by Noelle Adams
She missed Cam.
She hated sleeping alone last night and was dreading going to sleep tonight.
Maybe after the ball dropped at midnight and they spent the next hour drinking and laughing and having fun, Lily would sneak down to the media room and watch a movie and sleep in one of the plush leather recliners. No one would have to know and it would save her from another night of torture. The sheets still smelled of Cam’s soap and cologne and that big bed was just too much for one lonely person.
Nodding with approval at her own plan, Lily resumed her search of the night sky. Why couldn’t she fine one measly star? It was a favorite thing for her to do every year on New Year’s Eve. She’d step outside right before midnight, find the biggest and brightest start to wish upon and then go back to whatever party she happened to be at and wish it again at midnight before she kissed whoever she happened to be at the party with.
Funny how she never wished to be with the person that she was actually at the party with. They were all very nice guys who just…well, they weren’t Cam.
Another sad sigh escaped as the clouds seemed to move restlessly in the sky. “Just keep moving,” she said with an urgent whisper. “Just clear out for a little bit so that I can find my star.”
The door opened behind her and Lily silently prayed that it wasn’t another family member coming out here to offer her sympathetic advice.
“You have your star,” a deep voice said from behind her.
No. It couldn’t be. Lily was too afraid to turn around. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Ignoring the voice, she leaned out further over the railing, craning her neck to get a better view of the night sky.
And then a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.
Okay, that was a little bit harder to ignore. “You have the brightest star around your neck, over your heart, for whenever you want to make a wish,” he whispered against her ear and felt her shiver slightly before she relaxed against him.”
Without missing a beat, Lily spoke. “I can’t break tradition,” she said simply. “I always stand outside and find a star to wish on. Help me find one.”
Wrapping her more securely in his arms, Cam felt like he had truly come home. He looked up as the clouds seemed to part and there, barely visible to the naked eye, was one lone star. “Look up there,” he said softly and pointed to the break in the clouds. “It may not be the biggest one but it’s there just for you, Lily.” He inhaled the sweet scent that what solely hers and said, “Make a wish.”
Lily closed her eyes tightly and did just that. Satisfied with her wish, she turned in Cameron’s arms and looked up at a face that looked as weary as her own. “You came back.”
He nodded. “I did.”
“You got all of your things organized that fast?”
This time he shook his head. “There was nothing to organize.”
Lily’s brows furrowed at his words. “Why? Are you just going to use the notes from your New York presentation?”
He shook his head again. “No. I’m not recycling my notes.”
Now she was even more confused. “Then what are you going to do? Did your boss make up a presentation for you? Can he even do that? I mean, doesn’t it work better if you create the presentation for yourself so that you know what you’re…”
He cut of her words with the kiss that he needed and craved ever since he left. Cupping her face in his cold hands, Cam pressed his body fully against hers and did his best to pour everything that he had, everything that he felt into it.
At first, Lily was too stunned to respond. Cam was here! He came back and he was out here under the night sky kissing her. As soon as her brain shut off, she wrapped her arms around him and returned his kiss with the same urgency she felt from him. Soon she no longer felt chilled; the coolness of the winter night was no match for the body heat that they were generating.
Finally, Cam lifted his head and rested his forehead against Lily’s and took the first real breath that he had in days. She was here, in his arms and no matter what happened next, he had this moment with her under the stars.
Well, star.
“Stop talking,” he said as he caught his breath.
“But…”
Cam placed a finger over her lips to silence her. “I have something that I need to say and if you keep talking then I’ll never say it.” He took a small step back and smiled at the wide-eyed confusion on her face. “I’m not going on the lecture circuit.”
“What? Why?”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re talking again.” Lily promptly closed her mouth and pretended to zip it so that he could continue. “I made it all the way home when I realized that I didn’t want to do it; I didn’t want to go and be away from home for three months.” He stepped back into her. “I didn’t want to be away from you for that long.” His heart felt full to overflowing when he watched her sigh with obvious relief. “This whole thing with us started out as a joke; as a way for us to pull one over on our parents to keep them from making our holiday miserable. But the joke was on us because it’s real.” Cam’s gaze deepened as he looked in to Lily’s upturned face. “It stopped being fake for me the first time you kissed me. I’ve wanted that for so long and once you took that step, even though I know it was for show, it just made me realize that I didn’t want to pretend, I want you for real, Lily Cavanaugh. I want what we’ve had for these last six weeks to be real.”
“Cam…”
“I’m not finished,” he cut her off gently. “I know that I’m not the type of man you usually date and that I’m boring and straight-laced and that we’re best friends but I don’t want to go back to just being friends. I’ll do it, if that’s what you want, but I want more, Lily. I want to be your boyfriend, your lover and if you’ll have me, your husband.”
