Chapter 6
Austin
Toby and Dee’s front porch gives me a perfect view of our cabin, so that’s where I stand, watching my wife park her SUV and walk inside.
I know exactly what she’ll do as soon as she steps inside.
She’ll start by dropping her car keys onto the table next to the front door and walking into the kitchen.
That’s where she’ll be expecting to find me waiting for her.
Instead, she’ll find the note I’ve left her giving her instructions to follow ahead of our Christmas date.
“What are you goin’ to do if she misses the note and just sits on the couch for half an hour waitin’ for ya?” Toby says from where he’s sitting on an Adirondack chair behind me.
I shoot him a smirk over my shoulder. “You think I’d leave anythin’ to chance?
The whole idea is for her to relax after workin’ at the hospital all day.
There’s a hot bath and a glass of wine waitin’ for her.
Then she’ll find another note on the mirror in our closet tellin’ her to send me a text when she’s ready. ”
“That’s actually pretty smart,” Dee replies from her perch in Toby’s lap. “You’re givin’ her alone time in the house and the chance to pretty herself up for you.” She nudges my brother. “You should take notes, Tobes.”
He tightens his arms around Dee’s hips. “Don’t you worry that gorgeous head of yours, Mrs. Graham. There’s a reason we haven’t had our date yet, and that’s cause it’s goin’ to be the best one out of all of them. I’m just bein’ nice by lettin’ Red, Colt, and my brothers have their turns first.”
I snort. “Lettin’ us go first out of the goodness of your heart? Likely story, Tobes. Maybe you’re the one strugglin’ for ideas and were hopin’ to get inspired by all of our dates. Nothin’ nice about that, is there?”
Toby grins, his eyes dancing with mischief. “I guess you’ll never know.”
“Ugh. Maybe I should’ve waited it out at the ranch house with Red and Mags,” I say, looking over toward our cabin again. Damn Tobes for putting doubt in my mind.
About now, she should be hopping into the bath. She’ll be naked, and I’m… the stupid husband who thought I’d treat my wife and build anticipation for our date rather than just be there, possibly saving water and sharing said bath. Dammit.
“I think someone is regrettin’ his life decisions,” Dee says, teasing me.
“She needs alone time to decompress. It’s not just the shops that get busy over the holidays. The hospital does too. I just wanted to give her space to let go of her day so she’ll enjoy tonight.”
Dee’s eyes soften. “You’re a good man, Austin.”
“I’m right here you know…” Toby grumbles.
Dee turns a sly grin my brother’s way. “I always know where you are, Tobes. I’m just saying that Austin has been very thoughtful and purposeful with his date planning. That’s all.”
Toby eyes me suspiciously before turning back to his wife, his gaze melting. “I’m still winnin’ that trophy, though.”
Dee huffs out a breath and runs her fingers through his hair. “There isn’t a trophy, Tobes.”
Not wanting to intrude any more than I have, I look at my watch, realizing that I still have another thirty minutes to wait until it’s time to get my gorgeous wife. “I’m goin’ to go find some work to do,” I mutter, waving over my head as I walk off the porch and turn toward the barn.
“Impatient much,” Tobes laughs.
“You have no idea, brother,” I say before I flip him off and leave the lovebirds to it.
But I do it with a smile because soon it’ll be me holding my One in my arms.
I pull out my phone and type out a message.
Austin: Everything set for tonight?
Mags: You doubt me, Austin Graham? Of COURSE it’s ready. I wouldn’t just do this for anyone, you know…
Austin: I appreciate everything, Mags. I just hope Charlie isn’t disappointed.
Mags: The highlight of my girl’s day is seeing you. Getting to spend an uninterrupted night with you doing what she loves? She’ll be putty in your hands.
I scrunch my nose up.
Austin: NOT something I want to discuss with my mother-in-law
Mags: Oh my God. No, Austin! I didn’t mean THAT. Although…
Austin: MAGS…
Mags: Just clean up after y’all...
Austin: MAGS!
Mags: Good chat. Everything is ready. Just use that key I’ve given you and put a smile on my Charlie Bear’s face. I don’t even care if you beat us, as long as you two are happy.
Austin: Thanks Mags.
Mags: Anytime. Now, you'd better hurry up. She’s already messaged me asking what the hell is going on.
