I walked her to the door, hugged her again, then she left. The second the door closed, Austin materialized out of his shadows. I couldn’t get a word out, he was already talking.
“Before you say anything, I need to tell you that she’s right. I…I understand if you’re not there yet but I want you to know, it’s true. I have been looking for you my whole life and I…I am in love with you.”
“Before I say anything, I need you to be completely honest with me.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Did you total Officer O’Neill’s car last summer?”
He nodded. “I did. I was aiming for someone else but got the car.”
“So you haven’t been stalking me for years and ruining all my dates?”
“What? No, of course not. Hang on, what do you meanall?”
“I meanall. The last almost six years every guy I’ve tried to go out with came up with some excuse or another. A few even stood me up. I finally gave up after O’Neill and his icicle story.”
“What kind of excuses?”
“One guy said all his doors and windows were frozen shut—it was three Mays ago. Another said their car had been buried during an avalanche four Septembers ago. Actually, now that I’mthinking about it, everything has been cold related. Except one, he got food poisoning at a business dinner.”
Austin burst out laughing.
“You’re telling me I’ve been ruining every date you’ve had planned for nearly six years?”
“Don’t laugh!” I shoved his shoulder. “It’s not funny!”
“Come on, it’s a little funny.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“You mean it? You’re not just saying that?”
“I mean it. I love you.”
He grinned so wide his cheeks would probably hurt in the morning.
“God, I fucking love you! I’m the luckiest ever,” he said before kissing me softly. “You know you’ll never get rid of me now, right?”
Good, I knew this was it for me. From the moment he found me in the alley, I’d been his.
“Promise?”
“Forever.”
27
THE VOLUNTEER
It had beenfour years since I’d been excited for the holidays. Growing up, my mum and dad took me out to the cottage for winter break. We didn’t celebrate Christmas. Instead, we celebrated the Winter Solstice. We used to decorate one of the trees on the property—a different one each year.
I’d run around the whole forest until I found the perfect one. Most years we couldn’t even see it from inside but it wasmore fun that way. Then we would sit in front of the fireplace, laughing and drinking hot chocolate and playing boardgames until I fell asleep on the rug. It was our tradition right up until Dad was killed in the crash.
The Solstice after Dad passed, Mum and I still went up. We still decorated a tree. We still stayed up way too late drinking hot chocolate—although it was spiked—but we mostly cried, wishing Dad was still here, telling old stories. That was Mum’s last Solstice.
Then I was alone.
I still went up every year. I decorated a tree, then sat in front of the fireplace with a hot chocolate and a book. I always took the week leading up to Christmas off. Everyone wanted the 25thto the 27thoff anyway, so I took the shifts no one wanted, kept up my tradition, and went to the cottage for a few days.
