Chapter 10
PRAIRIE
I t was nearly impossible to stop my hands from fidgeting over my skirt, my hair, my silver bracelets. The entire King family in one room at once was going to be a lot.
They were all nice people, but my family kept insisting that they were practically royalty around here. It was a bit intimidating.
When I’d called to check with Mom to see if she minded that I went out for dinner tonight, I could hear the shock in her voice. “Of course,” she had said. “Nobody turns down an invitation to the Kings’ house. You stay out as long as you like, and make a good impression.”
And then there were the texts from Lila.
Lila: Heard that you were Mrs. Claus! That’s adorable.
Lila: But if you’re going to be hanging around Daniel, you’d better make sure that you look less Claus-like by next year.
Me: He likes me the way I am. Knock it off.
Lila: It’s not just him. Imagine how you’ll look in their family photos years from now.
Me: Enough. Please, drop it.
I put my phone away, and turned to Daniel. He looked so comfortable when he was driving.
“Anything I should know about your family before I get there?” I asked.
“Not really. Everyone is pretty chill. I mean, Dad gets weird about business stuff, but I doubt we’ll be discussing that.”
“Okay. What about your Mom?”
Daniel’s handsome smile made my heart flutter. “She already likes you. Just get to know her a little more.”
He reached out to hold my hand, and I felt a bit better. “I’m sorry if I seem jumpy. It’s just that everyone in town makes such a big deal about your family. It makes me feel like I’m dating a celebrity or something.”
Turning down a smaller country road, he shot me an eye roll.
“I’m sorry. It’s mostly the older people, I think.
They remember when the town was hanging on by a thread.
There were very few non-farming jobs, and no new families.
When the furniture company started to grow, people were grateful that more money was floating around town. ”
“It still seems like a big deal.”
“Honestly, it was more like luck, hard work, and great timing,” he said.
“But yes, you’re right, a few folks act like Dad performed some miracle, and they’ve been passing that vibe along for years.
” He smiled at me warmly. “Frankly, I think it’s ridiculous.
When you find out how normal, bordering on bland, we really are, you’re going to be terribly disappointed. ”
“Considering how unusually bland my parents are, I think we might have a contest on our hands,” I laughed.
“You’re on.”
I loved his deep voice when he chuckled. The more time we spent together, the more I noticed many little details that made my heart sing, and made my body wish that it was wrapped in his arms.
Daniel made me feel wildly aroused for the first time ever. But it didn’t feel fragile and desperate, as I had assumed it would. It felt warm. Solid. Something that was built to last for a very long time.
We parked in front of a lovely large house and Daniel helped me out of the truck. I had to wonder if this actually was the real thing. The sort of relationship that really did last forever.
The front door flew open as Mary exclaimed, “Oh good, you’re here!” She enveloped us in warm hugs, then ushered us into the huge living room. Everyone waved hello from the couches and assorted chairs that had been pulled into the room.
Mary dashed to the kitchen and came back with two glasses of champagne that were a funny color. “It’s a dash of cranberry juice,” she explained. “Let me know what you think.”
“It’s certainly a more festive color,” I said, taking a test sip. “Wow. It’s delicious!”
She seemed pleased and waved us over to the love seat. As we sat, the fluffy cushions sank a bit. Since Daniel was so much bigger, I pitched into his shoulder.
He just slipped an arm around me, kissing my temple. For a second I was horrified at the rather public display of affection, until I looked around. Sierra was practically sitting in Jacob’s lap, and Andrew had his arm tucked closely around the girl who had been so upset last night.
“Will you sit down, please?” Nicolas said to Mary. “New knee or not, you’ve been on your feet all day.”
“Yeah, Mom,” Andrew agreed. “You’ve got seven people here to order around if you need a hand.”
She flopped into a chair dramatically. “Fine. Then someone else can go get the cookies out when the timer goes off in—”
A tiny bell rang and Andrew jumped up, dashing to the kitchen. “Hi,” his girlfriend said, turning to me. “I’m Robin.”
“Prairie.”
“Cool name,” she said.
“Thanks. I just figured my Mom looked out the window and picked the first thing she saw.”
I hadn’t thought it was that funny, but everyone laughed uproariously. “Sierra, Robin and Prairie,” Mary said, her eyes glowing. “Such lovely names. I’m so glad that you girls are all joining us tonight.”
She looked toward the dining room table, which had been pushed against the wall. “I’m sorry that we’ll be eating buffet style tonight, but there isn’t enough room otherwise.”
Jacob laughed. “It’s like that old saying about the cobbler’s children always going barefoot. The furniture family doesn’t have enough tables and chairs.”
Everyone laughed except Nicolas, who glared for a second before chuckling. “You laugh now, but I’m working on a new line of tables with festive leaves for the holidays next year.”
The conversation turned to furniture styles for a few minutes, and I was surprised that Daniel had such strong opinions about fussy little details of designs that I didn’t understand and frankly hadn’t ever even noticed. Then the topic turned to the holiday events of the past week.
“Sophie and Lynn told me that you were the most adorable Santa and Mrs. Claus ever,” Mary said to Daniel and I. “It was so nice of you both to help out.”
“Prairie was a real trooper,” Daniel said proudly. “I didn’t even have time to explain what was going on, but she jumped right in.”
Sierra giggled. “My Aunt Lucy said that her friend was going on and on about how Mrs. Claus was extra lippy this year, keeping Santa in line.”
I could feel myself blushing. “It seemed to make everyone laugh.”
“It was perfect,” Daniel said. “The volunteer brigade was thrilled.”
As the conversation turned to the other holiday events I’d missed, I realized that all three of the King boys had ended up with girlfriends in just the past few weeks.
A horrible voice in the back of my head piped up to suggest that maybe Daniel was desperate for a woman now that his brothers had girlfriends. Maybe he didn’t want to be left out.
Maybe that’s why he rushed to date a new girl that he didn’t even know.
It was very possible that I was…oh, god. Simply a shiny new Christmas toy.