He kissed her with a staggering tenderness that left her breathless, as if she were something fragile and extraordinary.
Holly’s hands slid up to his shoulders, her fingers curling into the solid strength of him, grounding her in the moment. The storm of emotions that had overwhelmed her only minutes before completely ebbed away, replaced by a warmth that spread through her, chasing away every shadow.
This was safety. This was solace. And this, she realized with a trembling clarity, was something deeper.
He was the one who pulled away, resting his forehead on hers. Their ragged breathing mingled in the room and she couldn’t seem to look away from the intensity of his expression.
“How the hell am I going to find the strength to leave you and Lydia?”
She blinked, stunned at the emotion in his voice.
“What?”
“The thought of it is ripping me up inside. Somehow the two of you have become... everything to me.”
Joy exploded through her at the unexpected words and the tenderness behind them. She had no idea what to say; she could only murmur his name.
“I’m in love with you, Holly. I don’t know how it happened but there it is. Somehow while we were pretending to have a relationship, I discovered how badly I wanted it all to be real.When we lost Lydia tonight, I realized I don’t want to lose her or you.”
“Oh,” she breathed, overwhelmed by his words and the emotion in his voice.
“You and your daughter have worked your way into my heart and I’m pretty sure you’re there to stay.”
This couldn’t be real. Maybe she was still asleep in her car on the way home from Haven Point and she would wake up to find her subconscious had conjured up this whole exchange as a new form of torture.
No. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, feeling the hard muscles beneath. His strength was definitely real, as was the wild happiness zinging through her.
“I thought... you said you weren’t interested in any relationship at all.”
“For a guy who likes to think he’s pretty smart, apparently I’ve said a lot of stupid stuff.”
“I assumed that if you ever did change your mind, you certainly wouldn’t want a relationship with someone like me.”
“You mean someone amazing? A woman who has more courage than nearly everybody I’ve ever worked with in the navy?”
“I mean a divorced single mom in a small Idaho town who has a child with lifelong special needs.”
He took her hand in his and tucked it against his heart. “I am not sure I really knew what I wanted, until I came to Shelter Springs this Christmas and met a certain lovely florist who is handling all the challenges in her life with grace and strength.”
His words seemed to heal something inside she hadn’t realized was broken.
Once more, he bent his head, his lips capturing hers in a soft kiss that was somehow both gentle and consuming,as if he wanted to show her everything he couldn’t put into words. The aching tenderness in his touch unraveled her completely, leaving her no choice but to surrender to the moment.
She met his tenderness with her own, trying to tell him everything in her heart.
After a long, delicious moment, she eased away from him, needing to put her feelings into words.
“I’ve been so miserable the past few days, knowing you would be leaving soon and I would probably never see you again. I was upset about not spending Christmas Eve with Lydia but a good part of my misery was because of you.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, though he didn’t look particularly repentant.
“I think I fell for you the very first time you came to the shop, when you met Lydia and I watched you tumble into love with her. I wasn’t surprised about that part. Everyone does. They can’t help it. But there was something about seeing this big, tough-looking military pilot turn to putty when he met my child. I fell hard and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about it ever since.”
HER WORDS SENTjoy spilling through him like sunshine through a window on a stormy day.
He so easily could have missed this. It was all chance, a strange yet beautiful serendipity.
If Kim hadn’t asked him for help, if he hadn’t gone to pick up Audrey that day at Evergreen & Ivy, if he hadn’t agreed—for reasons that still confounded him—to take her to the wedding, he wouldn’t be right here in this moment, with the future stretching out ahead of them.
