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My mouth falls open. Her eyes are wide. Oliver, Felicity, and I all stare at the book on the floor.
“Thebook?” Felicity breathes.
I nod. “So, youhaveheard of it.”
“Of course, I’ve heard of it. That book’s a Cherry Creek institution. It’s our claim to fame. It’s practically proof of the supernatural.”
“Uh-huh,” I say. We all continue to stare at the book on the floor.
“I’d forgotten all about it,” Felicity says in a reverent whisper. “I haven’t thought of it in years.” She swallows. “So, it’s really mine now?” Her voice squeaks on the last word.
“It’s all yours,” I confirm.
She bends and gingerly picks it up. Now that she knows what it is, she holds it in her arms like it’s an hours-old infant. “Wow. Sothebook is in my possession now.”
“Yup.”
“And I…might…find my true love at Christmastime now that the book is in my possession.”
“That’s what people say.”
Her forehead creases. “This Christmas or next Christmas?”
I glance at Oliver. “I don’t know.”
“And what if I don’t want true love?”
I shrug. “Then I guess you can give it to someone else before Christmas.”
She bites her thumbnail and nods absently, the book firmly clamped under one arm now. With a decisive nod, she pulls her hand away from her mouth. “Wait a minute. If the book is in my possession now, that means it was inyourpossession up until now, since you’re the one who gave it to me. And it’s Christmastime. Right now.”
Her words hit me like a physical wall.Oh my goodness. The book has been in my actual physical possession for the last half hour. Sadie Foster handed it tome. I say the first thing that pops into my head, “Well, it belonged to Oliver, too, because we followed all the clues together, and Sadie even gave it to both of us, and he was holding it in the car.”
Felicity’s whole face lights up with a smile as bright as the star on top of our Christmas tree. “So did either of you fall in love while the book was in your possession? Or did you both?” Her eyes spark with mischief.
My heart gallops like a runaway reindeer, and I turn to see the same panicked expression on Oliver’s face that must be plastered all over my own.
And then I see him for what he is—my best friend, the deepest friend of my soul, returned to me through space and time, by my side without question, up for any adventure I drag him on, helping me, supporting me, kissing me. Oh, boy, how he was kissing me.
The memory of our most recent kiss explodes behind my eyes. That kiss—and each of the two public ones that came before—was mind-blowing, earth-shattering, life-changing. Oliver’s kisses have truly changed my life.
Because I am one hundred percent, from here to the North Pole and back again, in love with Ollie.
I tilt my chin and study his eyes. Is he remembering our kisses too? Is he thinking anything along the same lines as I am? Does he have feelings for me at all?
There’s only one way to find out.
“I fell in love. I think…I think I’ve been falling in love with you this whole adventure,” I say in a small voice. I’m out on a holly branch, risking my heart and pride, but as Mrs. A. said, Oliver’s worth the risk.
His face seems to fold in on itself. I flinch, steeling myself for rejection.
“Not me,” he says, and my heart plunges to the ground. “Oh, Amelia,” he whispers as he puts his strong arms around me and pulls me close. “This isn’t new to me. I’vealwaysbeen in love with you.”
He tips his head, and our lips collide in a breath-stealing kiss. The back of my knees buckle, and my pulse jackhammers. I pull away, panicked.
“But Oliver! You live in Chicago. I live in Cherry Creek. I don’t see—”
He stops me with another kiss and laughs. “My parents are here and the woman I love is here. I’m moving back to Cherry Creek.”
