by Lisa Plumley
Then she turned away, headed in the wrong direction.
She was leaving, he knew then. She wanted to get away from Kismet so much that—apparently—she was willing to walk out of town in the middle of a parade…walk away from Christmas and walk away from him.
No. He couldn’t let that happen. Not now.
With a yell, Reid leaped from the sleigh. “Karina!”
His earsplitting bellow caught the attention of…all the people around him. But not the woman he wanted. Landing upright on the icy packed snow, Reid gestured to his grandfather.
“Keep driving!” he called. “I’m going to get Karina!”
“Just go!” all the sleigh inhabitants yelled in unison.
So Reid just went. He careened through the crowd, even as the parade went on and the marching band continued to play Christmas carols and everyone who already had someone to love held that person close and laughed at all the holiday antics.
“Karina!” Reid yelled again…and then he saw her again.
She turned around. Her eyes widened. A smile broke on her face, making her appear even more beautiful than he remembered.
Her gaze shifted to his beard. Her mouth turned into an O of surprise. Karina stopped in place, her attention fixed.
Within seconds—far too long to wait—Reid reached her. He stopped with his hands fisted at his sides, forcing himself not to touch her. Not yet. He couldn’t risk scaring her away.
Quit it with the intimidation face, Dad! You’re going to scare away Karina! He’d already done that once. Never again.
“Please don’t go!” Reid said, his voice a husky plea he could neither stop nor deny. “Not yet. Not until you know—”
“Your beard.” Karina pointed. “You kept it.”
“—that I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Karina!” Reid went on. Heedless of the nearby crowd, not caring who heard, he moved a little closer. “I never meant to doubt you. I do know who you are. I do.” Finally trusting himself, he raised his hand to her cheek. He gazed into her eyes. “You’re the woman I love, Karina. I love you with everything inside me—with everything I am right now, and everything I’ll ever be. You make the sun rise! You make me feel …everything.” Feeling his breath hitch, Reid made himself keep going. “I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve traveled a lot of miles, and I’ve experienced a whole world of adventures. But all of them pale beside you. None of them matters as much as you do, right now. Please, please say you’ll give us another try. Because I swear to you, if it takes me the rest of my life, I’ll make you the happiest person in the world.”
Appearing awestruck, Karina shook her head. At the gesture, Reid’s heart plummeted. She didn’t want him? He was too late?
But then she smiled, and he saw there were tears shimmering in her eyes, and even as he held his breath, Karina took a brave step closer to him. If he was fearsome, Reid realized with pure thankfulness, then Karina was at least equally courageous.
She stroked his jaw…his beard. “You didn’t shave,” she said in a voice choked with emotion. Then, stroking him again, she laughed with evident relief. “I’m glad you didn’t shave.”
“It would have been a lie,” Reid told her, covering her hands with his. “Because I never gave up hope. Not on us.”
No wonder he’d had so much trouble shaving today, he realized. The problem hadn’t been the Christmassy atmosphere, the interruptions, or the implements. The problem had been a lack of will. Reid simply hadn’t had the will, deep inside, to rid himself of his good-luck nookie beard and admit defeat.
“I’m glad,” Karina said, “because I love you, too, Reid. I’m so sorry I didn’t say so before! I’m sorry I hurt you—sorry I lied to you. I never meant to.” Fervently, she shook her head. “I swear, I never will again. Never! And if you say you can’t believe me…well, I guess I’ll have to live with that.” Her gaze met his, nakedly hopeful but willfully strong. Tearfully, she gulped back a sob. “But please don’t say that! You don’t know how much you mean to me, Reid. I’d given up on finding someone. I’d given up on myself! I was so scared…of not being needed. Of not being wanted. Of not being loved.”
“I love you.” Reid squeezed her hands. “I do.”
“But what I should have been scared of is not taking a chance.” Karina shook her head, her chin quivering. “I should have been scared of losing you. I almost did lose you! And now—” She broke off, her gaze searching his. “Now, I can’t believe you’re here. Here in time to know that I love you, and I need you, and I missed you—so much!—and I love you—”
“You already said that one,” Reid told her, “but I’ll never get tired of hearing it.” Unable to resist, he kissed her.