“Cam…”
“Still talking,” he said and put his finger back over her lips to silence her because if he didn’t finish what he had to say, he may never get the chance to do it again. “I went back to my house and it was quiet and empty and yet everywhere I looked, you were there. The only items that personalized my home involved you. If it wasn’t for you, Lily, I wouldn’t have a life. You make me live. You make me step out of my comfort zone and try new things. You make me stop taking myself so damn seriously and I don’t want to be that man anymore. Please don’t make me be that man anymore.” Cam rested his forehead against hers and let out a breath. There. He had said it all. The ball was now firmly in her court. He waited for her to respond.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, he realized that his finger was still resting on her lips and she was looking up at him with amusement. He quickly pulled his finger away and rested both of his hands on her waist. “Sorry.”
“Am I allowed to speak now?” she asked, tapping her foot in mock irritation. Cam nodded. “One of the greatest things about our friendship was that we always told one another everything. It was the single most thing that I treasured most. Whenever I had a problem or something was bothering me, I always knew I could talk to you.” For a moment she just stopped and studied Cam’s face. He was so serious and she knew that he was patiently waiting for her to speak her peace and she gave a small smile at that.
“But then I fell in love,” she said with a shrug. “And I really wanted to talk to my best friend about it but I couldn’t because the man I fell in love with and my best friend were one in the same. I didn’t know how to tell you what I was feeling because I thought I’d scare you away. As much as I know you’ve always been there for me, I also know that you, just like everyone else, thinks that I have a short attention span. That simply isn’t the case here, Cameron Greene. You see, I don’t see myself ever tiring of being with you. And not just as a friend, but as your girlfriend, your lover and yes…even your wife.”
Cam felt as if his knees were going to give out so great was his relief at hearing his words coming back to him. Lifting Lily up into his arms he held her
tight. “I’m so sorry that I left,” he said, his breath warm against her neck. “And I know exactly what you mean because I fell in love with you and yet I was afraid to talk to you about it because I didn’t want to risk hearing that you didn’t feel the same.” He placed her back down on her feet. “No one has ever loved me and accepted me for who I am like you have and I realized when I was all alone last night that I don’t want anyone else. It’s you, Lily; it’s you and only you that I want. I love you.”
Not waiting another minutes, Cam pulled her close again and kissed her. Lily’s arms immediately wound around his neck as her fingers raked through his hair, anchoring him to her. They stayed like that, drinking from one another for a long time until a strange noise slowly brought them out of their haze. Cam lifted his head. “What is that?”
Lily pulled back and looked around and then burst out laughing. “What?” Cam asked. “What’s so funny?”
Taking him by the shoulders she spun him around so that he was facing the house. There, lined up against the wall of windows were their families; watching them and applauding. Lily rested her head on Cam’s back until she could compose herself.
“We’ll never have any privacy, will we?” Cam asked with a chuckle.
“With this group? Never.”
Cam took a step to the side and then put his arm around Lily so that they could both face their families with a smile and a wave. “I guess we should go inside.”
Lily nodded. “Absolutely. My work is done out here.”
Frowning, Cam looked down at her. “Work? What work were you doing out here?”
She rolled her eyes. “Sheesh, Cam. You’ve forgotten already?” When he still looked at her with confusion, Lily shrugged and pulled him toward the house. He’d figure it out eventually but as far as Lily was concerned, she did a great job of finding a star to wish on tonight.
And it already came true.
Epilogue
Nine Months Later
“I feel ridiculous.”
“You look fine.”
“Easy for you to say. I don’t see you wearing anything like this.”
“Even if I was, I wouldn’t feel ridiculous in it.”
Cam sighed. It didn’t matter how long he and Lily had known each other or that it was basically since before either of them could talk, she had a way of talking circles around him and making him crazy. “How long do I have to do this?”
Lily looked up and her new husband and grinned from ear to ear at…his ears! Actually, they were mouse ears compliments of a mouse named Mickey. Lily had asked that they spend at least part of their honeymoon in Disney World and she had chosen a groom’s top hat with mouse ears for Cam. She was just letting him sweat it out for a bit before she pulled out her white sequined mouse ears with the veil to match. It was still fun after all of these years to make Cam squirm.
“Lighten up; we’re on our honeymoon. We’re having fun, remember? You’re even supposed to smile and laugh once in a while,” she teased.
“Well maybe I would smile and laugh if we could just go back to bed and spend the day as I suggested earlier.”
Lily blushed at the memory of what Cam had suggested. It was rather decadent and she promised when they arrived at the second stop on their honeymoon – New York City – that she’d let him have his way. For now, however, she was going to act like a little kid and run around the theme park and have fun.
“I have waited years to come back here and not even sexy promises is going to make me miss my chance to skip down Main Street.”
“I’m not skipping, Lil. I love you but there is no way that I’m doing that. Isn’t the hat enough?”
Giggling, Lily reached into her suitcase and pulled out her mouse ears and put them on before striking a pose and grinning at Cam. “How about now? We can match and then we can skip!”
He shook his head, sending his own ears flying across the room. “You’ll have to do better than that to get me to skip.” He saw that familiar look on her face; the one that told him that she had gotten an idea and he held up a hand and cut her off before she could even say what it was. “Don’t even bother. There is nothing in the world that you can come up with that will make me skip anywhere, especially while wearing the ears so forget it.”
