And yeah, maybe she didn’t need Bailey, but she couldn’t deny that she loved him.
And it hurt to know that he didn’t love her back.
Fresh tears filled her eyes, spilled onto her cheeks.
She didn’t lift her hands from the wheel to wipe them away, because the snow was coming really fast and heavy now, and she felt her tires slip on patches of ice beneath the fresh snow. Her mechanic had warned her that she needed new snow tires, but she’d been certain that she could get one more winter out of them. She silently pleaded not to be proved wrong now.
“The Christmas Song” was playing on the local radio station she always listened to, and when Nat King Cole finished singing, the deejay’s voice came through the speaker.
“I hope everyone’s enjoying their Christmas Eve—and staying off the roads. Our local law enforcement has issued the following weather warning and travel advisory—heavy snow with significant blowing and drifting is imminent or occurring. Snowfall amounts up to eighteen inches with blizzard to near-blizzard conditions likely in many areas, making travel difficult or dangerous with road closures possible.
“So if you don’t have to be out and about, pour yourself a glass of eggnog and sit back with your feet up by the fire and listen to the sounds of the season. I’m here to keep you company all night long.”
It was good advice, and Serena vowed to do exactly as he suggested as soon as she got home.
But first she had to get home.
A flash of something caught the corner of her eye. She eased up on the gas and turned her head just in time to see a white-tailed deer leap up out of the ditch and onto the road ahead.
She instinctively hit the brakes to avoid hitting the majestic creature, but she braked a little too hard for the conditions. Her tires slid on the slick road, and the back end of her SUV fishtailed.
She immediately tried to steer into the skid, but her efforts had little effect. The vehicle continued to spin, as if in slow motion, then slid into the ditch. Because the point of impact was at the rear, the airbag didn’t deploy, but she was thrown against her seat belt and then, when the SUV abruptly listed, she smacked her head against the driver’s side window.
She winced at the explosion of pain and felt a trickle of something wet sliding down the side of her face. Had the window cracked? Was it snow?
She wiped it away, then saw the back of her hand was smeared with red.
Not snow.
Blood.
Merry frickin’ Christmas to me.
Chapter Fourteen
She didn’t get out of the vehicle. There was no point. She could tell by the angle of the hood sticking in the air that she wasn’t going to get out of the ditch without a tow cable. So she unclipped her seat belt to retrieve her purse, which had slid off the passenger seat to the floor. She winced a little, realizing that her shoulder was tender from the restraint. Thankfully, she hadn’t been driving too fast, but she had no doubt she’d have plenty of bumps and bruises the next day.
She found her phone and swiped to unlock the screen. It remained blank.
Fresh tears burned her eyes. She was heartbroken, frustrated and angry. It was Christmas Eve and she just wanted to be home with Molly and Marvin and Max. Instead, she was stranded in a snowbank on the side of the road with a dead cell phone.
She never should have accepted Eva’s invitation to spend Christmas Eve with the Stocktons at Sunshine Farm. She should have known that Bailey not asking her wasn’t an oversight but an indication that he didn’t want her there. She should have been satisfied with their friendship-with-benefits and not allowed herself to hope and believe the relationship could turn into anything more.
She dropped her forehead against the steering wheel as hot tears spilled onto her cheeks. She wasn’t really hurt—not physically. But her heart was battered, her spirit beaten down. And because it was Christmas Eve and the whole town was experiencing blizzard conditions, she estimated the chances of another motorist passing by were slim to none.
Thankfully, she kept a spare charger in her center console. She also found a travel pack of tissues there. After plugging the charger into her phone, she pulled out a couple of tissues and pressed them to her temple to stanch the flow of blood.
Squinting through the window, she saw lights in the distance. Could it be...? Was that another vehicle coming her way?
Her bruised heart gave a joyful little jump.
Maybe her luck was turning around. Maybe something was finally going to go her way today.
She used the sleeve of her coat to wipe condensation off the side window—not that it helped much. She could barely see anything through the blowing snow, but she was almost certain now that there were headlights drawing nearer.
Apparently she wasn’t the only resident of Rust Creek Falls who had disregarded the travel warning. Although, in her defense, she’d been unaware of the warning until she’d left Sunshine Farm and was already on her way toward home. Not that she would have stayed, even if she’d known about the road conditions. Not after Bailey had made it clear to everyone that she wasn’t wanted.
She rubbed a hand over the ache in the center of her chest. Yeah, the truth hurt, but she would get over it—and him. It might take some time, she knew, but her heart had already proven its resilience, time and again.
As the vehicle drew closer, she saw that it was a blue pickup. Like Bailey’s truck.
And her bruised heart gave another little jump.
She immediately chided herself for the reaction and dismissed the possibility. It couldn’t be Bailey’s truck. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want her at Sunshine Farm, so there was no reason to suspect that he might have followed her when she’d gone.
