by Jean Oram
“I love you, Todd.”
“Good.”
She laughed at his reply, the tension she’d been carrying in her chest suddenly dissolved.
He tipped her chin up, serious once again. “I love you. Always have. Nobody could ever have my heart because it always belonged to you.”
She swiped at her wet eyes. “Are you trying to kill me here?” She let out an unsteady laugh, her heart so full.
He gave her a long, slow kiss that melted her body into his.
“When you know, you know,” he whispered.
“Why didn’t we figure this out sooner?” she breathed when they came up for air.
“You called our first kiss a mistake. That slowed us down a bit.”
“You looked so freaked out!”
“I was shocked by how much I wanted it. Wanted you. My best friend.” He caressed her cheek, his touch warm and right. “And then you backpedaled out of it so fast.”
“Why didn’t you say something if you liked it so much?”
“I, for the record, was being a gentleman. You know how difficult it was to try and respect the fact that you didn’t mean the best kiss of my life?”
“I was scared I’d lose our friendship.”
He tenderly stroked her cheek, his gaze full of understanding. “That is the most precious thing in my world and I promise it’s the one thing we’ll never lose because from now on I’m going to guard it with my life.”
* * *
“This is like a honeymoon,” Todd said later, spooning Nicola on the wide bed. It felt much better with him here by her side. Everything did.
“All except for the whole no-marriage part,” she said sleepily.
“Yeah, about that.” He flipped back the covers, leaving her cold as he leapt out of bed. She rolled over to see what he was doing as he dropped down on one knee.
“Nicola Samuels,” he said, taking her hand, “will you marry me?”
She stared at him for a full moment, the seriousness of his expression giving way to fear.
“My dad doesn’t have a shotgun, so you really don’t have to do this,” she said gently. They were barely back together again and while she would love to get married and wear his ring on her finger for all eternity, there was no way she was scaring him off with wedding dreams. They still had so much to talk about, so much to figure out. There had been more than enough changes without adding marriage—the ultimate in commitment. He had to be ready. And he wasn’t. Not yet.
“I’m serious, Nic.”
“I know. And while I would love to...” She couldn’t form the words “be your wife,” her heart beating so rapidly. She wrapped her hands in his, taking a moment to compose herself. “I think…I think we have enough to worry about without rushing into marriage.”
“I want you to be mine. Always.”
“I know that and I always will be.”
“Is this a no?” The lines around his mouth deepened with the perceived rejection.
“There is nobody else. Never will be.” She clutched his hands so tight her knuckles turned white. “But I worry that me, the baby—it’s too much. Where will we live? What will we do? You’re unemployed and I just ditched work to fly to Mongolia.” Fear gripped her hard and to her horror she began crying.
Todd was silent for a long moment, not moving, not speaking.
“We’re not ready for this,” she sobbed.
“Nic,” he said finally, “I know this doesn’t answer your questions, but I could hike the same trail every day and not get bored, because I was with you.” There was conviction in his tone and she knew he was speaking the truth. He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Every day is different. Every day is better. And like you promised, we’re going to figure this out. Together. You’re not alone.”
He climbed back into bed, spooning her until the day’s shadows grew long. “I promise I won’t leave you behind. The baby, either. I’m going to do my best. We might not know what the future looks like—not yet—but we’ll figure it out, okay? We always do and my offer of marriage doesn’t have an expiration date.”
She nodded, tears choking her, leaving her mute.
He kissed a path along her shoulder, sending tremors down her spine. “There’s no one else I’d rather be with for this parenting adventure. You’re always prepared for the best and for the worst.” He wrapped her tighter in his arms.
“Anal retentive, planned—” she said, her voice small.
He silenced her with a kiss. “You’re going to be an awesome mom.” He kissed her again. “Remember? We complement each other. We’re a team.” He kissed her more deeply.
“I need to complain more often,” she said breathlessly when they came up for air. “Color-coded checklists.”
“Don’t turn me on,” he said with a smile. “Tell me what your worst motherhood fear is. Money?”
“I’m going to go overboard planning for this baby and be the most boring and controlling mom in the world.”
“Lists and stuff?”
“And books. Research. Facts. Statistics. Schedules.” She took a deep breath to settle her growing anxiety. “What about you?”
He paled. “All of it. What if I suck? Forget the baby somewhere? The kid hates me? You hate me?”
He was starting to freak out. She could see it coming like dark clouds on a prairie sky, building quickly, rolling over on themselves, growing.
