what you want?” I ask firmly.

  She bites her lip before tentatively asking, “Is it not what you want?”

  “It is . . .” I whisper, the words leaving me before I have time to think twice. “But I will not take anything away from you, Morgan. I don’t want to push you into anything you’re not ready for.”

  The biggest, brightest, most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen in my life radiates across Morgan’s face and in that moment, I know I’m not. I know she wants exactly what I want, and she wants it now.

  The grin on her face leaves me truly breathless. I’ve seen her smiling on dozens of magazine covers, but no other expression has ever matched the true joy shining through now.

  “This is what I want, Eric. You’re what I want.”

  “You’ve got me, baby.”

  “Then nothing else matters,” she gushes, excitedly. “We’ve got money. We’ve got each other. What more do we need? Let’s stop traveling. Let’s just . . . be us. Let’s put down real roots, Eric. I want to settle down with you . . . for good.”

  I pull her against me, playfully pinning her against the couch so that I can kiss her again and again until she’s squealing with laughter and wiggling beneath me.

  “That’s all I want, babe,” I say breathlessly. “You’ve just made me the happiest guy in the world.”

  “Me too!” she exclaims! “Oh my god! Are we really doing this?”

  “We’re doing it!”

  Morgan squeals and her excitement bowls me over. Before I know it, I’m sprawled on the floor with my gorgeous muse atop me, peppering me with kisses. “I’m so happy, Eric! We’re going to get to be normal people and spend every day together. And we’ll get to see our friends so much more, too! I want to be there for them. I want to see Ryan grow up and be part of Stacy and Jake’s new little one’s life.”

  “It’s like you’re reading my mind,” I murmur, grinning back at her.

  Morgan flushes a faint shade of shy pink, which is unusual for the bold, beautiful woman straddling me. She lightly runs her fingers through my hair and whispers, “Maybe we can even start our own little family soon . . .”

  My heart is so full it might burst as I pull Morgan into my arms. “Why wait?”

  Her sweet laughter fills the air as she plants an excited kiss on my lips. “There’s no time like the present!”

  She’s already pulling my t-shirt she’s wearing over her head and as anxious as I am to join her, there’s still more I have to say. My hand catches her arm and she stills the moment she sees the serious look in my eyes. “Morgan,” I whisper, fighting my emotions. “I can’t tell you what this means to me.”

  “Eric, it means everything to me, too.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t think you understand what you’re giving me,” I choke out. “I . . . I’ve always thought it was too late for me to have this kind of life. One full of love and a real family. But you’ve shown me it’s not too late and I’m never going to take that for granted. I’m never going to take you for granted, Morgan.” I search her eyes, wanting to be sure she absorbs the full weight of my love for her. “This gift you’re giving me . . . I won’t ever forget it. I won’t let you down, Morgan.”

  “Eric . . . you couldn’t even if you tried. You’re my soulmate.”

  Morgan’s lips crash into mine and I let go of the last bit of my past that’s been weighing me down. That part of my life is over now. I’ve fully emerged from the shadows. The future belongs to me and Morgan. And it’s going to be great.

  Chloe Price

  “It’s snowing,” I whisper, leaning against one of the large, beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows in the lobby as the morning light sparkles across the freshly fallen snow.

  Strong arms encircle my waist as Ethan’s chest presses against my spine. He cuddles me against him and kisses my cheek, his stubble making me shiver. “It’s a true white Christmas, huh? You certainly do pull off miracles, Miss Price.”

  Giggling, I turn around to face him. I lean up onto my tiptoes, stealing a sweet kiss before whispering, “Merry Christmas morning!”

  “Merry Christmas,” he answers warmly.

  Our Christmas Eve was perfect. We’d snuggled on the couch and watched Miracle on 34th Street, with Margot, Owen and the kids all cozied up nearby. Chloe Martin’s words had danced in my head for a moment before I let them go.

  Sure, more time has passed than I like since Ethan and I got engaged, but it has all been time well spent. We spent it together and with family, making beautiful memories and that’s really all that matters to me. The time for me and Ethan will come. I’m not worried.

  I know how ironic that is, considering I worry about everything else.

  Speaking of . . . I wonder when our guests will be joining us this morning?

  I’m anxious to make sure they have the perfect Christmas.

  Ethan’s gaze shifts around briefly, and if I didn't know better, I’d think he was anxious, too. But that would be silly. I'm the one who gets nervous most of the time—except right now.

  I feel strangely at ease. But I know that’s a byproduct of being wrapped in Ethan’s strong arms. It could also be that I’m actually enjoying our unexpected guests. It doesn’t feel like we’re sharing our lodge with strangers this Christmas, but with true friends.

  The past few days have been magical in so many ways.

  Our guests haven't come downstairs yet, but the sun has only just risen. I'm sure it won’t be long before little Ryan rouses them all, eager to see if Santa
paid him a visit. Actually, I’m surprised Ava hasn’t herded my sister and Owen out of bed yet.

  As if on cue, I hear the pitter-patter of little feet.

  “Merry Christmas!” Margot says through a yawn from across the lobby with Ava scampering in front of her. I wave to my big sister and scoop up my niece in a big hug. Margot joins us while Owen sleepily traipses behind her.

  I put Ava down and greet each of them with a warm hug, so happy to have them here. It’s easing the strangeness of missing my parents on such a special day.

  As usual, Margot’s happy little family is wearing matching holiday pajamas on Christmas morning. This year’s consist of red oversized shirts and green and white striped bottoms. Ava is even wearing a little elf hat to make her outfit even more adorable.

  “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!” Ava says, excitedly. “Did Santa eat all the cookies we left him?”

  “Every single one,” I answer with a wink. “He didn't even leave a crumb!”

  Ava beams, reaching out her arms for me. I pick her up again and hold the six-year-old close, snuggling her against me. Sharing Christmas with my sister and Ava and Owen is just so special.

  “You look happy,” Margot notes, touching my cheek. “I expected you to be a stressed-out wreck this morning.”

  “Stressed?” I echo with feigned shock. “Who, me?”

  Everyone laughs just as the sound of footsteps start treading down the stairs.

  “Good morning!” I call as our new friends emerge from the stairway. “Merry Christmas! I’ve already prepped some of my special cocoa and mimosas. Coffee’s hot and the fresh-baked cinnamon rolls will be out in a minute. Want to head to the lounge to open presents while you wait?”

  Everyone looks especially bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. It warms my heart to see them all looking so happy. Their smiles tell me that the extra touches we helped provide for their Christmas Eves must have been exactly what they needed.

  Ryan rushes over and Ava lightly wiggles in my arms, begging to be put down to greet her friend. She takes the elf hat off her head and puts it on Ryan’s.