Page 11 of Wrapped in Love

She sighed, and I knew I had won.

“I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”

I kissed her hard. “You have thirty. Merry Christmas.”

She smiled up at me, her lovely eyes sparkling in the overhead light. “Merry Christmas.”

Then she hurried away.

But knowing she’d return made me look up at the wintery sky and smile.

I called Elly as I walked toward Callie’s store.

“Are you on your way?” she asked by way of a greeting.

“In thirty minutes. I hope you have room for one more.”

“You brought someone with you from Calgary? You never said⁠—”

I interrupted her. “No. I met her yesterday.”

“Her?” Elly’s voice was shocked. I had never brought a girl home—not once in my life. Especially one I had just met. “Shane, what’s going on?”

I walked up the steps, watching Callie race through her store. From the pile on the counter, it wasn’t only the kids getting a gift. She was being overly generous, yet I knew that was her nature, so I wouldn’t stop her.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I’m bringing someone home. Her name is Callie. And Elly?” I said with a pause. “She’s important.”

“How important?”

I drew in a long breath, finally saying out loud what I had been feeling since the moment I’d seen Callie. “Life-changing important.”

“Then we can’t wait to meet her.”

“See you soon.”

I hung up and went inside to find Callie.

4

SHANE

Callie’s fingers worried the sleeve of her red jacket. Then the hem. They moved on to her jeans, tugging at the seam as she stared out the window into the early dawn. Reaching over, I covered her restless hand with mine, pulling it across to rest it on my thigh.

“Your clothing is suffering with your unnecessary worry.”

She met my sidelong glance with anxious eyes.

“This is crazy. You should pull over and I’ll walk home.”

I burst out laughing at her absurd remark. “We’re an hour away from the shop, Callie. I am not ‘pulling over’ and dropping you off. You’re coming with me and spending Christmas with my family. We’re going to get to know each other more.”

“And then?” she asked quietly.

“Then we’ll figure out the next step.” I lifted her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I have never felt this connection to another person before, Callie. Ever. I am not going to waste this chance to explore something I feel is going to be significant.”

“But—”

I shook my head. “No. Don’t overthink this. We both feel it. You told me so. Whatever this is, we’ll figure it out. I have no permanent ties in Calgary. You have no permanent ties here. If we have a future, we’ll figure out the wheres, whys, and whens later. But for today, we’re together, it’s Christmas, and I want you with me. Can that be enough? For now?”