by Cindi Madsen
“You know, when I first started dating Chris, and he lived all the way up here, I thought it wouldn’t work either,” Mom said, obviously not willing to drop the subject.
Since Kelsey had arrived, Chris had given them plenty of space to do girly things and cram in everything they’d missed while she’d been stranded in her winter wonderland with the hottest cop this side of the Mississippi—or any side, for that matter. But Kelsey was slowly getting to know her stepdad better, too. Maybe even understanding why Mom relocated her entire life to be with him. But Mom had always been willing to pick up and start over.
For five days, Kelsey had held back the tears—she’d certainly cried enough when she’d driven away from Marion. Now they were coming again, though, unstoppable and immune to rapid blinking.
“Unlike the girl in this movie, I’m not blind. I know that Nate is perfect; I see how amazing he is. But I know who I am, too. I’m not the quiet girl who’ll fit right into the community. I’m the girl who’ll stir things up at the town meetings and get pulled over by Sherriff Henderson on a weekly basis. And I might be able to deal with that, but I don’t know if Nate can. I saw it when Derek was telling old stories from high school—I embarrass him.”
“How very Bridget Jones of you,” Mom said, and Kelsey scowled at her—how dare she use yesterday’s movie marathon against her. Mom twisted toward her, tucking her leg underneath her. “Anyone who’s embarrassed of you is an idiot. But I don’t think you should jump to that conclusion without at least talking to him about it.”
“He hasn’t called, though, just sent me a text to tell me they’d found Stuart and brought him down from the mountain.” She’d been the one to tell him it wasn’t going to work, and now she was cursing herself for pointing it out. They could’ve pretended for a while longer. It’d be more painful, but right now her heart ached so damn bad that delaying the inevitable seemed like a good alternative.
She pressed a hand flat against her chest, even though she knew from the multiple times she’d tried it over the past few days that it didn’t make it any better. “How can it hurt so much when our time together was so short?”
Mom brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’ve seen you fall in lust with guys before. You’ve got good taste looks-wise, but all in all, they were shitty dudes, Kels. Like the hugest assholes in all of Assholia.”
Yeah, as many swear words as she’d learned in Dad’s welding shop, and there’d been plenty, Mom could out-swear them by a mile.
“And Nate Walsh is one of the good guys, looks and personality,” Mom said. “Every time he came around, I could see he adored you. Honestly, I kinda hoped you’d dump the twerp and go for him.”
Kelsey raised her eyebrows and Mom shrugged. “When it comes to my daughter, I want a traditional good guy. So sue me.” She patted Kelsey’s knee. “What I’m saying is, I’ve never seen you like this. That hung-over feeling that won’t go away? That’s love.”
“Stellar,” Kelsey dead-panned. “I can see why there’re so many songs written about it.”
Mom laughed. “Well that’s why, when it’s real, you do whatever you have to do to work it out. Screw stability. Forget common sense. Make a move.” Her eyebrows shot up, her eyes going wide. “I know! Invite him to our New Year’s Eve party! It’s perfect. Booze, music, kissing at midnight.”
Kelsey couldn’t help thinking how different her mom was from Mrs. Walsh—and pretty much any other mom for that matter. She was right, too. Love at first sight, falling quickly—those were things she’d made fun of. And while she wouldn’t call Nate love at first sight, there was definitely love there now. The realization terrified her almost as much as it thrilled her. It meant more risk, a harder fall if it went wrong. “It’s definitely a tempting idea, but I don’t think he could just pick up and leave.”
“You’ll never know till you ask.”
…
Nate peered under the hood of his truck, stringing together every single swear word he knew, and some he’d made up on the fly.
Everything was going wrong.
First, Kelsey had left, not even taking his truck, and he was sure he’d been dumped. Especially since she’d only sent a “Glad you’re safe,” text in reply to his. He’d wanted to call, but he’d also wanted to know what to say besides “I just know we’ll figure out a way to work,” with no actual ideas on how. So he’d spent the past few days deciding what he truly wanted. What he was willing to give up to be with Kelsey.
