Chapter Forty-Five
Forty-Five
CHRISTMAS EVE
“I LOVE YOUR SENSE OF adventure, sweetie, but it’s really cold out,” Gray said, following Charlie through the woods.
“You’re supposed to be a tough, outdoorsy mountain man,” she teased, her tone light and happy.
Her happiness fueled his own. She fueled him.
In everything. She made him smile bigger, laugh harder, want more, love with everything he had.
It wasn’t always easy, especially with her taking on a fifth class at the university.
One of their teachers had gone on an unexpected leave and Charlie had offered to fill in.
With the lodge, technically, shut down for the season and him having a reason to be in Smile more than at the lodge, they’d decided to rent an apartment over an empty shop on Middle Street.
“I’m all of those things,” he said gruffly, making her laugh. “Just so happens, I’m also really freaking cold.”
She stopped when they got to his favorite spot in Smile.
Grayson turned Charlie and wrapped his arms around her.
He could see their breaths, and his teeth were close to chattering, but happiness filled his entire being.
She wore a thick winter hat pulled down so far, her eyes were barely visible.
Her scarf came up to her bottom lip. His California girl was still adjusting to the weather.
But they were headed to California for a month of some sun and time with her mom.
Vivi was in Smile for the holidays, but the three of them would head back to LA for New Year’s Eve.
“You’re sweet,” he said, kissing her cold lips.
She shivered and burrowed into him like she couldn’t get close enough.
When they returned to their apartment, they’d turn on the fireplace, have some hot chocolate, and sit in the gentle glow of the Christmas lights, enjoying the quiet, and warmth, before tomorrow’s festivities at Jilly and Levi’s.
Of course, Jilly would be watching from the couch since she was so far along in her pregnancy.
It was easier to have it there, as long as his sister didn’t feel the need to play hostess. She’d promised to take it easy.
“I haven’t done anything yet,” Charlie said.
Grayson laughed at the chattering of her teeth. He kissed her again, rubbed his hands up and down her back. “You brought me to my favorite place so I could kiss you in the moonlight. Though my lips might be frozen. Let’s go home. We’ll have hot chocolate and I’ll give you one of your presents.”
“Not yet,” she said, her voice trembling with the cold. “I have to give you one of your presents.”
“Now?”
She nodded and pulled away, fumbled with her gloves and her jacket, pulling an envelope from inside of it. The crinkling paper seemed to echo in the quiet.
He took it from her, pulling her close with one arm. “You could have given this to me at home so you didn’t get frostbite.”
She laughed. “No. It had to be here.”
Grayson hurried to open it, more because he wanted to get her back to the warmth of their place than any eagerness over what might be inside. He had everything he needed. Charlie was his gift.
Pulling out a paper, he squinted, trying to see it. He ended up having to take off one of his gloves to shine his phone light onto the page. When he did, when he read the words, he sucked in a sharp breath that stung with the icy cold.
He looked up. Charlie was staring at him.
“What is this?”
She opened her hands. “It’s a deed to this land. It’s ours.”
He looked down at the paper, up at Charlie, his breath coming faster. “Ours? You bought it? I don’t understand. Charlie, how?”
She laughed, snuggling into him. “We’ll have a mortgage on it, but I had money for the down payment.”
He wasn’t sure if he was in shock or just frozen. “Charlie, this is too much.”
She shook her head, met his gaze, and, even in the darkness broken only by the stars and moonlight, she knew him well enough to know he was worrying that he could never give her something like this in return.
“It isn’t. You can’t put a price on what you’ve given me, Grayson.
If you could, if we were somehow able to match dollar for dollar, the unconditional love and support you’ve given me would still leave me in your debt.
I have never felt more seen, more cherished, or more myself than I do with you.
This isn’t too much. It’s just the beginning.
For us. I want to live your dream with you. ”
They’d both been careful about the topic of her permanent residence, choosing to use their time to get to know each other, fall deeper in love, and live in the moment. He had to stop himself from asking her to stay, to be with him always, about a hundred times a day.
“You’re staying?”
She grinned. No. She beamed. “I have to. It’s where my heart is.
I want a life here with you, Grayson. I want to build a place we can live, raise a family if you want to.
A place where we can make memories and spend nights lost in each other.
We can work out the details later. I love you. I want this, for us. For our future.”
He felt like he had ice cubes in his mouth.
His heart was thudding so hard in his chest, he wasn’t sure if she’d hear him over it.
“You’re wrong, Charlie. You wouldn’t be in debt to me.
We’re even. I love you so much it feels impossible to put it into words.
” He shook the paper with a laugh. “Though you, superwoman that you are, found a way. I’ll make you happy here, Charlie.
I’ll give you everything I can. Every day. Always.”
She went up on tiptoes, but he had to be sure, had to hear her say she wasn’t giving up something for him. He leaned his head back. “You’re sure? You want to live here? Because I’m not letting you go even if you don’t. We’ll make it work. I can hire someone to take over the lodge.”
She sucked in a breath, but it was so cold it made her cough, so he rubbed her back. “No, Grayson. You aren’t letting anyone take over the lodge.”
Hope pulsed inside of him. “I thought you weren’t sure about teaching again next semester. I thought you hadn’t made a decision on whether you wanted to go back to California for a while.”
“About that,” she said. He could see her smile in the starlight.
“The principal at the elementary school asked if I would work part-time as a school counselor. I thought I’d do that and private practice.
Plus I do like teaching at the university more than I thought I would, so I told the dean I’d take one class. ”
“What about your mom? Don’t get me wrong, I want this. But I know how close you two are.”
“We are. Which is why I hope you meant it when you said we were even, that you love me as much as I love you.”
Confusion wrinkled his brow. “Charlie. I love you more than I ever imagined possible. You mean everything to me.”
Charlie went up on tiptoes again, this time taking the kiss.
Her nose was an ice cube pressed to his.
She leaned away. “Remember that. Because it might be hard to remember when my mom moves here. She wants to rent out the shop below us and open a salon. Doing Presley’s hair for the wedding reminded her of how much she loved it.
She’s ready to stop acting. The whole thing with the video shook her, and she said she’s ready to slow down, live a different kind of life.
So, we’re going to want to get started on the construction of a place of our own as soon as possible, or we’ll be living above her. ”
Gray was speechless. He’d been handed everything he could ever want. Things he was certain he’d never want again. And now, he couldn’t imagine them with anyone else.
He felt the sting of tears but worried they’d freeze on his face. He yanked Charlie closer.
“I will never give you a reason to regret this. I love you, Charlie. With my whole heart. With everything I am.”
“I love you, too, Grayson. I don’t care where we live or what we do, as long as we’re together. You’re my home. My safe place. You’re everything to me, too.”
“I want to marry you one day,” he whispered, the certainty flooding his veins. He wanted to be tied to this woman in every single way he could be. Forever. Full stop.
“I want that, too. But right now, I want to go home and make sure we still have all of our fingers and toes.”
He laughed into the next kiss. “Merry Christmas, Charlie. My present might pale in comparison.”
She kissed him back, whispered against his lips. “Not possible. If it’s from you, or just you, it’s perfect.”
It was. They were. Together.