At the first touch of their lips, Karina melted into his arms. Making a thankful sound, she kissed him back. As one, their bodies slammed together, equally ardent and equally bundled up…all except for one crucial area. Wearing a beaming smile, Karina leaned back. Even as Reid went on holding her, she aimed her gaze lower…all the way to the flannel pajama pants he’d inadvertently forgotten to change out of, after all.
Then she nodded at her own PJ pants, also made of flannel but printed with girly-looking bows and Christmas ornaments.
“Hmmm. Something tells me,” Karina said as her smile widened, “that we’re perfect for each other.”
Reid kissed her again. “You’re only just realizing that?”
“Well…sometimes I’m a slow learner. For instance, it took me a while to come around to the real magic of Christmas.”
“Me too,” Reid admitted. “But now I’m a Scrooge no longer. Thanks to you,” he said, “I feel Christmas here”—he touched his fist to his heart—“in a way that’s never going to leave.”
With a heartfelt sigh, Karina hugged him closer. “You feel so good! Even with all this cold-weather gear on. I can’t wait to find out what you feel like with nothing but beachwear on.”
At her saucy eyebrow waggle, Reid grinned. “Beachwear?”
“Preferably tiny board shorts,” Karina specified with a lascivious, loving gleam in her eye. “That’s what men wear on the California beaches these days. You’d make them look good.”
“I’d make them—” Newly elated, Reid raised his eyebrows. “You’re damn right, I’d make them look good.” He couldn’t wait to see Karina in a bikini, either. “Does this mean…?”
A nod. “I want you to come to San Diego with us. You can check out the ocean, experience the sunshine, find out if—”
“I’m in,” Reid promised hastily. “I’m in all the way.”
Karina laughed. “You didn’t even let me finish inviting you! You must really mean it.”
“I do,” Reid swore, kissing her again as another holiday float passed by, blaring Christmas music. “I really mean it.”
“There are practical considerations, you know,” Karina demurred. “For instance, there’s probably not a lot of hard-core adventure travel guiding going on in the suburbs these days.”
“Probably not.” Unconcerned, Reid smiled at her. He squeezed her hand. “But I have more skills than you know about. Photojournalism, diving, rock climbing, orienteering—I could probably make a living at one or two of those things.”
“Or at teaching them to other people,” Karina agreed. Appearing dazed but content, she smiled back at him. “We’re really doing this! We’re really going to be together.”
“For Christmas and for always.” Reid motioned to his own flannel pajama pants. “The PJs decree it. We’re a team now.”
“Oh no!” someone groaned from nearby. “This is awful! They’re going to be the pajama pants–wearing team!”
Olivia. Reid turned to see Karina’s daughter shaking her head. Beside her, his daughters did the same. So did Josh.
“We’ll never get them out of their pajama pants now!”
“What have we done?” Michael asked with a hilariously dramatic waggle of his hands. “We’re doomed!”
Vanessa looked on with clear sa
tisfaction, arms crossed over her chest. “Quiet, kids,” she shushed. “In the matchmaking game, you have to take the wins where you find them.”
“I think the PJ pants are cute,” Betty volunteered.
“I think the girl is cute!” Robert stepped forward, holding out his hand. “I’m Robert Sullivan. You must be Karina.”
Blushing, Karina took his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
As though Reid’s grandfather had issued a signal, everyone else surged forward too. Reid’s B&B guests. His staff. All the chattering kids. Suzanne, Neil, and Rocky. Amanda and Rodrigo. Even a few good-natured Kismet residents, who’d apparently been following along with the action, having decided that Karina’s and Reid’s declaration of love beat a Christmas parade any day.
Close by, one of the Clydesdales whinnied. Reid looked in the direction of the sound and glimpsed The Christmas House’s horse-drawn sleigh, parked just off the parade route in front of the Riverside Hotel, where his grandfather had apparently left it.
