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“Brilliant.” Derek grinned.
Now all he had to do was get through tomorrow without ruining the surprise.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Lacy took a step back from the mirror, taking a moment to admire her reflection. She had originally just planned on wearing leggings to her night with Derek at St. Nick’s Place, but when she’d said as much to him, he’d immediately protested.
“If we’re going to act like it’s the real thing,” he’d insisted, “then we need to dress like it. How am I supposed to whisk you around a dance floor in a flowy dress if you aren’t wearing a flowy dress.”
She had laughed at him but ultimately conceded. And now there she was, clad in an emerald, green wrap dress that delicately cradled her bump. Her honey brown hair was pushed back away from her face with a small, black headband that matched the black flats she had placed on her feet. She knew the dress would have looked much better with heels, but there was no way her poor swollen feet were going to be stuffed in anything like that any time soon.
“You look beautiful,” said a voice from behind her, and Lacy’s green eyes flicked up to meet Derek’s where he was lounging in the doorway.
“Right back at you,” she said, whirling at her husband and giving him a wink.
“I look beautiful?” He fluttered his eyelashes at her, prompting her to laugh and swipe a hand at him.
“Beautiful. Handsome. It’s all the same thing.”
She eyed him up and down, meaning every word that she said. He was in black trousers and a white button-down shirt that contrasted beautifully against his tanned skin and auburn hair.
He grinned at her. “You ready?”
“Absolutely.”
He extended his arm to her, and Lacy gladly looped hers through it. They walked through the house like that, with Derek demanding she wait long enough for him to pull the car door open for her. Lacy slid inside and buckled herself in while Derek crossed over to the driver’s side door and got them ready to drive off.
“Are we ordering pizza from Frosty’s?” she asked as they drove, taking Derek’s hand and looking out the window.
“Sure,” he said, keeping his eyes focused on the road. “If that’s what you want.”
The drive didn’t take long at all, as their house was already on the border of Snowy Pine Ridge so that they could have enough space for the dogs and the kennels. So it was only a few minutes and they were already making their way down the long, winding drive.
Lacy’s brow furrowed in confusion as the massive home came into view. Warm, bright lights glowed in the windows, and she could have sworn she saw a shadow dart across one, like someone was already inside.
“I came earlier to get it set up for you,” Derek explained. “I made sure everything was warm enough, and that the ballroom was clean.”
Lacy guessed that made sense, and she nodded at her husband. They made their way across the snow, Lacy being careful where she stepped so it wouldn’t fall into her flats, and then they pushed open the door.
Her breath left her in a quick, excited huff as she took in the entryway. She could have sworn that she told Derek to take the decorations down after they had cancelled the party. And now, not only were they still hanging, but it looked like they had been added to.
“Madame,” Derek said with a flourish as he stepped up behind her and helped her out of her coat.
He paused just long enough to shrug out of his own jacket and then hang them both on one of the hooks in the entryway before grinning at her, taking her hand, and leading her through the suspiciously decorated home. When they turned the corner to the ballroom, another gasp pulled itself out of her.
They hadn’t even touched the ballroom, except to put up the trees before she had called off the party all together. But now, they were all decorated, lights glimmering and twinkling along their evergreen boughs alongside shining, beautiful baubles. The mantel above the large, ornate fireplace was decorated with fake snow, the traditional, ceramic Christmas village nestled atop it, the antique train going round and round, as it did every year. Garland adorned every surface, wrapped around banisters and bar carts.
And there, in the middle of it all, stood Colette, Zach, Louise, and a few other of her fellow townspeople, all of them smiling warmly at her. Lacy’s mouth popped open in surprise as she gaped, turning around and around so that she could take it all in.
“Did you do all this?” she asked, a mix of emotions rushing through her as she glanced between her husband and her friends.
“With a little help,” Derek answered sheepishly. “Everyone else will start arriving in about an hour. But we wanted you to have a little bit of time to take it all in.”
“It’s amazing,” she breathed before turning her gaze back to her friends, her green eyes bright with affection. “Truly. It couldn’t be more perfect.”
Colette walked forward, extending her arms to her friend in the offer of a hug, and Lacy stepped into them gratefully. She squeezed Colette tightly, as tightly as her large, protruding belly would let her, that was, and hoped that she could find some way to convey to her friends how much this all meant to her.
“We know how much this party means to you,” Colette murmured, low enough that only Lacy could hear. “We didn’t want you to have to miss out on something that you love just because you’re pregnant.”