Of course, it was possible that he’d left the ranch for another reason, although she couldn’t imagine one that would compel him to venture out in such nasty weather.
But as the truck drew nearer, she realized that it was Bailey’s truck.
So much for thinking this was a lucky break. She already felt like a fool. The absolute last thing she needed was for the man who’d callously broken her heart to ride to her rescue. Because of course he would stop, and then he would insist on driving her home. And every mile of the journey would be excruciating painful.
If I’d wanted a date, I would have got one myself.
She winced at the echo of his words in her head.
His vehicle slowed and carefully eased over to the side of the road behind her incapacitated SUV.
Serena swiped at the tears on her cheeks, not wanting him to know that she’d been crying. Not wanting him to think that she was crying over him.
Before she could catch her breath, her door was wrenched open from the outside and a blast of cold swept through the interior of the cab and stole her breath.
“Oh my God, Serena—what happened? Are you hurt?” He sounded genuinely concerned, maybe even a little panicked. “You’re bleeding,” he said, then lifted a hand to her chin and gently turned her face so that he could inspect the gash above her eye.
“I braked to avoid hitting a deer,” she confided.
“Of course, you did,” he said, shaking his head. “Without thinking about the potential danger to yourself.”
“It was an instinct,” she said, a little defensively.
“Do you need a doctor? An ambulance?”
This time she shook her head, wincing as the movement escalated the throbbing inside her skull. “I’m okay. Just...stuck. I was going to call for a tow when I saw your headlights.”
“It might take a tow truck driver a while to get out here, if you can find one willing to venture out in this storm. Everyone’s being advised to avoid nonessential travel.”
“I heard that on the radio...while I was driving,” she admitted. “But why are you out on the roads?”
“Bec
ause I’m an idiot,” he said. “And I’m sorry.”
He reached into the cab to pull her into his arms and hold her close.
Serena remained perfectly still, not sure how she was supposed to respond to this unexpected show of concern. Not willing to let herself believe that anything had changed in the short time that had passed since she left Sunshine Farm.
“I’m so sorry, Serena.” He whispered the words close to her ear, his tone thick with emotion.
“Why are you sorry?” she asked cautiously.
“Because I’m an idiot,” he said again, his arms still wrapped tight around her, as if he couldn’t bear to let her go. “I got mad at Danny for butting in, because I’d finally started to believe that I was back in control of my life, and finding out that he’d manipulated the situation... Well, it set me off,” he admitted. “But obviously I do need someone to tell me what to do, because I just seem to screw everything up otherwise.”
“You don’t need to apologize for your feelings,” she responded stiffly.
He loosened his hold enough to draw back to look at her—or maybe so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I’m not apologizing for my feelings. I’m apologizing for denying my feelings—and for letting you get caught in the middle of an old dispute.”
She shrugged, still reluctant to let herself hope. “I shouldn’t have been where I obviously wasn’t wanted.”
“But I did want you there,” he insisted. “And I was afraid to admit that I wanted you there. I was afraid to admit how much I want our relationship to work, so I sabotaged it instead. Because letting you go seemed easier than letting you into my heart.”
“Then...why did you follow me?”
“Because the door had barely closed behind you when I realized that you’re already in my heart, and I don’t ever want to let you go.” He lifted his hands to frame her face. “Maybe Dan and Annie manipulated the situation, but my feelings are real. I love you, Serena, and I want to spend not just this Christmas but all Christmases for the rest of my life with you.”
His declaration—so unexpected and unexpectedly perfect—brought fresh tears to her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Serena. I know I hurt you, but it can’t be too late. Please tell me it’s not too late.”
“It’s not too late,” she assured him. “These are happy tears.”
“Do they mean that you forgive me?” he asked hopefully.
“I forgive you. And I love you, too.”
His lips curved. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she confirmed. “For now and forever.”
“Will you come back to celebrate Christmas with me and my noisy, nosy family?” he asked.
“Will you do me a favor?”
“Anything,” he promised.
“Give me a ride,” she said. “Because my vehicle isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
* * *
So they returned to Sunshine Farm, where the rest of the Stockton family was relieved to see her—although distressed by the sight of her injury. But after Annie and Eva had finished fussing and cleaning and bandaging her wound, they all finally sat down to dinner.
“I’ve already apologized to Serena,” Bailey told his siblings, after the food had been passed around and everyone had loaded up their plates. “But I want to apologize to all of you, too, for my ill-mannered outburst.”
“Since you apparently came to your senses and got back your girl, I guess we can forgive you,” Jamie said.
Bailey smiled as he slid an arm around Serena’s shoulders. “Did you hear that? You’re my girl.”
“I heard,” she confirmed. “And I think that’s a title I can live with.”
“Good. Because I don’t want to live without you.” Then he glanced across the table at Dan and Annie. “And I guess I should thank both of you for introducing me to Mrs. Claus...” He paused then and turned back to Serena. “Or maybe...the future Mrs. Stockton?”
