AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The house was so much, even above the reserve. But there was something else I’d overlooked, something they wanted to be included in the house and something that was worth almost twice as much once I had it valued.
The only condition was that it could only ever leave the house if it was used as intended, never sold, and only passed on through the same way.
I’d never even really thought about it until today.
Until I knew that I wanted more than just Avery for Christmas.
Slipping my robe on, I find her almost dozing in the huge antique tub, a warm towel over her eyes.
I crouch down next to the bath, tracing my fingers through the water, pausing to make her shiver as I tease her nakedness underneath the water with it.
“What you got there, Jack. You have time to climb in here with me?” she asks, a coy smile playing on her lips.
I’d thought she’d never ask.
“How’s dinner?” she adds, peeking at my own nakedness from under her cloth as I slide into the tub, the water dangerously close to spilling over.
“It’s ready whenever you are,” I tell her, really seeing just how beautiful she looks in the soft candlelight. Candles I never even knew I had.
I can see her shivering another breath, almost like she knows what I’m about to ask.
And I already know the answer
The water ripples with our own tiny movements as I reach for her.
Slipping the ring onto her finger.
She shudders, trying to take the cloth from her eyes, but I tell her no.
“Just say yes, Avery. We’ve had the best two days of our lives, let’s have this every day. Tell me you’ll be mine forever, officially.”
She’s already nodding her head, speechless.
I lean forward, ignoring the water sloshing from the tub and taking off her face cloth, I hold my eyes in front of hers.
“You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Avery. This is only a ring, but the ring around our hearts, I want that to last forever.”
“Oh, Jack! You know it’s yes. It’ll always be yes because I love you,” she says, her tears streaming as I kiss her.
A kiss that feels the same every time.
Every single one and on every single day, which to me will always be Christmas.
As long as I have my Avery.
My one, my only.EpilogueSix Months LaterAveryI should feel embarrassed it took me so long to even remember her, but on the other hand. Who remembers every single thing they throw in the trash?
“Whatever did happen to Angela, Jack? My old boss,” I ask him, decorating the tree in Jack’s office.
He laughs out loud and slaps his hand on the side of his desk, making me jump.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he exclaims, coming around to hold the stepladder steady as it creaks a little under my weight.
“I can do it,” I snap impatiently, remembering how we first met. How trees and I sometimes don’t get along.
“I know you can,” he says firmly, gripping my thighs and holding me steady as he groans, totally distracting me.
Making me feel conscious of my weight for the millionth time in months.
The weight I know he knows that I know has been creeping on.
I’ve been through two whole sizes in as many months and not once has Jack said a word. If anything, he seems more turned on by it.
“Well, what happened to her?” I ask, gnawing my lip in concentration as I set the angel just right at the top of the tree.
Jack’s face is pressed against my thighs, right by my ass and all I can hear is a muffled sound as he pretends to speak.
“Very funny, what happened?” I almost shout, feeling my temper get the better of me too for about the fifth time today.
Who the hell has Christmas in July anyway? I was all for it last year… at Christmas, but this is just-
I hear myself calling out for Jack, suddenly panicked. There are spots in front of my eyes as the whole room starts to spin away from me and before I know it I’ve slipped off the ladder and landed right in Jack’s arms.
His eyes are intense, piercing.
None of us are laughing or angry now.
“What’s wrong with me, Jack?” I ask him, feeling my lower lip tremble.
He carries me over to the couch and lays me out on it, holding up a firm finger when I try to get up.
“We’re about to find out,” he says in his business voice, getting put through to a doctor who I know will be here quicker than a roast beef sandwich, knowing Jack.
While we’re waiting, he sits on the edge of the couch, patting my hand.
“I gave her an ultimatum by email the day we left for home,” he says, coming back to my original Angela, Barbie boss witch from hell problem I had before Jack came along.
