Chapter 28 Justin #2
Caroline stood from where she’d been sitting cross-legged on the floor and bounded up to him, resting her hands on his folded arms. “Are you ready for my surprise?”
Oh, so she wanted to play this game. “I thought you said we weren’t getting each other anything big for Christmas.”
“It’s not big,” she confirmed with a smile.
Leaning in, Justin whispered against her hair. “I’m ready to give you your surprise too.”
Caroline turned to her mom, then her dad. “We’ll be back in a little while.”
Justin let her drag him toward the door and accepted his coat when she tossed it at him. “Let’s go before the boys see you leaving,” she whispered.
Outside, snow had dusted the drive. She tugged him toward Clint’s truck. “I have a surprise. Don’t look in the back seat.”
“Now I really want to look,” he teased, but he obeyed, eyes stubbornly on the horizon as she clambered into the driver’s seat.
Justin’s phone rang, and an unknown number lit up on the screen.
“Do you need to answer that?” Caroline asked.
“It’s Christmas, and we’re in the middle of a not-so-big surprise. I’m not answering it.”
“What if it’s important, and someone is trying to reach you?”
Justin answered the call, sure it was a telemarketer. “Hello.”
“Justin?”
Chuck’s voice was raspy and a little weak, but Justin would know it anywhere.
“Chuck. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah. You just gave me your number, and I figured I should use it on Christmas.”
Justin stared out the windshield, struck silent by the call he’d never expected to receive.
“What is it?” Caroline whispered.
That pulled Justin out of his stupor. “Um. Thanks, Chuck. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, son.”
Caroline’s eyes widened, and Justin reached for her hand. He’d never gotten so much as a “Good morning” from Chuck before. Merry Christmas was completely unheard of until this moment.
“Thanks for calling. Mind if I stop by and pay you a visit this afternoon?”
Chuck let out a throaty hmph. “Sure, just don’t expect a Christmas present or anything.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Justin said.
Seconds later, Justin let the phone fall to his lap. “I can’t believe he called me.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Caroline asked.
“I guess so. He said I could stop by later.”
Caroline squeezed his hand. “It’s Christmas, and your dad is starting to act like a decent human being. This is fantastic!”
“Fantastic is a stretch, but it’s definitely better than nothing.”
They rattled down a familiar path, the pole barn and the creek coming into view. He remembered the first time—the rain, the hidden whispers, the kiss that had been both salvation and the start of a long ache. Here, in daylight, the barn looked somber.
When Caroline parked and opened the truck bed, a light picnic waited in woven baskets with blankets, pillows, a chocolate cheesecake, and thermoses filled with steaming hot chocolate if he guessed right.
She grinned like a conspirator. “Like our first Christmas together. Do you remember?”
Justin let out a laugh. “I remember everything. I was with the woman of my dreams, and she was about to change my life.”
Caroline’s cheeks bloomed in a deep pink. “Stop it.”
“Never.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, then moved to her jaw. “This is the perfect present.”
“It’s not perfect, but I brought chocolate cheesecake and hot chocolate. I couldn’t think of a single thing to get you. What do you get for the guy who could literally buy anything he wants?”
He lifted her into the back of the truck. “Like I said, it’s perfect.”
Still blushing, she handed him a paper plate with a whopping slice of cheesecake and a thermos of sweet hot chocolate before settling down with her own dessert.
“Best Christmas ever,” he said around cheesecake.
“It’s nothing.” She smiled over the rim of her thermos. “Want to make it a tradition?”
“More than anything. I hope I’m having Christmas picnics with you when we’re old and gray.”
Caroline brushed a hand into his hair. “You’ll be a handsome silver fox.”
He surprised himself after the bravado she’d built up in him. “I don’t want to wait.”
“Wait for what?” she asked, curious.
There wasn’t any use wondering over it now. The Lord had brought them here, to this moment, together at last, and he wouldn’t take a second for granted. He didn’t just love Caroline Taylor. He was building a future with her every day they spent together.
Brushing his nose against her cheek, he peppered kisses over her temple. “You’ll be a beautiful wife.”
Jerking back, she let out a small gasp. “What?”
“Well, that is, if you want to marry me,” Justin clarified.
“Wait, are you proposing?”
“I didn’t plan to this morning, but I don’t see a reason to wait. I love you, Caroline, and I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box wrapped in pink paper and white ribbon.
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Justin.”
“Open it. It’s not a ring, but there will be a ring.”
She tore into the wrapping with the impatience of someone whose heart was already a step ahead of her brain. Inside lay a leather bracelet matching the one she’d given him years ago, the one he’d worn until the strap softened and the imprint of their names had begun to fade.
“It’s pink!” she squealed. “And it says Justin and Caroline!”
He slid the band onto her wrist, wanting to say so much more, but words felt clumsy for the weight of what he meant.
“This is the best present ever!” Flinging her arms around his neck, she wrapped him up in a warm embrace. “I love it. I love you.”
“I love you too. I really wanted to get you a ring but wasn’t sure if you were ready.”
“I don’t need a ring.” She settled into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. “So, spring wedding?”
“Care to make it sooner?” he asked, becoming bolder by the second.
Her laugh tinkled over him. “Alicia would be mad if we didn’t give her time to plan.”
He adjusted her legs around him. “What’s the first day of spring?”
She let out a contented hum. “I just want you.”
“You’re all I want too.”
The family at the house, the crib in the woodshop for a child already loved, his name on her wrist, her arms around his neck—it all felt like proof that some things could be different than what he’d learned as a kid. Love here was ordinary and loud and generous.
“I love you, Sweet Caroline,” he said again, because some truths deserved to be repeated.
“Love you more,” she answered, which only made his heart and his entire soul fall harder for her.