Austin: Yes, ma’am
“There you are!” Charlie says, shooting me a very happy smile as I walk into our bedroom. I don’t stop until she’s in my arms and my lips are crushed to hers. “I can’t believe you poured me a bath,” she says when we finally pull apart.
I lift my hand and run the back of my knuckles down her cheek. “You look relaxed. That’s all I wanted.”
“I’m a lucky wife.”
I shake my head. “If anyone is lucky, it’s me.”
Her lips twitch up on the side. “Maybe we’re both lucky then.”
I brush my mouth against hers one more time. “Now, that I’ll agree with. You ready to go, Char?”
“Do I look ready to go?” she asks, standing back and holding her arms out before doing a twirl.
Here’s the thing. I love my wife unconditionally.
I love her when she’s dressed up, dressed down, and especially when she’s wearing nothing at all.
I appreciate every single thing about her.
One of my favorite looks on her is when she wears just a T-shirt and jeans.
It’s just totally her. My Charlie. My first love who thankfully gave me a second chance to be her last one too.
“You’re beautiful. Let’s go. We’ve got a busy night ahead of us.”
She frowns, cocking her head to look at me. “We do?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Not sure why I needed the blindfold, Austin.”
“Because I didn’t want you to know where we were goin’.”
“Spoil sport,” she mutters.
I pull the car to a stop on Main Street. “OK, we’re here.”
“Here?” she says, turning her head to look around even though she’s still got her eyes covered. “Where’s here?”
"If you take that blindfold off, you’ll see…” I laugh when she literally rips it off her face, her eyes widening as she looks around to get her bearings.
Her brows furrow. “Wait. Why’s the diner closed?”
I chuckle, taking in the dark building in front of us with nothing but the Christmas tree lights on. “That’s the first thing you notice?”
“Yep. Did somethin’ happen?” she asks, looking concerned.
“Nope. Come on. We’ve got somewhere to be and somethin’ to do.” I jump out of the truck, stopping and staring when she goes to open her own door. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
I don’t miss the way her eyes flash with heat. “OK.”
Moments later, after helping her out and locking the vehicle up behind us, I lead her to the diner’s front door.
“Uh, Austin?”
“Just a minute, Char. All will be revealed as soon as I get this damn lock to work,” I grind out, gritting my teeth. I wiggle the key, trying to get it to turn.
“Let me try.” She covers my fingers with hers and shoos me away. And wouldn’t you know it, not ten seconds later, the lock clicks and Charlie pushes the door open. “It obviously just needed a woman’s touch,” she muses.
“Don’t we all.”
She turns around and tugs on my arm, walking backward into the empty, closed restaurant. Before I forget, I shut the door and lock it behind us. “All in good time, husband of mine. Are you goin’ to tell me what your plans are now that we’re here?”
Suddenly, I’m struck with nerves. What if she’s disappointed? What if she’s expecting big and grand, and I’ve gone for cozy, comfortable, and nostalgic with a side of giving?
“Hey,” she says softly, “I don’t care what we’re doin’, just that I get to do it with you.
We could sit and watch paint dry and as long as you’re right there doin’ it with me, I’d love it.
” I eye her skeptically and–to her credit–she keeps a straight face for much longer than I thought she would.
“OK, maybe not watchin’ paint dry, but you get my point. ”
I take a deep breath and let go of all my thoughts. I planned this with Charlie in mind, and there’s nobody I know better than my wife. “OK. You ready to get started?”
She arches a brow. “We’re standin’ inside a closed diner, Austin. Not sure there’s anythin’ to get started.”
I pull her in and press my lips to hers, leaving them there as I speak. “Trust me, Char.”
“OK.” Just like that. Trusting.
I lead her behind the counter and toward the kitchen, which Mags had completely blocked off for us in preparation for tonight. Normally, the whole place would be open and lit up, but she didn’t blink an eye when I told her what I wanted to do.
“I’m officially curious.”
A smile curves my lips. “Good,” I reply as I hold my arm out to usher her inside. “After you.”
I wait a spell as Charlie walks into the kitchen and stops, her eyes widening as they land back on me. “What did you do?”
I look around at what Mags and I did after we closed the diner late this afternoon.
The room is filled with LED candles, the light flickering on the walls and giving the space a warm glow.
On the long steel bench there are cookie trays, bowls, and all of the ingredients we could ever need for the night.
Normally the place would be bustling right now, but Mags was all on board with me reliving Christmas memories with her only daughter and getting a bonus night with Red at home.
