17. Gia
17
Gia
I stare into the fire, watching the flames dance about. This is exactly how my insides feel as I lie on Kade’s chest on the couch.
He’s napping, his breaths heavy as his chest rises and falls. I could nap, too, thanks to the delicious and rich Christmas feast we’ve just consumed courtesy of Abigail. But I’m too excited. Too thrilled by the prospect of what’s to come.
I place my hand against his heart, the beat strong and thumping.
Mine , I think. All mine .
I love Kade. But I have for a long time. That was separate from any romantic feelings for him, of course. He’s been like family for so long. Protective of me, always looking out for me.
It won’t take much for the love to transform into something more. In fact, as I lay here on his chest, his arm around my waist, I think it already has.
I nuzzle my nose against his jaw, his beard hair tickling my skin. Kade hums awake beneath me. “Hmmph. What is it?”
“Nothing, just admiring you.”
His arms shift around me. Tighter. Closer. Oh, so nice… “Was I snoring?”
“No,” I reply.
Kade’s eyes pinch open, slivers of blue. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying,” I say with a light laugh.
“Mmmgh.” He runs his hand up and down my back, an intimacy so simple and small, yet it fills me with fireworks. All these little motions and touches I’ve craved all this time are now mine. “What time is it?”
I lean closer to him. “Dunno.”
His eyes fall to my lips. “Do you want something?”
“A kiss would be nice. And I was very good this year.”
Kade chuckles, cupping my cheek and sliding his thumb across my lower lip. “You’ve been driving me crazy all year. I’d say that’s far from good.”
He’s a lot sharper and flirtier than I would have expected, given his outward placid and stoic demeanor. I’m giddy knowing I bring this side out of him.
“Then let me make up for it,” I say before planting a kiss on his mouth.
Kade lets out a heavy sigh, wrapping his arms around me and keeping me close to his chest. I could get used to this. In fact, I think I will.
Heavy footfall interrupts our kiss. Bryn dashes in from the front hall. “Your parents are here!”
I leap up from Kade’s embrace. “What?!”
Bryn beams ear to ear. “They just pulled up!”
I nearly trip over myself, trying to find my boots. Thank God for Kade, who stands by and lets me steady myself on him to put on my shoes. Then, like a child running downstairs to check if Santa left presents, I bound outside to meet my parents, snow crunching under my boots. “You made it!”
“By the skin of our teeth!” my dad exclaims just as my arms fly around both of their necks, pulling them close.
The three of us embrace tightly, muttering different endearments in Italian. “This is the best Christmas gift I could have gotten.”
I finally release them, giving them an opportunity to give greetings to Kade and Bryn, who have followed me out. “Buon Natale!” my mother shouts lovingly, kissing Kade on both cheeks.
“Buon Natale, Antonia,” Kade says.
My chest warms. He’s already a part of my family. A part of all our hearts.
“Okay, who is going to tell them?” Bryn asks, putting her fists on her hips and looking between Kade and me.
“Uh…” I feel myself flushing. I put my fingers against the necklace he got me, twisting the bumblebee around the chain.
Kade is also red as a poinsettia.
“What? What’s wrong?” Dad cries out.
“Is everyone all right? Are the guests okay?” Mom follows up.
I grab her arm. “Everything’s fine, just…” My eyes meet Kade’s, and I can’t help but smile. I don’t know how to say it or what to say exactly.
Kade clears his throat. “Well, Gia and I, um…”
My mom’s hands fly to her mouth. “Is it happening?”
“Shh, Tonia,” Dad chides. “Let the boy talk.”
Kade is not at all a boy; he is all man. But the way he scratches the back of his neck as he tries to explain is adorably boyish indeed. “We, the two of us—well?—”
Bryn huffs. “You two are impossible. The two of them have finally stopped pretending they aren’t in love with each other.”
“Finally?!” Kade and I both gasp out.
My mother squeals at the top of her lungs. “I knew it would happen someday! Just knew it!”
“It took you long enough,” my father adds, patting me on the back and then going to Kade for a handshake.
“You all knew ?”
