‘That seems like a fair exchange.’ I put the letter into my pocket, and thought that maybe one day, I’d tell my own granddaughter the story of that letter and how it led to this moment in time, this Christmas Day where the sun shone like gold and the birds chirped and peace was restored here in this gazebo at last.
Dave glanced at the engraving again. ‘I can’t imagine what was going through his mind when he wrote this. He knew she’d moved on, that it was too late. It must have broken his heart. And hers, when she kept waiting and he failed to show.’
‘Tell me about it. Times were so simple yet also so complicated back then.’ I stepped off the gazebo for a moment, taking in the breadth of its beauty. ‘What do you think it would have been like, if they’d been reunited here all those years ago on a beautiful day like today?’
‘I think he would have been waiting here since dawn, to be sure. And when he heard her soft footsteps approaching, he’d turn around and take off his hat to greet her with a long-awaited smile.’ Dave acted it out, taking off his Santa hat and greeting me with a smile that looked like he’d been saving it up for years.
‘And she, she would walk delicately up the steps onto the gazebo,’ I walked as I talked, ‘and accept the offer of his outstretched hand.’ I reached out and he pulled me closer.
‘They would look into each other’s eyes, not daring to blink in case it was a dream, and they’d say how much they missed each other.’ His eyes sought the depths of mine, and I didn’t dare look away, though I knew it wasn’t a dream.
‘You should be a romance author,’ I said.
‘Shh, now don’t interrupt the re-enactment,’ he scolded. ‘Now what?’
‘They would move close together, right up close,’ I stepped into his personal space, ‘and embrace each other like their lives depended on it.’ I slid my arms around his waist, and he wrapped his around my shoulders and back, squeezing me firmly but gently, running his hand affectionately over my back. I allowed myself to revel in the moment. Even though we were acting it out, it felt real and wonderful. When I pulled back a little and looked up into his eyes, I asked, ‘What do we do next?’
He kept eye contact and his breath tickled my nose. ‘I guess we should … kiss, or something.’ He shrugged. ‘I mean, purely for the purposes of our historical re-enactment of course.’
‘Oh yes, of course.’ A smile lifted one corner of my lips.
‘And back then, men were expected to make the first move, so …’
‘So …’
‘So …’ His face came closer and he gently brushed his lips against mine in a sweet, soft caress. I reciprocated, seeking out his lips with mine, and responding to his affection with a subtle but sensual longing. The kiss was neither too fast nor too slow, neither too hard nor too soft, and as Goldilocks would say, it was just right.
I could have happily continued, but a child in the park saying, ‘Hey look, they’re kissing!’ made us pull away in a mutual laugh.
‘In the words of my grandma, Dave Smith, you are a nice young chap,’ I said, my arms still loosely around his waist and his gently grasping the sides of my shoulders.
‘And you are a dainty young dame,’ he replied, and warmth flushed my cheeks.
‘Did you know I met twelve Dave Smiths this Christmas? Although, technically, thirteen. Since you were an unplanned one.’
‘What did I say about unplanned things?’ He smiled.
‘They are often the best.’ I took the Santa hat from his hand and put it back on his head. ‘But since you’re the thirteenth Dave of Christmas, some people might consider that unlucky.’
He squared his shoulders in confidence. ‘Luckily, I’m not one of those people.’
As I looked at this new, amazing man standing before me, complete with Santa hat and a face that could dissolve all sadness with its masculine beauty, I felt as though Grandma Charlotte was with me, telling me this was Chapter One in my own romance story. I may not be privy to the ending yet, but as we’d discussed, it was the journey that mattered. And I couldn’t wait for Chapter Two.
‘Shall we?’ Dave asked, crooking his elbow for me to grasp it. ‘A rowdy crowd of Smiths awaits.’
‘We shall,’ I replied, taking his elbow and noticing the second hand on his watch ticking over into a new cycle, a new beginning, a new chance to create the future.
Starting now.
For the bonus Dave of Christmas, my grandma gave to me
A Dave who could be perfect for me …
THE END
Thanks for reading 12 Daves of Christmas. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage (http://www.julietmadison.com), follow me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/juliet_madison) or like my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/julietmadisonauthor).
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If you liked this book, my other books are Fast Forward, I Dream of Johnny and Haunted Ever After (more info over the page).
This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.
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ISBN: 9780857992178
Title: 12 Daves of Christmas
Copyright © 2017 by Juliet Madison
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 4/132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2060.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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