Serena stared at him, stunned. “Are you...” She let the words trail off, unwilling to complete the thought, in case she was wrong.
“I’m asking if you’ll marry me, Serena.”
She wasn’t wrong. And with those words, her heart filled with so much happiness and love, she could barely breathe never mind respond to his question.
“Yay!” Janie immediately cheered. “There’s going to be another wedding.”
Henry, Jared and Katie—likely picking up on the excitement of their cousin’s tone more than understanding her words—responded by clapping their hands.
“While I appreciate your enthusiastic support,” Bailey said to his nieces and nephews, “Serena hasn’t yet answered my question.” Then he turned his gaze back to her. “What do you say?”
“I say yes,” she told him. “Definitely yes.”
A quick—and decidedly relieved—grin creased his face for an instant before he kissed her.
And then everyone was cheering and applauding.
“I know it’s impolite to eat and run,” Jamie noted, peering out the window as the table was being cleared a long while later. “But it’s really snowing out there.”
“It really is,” Fallon agreed. “We should get the kids bundled up and make our escape while we still can.”
“If you still can,” Eva said, looking worried.
“Why don’t you spend the night here?” Luke suggested as an alternative. “After all, we have plenty of cabins.”
“Because Santa Claus is coming tonight,” Fallon reminded them all.
“And we’re not going far,” Jamie pointed out. “Not to mention that Andy and Molly would be very unhappy to be left alone overnight,” he said, referring to the puppies he’d adopted out of the litter of seven that he’d rescued two years earlier.
“What about Marvin?” Bailey suddenly asked Serena. “What if his doggy door gets blocked by the snow?”
“I already called Dee,” she said, referring to the neighbor who occasionally checked in on her animals when Serena had to be away for any length of time. “She’ll make sure the animals have everything they need.”
“Does she know to give Max his apple wedge treat? And to fluff Molly’s pillow?”
“She knows,” Serena assured him.
But in that moment, she knew that if she hadn’t already been head over heels in love with him, Bailey’s concern for the welfare of her furry companions would have made her tumble.
“So they’ll be okay if you stay here with me tonight?” he prompted.
“They might miss me, but they’ll be okay” she assured him.
“Good,” he said. “Because I’d miss you more if I had to spend the night without the woman I love.”
* * *
“I’ve decided that Christmas is my favorite time of year,” Bailey announced to Serena the next morning.
“And when did you arrive at this conclusion?” she asked.
“Just now, when I woke up and you were here, and I had the incomparable pleasure of making love with my beautiful fiancée on December 25.”
“I’ve always loved Christmas,” she reminded him. “But you’ve given me even more reasons to love it—and to look forward to all the Christmases we’ll share together.”
And as she snuggled in his arms and listened to the strong steady beat of his heart, she couldn’t help but think of her sister and hope that wherever Mimi was—because with all of her heart and soul, Serena believed that her little sister was out there somewhere—she was also celebrating the holiday with someone she loved.
“I’m still not sure this is real,” she said. “It seems like a dream.”
“My dream come true,” he told her.
“You really do want to marry me?”
“Why would you doubt it?”
“It just seems like everything happened so fast and—”
; “Do you have doubts?” he interrupted to ask her.
“No,” she immediately replied. “But I also never said that I’d never get married again.”
“I did say that,” he acknowledged. “Because I was sure it was true...and then I fell in love with you.”
“So your proposal wasn’t just an impulse?”
“The timing was a little impulsive,” he admitted. “I probably should have waited to ask until I had a ring, but I promise as soon as stores open on December 26, I’ll fix that oversight.”
“I should probably say that I don’t need a ring, but I want one. I want a visible symbol to show the world—or at least the rest of Rust Creek Falls—that I’m engaged to marry Bailey Stockton.”
He shifted so that he was facing her, then lifted a hand to brush her hair away from her face and gently stroke her cheek. “I love you, Serena.”
She smiled. “I love you, too.”
They sealed their promises with another kiss, which might have led to more except that Bailey’s cell phone buzzed on the bedside table. With obvious reluctance, he eased his lips from hers and picked up the offending instrument to read the text message on the screen.
“We’re being summoned to the main house for breakfast and then gifts.”
“Maybe I could borrow your truck and head back to my place to check on Marvin, Molly and Max,” Serena suggested.
“If you’re worried about them, we’ll both go,” he said.
“I’m not really worried,” she admitted. “I just thought I should give you some time with your family.”
“You’re part of that family now, too,” he reminded her.
So they got dressed and headed over to the main house, where everyone else was already gathered around the table overflowing with tasty offerings: platters of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, stacks of toast and bowls of fresh fruit.
“You’re late,” Jamie said when Bailey settled into a vacant chair beside him.
“I’d say I’m right on time,” he countered, as Eva added a plate of sticky buns, fresh out of the oven, to the assortment of food already on the table.
Bring Me a Maverick for Christmas! Page 17