by Devney Perry
I marched to the fridge and flung the door open, taking out one of his teething rings. He wasn’t teething yet, but he loved to put things in his mouth and I preferred the sanitized toys to his chubby fingers. I handed it to him and dried off his fist.
While I took care of our son, Austin inhaled a cupcake, one I’d made specifically for his mother.
She was working on Christmas Day and Austin had wanted to bring her something sweet tonight. Sweet was where I shined so I’d promised to take care of it with a half dozen chocolate cupcakes, minus sprinkles or filling. That’s what he’d asked for, something I recalled with clarity because those were his favorite cupcakes. I should have known he’d been up to something to score extra cupcakes. We’d been so busy preparing for the holidays, I hadn’t brought any of his favorites home for the past two weeks.
The door to the kitchen opened and Brynne breezed in. “Phew. I just flipped the sign and locked the door.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a smile. “Today was crazy.”
The Christmas Eve rush we’d expected had kept us busy all day. We’d nearly run out of everything in the display case, though luckily, there were plenty of vanilla cupcakes out there for me to steal for Austin’s mom. My husband would hoard the chocolate for himself because there was no way he’d share those with his team. The man would run an extra two miles every day this week just to eat all six cupcakes.
“Would you mind putting together a box of six vanilla before you go home?” I asked Brynne.
“Not at all.” She came closer and tickled Shaun’s foot.
I could get the cupcakes myself, but I didn’t want to let Shaun go yet. He’d been home with Austin all day while I’d been at work and I’d missed him.
At three months old, Shaun was already a miniature version of Austin. They had the same dark hair and coffee-brown eyes. Shaun’s nose looked more like mine, but he was little and who knew how he’d change as he grew.
“How was he today?” I asked Austin.
“Good.” He licked the last bit of frosting from his thumb, then threw the cupcake wrapper in the trash. “We didn’t do much. He played in his Jumperoo while I did a workout. Then we took a nap. He’s kind of been fussy today and his nose is runny. Maybe he’s getting a cold.”
“Poor baby.” I kissed the top of his head. “Let’s use it as an excuse to duck out of the party early.”
“Fine by me.”
We were going to my father’s house tonight for his annual Christmas Eve celebration. The last thing I wanted to do was get dressed up after being at the bakery since four, but Dad had begged for us to come.
Austin’s mom was coming to our house to spend the evening babysitting Shaun, then tomorrow, we were having a quiet Christmas morning at our house before everyone came over for dinner to celebrate the baby’s first Christmas.
The only thing I was looking forward to tonight was seeing Austin in a suit. The man was gorgeous in whatever he wore, but in his black suit, I’d struggle to keep my hands off him until we were home.
It had been the same on our wedding day. We’d had a quickie on the drive from the church to the reception in the back of our limo, hidden by the privacy screen from the driver, because I hadn’t been able to resist.
We’d gotten married last year, a week before Christmas. The ceremony had been simple and elegant. My stepmother had, of course, wanted an extravagant party, but we’d kept the ceremony and reception small. Then we’d escaped all the holiday madness because Austin had whisked me away to Quincy for our honeymoon. We’d asked to stay in the same room and had ordered room service for five days straight, rarely leaving the bed.
He’d knocked me up in that room.
I rounded the table and came to Austin’s side.
He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. “Tired?”
I nodded and hummed, leaning into his broad chest. “Yeah. I really don’t want to go to this party tonight. Next year, let’s go somewhere.”
“Actually . . .” He reached into the diaper bag on the table, fishing around the front pocket until he came out with a piece of paper.
A receipt.
For a room at The Eloise Inn.
“What is this?”
“Your Christmas Eve gift. We’re leaving the day after Christmas for Quincy.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Your dad offered up the plane. My mom has to work anyway so we agreed to celebrate when we get home. Channing is spending the week at his girlfriend’s place. So we’re escaping.”
It sounded perfect.
We’d been so busy lately, with work and life, a break, just the three of us, was long overdue.
Austin had quit working for my father after all. It had become a conflict of interest and he’d decided it was best to keep his business separate from my family. Of course, Dad completely disagreed, but given the fact that I was living with my own personal bodyguard, he’d eventually realized it was the right move.
Replacing Dad’s income hadn’t been any trouble for Austin after all. Thanks to a couple of glowing referrals from my father, Garrison had taken on several large clients and was poised to have its biggest year yet. In the past two years, Austin’s team had doubled and he’d scrambled to expand to meet his growing client list. He’d put in a lot of long hours over the past twenty-four months, but we were finally settling into a routine. We were finally in a good place to take this vacation.
Brynne poked her head inside the door. “Did you tell her?”
“Yep.” Austin grinned.
“Good.” She walked in with the box of vanilla cupcakes. “I almost blurted it out today. Twice. I suck at keeping secrets.”
“You knew?”
She nodded. “You need a vacation. I’ve got this place covered.”
“Thank you.” I tipped my head up to Austin. “And thank you.”
He dropped his lips to mine. “Love you.”
“I love you too.”
Shaun threw his teething ring on the floor and took a chunk of my hair in his fist.
“What do you think, buddy?” Austin unwound his fingers. “Ready to go to Montana?”
Our son let out a loud coo before opening his mouth as wide as possible and inserting his fist.
Austin kissed his hair, then did the same to mine before letting us go. We loaded up the diaper bag and locked the bakery doors.
Then we went home to pack for another Christmas in Quincy.
Want more of Quincy and the Eden family? The Eden series continues with Indigo Ridge.
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading Christmas in Quincy! Stay tuned for more stories set in this charming town. Special thanks to my editing and proofreading team: Elizabeth Nover, Julie Deaton, and Judy Zweifel. And thank you to Sarah Hansen for the beautiful cover.
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Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
About the Author
Devney is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Washington with her husband and two sons. Born and raised in Montana, she loves writing books set in her treasured home state. After working in the technology industry for nearly a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to enjoy a slower pace at home with her family. Writing one book, let alone many, was not something she ever expected to do. But now that she’s discovered her true passion for writing romance, she has no plans to ever stop.
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