“Huh.” She opted for a light and playful tone in hopes of distracting him from his worries. “So you don’t fear becoming a color-coding, organizing partner?” She spoke quickly, like when she was formulating a plan and was getting excited. “That’s great because I was thinking you should have the blue and green highlighters. We’re going to have to buy you your own sticky notes though because I’m particular about mine—you take too many off and then put them back on and it ruins how perfect and square the little stack is. And we should get you your own whiteboard, too. Do you have a calendar?”
He’d leaned back a bit at her sudden launch into planning their lives, but the rolling storm of fear seemed to have been shocked into submission.
She darted forward to land a kiss on his forehead.
“You’re teasing about the whiteboard, right?” he said eventually, causing her to laugh.
“Yeah. I’m teasing about buying a whiteboard.”
As with any adventure, they’d take each other’s quirks and idiosyncrasies in stride, making them an even stronger team as they compensated and complemented.
“I already have an extra one,” she added, giving him a wink.
Epilogue
“Maybe this whole small town thing will be okay, after all,” Todd said as he chose a pair of snowshoes from the rental rack in Wally’s Sporting Goods. Jen, who was now several days past her due date, had hired Todd to help expand her outfitting business, as well as teach a few of her winter classes. His marketing experience had proved handy, landing him a few consulting gigs for the town, as well as for a few local businesses. But later today he got to fill Jen’s role and go play outside, teaching a group of fifth graders from the city how to snowshoe out by Bear Falls.
“I thought careers were supposed to be boring.” He winked at Nicola as he adjusted a snowshoe over his winter boot, checking for fit before adding the pair to his growing equipment pile. At the front of the store she could hear Jen and Wally helping other customers.
“Snowshoeing is hardly a career,” she muttered, crossing her arms above her small belly. She was only four months along, but it felt like so much longer due to the changes in her relationship with Todd. Things were pretty solid now. They were still working on communication, and he’d moved in with her a month ago, and so far, so good. Even when she was wigging out over last-minute details for next week’s Valentine’s Day Love Extravaganza—which was also the year anniversary of their first kiss. She had a feeling he was planning something special for her, but she hadn’t quite figured out what.
As marketing direc
tor for the event, Todd kept trying to convince her to make this year’s slogan “I kissed my best friend here last year and now we’re having a baby!” Not exactly the selling feature she was looking for, but it did make her laugh. Then again, he also thought it would be funny to make the campaign slogan for her next run of social nights “I fell in love in Blueberry Springs, and you could, too!” That one might have some merit, but then again, they were social nights, not date nights. Or so she still kept telling everyone.
“For real, Nic. Careers are supposed to equal too much routine, no fun. But all these new jobs? They’re fun.”
“It’s like being a backpacker where each day is different,” she said, “but you get a regular place to sleep—and it’s better than a bunk bed with a smelly old foamy.”
“And there’s a cute chick in my bed every night, too.” He leaned over to give her a kiss before zipping up his thick parka.
“Be careful out there, okay?”
“Drink above the tree line. Below is too risky, Sarge. Although everything is frozen, so don’t eat yellow snow.”
She rolled her eyes at his goofy behavior. It was good to see him happy, so at home and relaxed, enjoying his days. She still worried about him but instead of worrying about him leaving, she now spent her time worrying that she’d lose him to unforeseen circumstances that were beyond anyone’s control.
“Make sure you take time to show them a bit of nature,” Jen said, waddling over. She was fit and gorgeous, the epitome of good health, even though an overdue pregnant woman.
“I will.” Todd pointed at her sternly. “You head home and put your feet up.”
“I wish I was going with you.” Jen stroked a rack of snowshoes. “Maybe I could go out for a few—”
“No way.” Her boyfriend, Rob, looking grumpy and overprotective, hooked an arm around her shoulders as though expecting her to bolt. “That baby is overdue by four days and the doctor is threatening to induce you. You’re not going anywhere but home.”
“But maybe snowshoeing would get things moving along naturally,” she protested, as he bundled her in a bulky down parka.
“Wally said he has everything under control here,” Rob said, mouth pressing into a tight line.
“And so do I,” Todd confirmed. “You go rest.”
“You guys are ganging up on me. If I wasn’t so tired and could move better I’d kick you men in the—”
“And that’s our cue to feed the beautiful, wonderful pregnant lady,” Rob said, ushering his girlfriend out of the store.
Nicola sat on the shoe bench, amused by her friends. “Do I get that bad when I’m hungry?”
