by Jen Peters
“I just wanted to do nice things for you,” he murmured. “I never meant to change who you are.”
“I know that now. Will you forgive me?”
He rubbed his cold nose against hers. “I’d ask if you really mean it, but the dress answers that question. It’s forgiven. And forgotten.”
“No,” Nora shook her head, “not forgotten. I don’t want to make assumptions again.”
“Forgotten,” Forrest insisted. “I never thought four short days could be so miserable. I don’t want to relive them ever again.”
Nora sighed and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her close, and his breath whispered through her hair. She kissed his cheek, smelled the essence of him, wanted more. But people were detouring around them on the sidewalk, so she took his arm instead. “Shall we explore the Village?”
He dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “That sounds delightful.”
They wandered down paths and around corners, oohing and ahhing, admiring some light sculptures and laughing over others. They talked of their kids, of Christmas traditions, of treasured moments from the past.
They studiously avoided any mention of the lonely days and devastated feelings until Nora pulled him to a stop on a lighted footbridge.
“Forrest, I really do need to apologize again. You’re being a true gentleman to let it drop, but I really, really am sorry. I abused your trust and ruined—”
“Do you believe me?”
“Of course! I will always believe you!”
“You’re a wonderful woman, Nora. I cherish the time we’ve had already, and I hope for…”
“What?”
He breathed out softly. “It’s too soon…I wasn’t going to say this yet. I’m still figuring out that maybe I was looking in the wrong places before. But I think I’m falling in love with you, Nora.”
He stroked her hair back, and she melted inside. “Way too soon,” she murmured, “and I hadn’t been looking at all. But yes, me too. And I truly am sorry.”
Forrest smiled. “You’re not going to set this apology aside, are you?”
She gave a rueful smile and sighed. “No, probably not.”
His chocolate eyes twinkled. “I’ll just have to give you something else to think about instead.”
He clasped her hand to his chest, put his other arm firmly around her shoulders, and dipped her backward. His mouth found hers, firm, inviting, demanding, drawing her in.
She held his neck with one hand and cupped his cheek with the other, marveling how someone so chilled on the outside could be so warm under the surface. The world dropped away, and she gave herself over to the pleasure of his kiss.
Long, luscious moments later, Forrest pulled her upright. Nora blushed at the people applauding around them, but he just kissed her again. Soft and lingering, making her melt once more.
When Nora became aware of her surroundings again, they were alone on the footbridge. Forrest held her hands and nuzzled her cheek. “I’d like to take you home with me,” he said, “but I’m learning—and loving—the type of woman you are. May I escort you to dinner before you head back up the mountain?”
She searched his eyes, seeing only love and respect. “Dinner would be delightful.”
But first, she kissed him again.
Chapter 18
Nora spread the wedding cake layers with raspberry filling, stacked them and smoothed fondant over them, and piped rosettes all around for a finishing touch. She placed Christmas wedding bells on top, and it was perfect. And it was only noon!
She stood back, pleased with her efforts but praying that Cat and Justin would like it. Cat especially—Justin wouldn’t care as long as it tasted good. She smiled at the thought, then headed to his place for one last check-in with this almost-married son.
Back home again an hour later, Nora let Robin hustle her into her room. “Mom, you’ve got to get going—you don’t want to be late.” When Nora emerged more than an hour later, showered, hair and makeup perfect, and clothed in the beautiful gown, Robin grinned her approval. “You’re gorgeous, Mom.”
Nora blushed. It wasn’t just the exquisite dress. It was Forrest’s forgiveness and acceptance and love. “I shouldn’t feel this way—Cat’s the one who should be glowing, not me. But I can’t help it.”
Robin gave her a light hug and kissed her cheek. “Let’s go.”
Pastor Mark had shifted the altar decorations, but the lighted trees were still in place and wreaths hung in each window. Lori Swanson had placed two full red and white floral arrangements on the altar and had gone the extra mile and put wide bows at the end of each pew.
Nora sighed—it looked magical, just right for a Christmas wedding.
“It’s great, Mom,” Robin said.
“Cat will like it? It’s not too much?” Nora was suddenly nervous about it all. She suspected she had been rather overbearing about it all. Perhaps another apology was in order.
“It’s perfect. Now come on, she’ll be here anytime.” Robin draped a cloth over a table in the foyer and placed the guest book on it, then led the way back to the room Pastor Mark had set aside for them.
Cat came rushing in. “I’m sorry, I’m late. Am I late?”
Nora laid a hand on her arm. “You’re fine, sweetie. Breathe. Now again, deeper.”
Cat complied, a least a little, before going wide-eyed again. “I’m getting married today! I never thought I would get married!”
Nora enveloped the young woman in her arms. She held her, rubbed her cold hands, tried to send calming feelings her way. Robin hugged her from the other side.
Finally, Cat inhaled deeply. “I’m okay now, thanks. It just got…”
“Overwhelming?” Robin said.
“Real?” Nora suggested.
“Both. But I love Justin and I know he loves me, so it’s all right, right?”
Nora and Robin chorused, “Right!” together.
An hour later, Cat’s understated makeup was finished, her hair curled and flowing down her back.
