“Your grandfather says you have to go home with him. Is that what you want, Hunter?” Sally asked nervously from the doorway.
“Not unless you’re throwing me out,” Hunter said, looking straight at Sally.
“He also said that you tend to fall in love with anyone who cooks for you. Have you fallen in love with the lady who runs the bed-and-breakfast?”
Hunter smiled at Sally before he spoke. “Nope. I haven’t fallen for anyone at the Diamond Back, or the pizzaria, either. But I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Sally blinked several times and swallowed. “Because I’ve cooked for you?”
“Nope. Because I think you’re the most wonderful woman in the world. I want to live with you for the rest of my life, here in Bailey and raise our four kids.” He paused, his gaze devouring her. “What do you think, Sally? Will you marry me?”
“Oh, Hunter, I desperately want to, but you must be sure this is what you really want. I’d be devastated if you left me to go back to the city after a few months.”
“Never, Sally, my love, I promise. Come closer. I’ve been afraid to kiss you, in case we got carried away, but I think this calls for getting a little carried away.”
“I don’t want you to hurt your arm,” she cautioned, in spite of falling into his outstretched arms.
“You won’t hurt my arm. You could never hurt me.”
“Oh, Hunter! I’ve been falling in love with you, thinking you were leaving me for the big city. I was so unhappy!”
“Let’s see if I can cheer you up,” he whispered as he kissed her.
Several minutes later, Wilbur Hunt complained that they were ignoring him.
“We’re trying, Granddad,” Hunter said, looking over Sally’s shoulder at his grandfather standing in the doorway.
“I told her I was taking you home.”
“But you were wrong. I am home,” he assured his grandfather, looking fondly at Sally.
“Hunter’s going to help me run the store, Mr Hunt. We are going to do it together. I’m so happy!” Sally said, flinging her arms around Hunter’s neck.
“He said he’s bringing you to dinner Christmas night.”
“Is that all right?” Sally asked.
Mr Hunt looked at the two young people on the bed and shook his head. “Yes, you’re both welcome. But this had better be a long engagement. I don’t want you to make a mistake.”
“I’m thinking about a short engagement, Granddad. I don’t want her to get away.” Hunter smiled at Sally. “And you know, Granddad, as soon as we can manage it, we’ll probably be having babies. At least four. And no, the baby can’t come live with you. He, or she, will be raised by his parents in small town Bailey. But maybe, if you’re good, they’ll come visit every once in a while.”
“Four, huh? Maybe this marriage isn’t such a bad idea after all. Maybe I’ll build a retirement home here in Bailey,” Wilbur muttered.
“You could consider that on your drive back to Denver,” Hunter suggested.
“I’m not sure you two should be left alone.”
“That’s the only way you’ll get those grandkids, Granddad.”
“Definitely,” Sally said. “I’m a little shy.”
“Okay, okay. I get the hint. But you’ll both come to dinner on Christmas Day?”
“We will. We should be there about six o’clock.”
“Will you spend the night?”
“I can’t. The store will be open the next morning,” Sally said.
“Sorry, Granddad. Duty calls.”
“All right, I’m going. I’ll see both of you in a couple of days,” the old man said and for the first time that day he smiled.
They didn’t move, listening to his steps down the stairs. When the door closed, Hunter whispered, “Do you think he’s really gone?”
She tiptoed over to the window that looked out on the front of the street. “Yes, he’s gone.” She turned back to face Hunter. “Were you just pretending to propose so you could upset him?”
“No, sweetheart, I’d propose to you no matter who was here. I love you. I promise I’ll be a good husband. I only want to live here with you, in Bailey, the rest of my life.”
“Oh, Hunter,” she said as she collapsed on the bed, her lips returning to his. Several minutes later, he pushed her away.
“Honey, I’d like to keep on kissing you, but my defenses are kind of weak because of those pills you gave me. I don’t want to make love to you until we’re safely married.”
“Me, neither. But I do like kissing you,” she said. “We could just try it one more time.”
“Okay, one more time.”
Sally returned to the store after giving Hunter his lunch. She joined him, eating upstairs, then she cleaned and changed his bandage and gave him two more pills.
