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As Derek grumbled and stirred next to me in his sleep, I let out a big sigh and nuzzled against him. As long as I had his warm arms wrapped around me, everything would be okay.
But as soon as I had the thought, the door creaked open. Em’s little head popped around the corner, followed by her whispering voice. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” she asked.
I rolled over to see Derek’s eyes had shot open. We looked down at the bed, noting there were only a few inches on either side of us. There wasn’t nearly enough room.
I sat up and said, “I think you need a new bed.”
He nodded in agreement. “I think the whole room could use a bit of redecorating.”
“I can help you with that. If you want.”
“Okay,” he replied, kissing me gently. Em cleared her throat, making us laugh.
“Sorry, kiddo. There’s no room tonight. I’ll come tuck you back in,” he said.
“No, wait. Melody? Can you tuck me in instead?”
A big smile spread across my face. “I’d be happy to.”
EPILOGUE
DEREK
I stood in the living room, sipping coffee as I stared out the window. The sky was light blue and gray, and the grass was all covered in frost to match. It wasn’t quite cold enough for a white Christmas, much to Em’s disappointment.
But Melody had more than made up for it by helping us decorate for the holidays. I crossed the room to sit in my recliner and marveled at the big Christmas tree strung with lights in the corner and the pine garland hanging over the crackling fireplace. Rebecca’s photos were still proudly displayed across it, and Melody insisted she would never change her mind about wanting to take a single one of them down.
Melody came in and sat across my lap, dressed in a satin emerald gown. I ran my hands across the fabric and smiled at her.
“So, no Christmas sweaters?” I teased.
“Hey, just because everyone around here insists on dressing casually all the time doesn’t mean I have to give up everything I love,” she defended playfully. “I still have a closet full of designer clothes I intend to wear. And what better occasion than Christmas?”
I smoothed my hand further across the silky fabric, making my way up her thigh. “I’m not complaining. I like this dress.”
She spread her hand across my gray and dark green wool sweater. “I like what you’re wearing too. I’m glad it fits. Em helped me pick it out for you.”
“Thanks for taking her shopping. It’s a great sweater. You girls spoil me,” I grinned, leaning in to kiss her.
“Oh, just wait until you see what we have in store for you tomorrow morning. That was just your one sneak peek gift. There’s more where that came from.” Her voice dropped low and sexy as she leaned into my ear. “I have one gift planned for you tonight that I think you’ll particularly enjoy.”
Our lips met again in anticipation, brushing together in slow but passionate sweeps. But we were soon interrupted by the sounds of little feet running into the room.
“The ham’s finished!” Em exclaimed as she jumped on top of me.
I grunted from the sudden weight. Melody laughed as she slid out of my lap to make room. “And just how do you know the ham is finished?” she asked skeptically, putting her hands on her hips.
“Em, you didn’t open the oven door to peek at the ham, did you?” I scolded. “I told you never to do that without a grownup nearby.”
“No! I promise I didn’t. But I can smell it. Melody told me when you’re cooking something, you know it’s done when it becomes fra…fra…,” she twisted her face up with the uncertainty of how to say the word.
“Fragrant,” Melody offered. “And you’re right. I did say that. But it doesn’t apply to everything. Come on.” She held out her hand to Em. “We’ll go check on the ham together, but I’m pretty sure it has another hour to cook.”
As they rounded the corner down, Melody flashed a suggestive look at me over her shoulder just as a reminder about what that night promised, as we’d been discussing before. I winked back at her and felt a surge of impatience, but I was distracted by the sound of truck tires pulling across the frozen driveway.
It was Keith’s truck, and I watched warily through the window, wondering if he’d brought some fling of his to Christmas Eve dinner. Thankfully, no one got out of the passenger’s side. I sighed with relief. I hated meeting his endless string of girlfriends. There were always more than one of them at a time, so there was a part of me that always felt obligated to lie for him. Plus, none of them ever lasted long. It didn’t make for such pleasant run-ins at the grocery store. They’d always press me on what was going on with him and insist that I tell him to call them as if he’d simply forgotten, and that was the only reason they hadn’t heard from him.
Keith huffed towards the front door, and I could instantly tell something was wrong with him. He stormed in and looked around until he saw me sitting in the recliner by the fire.
