by Lola Kidd
Jen put her hands on her hips. “Darn. We’re out of punch again. We should go tell Tim.”
Wy looked around. “Where is he?”
“Hmmm. I don’t know. Maybe he snuck off to his office.”
“Want me to go check?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I don’t know where any of the party supplies are. And it really isn’t a party if there’s no food.”
The hallways were dark, and their footsteps echoed as they walked.
“Are you coming to my misfits’ dinner?” Jen asked him.
“Yeah. I have a party tomorrow night too.” He was keeping himself busy. Even though he was sad, there was no way he could spend Christmas alone. Even if Dottie turned him down, he wanted to be around people he loved for Christmas.
The light in Tim’s office was on when they got there. “He must be inside,” Wyatt said.
“Yup,” Jen agreed. She opened the door. “After you.”
Wy stepped in, and she closed the door behind him quickly. The lamp in the office went off, and he was left in darkness.
“What?” He spun quickly and grabbed the doorknob. It didn’t turn easily. “Are you holding the doorknob?”
“I am. But I think you’ll like this much better than the party out there.”
For a human, she was surprisingly strong. Wy could easily have forced the door open, but he didn’t want to hurt her. He sighed and rested his forehead against the door. Whatever she was doing, he didn’t have time for pranks. He needed to find Dottie.
“Hi, Wyatt.”
He turned around, and Christmas lights snapped on. At the back of the office, there was Dottie, smiling shyly. She was wearing the elf costume with all the makeup that she hadn’t been able to wear at work.
“Hi, Dottie.” He didn’t want to assume anything, but he was so glad to see her.
“I want…”
“Wait.” He slowly made his way to her and took her hands in his. “I want to apologize again for barging into your house the other day. It was silly of me and creepy.”
“It wasn’t creepy. I overreacted. We’re dating. It isn’t weird for you to come into my home.”
“But we were fighting, kind of. I shouldn’t have done it. I upset you, and I apologize.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Her voice was thick with tears. “I’m the one who was acting weird. I shouldn’t have been so mad at you.”
“It’s okay.” He hugged her. It felt good to have her in his arms again. Even if this was it, at least he had a positive way to remember her. “You look really pretty.”
“Thank you. I really wanted to get to wear this costume. I shouldn’t have listened to everyone when they told me it was silly. I should have listened to you. You were right. I looked great, and it was appropriate for work. I should have trusted myself and fought back when Tim told me no. Just like I should have fought harder for you.”
Wyatt froze. “What did you say?”
She pulled back and looked at him. “I was so wrong, Wyatt. I never should have broken up with you. I was being so stupid. I let everyone get inside my head, and I let their doubts shake me.”
“Whose doubts?”
“My parents. They’re so cautious. They like you, but they weren’t sure if you were the one for me. But who cares what they think? I knew you were the one for me. I should have trusted my butterfly.”
“It wasn’t just you,” he said. “I didn’t even fight you when you said you wanted to break up. I was so sure that something was wrong with me, I couldn’t believe that someone like you could be my mate. I let you go too easily.”
“You think something is wrong with you?”
“Dottie, no woman has ever liked me. No one has ever wanted to live with me for very long, either. I was sure there had to be something wrong with me.”
“Oh, Wyatt…”
“I know, it’s crazy. But I realized that it didn’t matter. Maybe something is wrong with me, and maybe not. Either way, it doesn’t matter. As long as you like me, that’s all I care about. I’m good enough for you, and you aren’t going to go anywhere.”
“I’m not. I’m not going anywhere ever again.” She kissed him through her tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s fine now.”
“Does this mean you’ll get back together with me?”
“Of course it does.” He laughed. “I love you, Dottie.”
“I love you too.” They kissed again. “Now, let’s get out there. I want everyone to see how good I look.”
“And see what a dummy Tim is.” Wy put his arm around her. “This is totally appropriate for work.”