She turned to pouting. “Well, I was going to say that we could come back here to the room after lunch and do that second thing that you suggested,” she said seductively with a wicked smile to match her words. “Twice.”
All of Cam’s blood seemed to head south at the image she put in his head. With a growl of frustration, he stalked over and grabbed his mouse-eared top hat before grabbing his wife’s hand and dragging her out the door. Her laughter trailing behind him.
“What’s the hurry?” she asked as she giddily tried to keep up with him.
“We’ve got some skipping to do.”
***
Six Hundred Miles Away…
“It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?” Angela asked her best friend as she poured them each a glass of wine.
“It certainly was,” Mary said, savoring her first sip. “Cameron looked so nervous but so handsome. I can’t wait to get some of the pictures back from the photographer.”
Angela nodded as she came and sat down across from Mary at the small table on her deck overlooking the pool. “By the time the kids get back, we should have some proofs.” They sat in companionable silence, enjoying the sunshine and the view. “I never thought it was going to happen, you know.”
Mary looked at her and smiled. “I was running out of misfits to fix Lily up with!” She laughed at her own clever doings. “I think that Biff was the last straw!”
“Biff,” Angela chuckled and shook her head. “That’s just a cruel thing to do to a child.” Settling down, she turned toward her friend. “And you want to know the best part?” Angela asked and waited for Mary’s attention. “Biff is now engaged to Kitten!”
“No! How in the world did that happen?”
Angela had to stop her laughter before she could continue. “Well, you know how we all run in the same circles. After Cam’s date with her ended so perfectly and then Biff took Lily home practically before the date began…I thought that I’d play matchmaker. I ran into them both at Richard’s company Christmas party and introduced them.”
Mary held up her hand for her friend to high-five her. “I pray that the two of them have mercy on their future children and give them normal names!” She laughed at the thought and then sobered as her thoughts returned to their own children. “I had my doubts that we’d ever get the results we were looking for. It wasn’t easy to keep fixing Lily up with men that I knew she would hate.”
“I felt the same about Cam; like I was being a bad mother.” She took another sip of her wine. “They just needed a little nudge.”
Nodding, Mary agreed. “They are going to make beautiful grandchildren.”
“Which is what we wanted all along.” They raised their glasses to one another before sitting back and enjoying the scenery in companionable silence.
The Christmas Cottage
Samantha Chase
One
“…and any couple that spends the night in the Christmas cottage shall have love everlasting.”
Lacey Quinn stifled a groan as she listened to her best friend, and bride-to-be, re-tell her family’s fairytale of a house that was the key to a successful and happy marriage. Truth-be-known, Lacey had heard the story her entire life; the Quinns and the Callahans had been friends long before Lacey and Ava were born. The story wasn’t anything new. What was new was the fact that Ava was the one getting married in seven short weeks and would get to experience the fairytale for herself.
If Lacey didn’t strangle her first.
“Yes, yes, love everlasting, blah, blah, blah,” Lacey sighed as she reached for her wine glass with one hand and the now almost empty bottle of Merlot next to it. “Honestly, don’t you ever get tired of saying it?”
“Never,
” Ava replied adamantly. Standing, she took the clip out of her long blonde hair and shook it out as she went to stand in front of the full length mirror she had by her front door. “I’m thinking of wearing my hair up?” Doing a quick twist, she turned and faced Lacey. “What do you think?”
A quick gulp of wine fortified Lacey for the conversation that had been had at least a dozen times before. “You know your hair looks fabulous in an up-sweep. Plus, with the tiara you picked out, it will look stunning. Positively princess-like,” she added just to stroke Ava’s bridal ego.
“Of course, if I wear it long and loose I can have some fabulous curls done. Mason really loves it when my hair is down.”
There wasn’t enough wine in the universe to make Lacey want to continue this conversation. “Then you should wear it down,” she said as she stood and took the now empty wine bottle to the kitchen and prepared to make an exit and head home.
“Well, which is it, Lacey? Up or down?” Lacey didn’t have to see her friend to know she was pouting; it was there in the tone of her voice. Taking her time to rinse her glass and place it in the drain board, she mentally counted to ten before heading back in to the living room.
“You will look beautiful no matter how you wear your hair. Mason is going to be the luckiest man in the world and it won’t matter one bit about your hair. We’ll see how you feel on your wedding day.” There, that sounded comforting and diplomatic, didn’t it?
“I know you’re right,” Ava said, sighing with relief as she released her hair and turned to face Lacey. “Before you go, there’s one last bit of wedding details that I need to talk to you about.”
So close, Lacey thought to herself as she looked longingly at the door. What more could there possibly be to discuss? The weddings in the Callahan family were tradition; no one swayed from the formula. They owned a massive home outside of Asheville, North Carolina where the family spent every Christmas. Lacey loved the old house and had spent many a Christmas there herself. The weddings were almost always done on Christmas Eve with the entire family in attendance. Then, the beaming bride and groom would head to the guest cottage that was tucked a discreet distance away and further up the mountain, for their wedding night.