“No, we all hoped one day you’d get your act together,” Dad says. And now here you are—in love.”
“No one said anything about love; that was all Bryn.” I try to scuttle the idea away from the conversation, though it feels wrong to denigrate what Kade and I have when it is so strong in my chest.
Bryn rolls her eyes. “Stop lying to yourself, Gia.”
I stumble through a few attempts at speaking before going silent. Kade puts his hand on the back of my neck, and I immediately feel a release in all of my muscles. He understands me. Understands my feelings and… yes, maybe they are love.
“Come, we have much to discuss inside, hm?” Dad gestures toward the door.
We all go back inside, help them unpack the various sundries they picked up in Harbor Point, and catch them up on the goings-on at the inn as we all sit around the fire getting warm again. I’m in such a tizzy that I forget to mention Mars until he literally stumbles into the common room to see what all the racket is about.
“Carlo! Antonia! What an absolute pleasure to see you again.”
My father grunts, and my mother eyes Mars warily.
I leap up from the couch. “It was an accident. That he’s here. Right, Mars?”
Mars clutches his chest. “Yes, completely. My management set me up here, and well, I arrived too late to find a new place for the holiday, and Gia is, of course, a gracious hostess, no doubt thanks to you.”
“I hope you’ve behaved yourself,” my mom says.
“Yes, of course, I wouldn’t dream of getting between Gia and her new beau,” Mars says, giving me a smile. A true smile, not one of his flashy, winning ones. We’ve shared a lot, the two of us. It’s nice to be able to recognize that and not feel tethered to the happiness of our relationship existing or the sadness of it ending.
We can appreciate one another. From a distance.
“Besides,” I say with a smirk. “He has his eye on someone else at the inn.”
“My goodness, what love spell has Abigail concocted for you all?” Dad asks with a hardy laugh.
Mars chuckles. “I don’t know, but it’s working.”
The afternoon goes on in a flurry, like a second Christmas morning. We get to celebrate all over again with my parents, and guests come and go as they please. Mars and Abigail eventually join us, the two of them still glowy from their mistletoe kiss, unsure how to act around one another. I guess that was Kade and me just this morning. But we have years of history sealing us together.
“It is nearly time to get started on dinner,” my mom says, slapping her thighs and getting to her feet. “Who is helping me and Abigail?”
Everyone offers, including Kade. But before we can file into the kitchen, all abuzz and aglow from a truly joyous Christmas, the front door of the inn creaks open.
“I’ll get it,” I say, letting everyone file into the kitchen while I divert to the front hall.
Kade follows at my heels like a puppy. A six-foot-something bearded puppy. “Can’t get enough of me, huh?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him .
“No,” he says bluntly.
I laugh out loud, loving that we are past the point of avoiding the subject and are now facing it head-on.
In the front hall, there’s an older man with his flat cap pinched in his hands. His hair is almost white, and his face is weathered with age. He looks familiar, but I can’t place him.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
The man smiles. “Gia?”
I frown and open my mouth to speak.
But Kade’s voice rings out from behind me. “Dad?”
My eyes widen. “Mr. Bennett?” Other than the signs of aging, I see the man I used to know. Tall and lanky, with the same blue eyes as his children, I see Kade’s face in his father’s.
Mr. Bennett smiles, his lips thin and the corners of his eyes downturned. “I got your message.”
I realize he’s talking to Kade, not me. I’m in shock after his resistance the other night. I step out of the way, giving Kade a clear path to his father if he wants it.
“Is now an okay time to talk?” Mr. Bennett asks.
Kade brushes past me, his footsteps measured and slow, until he’s close to his father. “Yeah, we can talk.”
The moment hangs in the air. Kade is a few inches taller than his dad, but he doesn’t bear down on him. He looks like just a kid in many ways.
In the silence, I start to back out of the room. “I’ll get… I’ll get Bryn.”
I nearly stumble over my own feet in my rush to get her. I know how much this means to her. To both of them.
And, consequently, to me because they are my family. Bryn is my best friend. Kade is the man I love—yes, love. I don’t care if I’m jumping the gun.
I’ll give them anything they need.