It seemed he’d left it in capable hands. Because his hulking, always cheerful neighbor Nate Kelly stood beside it with his wife, Angela, and stepdaughter, Kayla. Catching Reid looking, Nate gave him a thumbs-up sign.
“All’s well that ends well, eh?” Nate nodded toward the sleigh. “Want me to take this back to the B&B for you?”
Hugging Karina to his side, Reid shook his head. “I’ll take it. I think we’re all going that way soon. But you’re welcome to come too, Nate! You and your family.” He smiled at them.
“We’re here with our friends, Rachel and Reno.” Nate’s nod indicated a hand-holding couple nearby. The woman stood dressed in conspicuously fashionable clothes, and the man—well, Reid recognized former NFL kicker Reno Wright. Everyone knew Kismet’s very own BMOC. “Is it okay if they come along too?”
“Sure!” Karina called. “The more the merrier, right?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Reid agreed.
“No wonder we’re perfect for each other,” Karina told him.
They beamed at each other, relieved and confident and more than ready to get their future started. Then Vanessa elbowed her way forward, put her hands on her hips, and shook her head.
“Okay, okay. That’s enough,” his cousin said as the parade began to break up behind her. “No need to rub it in, you two.”
Surprised, Reid gazed at Vanessa’s disgruntled face.
So did Karina. “Why, Vanessa…You sound a little peevish about something.” Karina traded a knowing glance with Reid. “Could it be that you need a matchmaker of your own?”
Reid’s cousin blinked, seeming on the verge of…denying the very idea. She scoffed, adopting her trademark stance. “No way. I’m all about the fix-up, not being fixed up. Besides, it’s Christmas Eve. Let’s get this party started already!”
Reid didn’t need to be told twice. Grabbing Karina, he herded together all their children, then conferred with his grandparents and cousin. Together, they made plans to get everyone safely and promptly back to The Christmas House.
They had a damn holiday to celebrate, Reid knew. A holiday full of laughter and good cheer and Christmas merriment. There was no way he meant to delay any of that any longer.
He’d already spent nearly twenty years missing out on Christmas. This year, with Karina by his side and all their children gathered around, Reid intended to savor every moment. Because now that he’d given in to the sentimentality of the season, he didn’t want to go back to anything less. This year, Reid wanted carols and gifts, tinsel and gingerbread, eggnog and blinking lights and even that ridiculous dancing Santa figurine.
He wanted all of Christmas, all the time. He wanted it all.
Glancing up at Karina as he helped her into the B&B’s horse-drawn sleigh, Reid realized that he already had it all. He had everything he could have asked for and more. He had a new love, a new family, and a whole new future with his daughters to look forward to. If that wasn’t some kind of Christmas miracle, Reid didn’t know what was. He couldn’t believe he’d doubted it.
“This year, I hardly need Christmas and stockings and gifts to unwrap,” Karina said as Reid settled beside her and took up the reins. “I already have everything I ever wanted. Because now I have you.” She smiled at him. “I love you so much, Reid.”
“I love you, too.” Reid smiled back, then set the sleigh in motion, charting a course around Kismet’s scenic frozen lake. “But I wouldn’t be too sure about that ‘already have everything you want’ idea,” he told Karina. “There might be a few more surprises in store for you yet. Just wait and see….”
Chapter Twenty-Three
December 25th
The Christmas House
Kismet, Michigan
“Mom! Mom! Wake up!” Michael yelled, bursting into Karina’s peaceful, gingerbread-scented dreams with his usual Christmas morning holler. “It’s Christmas. Right now! Wake up!”
Her younger son bounded onto the bed in Karina’s snug attic room at The Christmas House. Tousle haired and full of energy, Michael clambered nearer, making the mattress dip and sway.
“Wake up, Mom! We’re going to miss everything!”
Blearily, Karina yawned. “What time is it?”
“The sun came up five minutes ago,” Josh said. “Let’s go!”