Of course he’d missed her call, because that was the week he was having. He’d decided to give her time to be with her mom, then head to Charlotte as soon as he knew she was back—he wasn’t letting her give up on them. The burning sensation in his chest every time he thought about her told him all he needed to know.
When he’d listened to her message, his heart and mind had raced, as if they were in a competition to see which could go faster. She didn’t say she missed him or that she was miserable—he certainly had been. But she did mention a New Year’s Eve party. While she was trying to sound casual about it, he could tell that she actually wanted him there, which renewed his hope.
He’d spent the last few hours making sure Derek could help Dad take care of the farm and rearranging his shifts at the station. He wanted to surprise Kelsey—and honestly, he was afraid that over the phone, she’d talk herself out of giving them a real shot. In person, he could be much more convincing.
So he’d gotten all dressed up, packed an overnight bag, and threw it in his truck. But his truck decided to not start, topping off the awesomeness that was his life since Kelsey had left it.
He’d narrowed the problem down to the alternator, but say by some miracle Joe didn’t actually have to order it, there was no way he could get it in and make it to Kentucky in time. Even in the squad car, lights blazing, it’d be impossible.
He sagged against the truck. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Not him and Kelsey, but this party, this night. He thought of her alone at midnight, people all around her celebrating, and it was a punch to the gut.
I need to be there. An idea popped into his head. It was a long shot, but he had to try. He pulled out his phone and dialed up his cousin. Wes answered on the third ring.
“Dude, I know this is completely crazy and that it’s New Year’s Eve, but I need a huge favor. See, there’s this girl…”
…
Kelsey stood in the center of the room, watching the blur of people around her laughing and talking, music providing steady background noise. She’d put on her silver party dress with the frilly skirt, the one she’d lusted over on ModCloth for two months before ordering. She’d darkened her purple highlights, added in a few blue ones, and had gone a little crazy with the glitter eyeliner—she probably looked like the silver ball about to drop.
Since she hadn’t heard back from Nate, she did feel like she was about to drop to the floor and never get up. She shouldn’t have been such a chicken and called him right after her and Mom’s movie fest instead of waiting until this morning. She told herself that his not calling her back meant that he didn’t have time to come to the party, that was all.
It didn’t mean that he was done with her.
Right?
She inhaled a deep breath, telling herself to stop being a fun-sucker. This was a party after all. And she had on her five-and-a-half-inch studded purple pumps. She made her way over to the drink table.
And almost cried when she saw the eggnog.
Stupid disgusting drink, making me get all misty. Kelsey pulled her phone out of the bodice of her dress—not like this thing had pockets—and glanced at the display. Still no calls. Maybe I should try him again. Tell him I’ll do whatever it takes to make it work, just to please give me a chance.
She didn’t care if she occasionally embarrassed him or didn’t seem like the obvious match for him, as long as he’d stick by her side anyway. She’d made strides on her debt and she’d commit to whatever career it took to get herself all the way out if i
t meant having Nate in her life. In fact, if she ever got ahold of him again, she was going to wrap herself around him, arms and legs, clamping on for dear life. She was stronger than she looked, she could hold on a while.
At least long enough to use her lips to kiss his neck and mouth and convince him he didn’t want to let her go.
Kelsey poured herself a glass of wine and stared out the window at the large golf course Mom and Chris lived on the edge of. This house was certainly nicer than all the ones she and Mom had lived in. And while the party crowd was a bit older, it was nice to see Mom had found a place she fit in so well.
A bright light glowed through the darkness outside, moving lower and lower. Kelsey stepped closer to the window and squinted at it. The object started to take shape as it came in, nose, big windows, a propeller on top.
Why is a helicopter landing on the golf course?