Nora lifted the re-designed dress. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Cat said with a smile.
Nora slipped it over her head, settled it around her hips and shoulders, and zipped it up.
Robin gasped. “You look amazing, Cat! I want it to stay just like this for my wedding.”
Cat turned to the mirror. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Oh, Nora. It’s like a dream I never knew I had. Thank you.”
Nora looked from behind Cat’s shoulder. The seed pearls shimmered, the lace and satin accentuated her curves, the bride glowed. Nora met her new daughter’s gaze in the mirror. “I can’t think of a better use for my dress than you today.”
They settled Nora’s veil—unaltered—into Cat’s hair, exactly as it had been in her own thirty-four years ago. “Did your brother get here?” Nora asked.
“Last night. He’s going to walk me down the aisle. We had a short run through at the church and dinner afterward. We missed you.”
Nora kept her heart’s glow inside and just smiled. “I had something else to take care of.”
Robin looked at her with raised eyebrows, but Nora didn’t say anything else. It was all too special, too private to share right now. And she didn’t want to take anything away from Cat’s day.
She left Cat in Robin’s care and headed to Justin’s prep room. Javi, his best man, was joking with him and another friend, and she watched from the doorway. Justin was at his handsome best in a perfectly-fitted tuxedo, and she was so proud of the man he’d become. She felt incredibly blessed to be his mother.
Justin teased Javi about the as-yet-unnamed girl he had his eye on, then looked up and saw Nora. His face lit with joy. “Mom! Are you ready to be a mother-in-law?”
“More than you know,” she said, hugging him tightly. “The question is, are you ready to be a husband?”
He blanched. “I’ve had a fiancé for a while. I’ve thought about getting married and being married. But somehow saying I’m someone’s
husband seems scary.”
“Try the words, ‘being Cat’s husband’ instead.”
“I’ll be Cat’s husband.” He sighed with relief, then repeated, “I’ll be Cat’s husband. That’s so much better!” He paused. “She’s so perfect for me, Mom. How’d I get so lucky?”
“I don’t know. How do any of us get lucky enough to find the perfect partner?” Nora couldn’t help but think of both Gary and Forrest. She didn’t know yet if Forrest would become ‘the perfect partner,’ but still, how did she get so lucky?
“Are you ready?” she finally said. “It’s about time.”
Justin nodded. “I love you, Mom.”
“I’ll escort you in, Mrs. C,” Javi said.
She kissed Justin’s cheek one more time, brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, and took Javi’s arm. “So are you ever going to tell us her name?”
Javi’s brown face reddened. “Let’s keep this Justin’s day, okay?”
“Sorry, I can’t help myself. It seems to be the season for love.”
And then Nora stopped. Forrest stood in the foyer, dressed to the nines, eyes locked on her.
Javi looked back and forth between them.
Forrest stepped forward. “May I have the honor?” he asked, extending his arm.
Javi stepped back and bowed slightly. “She’s all yours.”
“She certainly is.” Forrest kept his gaze on her, searching her face. “Last night feels like forever ago.”
“My feelings haven’t changed,” Nora whispered, half-holding her breath.
“Mine neither.” He stroked her cheek, kissed her lightly on the lips.
She gripped his arm, hesitant to move, to break the spell. She lost herself in his eyes, let her heart shine through her own.
“Ahem,” came a deep voice.
Nora startled, turning to see Justin and Javi standing behind them.
“My wedding day, not yours, Mom.” Justin grinned, then sobered as he looked at Forrest. “You’d better take good care of her.”
Nora watched Forrest look back at her son, man to man. Watched an understanding pass between them.
“You can count on it,” Forrest said. Then he smiled. “I’d better escort your beautiful mother in now, so your wedding can actually get started.”
Justin took a deep, nervous breath and nodded. Nora gave him a final hug and a kiss. “You’ll be fine. Cat and I both love you. And she can’t come out until you’re in place.”
Then she took Forrest’s arm and walked up the aisle of the packed church.
* * *
Thirty short minutes later, Justin and Cat had recited hand-written, heart-felt vows, exchanged rings, and kissed deliciously as Pastor Mark pronounced them husband and wife. They walked joyously back down the aisle, followed by family and the rest of their friends.
“What now?” Forrest asked, helping Nora into his car.
Nora leaned back and closed her eyes. “Now we get a bit of a rest over at the Inn. The reception doesn’t start for a couple more hours. It’s more a party than anything—no receiving line—and all I have to do is get the cake over there. Ree Swanson, the manager, has everything else in hand.”
“I like Ree,” he said. “I hope I didn’t cause her problems, leaving so abruptly.” He pulled out of the church parking lot.
Nora chuckled. “Actually, she was wondering how to nicely tell you she’d be closed to guests today and tomorrow. But, um, would you like to see if she has room next week?”
“Next week?”
“I said no to your cruise, but would you like to celebrate New Year’s up here?”
Forrest glanced at her, his eyes gleaming. “Do I get to kiss you silly at midnight?”
Nora turned to jelly at the thought of long, luscious kisses. “Only at midnight?”