“I don’t care if it is or not. I know I look good.”
Wy kissed her again. “I guess I can’t be hard on Tim. He did lend you his office, after all.”
Dottie frowned. “I don’t know. I never actually talked to him. Jen put up the lights and told me to wait in here for you.”
Wy laughed. “You know, that’s just like her. I bet she didn’t ask him at all.”
Dottie laughed too. “I don’t care if she did or not. It’s a good thing I had someone like her to talk me into doing this. I was so scared. I was sure you were going to tell me to go fly a kite.”
“It’s the middle of winter. I would never tell you to go fly a kite. I don’t even think it would work that well.”
Dottie laughed and kissed him again. “I love you, Wyatt.”
Chapter 19
After the party, Wy drove to Dottie’s house to hang out with her. When he got there, her parents were home. He was nervous, but he knew this had to happen. He had made up with Dottie, but he still hadn’t cleared the air with her parents.
“Hey.” He stopped her before she went inside. “Could I talk to your parents alone for a minute?”
She shrugged. “Sure. Why?”
“I just have some stuff I want to say to them, and I would feel more comfortable if you weren’t there.”
“Anything you say to them, you can say to me. I won’t be mad.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Wy assured her. “I just want this to be the three of us only. I don’t want them to think that you’re speaking for me, or I’m speaking for you. This is something I have to do.”
“Like I said, it’s fine.” She unlocked the back door and called for her parents. “Mom! Dad!”
“We’re in the living room,” her dad called back.
The two of them went to the living room hand in hand. Her parents looked surprised to see Wyatt, but they didn’t say anything at first.
“Hi, Wyatt,” Mrs. Hart said with a tight smile. “How did the party go, Dottie?”
“Great.” She hugged them both and then came back to Wyatt’s side. “We had so much fun.”
“Did everyone dress as festively as you?” her dad asked.
“Nope. This was a special outfit.” She smiled knowingly at Wy.
“I love the outfit.” He kissed her on the forehead.
“Will you be joining us for Christmas tomorrow morning?” Mr. Hart asked Wyatt.
“I have a few plans tomorrow.”
“No pressure to attend,” Mr. Hart said. “I just wanted to extend the invitation. I’m so happy we were able to make it back in time to spend Christmas with Dottie.”
“The leak wasn’t that bad,” Mrs. Hart said. “But we had to throw away a bunch of old books. We’re looking to replace them in ebook form where we can. At least that way if they get ruined, we can just download them again.”
Wy tugged Dottie’s hand and gave her a look.
She nodded. “Mom, Dad, Wy would like to talk to you.”
“Sure.” Mr. Hart pointed to the loveseat. “You two have a seat. Get comfortable.”
Dottie shook her head. “No, he wants to talk to you alone.”
Mrs. Hart swallowed and nodded. “Why don’t you go out and grab us some milk? We could use some more for dipping the cookies.”
Dottie rolled her eyes.
“I can just go upstairs.”
“You should leave. Even if it’s only for a few minutes,” her mom insisted. “You could easily hear everything we say if you’re only upstairs. Come on, just go the gas station and get candy if you want. Just give us a minute.”
Dottie sighed and looked at Wy. “Which do you prefer?”
“Get the candy,” he told her. “I’d love a Twix.”
She nodded and kissed him. “Okay, I’ll see you in ten.”
She squeezed his hand before going to the kitchen.
Wy went to the loveseat and sat awkwardly while they waited for Dottie to leave. After he heard her car pull away, he took a deep breath and began. He was more nervous about this than when he was trying to get Dottie back. There were so many more options for how this would end. With Dottie, it was a simple yes or no. Her parents could have so many different reactions to what he had to say.
“I know that you guys don’t like me, but I love your daughter. I may seem like I’m not that impressive or not good enough, but I’ll work every day to make your daughter happy and provide for her and any children we have. You guys can count on me. I won’t let you down if you just give me a chance.”
