Sutton’s piercing blues fill with desire, pinning me to the spot as he replies, “I’d say whatever my girls want.”
Two Months Later…
Christmas
“What do you think?”Whitney slides up beside my spot on the far back wall where I’m taking it all in.
“It’s beautiful.” Green and red twinkling lights sparkle overhead, draped across the wide-open dance floor at The Rocks. The room is full of people gathered for the second annual Powell-Stone family Christmas. I’ve been told the Powells have celebrated here for years, but once Cortney and Spencer got together, it made sense to combine the holiday into one, massive family gathering.
“Do you believe it yet?” Whitney leans in close.
“Believe what?”
My best friend loops her arm through my elbow. “That these are your people.”
That sentence alone sets my heart racing, and a swoop in my stomach follows. Fighting the smile lifting my cheeks would be impossible.
“In all my thirty-two years, I’ve never felt anything like it,” I confess, unable to deny the love these people show me every single day.
“I know I say this all the time, but I’m so glad you’re here. Do I like that you withheld information from me in order to do it? No. Do I forgive you? One hundred percent. Am I beyond thrilled that you found your own version of a blue-collar Blizzard-Hottie? Without a doubt.”
We giggle like two schoolgirls discussing our crushes at recess. I search the room until I lay eyes on Sutton. He isn’t hard to find. Most of the men here are tall, but it’s like my soul feels his from across the distance.
He looks up from where he’s deep in discussion with Jude and Spencer, his expression softening.
“Gosh, I feel like I wasted so much time. I could have moved here right after you, and who knows where I’d be right now?”
“Time worked out exactly as it was supposed to.”
I lay my head on Whitney’s shoulder. “You’re right. It’s just that with a whole unknown future laid out in front of us, I want to get started right now.”
Sutton moves across the room as if summoned, stopping by my side and touching his mouth to mine.
“Whitney.” He inclines his head. “Mind if I steal her for a moment?”
Whitney tries and fails to hide her grin behind a plastic cup of fruit punch. She waves her hand between us. “No, absolutely not. She’s all yours.”
Sutton wraps his arm securely around my waist. “Let’s grab your coat.”
“Are we leaving?”
“No. I just need to show you something.”
Sutton helps me into my knee-length parka before sliding on his own winter insulated coat. His fingers thread through mine, the familiar weight of them just another sign I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
I stop just inside the double doors before he can tug me through. “Oh my gosh, look at how much it’s snowing!”
When I moved to Minnesota, I thought I’d hate the cold and snow. I had resigned myself to becoming a hermit in the winter and not leaving the house until spring. That was before I saw for myself how absolutely beautiful it could be. How it felt when fresh snow crunched beneath my warm winter boots. How the lawn glittered in the morning after a nighttime snowfall. And like now. Big, fat, fluffy flakes floating gently to the ground.
“I want to catch one on my tongue.”
Sutton chuckles and kisses the back of my hand. “Plenty of time for you to do that.”
We step outside. A rush of cold air whips my cheeks. I might love the snow, but I’m still getting used to the bitter cold. And according to all the people inside, today’s temperature isn’t even ‘that bad.’Whatever that means.
If I had to guess, I’d say I haven’t seen the worst that a Minnesota winter has to offer. Not by a long shot.
I wouldn’t mind if Mother Nature saved that particular surprise until next year. Once I’m more used to the weather.
