Chapter 8
ANGEL
The sight of Ronan at my doorstep is one I’ll remember forever.
There’s nothing monumental about it. Nothing I haven’t seen dozens of times on TV and in the movies—just a man standing at the door of the woman he’s about to take on a date, holding flowers and giving her a sweetly hopeful smile.
But to me, it’s more than that.
He’s more than that.
Flakes of snow dust his hair and shoulders from the flurries that just kicked up in the last fifteen minutes, contrasting with his gently mussed hair and the dark green jacket that’s almost the same color as his eyes.
Jeans a shade darker than he usually wears show off his well-muscled legs.
His rugged features are flushed from the cold.
His facial hair is neatly trimmed, setting off the line of his jaw.
As he looks at me, his eyes brighten. His smile widens. “Angel.” He extends the larger of the two bouquets he’s holding to me. “You look beautiful.”
The butterflies that have been buzzing in my stomach all day explode into flight. My chest squeezes.
When was the last time someone gave me flowers?
When was the last time someone called me beautiful and looked like they meant it?
As I take the bouquet from Ronan—an assortment of white roses and carnations with bits of holly tucked between them—he leans forward to kiss my cheek. His lips are warm despite the cold, and they send a tingle of heat racing through my body.
“Thank you,” I say, feeling unexpectedly breathless. “They’re so pretty.” Then I duck my head, ostensibly to smell the flowers, but really to hide the tears that spring to my eyes.
I know it’s just a date. But it feels like so much more.
It’s hope after years of telling myself relationships were for other people.
It’s hope after years of believing no man would be interested in what I have to offer.
But now…
Now I have this man, this handsome, brave, thoughtful man, right here. Wanting to take me out. Wanting to get to know me better. Bringing me flowers, and from the looks of the smaller bouquet in his left hand…
“What’s that for?” I ask, angling my head at it. I think I know. But I don’t want to assume.
Ronan glances at the small assortment of blue carnations and baby’s breath. Then he flashes me a quick smile that looks almost nervous. “They’re for Haley. While I was buying your flowers, I started thinking… Well, she might like flowers, too.”
My heart goes all gooey. “She’ll love them, Ronan. And blue is her favorite color.”
His cheeks flush darker. “She mentioned that. While we were skiing.”
Before I can respond, the wind picks up, bringing with it a whirl of snow. Without the buffer of a coat, I shiver.
“Let’s get out of the cold,” Ronan says.
He puts his arm around my shoulders and leads me back inside.
Once he shuts the door behind us, he turns to face me.
That cutely nervous expression moves across his face again.
“Are you sure it’s okay that I got Haley flowers?
I just thought, since I was getting them for you… I didn’t want her to feel left out.”
Then he glances around my small living room, as if he’s expecting Haley to come charging out at any moment. “Is she here?”
“No,” I reply. Taking the smaller bouquet from him, I gesture for Ronan to follow me into the kitchen.
“She’s already at the babysitter’s.” Then I set the flowers on the counter so I can search for the vases I know must be stashed somewhere in my cabinets.
“She wanted to stay to say hi to you. But I was afraid she’d talk so much we’d never make it to dinner. ”
As I find one slightly dusty vase, then another, Ronan takes them from me and brings them over to the sink. While he rinses them, he asks, “Is she with Hazel? Alec didn’t mention anything when I saw him earlier today, but he doesn’t always know what Hazel’s planning.”
“No, she’s with my neighbor. Miranda. She’s my usual babysitter, so I thought it would be easier. Plus, Miranda has two dogs, who Haley loves. So whenever Miranda watches Haley, I usually send Haley over there.”
“I see.” His expression turns speculative. Though I’m not sure, given Ronan’s protective tendencies, he’s probably doing a mental run-through of everyone he knows in town to make sure Miranda’s on the up and up.
“Miranda’s great,” I say. While I set the bouquets in the vases, I add, “She works at the daycare in town. And she’s taking online classes to become a teacher. I’ve known her for… gosh. Ten years? I never worry about leaving Haley with her.”
Well, maybe I worry a little. But isn’t that what moms do? Worry no matter how reassuring the circumstances?
“That’s good,” he replies. “I’m glad you have someone like that to rely on.”
“Yeah.” I arrange the vases on the counter so they’re the first thing Haley will see when she comes into the kitchen.
She’ll be thrilled to find out one of them is for her, and even more so when I tell her they’re from Ronan.