Mr. Hart’s brow wrinkled. “I don’t think we ever said we didn’t like you.”
“Jen and Dottie both told me that you were having doubts about our relationship.”
Mrs. Hart nodded. “I did. I don’t know about my husband, but, honestly, I did. I still do, actually. I wasn’t expecting you to show up here, Wyatt. And can we speak bluntly?”
“Yes,” Wyatt said. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you guys alone. You don’t have to sugar-coat your words to spare Dottie’s feelings. Whatever you say to me, I won’t repeat.”
“Well, I don’t know what she said to you, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about you,” Mrs. Hart said. “She had some doubts herself. That’s why she was going to break it off.”
“She did break it off,” Wy said. “We weren’t together for two days.”
Mr. Hart chuckled. “I don’t know if I would call that a breakup, son. That’s more of a hiccup. I think Donna and I—we split up for, what? Three weeks, early in our relationship?” He looked to his wife for confirmation.
“Yup. We were having terrible fights, and I wasn’t sure it was going to work.”
“Dottie and I didn’t have any fights,” Wy said quickly. “If we do, we’ll be sure to work them out. And if we can’t, we can go to counseling. I’ll do whatever I can to make our relationship work.”
Mrs. Hart put up a hand. “Nobody said anything about needing counseling. My concern is that when I hear about shifters and mates, there’s always talk about how sure everyone is about it all. Once a shifter finds her mate, she shouldn’t have any doubts anymore.”
“That isn’t true,” Wy said. “We’re still human. Even if our animal is sure, our human side can still mess it up. We aren’t in our animal form all the time, and we have problems just like any human couple.”
Mr. Hart whistled. “I guess I never thought of it that way before. I thought that it was love at first sight, too.”
“It was,” Wy confirmed. “We just got mucked up for a little while. Our human insecurities got in the way. I don’t want to let that happen again. Even if it does, I won’t leave. I won’t let her doubts get the best of her, either. We’ll work through them together.”
Mrs. Hart nodded. “Are you really prepared to provide for our daughter?”
Mr. Hart crossed his arms. “I wondered the same. We’ve taken care of Dottie her whole life. How can we be sure you’ll do as good a job? That you won’t leave her homeless and break her heart?”
“I would never do that,” Wy said emphatically. He gripped the side of the love seat tightly. “I’ll get three jobs and work night and day if I have to. There’s no way I’ll ever let Dottie struggle. I may live in a trailer, but I do pretty well for myself. I have a great job with really good benefits. There’s not much chance that I’ll ever be fired, either. But if I do, I’ll work hard to find a new job.”
“But you get laid off every winter?” Mrs. Hart asked. “How do you plan for that?”
“I have money in the bank,” Wyatt explained. “I took this Winter Wonderland job because I don’t like sitting around doing nothing. I usually plow snow in the winter, but I wanted to try something new this year. I’m very glad I did, too. If it weren’t for this job, I wouldn’t have met Dottie.”
Mrs. Hart looked at her husband. “I think I’m good.”
Mr. Hart got up. “Me too.”
He left, and Wy was confused. “Where’s he going? Is that it?”
“Not exactly.” Mr. Hart came back and handed Wy a small velvet box. “I hope we aren’t being presumptuous, but I think you might want this.”
“We didn’t know when we would find a good time to give it to you,” Mrs. Hart explained. “I asked Dottie to leave so the surprise wouldn’t be ruined.”
Wy opened the box. There was a small diamond ring inside. “What is this?”
“A family heirloom,” Mr. Hart said. “It belonged to my mother. I thought it would mean a lot to Dottie if you used it as her engagement ring.”
Wy’s mouth dropped open. “But I thought you guys didn’t like me. Do you just carry this ring around?”
Mrs. Hart laughed. “We do not. While we were home, I figured it would be smart to bring it back with us, just in case. Better safe than sorry, and all that. And it doesn’t matter how we feel about you, Wyatt. All that matters is how Dottie feels, and I had a feeling about how this would all shake out.”