When she entered the store later that day, she was smiling. Her staff wanted to know why she was so happy. She told them it was because the Christmas rush was almost over.
When the phone rang, she answered it, a trill in her voice.
“Sally? Is that you?”
“Hi, Penny! How are you?”
“Fine. Um, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Of course, what?”
“May I bring Jake to Christmas dinner?”
“Certainly, if you want to.”
“Yes, I do. We have something to tell you.”
“Now?”
“No, I think it can wait until tomorrow.”
“All right. Hunter will be joining us, too.”
“He hasn’t gone home yet?”
“No, not yet. He’s decided to stay for a little longer. Will you both be here at noon?”
“Yes, we will. And I’ll bring a cake for us all to eat after dinner.”
“Okay, I’m looking forward to seeing you, Penny.”
“Me, too, Sally.”
Hunter came down to the kitchen while Sally prepared dinner that evening.
“Oh, Hunter, you were right.”
“About what, sweetheart?”
“Penny called today.”
“Jake is coming to Christmas dinner?” Hunter replied smiling.
“Yes, and they have news for us.”
“What do you think?”
“I think they’re engaged.”
“Well, we’ll have a surprise for them, too, won’t we?”
“I know. We’re going to need a bottle of champagne. Maybe you can go to the grocery store and buy a couple of bottles tomorrow.”
“A couple of bottles? I can’t drink that much and still drive to Denver.”
“Oh, I forgot about that. Okay, just one bottle. And a bottle of cider. I like that better anyway.”
“You’re a cheap date,” he said with a laugh. “Now I have something I want to talk to you about, something that my grandfather said. Will you let me buy into the store, Sally, so we can be equal partners?”
“That’s not necessary, Hunter. If we marry, it automatically becomes half yours.”
“I know. But I don’t want you to think I married you to get part ownership of the store. Let me buy half of it. Then you won’t ever have to worry. You can put the money in savings under your name. If you don’t ever use it, we can divide it up among our children. It can provide for their college funds.”
Sally looked at Hunter for a moment. This was going to be their first major decision that they would make together, and she was nervous and excited in equal measure. “I’m not sure that’s something we need to do, Hunter. Who’s going to be the boss if we each own fifty percent of the store?”
“Hmm, you’ve got a point. So you want me to just buy forty-nine percent?” Hunter said and Sally felt a tingle of electricity run down her spine. She didn’t need to be nervous with Hunter, because he would clearly do anything to make her happy.
She bent down to kiss him. He pulled her into his lap. When he lifted his lips, he asked, “Is that what you want?”
“No, silly. I want you to buy fifty perc
ent. If we don’t agree, we’ll negotiate. That’s what Mom and Dad always did.”
“I suspect you’ll be able to persuade me very quickly.”
“Oh, good!” she said, kissing him again before she returned to her cooking.
Christmas Day arrived and Sally and Hunter were in the kitchen together as Sally put the final touches on their Christmas dinner.
The dining room table was set with four places and a beautiful flower arrangement was in the center of the table. Already several dishes were on the sideboard. The turkey was waiting for Jake to carry it into the dining room. Sally had refused to let Hunter lift the turkey, afraid he’d hurt his arm again.
When the doorbell rang, she sent Hunter to answer it.
He swung open the door and found Penny and Jake on the doorstep. “Come on in. We’ve been anxiously awaiting you. Sally’s in the kitchen.”
“Are you Hunter?” Penny asked, staring at him.
He blinked. “Yes, I met you, remember?”
“Yes, but you were in the Santa Claus costume. We didn’t have any idea what you looked like.”
Hunter laughed, remembering the last time he had met Jake and Penny. “Sorry. I forgot about that.”
They followed him into the kitchen. Sally greeted Penny with a hug. “Welcome, Jake. I’m glad you could come.”
“I’m delighted to be here.”
“Would you carry the turkey into the dining room? Since Hunter injured his arm, I didn’t want him to try.”
Jake looked at Hunter, a frown on his face. “You hurt yourself?”