Well, that was their traditional agreement, Karina remembered. No Christmas-morning wake-ups until at least dawn.
“Hurry up, Mom,” Olivia said. “Michael is ready to chew through the gift wrap with his teeth to get to his presents.”
“Well, paper isn’t very nutritious.” Karina yawned again, feeling—despite her tiredness—an undeniable tingle of anticipation too. “I guess I’d better get moving then.”
“Come on!” Michael urged. “We’re missing Christmas!”
“Honey, we can’t miss Christmas.” Groggily, Karina sat up. Her hair stood out in crazy ringlets, her pajamas were wrinkly, and her breath…Well, it could knock out Rudolph. But there was no refuting the truth: This year, she was doubly excited about the holiday festivities. She and Reid had stayed up till all hours though, talking and planning, and she was beat. “We can’t miss Christmas, because we’re Christmas,” Karina explained to her anxiously waiting children. “It only happens if we’re there to make it happen, with love and togetherness.”
Serenely, she smiled at them, pleased with herself for having come up with that original bit of parental wisdom. It was downright poetic. It ranked right up there with her combined philosophies that cheaters never prospered, that love conquered all, and that the child who divided a piece of cake could never be the first to choose his or her portion of said cake.
Feeling very Solomon-like, Karina nudged at her hair.
“Hmmm. What’s that about love and togetherness?” someone asked from the other side of the room.
At the sound of that deep, masculine, irrefutably jolly voice, Karina started. She looked in that direction.
Reid stood there, tall and broad shouldered and smiling. “That sounds promising. I’d like to explore that idea in a little more detail,” he said. “Right after you open this.”
Reid came closer, then handed her a gift-wrapped package. Taken aback, Karina gazed at the paper and crookedly tied bow.
“We let him sneak in earlier, while you were asleep,” Michael explained with his usual ebullience. He cast Reid a chary look. “But he didn’t say he was bringing a gift. I didn’t even have a chance to guess what it was first!”
“Maybe next time, buddy.” Reid ruffled his hair.
That’s when Karina realized that, although she hadn’t noticed it in her muzzy, newly awakened state, Alexis and Nicole were there too. They sat together on Olivia’s bed, wearing identical glitter-covered, felt reindeer-antler headbands. On the floor beside them, Josh sat cross-legged with an oversize sweater pulled over his pajamas. Michael skipped into the picture and then plunked down too, making their merger complete.
They really were bec
oming a new blended family, Karina thought as she looked at them. She and Reid and their combined children were starting their futures together, now, on Christmas morning, with the scent of perking coffee floating into the air from the B&B’s kitchen downstairs and the first faint stirrings of joyful Christmas carols drifting over the sound system.
Feeling her heart swell with happiness, Karina glanced at the frosty window, hoping to catch her emotions before they ran away with her completely. Instead, she glimpsed an idyllic wintery snowfall floating past her room’s window and knew she didn’t have a chance at keeping her equanimity intact.
This Christmas was the perfect holiday for her children. She’d finally given it to them, Karina realized, just the way she’d dreamed. All because she’d dared to reach out for a love that should have been impossible…and was all the more precious because of it. She was so lucky to have found Reid.
So lucky to have found the Christmas inside both of them.
“Go ahead.” Wearing a warm smile—and another pair of flannel PJ pants, thereby sealing their bond forever—Reid sat on the bed near her. He nodded at his gift. “Open it.”
Holding her breath, Karina did. She undid the bow, took off the ribbon, lifted off the box lid, and revealed…
“A compass?” Perplexed, she gazed at the small metal instrument, nestled carefully on a bed of ethereal tissue paper. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. Nevertheless, she prepared her finest smile. She didn’t want to hurt Reid’s feelings.
“It’s so you never get lost again!” he told her.
Aww. He’d tried to turn a last-minute sporting-goods-store gift into a romantic gesture. That was sweet. All men couldn’t be expert gift givers, Karina knew. She broadened her smile.
“I could rig it with a GPS device,” Alexis offered, “if you want me to. Then you’d really never get lost again.”