He pulled up to the McCormick Inn, its balconies and turrets aglow with Christmas lights and greenery. Nora waited, breathless, but he just turned the ignition off and helped her out of the car.
“There is far more to us than kissing,” Forrest said, leading her to the side garden. “But I think we could work something out for sometime besides midnight. Like this.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple, her eyelids, the spot under her jaw.
Nora sighed at the touch of this warm, generous man. He knew her—her quirks and foibles, her reservations, her blunders—and he wanted her anyway. Just the way she was. And she loved his honor, his kindness, his forgiveness.
There was definitely more to them than just kisses, enough more to possibly build a lifetime on. But for now…
Nora ran her fingers through his hair, then pulled his mouth to hers. Out of sight from the rest of the world, she gave herself to the possibility of love.
Thank You
If you enjoyed The Christmas Key to Her Heart, please consider leaving a review for it on Amazon or Goodreads. Authors love hearing from their fans, and word-of-mouth recommendations help other readers find books they’ll enjoy. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!
To find out about new releases, sales and give aways,
sign up for Jen’s weekly newsletter.
(I don’t spam and I don’t share your email without permission.)
Want to experience Cat and Justin’s romance from the beginning? Turn the page to see how a feisty contractor from California and a stubborn hometown hunk manage to remodel the run-down McCormick mansion together…and fall in love while they’re at it!
Trusting His Heart (excerpt)
Cat bounced in her seat, trying to control her excitement as she pushed her old pickup along the Oregon highway. A new place, a new job, hopefully a whole new shift in her career.
Bella, her yellow Lab, caught her energy and perked her ears up, thumping her tail against the passenger door.
“You’re going to wear a hole in it, kiddo,” Cat warned. Then she grinned and eased off the accelerator to watch a deer dance lightly across the mountain road and into the towering evergreens. Not something she usually saw back in Sacramento. Of course, she was a city girl, born and bred, and these long stretches of nothing but scenery weren’t something she was used to, either.
Bella went back to chewing her bumpy rubber bone and Cat turned her attention back to the road.
Three more deer darted out. Cat swerved to the right and hit the brakes, sending the Chevy fishtailing. They were too close, too fast. “Bella!” She yanked the wheel harder and gasped, suddenly jolting to a stop in the drainage ditch beside the highway.
The last deer finished leaping gracefully across the asphalt to the safety of the forest.
Cat took a deep breath and blinked. Bella had landed on the dusty floor of the truck. “You okay, girl?” She ran her hands along the dog’s soft fur and down each sprawling leg. Nothing seemed hurt. Bella just looked at her with those big brown eyes, clambered back up, and stuck her nose into Cat’s armpit for comfort. Cat rubbed behind her ears, then rested her cheek against the dog’s soft back. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t know how you put up with me, but I’m glad you do.”
With her heart still pounding, she shifted the old truck into reverse. The ditch was only a couple feet deep—she should be able to back out. The engine revved but the tires just spun. She sighed and groaned and then leaned her forehead against the steering wheel.
“Dang-blasted, grunt of a pig,” she muttered. Sam, her old mentor, had never let her swear when he was teaching her the building trade, and she’d stuck with his attitude even around all her rough-edged workers.
“OK,” she told Bella, “Some jacked-up idea of a ditch isn’t going to beat us.” She was used to having complete control over her life, and she wasn’t going to let that change now.
Bella nosed her neck, and Cat gently pushed her away. “You need to stay here, girl.” She patted her once more, then got out.
The brisk April air, far different from the Sacramento heat she had just left, raised goosebumps on her skin, and she wished she had dressed more w
armly. She rubbed her arms, then checked that the table saw and the cargo box holding her tools were still strapped securely in the truck bed. The other two bags, crammed with her less-treasured belongings, had been jostled to the other side but hadn’t even tipped over.
That was a relief. She was staking her future on this new job, and she couldn’t show up without the tools to do it. She took a deep breath, inhaling the sharp tang of the pine forest in front of her, and stepped carefully through the weeds in her flip-flops.
Her front tires were planted firmly a foot and a half down the ditch, too deep to simply back out. She prided herself on her self-sufficiency, but there wasn’t a tool in her possession that would help. A tree branch might work for leverage, but she couldn’t possibly brace it against the axle and drive the truck out at the same time.
She slumped against the truck door. She was supposed to meet Mr. Blake in McCormick’s Creek in less than an hour, and Google Maps said she still had 40 minutes to go.
She needed another person. Sam’s words echoed from her teenage years. “Ain’t no shame in asking for help if you can’t do it all yourself, little girl.” She smiled at the memory of the wise old builder who had set her on this path.
Cat glanced down the highway. A few cars had whizzed past without slowing down, just like back home. She watched them go and shrugged. Oregon might be a beautiful paradise, but people were the same all over. However, as she searched under the trees for a downed branch, a truck pulled to a stop. A shiny, oversized red Ford F-250, to be exact.
The man who climbed out had his face hidden in the shadow of his ball cap, allowing her to see only a strong jaw covered in stubble, but he was wearing jeans and work boots, and his broad shoulders looked like they’d be at home carrying a stack of 2x6’s. Her shoulders relaxed in relief—the two of them would surely be able to back the truck out.