“A visitor?”
“Yes! He’s standing in the front yard talking to Dad. I walked past and he introduced himself. Tall? Dark? Very handsome? Goes by the name of Drew?”
“He’s here? Outside with Dad?” Alison pushed off her stool and threw her arms around her sister, giving her a fierce hug. “He’s here.” She stepped back. “Do I look all right? Is my hair combed?”
“You look fine,” her mother said. “Go out and say hello. And ask him if he might want to join our nativity scene. We could always use an extra shepherd. I’m sure we have a costume for him up in the attic.”
Alison raced through the house and threw open the front door, then bounded down the porch steps. “Drew!” she called.
He turned and looked at her, his eyes lighting up with laughter. “Alison!”
She ran across the lawn and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. “What are you doing here?”
“Right now, I’m helping your dad fix this stable.”
She pressed his face between her hands and kissed him hard. “You’re the best Christmas present I could have asked for.”
“That’s good. Because you can’t return me.”
“How long can you stay?”
“For as long as you’ll have me.” He set her back on her feet and pulled her toward the porch. “I’ve made some decisions, Alison. I love my work on the mountain, but I love you, too. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I think we have something very special and I don’t want to let it go.”
“I don’t either,” she said, dropping another kiss on his lips.
“So, I figure, I’ll move to Johnson City, we’ll get a place together, and I’ll just make the drive every day to the clinic. And when the weather is bad, I’ll spend the night. And when you’re off in the summer, we’ll go up to the cabin. I’ve already called and we’re going to put in electricity and plumbing.”
Alison sighed. “That’s all right for the summer. But what happens when I take the job in Texas? I’m pretty sure they’re going to offer it to me.”
He pulled back. “We’ll figure that out when the time comes. We’ll see how we feel and make a decision then. For now, I think we need to give each other a chance to make this work.” Drew kissed her. “Just give us a chance.”
She looked up into his eyes. She did love him, even though she’d spent the past three weeks denying her feelings. Now that he was here, right in front of her, Alison realized she didn’t want to walk away again. If she really wanted to grow old with someone, now was the time to start making it happen. And she knew she’d never find another man who made her feel the way Drew did.
“I like the cabin exactly the way it is,” Alison said. “I don’t want you to change a thing. And I have some plans of my own, too. I’m thinking about writing a book about Ettie. And I’m going to interview for a tenure position at East Tennessee. I might just decide against Texas. It’s so much administrative work there and not enough teaching and—”
“So we’re going to make this work, the two of us?”
She stared into his eyes. Alison knew in her heart this was the right choice. She didn’t know exactly how it would turn out, but she knew that she and Drew belonged together. Ettie had sensed it, and now, here they were, at the beginning of their own adventure.
“We will,” she said.
Drew kissed her, his tongue softly invading her mouth, his fingers furrowing through her tangled hair. This was exactly where she belonged, Alison mused. In his arms. Geography didn’t matter.
“Now that you’re here, there is one more thing,” she said. “We have to find you a shepherd costume that fits. Because you could score major points with my mother if you volunteer for our nativity scene. It’s a family tradition. Everyone in town comes.”
Her father laughed and they turned to look at him. “I think Drew would make a fine addition to our nativity scene. Can you sing?”
Alison grabbed Drew’s hand. “I never asked. Can you sing?”
“I think I’m pretty good,” he said.
“All right, then. It’s time you met the rest of the family. You’re going to get a lot of Cole this Christmas.”
COLE FOR CHRISTMAS
Rhonda Nelson
For my mom and sister, who always make sure I have a good Christmas. Love ya’ll.
1
WITH ANY LUCK LAYLA COLE would have gained fifty pounds and developed a skin problem, Bryant Bishop thought as he waited on the tarmac for her plane to arrive. He watched Christmas lights glitter in the airport windows, and country superstar—and his boss—Clint Walker’s cover of “Jingle Bells” drifted to him through the SUV’s speakers.