“Hangry, is the word for it, I believe—so hungry you’re angry. The book I was reading about pregnancy says it’s common.”
She watched Todd finish equipping himself. “Do you ever regret coming home from our backpacking adventures?”
He glanced up, assessing her. “Not in the least.”
“Really?”
“I wouldn’t be here doing all of this with you and about to start a family otherwise. It’s not what I’d have ever guessed I’d be doing if you’d asked me a year ago, but now I can’t imagine my life any other way.”
She smiled, sharing the same feeling. “Do you think we’d have gotten together if we were still backpacking?”
“No.”
“Why’s that?” she asked, surprised.
“We had to date first.”
“We dated?” she said with a laugh.
“Yeah, your date nights.”
“You mean social nights?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“That’s where we realized we were in love. We wouldn’t have dated or come to the realization if we were still out on the road.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.” He smiled. “We were too busy surviving.”
“It sure was exhausting sometimes, wasn’t it?” She yawned, her new favorite habit of a Saturday afternoon nap coming due.
“You did a lot to keep us on track.” He pulled her in for a hug. “You still do. Don’t ever change, okay?” He planted a kiss on the top of her head.
“Why not?”
“Because I think you’re perfect and I love you just the way you are.”
That was the greatest part of falling in love with her best friend. She felt exactly the same way. She’d been so worried back in Mongolia that the pressure of their relationship, the baby, and him quitting his job was going to be too much for him. But he’d handled it all with grace, taking things one step at a time and things had never been better in her life. If someone asked what she’d change her answer would be nothing.
“I’m yours until the end of time as long as you never play Whitney Houston ever again,” she said with a smile.
“I shouldn’t request it at our wedding when we’re thirty?”
“Ugh. Especially not then.”
He watched her for a long moment, his expression serious. She smiled at him. “What?”
“What do you think, Nic? Are you ready to bump that wedding date up a bit?”
She quirked her head. Was he asking her for real?
Two months ago an engagement would have been too much, but now it felt kinda right. In a big way.
He opened the palm of his hand, revealing a sapphire engagement ring. “This was my grandmother’s.” He held it up for her. “She was an amazing person and I can’t imagine anyone other than you having it.” He crouched in front of her, kneeling. “And I can’t imagine any other woman being my wife. Will you marry me, Nicola?”
She pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. She had to be having one of her amazing, vivid pregnancy dreams. Her best friend. The only man she’d ever truly loved. The man who continued to choose her and was by her side each day. The man whose longest relationship was theirs—was asking her to be his. Forever.
Her heart began to lift and sing, the baby inside her kicking as a big smile broke across her face.
Like he’d said in Mongolia, when you knew, you knew.
She said yes.
~ The End ~
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Who is Connor MacKenzie?
From Tequila and Candy Drops:
“Nice to meet you.” The man had a commanding presence, intelligence highlighting his gaze. “If you’re ever out my way let me know. I’ll set you up with a place to stay on this little island that’s in the family.” He gave them a wicked grin full of mischief. “Honeymoon, maybe?”
Nicola felt Todd’s grip on her waist slip.
She let out an awkward laugh. “We’ve barely been dating a month.”
“We’re still in the friends with benefits stage,” Todd added. “Taking it slow.”
Connor winked at them. “Okay.” He pointed at Todd as he took a few steps backward. “Call me if you need anything. Don’t be a stranger.”
Did you know Connor MacKenzie is one of the heroes from Jean Oram’s The Summer Sisters Tame the Billionaires series? Connor swept Maya off her feet in the highly-rated, unpredictable and hilarious Love and Dreams.
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Love and Dreams
One spitfire grad. One burned out billionaire. Two lives colliding.
* * *
The Summer Sisters Tame the Billionaires
One cottage. Four sisters. And four billionaires who will sweep them off their feet.
Have you read all of Blueberry Springs? Catch up with your friends and their adventures…
Book 1: Whiskey and Gumdrops (Mandy & Frankie)
Book 2: Rum and Raindrops (Jen & Rob)
Book 3: Eggnog and Candy Canes (Katie & Nash)
Book 4: Sweet Treats (3 short stories—Mandy, Amber, & Nicola)
Book 5: Vodka and Chocolate Drops (Amber & Scott)
Book 6: Tequila and Candy Drops (Nicola & Todd)
Companion Novel: Champagne and Lemon Drops (Beth & Oz)
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Champagne and Lemon Drops
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