It touched down, the light so bright Kelsey could hardly look at it. But she couldn’t look away at the same time, because it was so odd. Chris must have an eccentric friend who only traveled by helicopter. Or maybe the guy just really had a hankering for a golf game—Kelsey glanced at the time—eight minutes till the New Year.
A figure emerged, hunkering down as the helicopter kicked wind all around it. She could see that the guy was tall, built, dirty blond hair, but she couldn’t make out any other details.
He walked right up to the house, though, and then the doorbell rang.
No one else seemed to notice, so Kelsey set down her drink and went to answer the door. When she swung it open, she blinked, unable to believe her eyes.
“Nate?”
He ran his eyes up and down her, a total deer in the headlights look, his mouth going slack. “Wow,” he said, and butterflies erupted in her tummy.
She smiled at him, taking in his black button down and gray slacks. “Wow back.”
One corner of his mouth turned up, and she was pretty sure she melted into a puddle of a girl, unable to speak or breathe, and seriously tempted to drag him into a room and have her way with him.
“You came in a helicopter,” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say.
“It’s my cousin’s. I hope I didn’t ruin his and his fiancée’s New Year’s plans, but I was desperate. I knew if I didn’t get here, I’d regret it forever.” He reached out and took her hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. “See, I wanted to be the last one to kiss you this year, and the first one to kiss you next.”
He tugged her to him, wrapping his other arm around her waist, and crushed his mouth to hers. She parted her lips, ran her hands up his strong arms, and linked her fingers behind his neck, sinking into the kiss.
“That’s for this year,” he rasped, his chest rising and falling against hers, and she heard someone upstairs announce that the ball drop was about a minute away. Nate’s hand slid lower on her back and intoxicating heat wound through her entire body. “I love you, Kelsey. Maybe it’s stupid to have fallen in love with you all those years ago, when you barely knew I existed, but I did. And I fell all over when you came into my life again.”
Kelsey ran her fingers up, over his hair. “I’m the stupid one. I shouldn’t have left like that. But are you sure you’re ready for all of me? I’ve made mistakes. I swear and I speed and I might embarrass you—I know those high school stories Derek told about me on Christmas did.”
Nate’s eyebrows pulled together. “No they didn’t. I don’t give a damn about any of those stories.”
“But you looked all frown-y.”
“That’s because I could see my time with you ticking away.” Nate cupped her cheek. “Kelsey, if you’d consider moving to Marion, we could find you a hair salon, or if you just want to do your artwork, you can have my whole shed to use as your workshop.”
She opened her mouth, but he put his finger to her lips. “But if you’re set in Charlotte, I know I can find a police job there. I even talked to my dad about it, and he told me that it was my choice—he’d support me whatever. And I choose you.”
Kelsey’s heart expanded as happiness tingled through her veins.
In the living room, the countdown grew louder as ten seconds remained in the year. Nine seconds…
“Did I tell you that I love you too?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Nate said, brushing his nose against hers.
Five…
“Well, I’m in love with you, Nate Walsh. Completely, totally in love with you. And just so you know, I plan on you being the first one to kiss me every year, from here on out.”
He grinned. “Done.”
Two…
One.
As people yelled out “Happy New Year!” Nate kissed her again, slower, deeper. He backed her up to the wall of the entryway, kissing her until she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began.
“Happy New Year,” she whispered when they came up for air. She put her hand on his chest and grinned up at him. “So when we get back to Marion, can I drive the cop car with the lights flashing?”
He lowered his forehead to hers. “No way.”
“I’ll talk you into it eventually,” she said, pressing another kiss to his lips. She wasn’t sure how it’d all work, only that they’d find a way. She glanced around, making sure they were still alone, then tugged on the waistband of his pants. “I think I want to unwrap my Christmas present again.”
An adorable blush crept over his cheeks.
Then Mom showed up and let out a high-pitched happy shriek. Kelsey took Nate’s hand and led him into the party. As they stood talking to Mom and Chris, Nate kept shooting her a smile or squeezing her hand, tenderness in every look, every touch.
