Christmas Nights(35)

Janie wiped her hands on a towel and slipped her phone out of her pocket. “Perfect. I’ll be right back. Need to make a call.”

After she checked with Parker’s mother and got the green light for him to visit for a few hours this evening, she returned to the kitchen. Before she knew it, they were sitting down to eat. In her family, that wasn’t a formal affair. Although she had a dining table to one side of the kitchen, they’d elected to use it as a buffet table for serving and to eat scattered about the living room. There were just enough people here for the table to be crowded. Travis tried to insist he could serve himself, but after he almost dropped a plate while attempting to juggle his crutches and the plate, Janie elbowed him out of the way.

“Back to the couch. Tell me what you want, and I’ll take care of it.”

He dipped his head and dropped a lingering kiss in the curve of her neck, sending a hot shiver through her. When he lifted his head, her breath caught. Again, she had to remind herself where they were. “I’m not picky. Just get me some of everything,” he said, the low timbre of his voice sending another shiver over her skin.

He crutched his way back to the couch, while she tried to focus and get their plates filled. Hours later, she wiped down the kitchen counter and turned on the dishwasher. Her family members had gradually left with her mother being the last hold out as she insisted everything get put away first. Parker had practically had to be shoved out the door. Janie was fairly certain he and Stella had managed to sneak in a few kisses in the sunroom. She hung the dishtowel on the oven handle and glanced to Travis. He was back in the corner of the couch with his foot propped up. The fire was dying down with embers glowing in the dim light. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her heart felt so full.

She walked to the couch and settled into the cushions beside Travis. He curled his arm over her shoulders and pulled her against him. Even now, tired from a long day of cooking and the buzz of company all day, the feel of his muscled body against hers set a hum to life inside of her. She wondered if she’d ever get used to it. She relaxed against him and glanced up. Tracing a fingertip along his stubbled jaw, she smiled softly. “Well, you survived.”

His shoulders shook with his laughter before he pinned her with his gaze. “You need to stop worrying any of this is hard for me. Aside from the fact your family’s pretty easy to be around, none of it really matters. The only thing that matters about today was I got to spend it with you.”

A rush of emotion welled inside. He sifted his fingers through her hair and angled his head down, catching her lips in a quick kiss.





Epilogue





Travis walked down the dock at Otter Cove Harbor, weary from a long afternoon helping Nathan get their boat ready to be pulled from the harbor tomorrow. Nathan had left a few minutes earlier when Travis had realized he’d left his backpack on the boat. He was looking down when he heard his name and glanced up to see Janie jogging down the docks to meet him. He smiled inside and out—the kind of smile only she could elicit. She reached him finally and threw her arms around his neck. “Stella just got accepted to the music program at UW!”

He held her fast against him and leaned his head back. “Awesome!”

Janie kissed him quickly and wiggled, shimmying out of his hold. She slipped her hand in his and walked alongside him. “She’s beside herself. I promised we’d take her out for pizza.”

“Of course. Let me get home and clean up first. I’m guessing she’ll want to bring Parker.”

Janie grinned up at him. “Of course. He’s in the same program, so I’m trying to decide if it’s best to just accept that they’ll probably move in together.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “It is what it is. Whatever happens, Stella will be fine. Parker’s a good guy. I’m not worried I’ll have to threaten to kick his ass or anything.”

Janie held his gaze for a long moment and then nodded firmly. He’d discovered over the last year that he loved how she’d come to look for him for advice. He couldn’t quite believe it, but they were a team when it came to parenting. When he’d moved in early last spring, he hadn’t known how that part of their relationship would play out. She’d quickly looped him into the dynamic and seemed beyond relieved for back up with some of the challenging issues. Stella was pretty well-behaved, but she was a teenager with a bumpy history. She had her moments and even her days, but all in all, they got through it.

As they walked down the docks, he scanned the view. It was late afternoon on a chilly winter day. The sky was dotted with clouds, and wind was gusting across the bay. The mountains were tall and majestic on the far side, their snow-tipped peaks stark against the sky. A gust of wind blew Janie’s hair in a swirl. He glanced down and caught sight of the ring on her hand—a simple platinum band. He’d hemmed and hawed over his proposal and eventually sought Stella’s advice. She’d bluntly told him Janie wasn’t much of a fan of stones because then she had to worry about them. After all of his worries, Janie had surprised him by bursting into tears and flinging herself at him when he’d asked her to marry him. They’d had a simple ceremony this past summer. He still marveled every day when he woke up beside her and shrugged off the teasing at work over how quickly he’d gone from being a bachelor to a family man.

He gave Janie’s hand a squeeze and stopped her on the docks. She glanced up, those hazel eyes—layers of color he lost himself in time and again—locked to his. “What?”

“Just this…”

He leaned down and brought his lips to hers. They were warm in the cold air.



Janie leaned back in the booth and sighed. She pushed her plate away and eyed the pizza in the center of the table. They were at Glacier Pizza, and Travis’s arm was draped across her shoulders, his thumb idly stroking along her collarbone and distracting her. He distracted her almost all the time, but she’d become accustomed to it. He was laughing at something Stella said.

Stella snagged the last piece of pizza and took a bite, her dark brown eyes bouncing to Janie. “Thanks for taking me out for pizza.”

Janie grinned. “Of course! You got some awesome news.”

Stella’s eyes flicked to Travis, her smile expanding. “This is so perfect! You guys figured it out in time.”

Travis took a swig of his beer and cocked his head to the side. “Huh?”

Stella waved her free hand between them, still nibbling on the piece of pizza held in her other hand. “You fell in love and got married. I know Mom would’ve been fine no matter what, but she’s a people person. It took you to get her to wake up and stop being all to herself all the time.”

Travis nodded slowly. “The falling in love part was easy.” He gave Janie’s shoulder a squeeze. “Your mom was just fine without me, so I consider myself lucky.”

Stella said something else and the conversation moved on. Janie’s mind spun back to the years before she’d locked eyes with Travis. She’d come to realize she’d let old Randy have far more influence on her than she’d ever wanted. Randy’s dramatic entrance back into Diamond Creek had ended with a whimper when he worked out a plea deal for his charges. As it was, the best deal he could get meant fifteen years behind bars because of his long history and the felony assault charges. Janie felt truly free of the hold his violence had on her.

A while later, she walked beside Travis onto the back deck at the house. Stella had bounded up to her room to ‘talk’ to Parker, which meant some combination of texting and screen time on their phones. Christmas was days away, and she couldn’t quite believe this would be her second Christmas with Travis. With Stella’s insistence, they’d gone all out with decorating this year. Travis had helped Stella hang lights along the roof and on a number of spruce trees in the yard, creating a magical feeling outside in the cold darkness. They stopped by the railing, and she looked up into the sky. “Oh! Northern lights,” she said on a breath.

Travis glanced up, following where she pointed. Just above the mountains across the bay, the faintest glimmer of green and blue rippled in the dark sky. As they stood in the quiet, the colors deepened in intensity, moving like a curtain in the darkness. A shimmer of color come to life. The water in the bay reflected the colors back up. Travis stepped behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned into his warmth and strength. They remained like that while the lights gave a show—surreal and mesmerizing.

She didn’t realize she was getting cold until she shivered. He tightened his arms around her. He dipped his head into the curve of her neck, his lips a searing warmth in the icy cold.



~The End~