My lips tug up on the side as I move up to stand next to her, closing us into the now private kitchen.
“When I was thinkin’ of things we could do on this date of ours, I had a lot of ideas.
Then I remembered somethin’ from before you left, when we were back in high school.
” Her eyes soften as I continue. “We were at your house, and you got this idea to bake Christmas treats to sell at the Christmas Fair so you could buy your mom a really good present. Do you remember?”
Her mouth twitches up at the memory. “Mom couldn’t believe the mess she found when she got home. There was flour on the windows and batter on the cupboards.”
“How was I to know that you’re supposed to ease the mixer out, not lift it then turn it off?” I quip, earning a giggle.
Charlie leans against me. “How did you get Ma to agree to let us into her kitchen again unsupervised?”
“I’m her favorite son-in-law. I just told her that I wanted to make good on the mistakes of Christmas baking past, and she agreed on one condition.”
“We clean up?” Charlie suggests.
I nod. “Well, that’s a given. But no.”
Her nose scrunches up. “OK. Was it not to let you near the mixer?”
“Funny,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “But nope. It was that once we’ve finished, we do somethin’ good with what we make. I figure, if you weren’t too sick of the place, we could take them to the children’s ward tomorrow with the kids and hand them out to the families doing it tough these holidays.”
The way Charlie’s breath catches tells me I’ve done good. “You like the idea?”
Tears fill Charlie’s eyes as she throws her arms around my neck. “Austin, that’s the sweetest thing ever. I love it.”
“Good.” I brush my lips over her forehead before pulling back to look at her. “Now, let’s get bakin’. We’ve got cookies to make, and memories to create.”
“Let’s do it,” she says, wiping her eyes and grabbing an apron hanging on the wall. “Even if we do make a mess again, it’ll be worth the cleanin’ up, just because I’m doin’ it with you.”
I grab the strings of the apron and tug her into me before wrapping my fingers around her ponytail and kissing her thoroughly before releasing her.
“What was that for?” she asks, breathlessly.
“Can’t do what I want to do when you say sweet things like that. Let’s call that a show of appreciation for the woman, the wife, and the mother you are. I love you, I love livin’ life with you, and every day I get you is my new best day.”
“Stop bein’ sweet otherwise we’ll end up makin’ a different kind of mess in this kitchen before we’ve ever started bakin’.”
I kiss her one last time, but this time I do it laughing against her lips. “OK.”
Once I’ve tied her apron up, she does the same to me.
Then, once I cue up a Christmas playlist on my phone and press play, we get to work, first with gingerbread cookies, then some peppermint bark, and finally chocolate balls—since it’s frowned upon to give children rum balls even if they are delicious.
Whenever we take a break, we do it together—either cleaning up after us, or Char packaging up the sweets ready for us to hand out tomorrow.
A few times, I sweep her into my arms for a slow dance to Christmas songs like Silver Bells by Dean Martin, and once we boogie down to Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee.
We laugh, we tease each other, we sneak kisses, and even have a mini food fight with the leftover cookie dough.
“This might just be the perfect date, husband of mine,” Charlie murmurs after tying off the last cellophane bag with the bark in it. “Thank you for tonight. I really needed this,” she says, moving in front of me and wrapping her arms around my back.
I hold her close, feeling her warmth seep into my bones. “I’m just happy that you’re happy, Char. You deserve it.”
She leans back, her gaze soft and full of love. “You know I love you, right?”
My lips tug up to the side. “Well, I hope so. You’re kind of stuck with me. You know, with the whole marriage thing… and the bein’ my soulmate thing…”
She rolls her eyes and sighs melodramatically. “I guess that’s my cross to bear.”
“Cheeky,” I say, giving her a squeeze. “And I know this is all supposed to be a contest, but my only aim for tonight was givin’ you time to relax, have some time for yourself, then recreatin’ one of my many favorite memories I have with you.”
“And we’ve still got many more to come,” she murmurs against my lips before deepening the kiss.
Unfortunately for me, that’s when the oven dings, letting us know that the last batch of cookies is ready.
We pull apart, both of us smiling when we do. “Later?” I say, resting my forehead on hers. The woman who has given me more in my life than I’ll ever be able to give her. Not that I’ll ever stop trying.
She grins. “Definitely later. C’mon, sous-chef. There’s work to do.”