“So, you’re all right with me asking her to marry me?”
Mr. Hart stood up and put his hand out. “If you’re asking for our permission, then, yes. We would be happy to see you marry our daughter. I’m sorry we put you through the wringer. We had to be sure of your intentions.”
“My intention is to ask her as soon as I can.” Wy shook Mr. Hart’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you both.”
“Our pleasure.” Mrs. Hart hugged him with tears in her eyes. “Take care of our little girl.”
“I will.”
Wyatt slipped the ring into his pocket. He was going to have to keep this a secret. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he had to make this proposal special. Whatever he did, he wanted to give Dottie a special memory. He hadn’t thought things would end this way, but he was glad her parents had helped him out. Now he would be able to ask Dottie to be his wife before the holiday season was over.
Their whirlwind romance was going to have a picture-perfect happy ending if he could pull this off the right way.
Chapter 20
This was going to be the best Christmas ever. There was snow on the ground, but it wasn’t terribly cold outside. It wasn’t supposed to snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, either. Everything looked festive without it being dreary or cold out. Dottie couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather.
Last night, they had gone to Wyatt’s friend’s house for a Christmas party. She was much more relaxed meeting everyone this time. It had been the perfect way to start Christmas. After the party, they’d slept over at Dottie’s house. Her parents didn’t care, and it was much easier that way.
It was tradition for Dottie and her parents to have a big Christmas breakfast as a family and then spend the day playing with their presents and lounging about. This was the first year she was able to include Wy in all the festivities.
“Wake up!” she said as she kissed him all over his face. “You’re missing Christmas.”
Wy rubbed his eyes and rolled over. “I think it’s all day. Unless I’ve been sleeping for days, I don’t think I’ve missed it.”
Dottie got up and tugged on his arm. “Come on. I’m starving.”
“I am pretty hungry.” Wy reached up and grabbed her, pulling her back to the bed. He bit on her arm playfully.
Dottie giggled and swatted him away. “I don’t think I’d be a filling meal for a bi
g guy like you.”
“Want to find out just how much I can eat you before I get full?” Wy asked with a smirk.
“You’re terrible. And maybe later.”
He laughed and got out of bed to get ready. He’d brought pajamas and slippers, as Dottie had instructed. Wy usually slept naked, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to show up for Christmas breakfast with no clothes on.
“Where did you get those?” she asked, laughing when he met her in the hallway.
“These?” Wyatt pulled at his pajama pants. They were dark green and covered in snowmen. “I’ve had these forever. This isn’t my first Christmas morning rodeo. I know you think I spend most of my time naked or shifted, but I do actually own a lot of clothes.”
Dottie grabbed his hand. “I don’t mind if you want to spend every other day naked at home, though. I might just prefer that, actually.” She slapped him on the butt and growled.
“Aww.” He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulder. “You should, like a little fox. Do butterflies even growl?”
“We make a noise. But it’s too low for most people to hear.”
Wy laughed. “I’m going to have to hear that sometime. I’ve never heard a butterfly make any noise before.”
“Good morning and Merry Christmas,” her dad said when they reached the top of the stairs. “You guys almost missed Christmas.”
Wy groaned. “Is that a thing with you guys?”
Dottie’s mom laughed and offered him a plate of cookies. “More a daddy-daughter thing. I would prefer to sleep in, too.”
“On Christmas?” Dottie’s dad feigned horror. “What would Santa think?”
“You know that Santa’s sleeping in on Christmas morning,” Wy said. “He just flew all the way around the world. There’s no way he’s getting up early after a night like that.”
Dottie took a cookie from the plate. “Want to do presents first?”
Her dad nodded. “We have so many.”
They handed out all the presents and started ripping them open. Dottie’s parents had gotten something for Wy while they were in the city, and Dottie had picked out her present a week ago.