Already at near-hero status from his association with the Green Mountain Guardians, the ski lesson propelled him the rest of the way there.
Now, I can’t go an hour without hearing something about Ronan. Things like, “Did you know Ronan was Special Forces? That means he’s the very best in all of the Army.” Or, “Ronan can give people stitches. And perform CPR. Did you know that? Isn’t that cool?”
I don’t mind it. I think Ronan’s pretty awesome, too.
But whenever I find myself thinking about Ronan—recalling his smile or the sparkle in his eyes when he cracked a joke or the feel of his lips against mine—a scared, insecure voice in my head whispers, What if it’s a mistake, letting him in?
What if he hurts you, just like Justin did? What if he hurts Haley?
I don’t have the answer to any of those questions. And if it were anyone else, I might let the scared voice scare me away.
But it’s Ronan.
And though I know it’s a risk, my heart tells me to take it.
“So.” Ronan closes the distance between us and takes my hand. “Are you ready to go? Our reservation’s for six-thirty. Unless you’d rather not go out in the cold. I can always cancel it, and we can order delivery instead. Stay in and watch a movie.”
A beat later, his lips quirk. “We could even watch a movie that isn’t about Christmas.”
With a light laugh, I bump his arm with mine. “I have been watching a lot of Christmas movies lately. So that does sound appealing. But I’ve been looking forward to dinner at The Laughing Goat. So as long as you’re okay with it…”
His arm comes around me again, hugging me closer. Flares of heat erupt at the contact. “I’m definitely okay with it, Angel.” Then he dips his head towards mine, and I hear an almost inaudible sniff.
“Did you just smell me?” I ask as we walk back into the living room.
“Hmm?” Ronan releases me and hurries over to the line of coat hooks near the front door. He takes my pink puffer jacket off the hook and shoots me a questioning look. “Is this the one you want to wear?”
“Actually, the black one.” I nod at the black wool coat hanging a few hooks over.
It’s not nearly as warm, but it’s dressier.
And I think it’ll go better with my dressy jeans—yes, I’m aware that sounds like an oxymoron, but the pair I’m wearing are darker and more fitted than the ones I usually wear—and the sparkly petal-pink sweater I found at Bargains n’ Bliss yesterday at seventy-five percent off.
“Okay,” he agrees. Swapping the coats out, he holds the wool one out for me to step into. His gaze sweeps over me again. “Have I mentioned how beautiful you look?”
My heart flips over again. At this rate, it’ll be ready to audition for the circus soon.
As Ronan helps me into my coat, his fingers graze the sensitive skin on my neck. I shiver, but not from the cold this time.
Ronan watches me while I grab my purse and keys. While I’m locking up, he asks, “How are the new cameras working? Hopefully, no problems with them?”
In between his shifts at Stowe and preparing for his upcoming trip to Maine, he found enough time to come over to install extra security cameras over my garage, above the porch, and by my back door.
The back camera even has a motion detector, so it’ll signal an alert if anyone approaches the kitchen door past ten o’clock at night.
“They’re good,” I tell him as we walk down the path to the driveway. “The back alarm did go off last night when a raccoon walked by. But I guess that’s to be expected.”
When we reach Ronan’s car, he opens the passenger door and waits for me to get in. “I’ll ask Alec to adjust the settings so it won’t go off unless something larger triggers it.”
“You don’t have to do that. You and Alec have already done enough.”
Ronan leans over to press a quick kiss to my cheek. “I want to, Angel. It’s important to me that you and Haley are safe.”
My heart goes all mushy again.
He cares if I’m safe. Not just me, but Haley, too.
Would a man who isn’t really interested say that? If Ronan thought Haley was a burden, like those few crummy losers I dated implied, would he care about Haley’s safety? Would he bring her a little bouquet, in her favorite color, no less, so she wouldn’t feel left out?
I don’t think so. And I really hope I’m not wrong.
The drive to The Laughing Goat is quick, only five minutes or so to the other side of town.
On the way, Ronan tells me about Murphy’s latest hobby—stealing Ronan’s gloves and hiding them in the snow—and I fill him in on some of the more interesting things I’ve seen at work over the last couple of days, with the highlight being Jeff’s proposal to his long-time boyfriend.
“He asked Taylor to pick him up at the end of the shift,” I recall, “and when Taylor arrived, the whole place was dark except for a bunch of battery-operated candles. And on the bar, Jeff had spelled out Will You Marry Me with filled beer glasses. They both love craft beer, so it was fitting.”