Only a few minutes in, and this was already the best year ever.
Epilogue
Kelsey swept up the last of the hair off the floor. As luck would have it—or fate, she liked to think—the spot where Mom’s jewelry shop used to be went up for lease the exact day Kelsey moved back to Marion. Nate helped her convert it into a salon, and one of the girls she’d gone to high school with was renting a booth, so she had someone else to help pay the bills and keep her company.
They displayed her metal sculptures up front, and she’d even sold a couple in town, though most of her success was at shows in Charlotte. Being in control of her own place gave her a renewed love of her job, and she was already turning a profit. Nate was transitioning to taking over the farm, but he still worked at the station when needed, and he was on the rescue team when it came to anyone needing help in the nearby mountains.
Basically life was perfect, even when a concerned mom came in to ask why Kelsey had dyed her teenager’s hair the color she had requested. She still caused a bit of a stir with some the older generation when she walked down the street, but she’d managed to win over a few. Dolly started bringing over pastries as soon as Kelsey began renovating the place, their relationship picking up right where they left off, and Kelsey had dyed her hair a bright red that complemented her skin color and fiery personality.
Mrs. Walsh was slowly opening up, getting used to the idea she was there to stay. Kelsey had even made friends with Derek’s fiancée, and was surprised how easily they could hang out. Mom was still too far away, but it was a closer drive from Marion than Charlotte, and they’d both committed to visiting more often.
Nate and Sheriff Henderson walked past the large front window of the salon, slowing near the entrance. As much as it killed her to admit, Nate looked super hot in his police uniform. She bit her lip as she watched for the door to swing open and she could get an even better look.
I still can’t believe I fell for a cop.
“See you tomorrow,” Nate said to the sheriff as he pushed inside, and his boss nodded at him, then tipped his hat at Kelsey.
“Evening, Sheriff,” she said, flashing him a giant canary-eating grin. The guy always made her feel guilty with a simple glance. It didn’t help that he’d pulled her over twice since she’d been in town. Once for going five over—serio
usly, five—and once for going slightly more over than that on the back roads.
He hadn’t given her a ticket either time, out of courtesy to Nate she was sure, and she had a feeling that ate at him.
Nate covered his twitching lips with his hand as he witnessed her and the sheriff’s strained interaction. As soon as the door closed and they were alone, he gripped her waist and gave her a long-awaited kiss. “You ready for dinner?”
“Ooh, which of the two places are we going tonight?”
“Babe, we’ll go anywhere you like.”
They both knew she’d choose the diner. She closed up shop, taking a moment to soak in every detail of her very own salon, including the large sign that read The Best Little Hair House in North Carolina.
There was going to be a town meeting about the name next week, since apparently it was “completely inappropriate.” Was it wrong to be excited about it?
Nate raised an eyebrow. “I know that look.”
“What? It’s free speech. Unless they’re paying my rent, I get to call it whatever I want.”
“Mm-hm.”
She spun around and patted his chest, one of her favorite physical features, and he flinched.
“Sorry, was that too hard?”
He brought up his shoulders and she could see he was holding back. She pulled him to a stop. “Nathaniel?”
“I was going to surprise you tonight. But…”
She bounced on her toes. “But what?”
“I…I got a tattoo today.”
“What?”
The people around them stopped to stare. Nate pulled Kelsey between two buildings, his cheeks reddening. At first she’d thought he was joking, but from the look on his face she could tell he wasn’t. Her Nate decided to get a tattoo?
“Lemme see, lemme see.” She couldn’t wait to see what he’d decided was important enough to make permanent.
He glanced at the mouth of the alley, then back at her.
“Don’t make me rip your clothes off right here, Officer Walsh, because you know I totally will,” she teased, getting a thrill at the way his eyes lit up with a combination of embarrassment and interest.