by Janice Lynn
She swallowed, glancing back down at the gift in her hands. “I can’t believe you had someone find this for me.”
“Actually, I had this one in my truck on Saturday night,” he explained. “I’d meant to give it to you after our quiet dinner.”
“Only we didn’t have a quiet dinner.” She pulled the piece from the box, carefully removed the protective wrapping, stared in amazement at the antique village piece. A piece that matched her mother’s pieces. How had he known? And that he’d bought it before the crash made it all the more special. He wasn’t trying to replace something he felt responsible for breaking. He was giving her something from the heart, giving her something because he’d known it would mean something to her, would make her happy.
“I love it,” she whispered, leaning forward to kiss his cheek and hoping he couldn’t tell she was choking back tears.
“And I love you, Abby.”
She almost dropped the house. “Dirk?”
“I love you, Abby,” He repeated words sweeter than any melody. “With all my heart. I didn’t think I’d ever love again, that I could ever love. But I do. I love you. And our baby. Please forgive me. I’ve been such a fool, wasted so much time we could have been together.”
Taking a moment to steady her nerves, she put the house back into its box, took a deep breath. “Tell me again.”
“I’ve been a fool—”
“Not that part,” she interrupted, meeting his gaze, amazed at the emotion reflected there. “Tell me you love me again, Dirk. Please.”
Eyes shining with everything Abby had ever hoped to see in a man’s gaze, he took her hand into his, lifted it to his lips. “I love you, Abby. Completely. Always. For ever.”
“I love you, too.” She wrapped her arms around him, leaned in to kiss him, to show him everything in her heart.
But rather than take her into his arms and kiss her, he held her hands and stared into her eyes, looking almost nervous as he slid his hands into a jeans pocket and pulled out a small box, snapped it open. “Marry me, Abby.”
“What?” An earthquake hit right in the pit of Abby’s stomach. One whose aftershocks caused wave after wave of emotion to crash through her.
She stared in awe at the marquis-cut diamond reflecting the multicolored lights from the tree.
“Agree to be my wife. To share your life with me. To share all your Christmases with me. Always.”
Abby couldn’t believe her ears but, looking into his sincere eyes, she knew he was serious, knew he really did love her. No way would Dirk Kelley be pulling that ring free of its box and slipping it onto the third finger of her left hand otherwise.
She stared down at the ring, at where he held her hand. Could this really be happening?
“What about Sandra? Shelby?” she asked, not quite able to accept that her dreams might be coming true.
“They’ll always be a part of my past, a part of who I am. But you are my future, Abby. You and our baby.”
“I would never ask you to forget them, Dirk.”
“I know you wouldn’t, Abby. That’s just one of the many reasons I love you. That and how you see the good in everything, including a man who’d lost track that there was anything good left in him.”
“There’s so much good in you, Dirk. Anyone who’d ever seen you with a patient would know that.” She brushed her fingers across his cheek.
“But only you saw. Only you believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. All I knew was that from the moment we met I felt different, alive for the first time in years. You put breath back into my dying body, Abby. Say you’ll let me love you always.”
“Yes,” she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. “Oh, yes, Dirk.”
This time Dirk took her into his arms, kissed her so thoroughly she’d have sworn she must be wearing that halo made of mistletoe, made love to her so thoroughly she’d swear they rocked the Christmas tree.
“Hey, Abs?” Dirk said much later, holding her against him.
“Hmm?”
A sheepish look shone on his face. “Your house wasn’t the only place on Santa’s list.”
Realization hit her and Abby’s heart swelled with love and pride of this wonderful man who’d truly opened his heart. “We’re going to your family’s for Christmas?”
He nodded. “I’ve got some making up for the past to do. Especially to my mother.”
“What time are we supposed to be there?”
He brushed her hair away from her face, pressed a kiss against her temple. “They don’t know we’re coming, so whenever we arrive will be okay.”
She wrapped her arms around him, kissed the corner of his mouth, excited at the magic filling the day. “Your mother is going to be so happy when you walk through that door, Dirk.”
“She’s going to be even happier when I tell her our news.”
“That we’re getting married?”
“That she’s getting a new grandbaby for Christmas.” He smiled wryly then shrugged. “And that she’s getting her son back, along with a daughter-in-law who he loves more than life itself.”
She hugged him, so proud of how far Dirk had come. “Your family is going to be so excited to see you.”
All her dreams were coming true. She was getting a family. Dirk’s family. And most importantly, she was getting the man she loved and who loved her. Dirk.
He grinned. “Yeah, and you know what? I’m going to be excited to see them, too, and to see their faces when I hand out their gifts.”
“Gifts?” Abby raised her brow in question. “What did you get them?”
“Bought each one of them a Dummies Guide to Holding an Intervention and wrote a message, letting them know how much I appreciate them and that they have my permission to intervene anytime deemed necessary.”
Abby laughed. “Oh, Dirk, you really are serious about this, aren’t you?”
His brow lifted. “Did you doubt me?”
Had she? No, she trusted him with her heart, with their baby’s heart. He loved them. She could see that truth in his eyes, feel it in his touch, in the way he’d cherished her while they’d made love. “Not in the slightest. You’re a good man.”
“I’m your man, Abby.” He smiled in a way that reached in and touched her very being. “I’ll always be your man. Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
“The best.” But she suspected only the beginning of even happier times when she and Dirk celebrated the holidays with their baby, with his family—their family. “Merry Christmas to you, too. You’ve given me so much.”
“Not nearly as much as you’ve given me. You gave me back my life, my heart, my family, my belief in Christmas.” He placed his palm over her belly, caressing her there. “I love you and our baby.”
Knowing Dirk had made her Christmas dreams come true, would continue to make them come true every day for the rest of their lives, Abby rolled over to kiss her very own Santa all over again.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7990-6
THE NURSE WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS
First North American Publication 2010
Copyright © 2010 by Janice Lynn
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