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“Sis!? What’s wrong? Where are you? I—”
“Izzzzzy!!! Come outside and fix my makeup!” Sage sobbed into the phone while Cal gently rubbed her back in slow circles.
He could hear Isabelle pause. “Your… makeup? Honey, what—”
Sage was full-on blubbering now. “He… he made this… for me… for… he… made it… Christmas… ‘cause I never hhh… had one… I…”
She cried harder against his chest and shoved the phone into his hand before popping her thumb into her mouth — that sweet, nervous habit he was pretty sure she’d never break.
“Hey Isabelle… yeah, she’s fine—”
“No I’m nnnot!! I’m a mess! And my makeup is a mess… and my panties are a mess… ‘cause Cal is huge—”
Cal cleared his throat quickly. “—anyway! Could you and Mama come help? She feels like she might need—”
“It’s your fault!!”
Sage was completely undone. Beautifully, perfectly undone.
When she turned onto the private estate road, Cal watched her eyes widen in the glow of the dashboard lights.
“What in the world…” she whispered, slowing the Jeep.
Every tree lining the long driveway — towering pines and spruces — was wrapped in thousands of twinkling white lights, glowing like something out of a New York City holiday. Old-fashioned metal lamp posts with big, lush wreaths stood every ten yards, their warm light spilling across the fresh snow. The moonlight made the whole scene shimmer with magic.
At the entrance, two guards dressed as life-sized nutcrackers smiled and waved as they opened the new silver gate.
Sage looked over at him, stunned. “Cal? What…?”
He just smiled softly. “Just drive, princess. This is your surprise.”
She drove slowly, drinking it all in. Halfway up the road, the warm glow of huge canvas pavilions rose into the night sky. Christmas music drifted on the cold air. A whole meadow had been turned into a parking lot, with valets in crisp uniforms waving them through.
Sage stopped the Jeep and turned to him, lip trembling. “You… You did this for me?”
Cal nodded, chest tight.
She started crying again.
By the time they parked, she was an absolute mess. Isabelle, Annie, and Mama came hurrying out of the nearest pavilion carrying a makeup kit. All three women looked beautiful, and Isabelle had a headset with a walkie-talkie clipped to her waist like the general she was.
The second Sage saw them she bolted from the Jeep and ran straight into Mary Sue’s arms.
“Mama! Look what he did!”
“I know, baby girl,” Mary Sue said warmly, hugging her tight. “Now come inside so we can fix your makeup. It’s your party and you can cry if you want to… but maybe after you try some of this food.”
Sage smiled through her tears and whispered to her, “He… he loves me… I think.”
Mary Sue nodded as she led them inside. “Of course he does! I did tell you that already.”
Sage laughed as she wiped her face, then stopped and looked back at him. He stood by the Jeep in his tux, tall and steady against the glowing lights of the estate, watching her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.
She slowly pulled away from Mary Sue and walked back to him, her steps hesitant, almost reverent.
“Cal?”
He smiled down at her, soft and sure. Sage threw herself into his arms, hugging him tight. “Thank you,” she whispered.