“Didn’t you hear?” Sally asked. “Hunter brought down a bank robber, but he got shot in the arm. He’s the town hero.”
“Come on, Sally. I told you he was a little guy.” Hunter actually looked embarrassed.
Sally laughed. “You still got hurt.”
“Yeah, I did, just a little,” he admitted. “But I had a good nurse,” he continued, smiling teasingly at Sally.
Jake carried the turkey through to the dining room and they all gathered around the table. Sally stuck out her hands to the person on each side of her. “I think it’s important that we stay connected, especially this year. So I’d like us to hold hands while we ask the blessing for today.”
After they’d said the blessing and filled their plates, they all sat down at the table. That’s when Sally saw the diamond band Penny was wearing. “Penny! Where did you get that beautiful band?”
Penny looked at her finger, bending it several times. “Dad bought it for Mom to replace her gold band for Christmas. I found it when I was clearing through their things. But, well, actually, I’m going to use it for my wedding band—Jake and I are engaged.”
“Oh, Penny! Congratulations!” Sally said, jumping up to hug Penny. “That’s such good news and a wonderful surprise. I am so pleased for you both,” Sally said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. When she sat back down at the table, she looked at Hunter, who was smiling at her fondly. “Actually, there is something I have to tell you, too. Hunter and I are engaged as well.”
“No!” Penny shouted and ran to hug Sally.
“Wait a minute,” Jake said. “Why are we being left out of the hugging?”
“You’ve got me.” Hunter stood and hugged Jake. “But you know, it might be more fun if we hugged them.”
“Good thinking.” Jake hugged Penny and Hunter hugged Sally.
When they all sat back down, Hunter stood again. He walked around the table to Sally. “You won’t believe this, but the day I went back home, after meeting you, I got this for you.” He set a small box down beside her.
She looked at him, her eyes wide. “What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
Sally, her hands shaking, picked up the box and opened it. She stared at the contents, her hands starting to shake badly.
“A—a ring! A beautiful ring.” She looked at Hunter.
“Try it on. We may have to have it sized.”
She slid the ring on her third finger, left hand. “It—it fits!”
“That was my grandmother’s ring. She left it for me. I should’ve known it would be a perfect fit.”
“Oh, Hunter!” Sally flung her arms around his neck and he held her in his arms.
When, after several kisses, they settled down at the table again, Hunter asked Jake the all-important question. “When are you two planning on getting married?”
“New Year’s Day. We want to start the year together.”
“Hey, that’s a great idea. Sally? How do you feel about that?”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea. Could we organize something in time?”
“I don’t see why not. In fact, we could get married on New Year’s Eve and drive to Denver for a four-day weekend. My condo has two bedrooms. We could share our honeymoon, too.”
“I like that idea. What do you think, Jake?” Penny aksed.
“Sounds good to me,” Jake agreed, smiling. “As long as you’re happy with it.”
“Good answer,” Hunter agreed.
“It’s the key for marital happiness. My dad told me a long time ago,” Jake explained.
“Okay, let’s get down to planning our special day,” Penny said.
Six days later, Jake and Penny and Hunter and Sally gathered with their friends and families in front of the pastor of the Bailey Friendship Church. From a simple ceremony with each couple being the other’s witnesses, they found themselves with volunteers standing up with them. Dusty stood beside Jake, and Chris stood by Hunter. Penny’s housekeeper, Harriet, was Penny’s bridesmaid, and Linda was Sally’s.
Hunter’s grandfather sat in the front row next to Jake’s parents, and the rest of the church was filled with the citizens of Bailey.
When the final words were spoken, the pastor had the two couples face their audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mr and Mrs Jake Larson and Mr and Mrs Hunter Bedford. May God bless their unions.”
Applause erupted in the church. When they started down the aisle, the two ladies were on the inside and they clasped hands with each other joining the four of them as they stepped into the new year, no longer alone and with their own new family.
Their hearts were overflowing with love.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0984-2
SNOWBOUND WITH MR. RIGHT
First North American Publication 2007.
Copyright © 2007 by Judy Russell Christenberry.
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Snowbound with Mr. Right Page 14