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I glance at her face, her beautiful face, and she smiles.
I itch to pull out my camera to capture her expression. To steal it for myself.
My control melts with the heat in her gaze, and my free hand comes up and caresses her cheek as I lay a kiss on the tip of her nose.
Her eyes flutter shut as she sighs.
My lips travel to one corner of her mouth and then the other before landing on her lips.
This kiss is soft and full of unhurried longing. In this moment, the world around us fades, and so do all the reasons why I shouldn’t kiss her.
Not the fact that we just met.
Not the fact that I’ll be leaving tomorrow.
No, the only thing that matters is the intense connection between us.
Sela
Isaac helps me down from the padded seat, and I walk around to the front of the carriage to nuzzle the two magnificent stallions that led our romantic jaunt.
I open my purse and extract the small apples I brought for them.
The one on the right eagerly accepts the offered treat, its soft muzzle brushing against my palm.
“Thank you for the ride,” I whisper as I run my hand down his side.
The other one neighs, and I laugh as I round to him.
“And thank you too,” I say as I raise the other piece of red fruit to him.
I lean my forehead against his soft nose as he chews the treat.
Flashes of light in my peripheral vision draw my attention, and I see Isaac on one knee with his camera.
I give the animals one last caress and walk to him.
“You’re supposed to be documenting the event, not wasting your time taking pictures of me,” I scold.
“I can’t help it. The camera loves you,” he says as he stands.
We go in search of Cobie, and I tuck my hand into his elbow while he continues to capture the crowd with his lens.
He pauses at a table where ladies of the church are gifting nativity coloring books and a small package of crayons to the passing children.
He stops again at a booth where Hal is joyously greeting each visitor with a booming, “Merry Christmas,” as he dishes out paper bags of kettle corn and Styrofoam cups of cocoa.
Dawn and Daniel find us after their ride around the lake with the mayor and his wife.
Daniel and Isaac get in line for refreshments as Dawn and I join Norah and Willa to warm our hands by a fire that Bob lit in a tin barrel near the booth.
“So, how does our little town measure up to the other holiday destinations you’ve covered?” I ask Dawn.
“To be honest, I didn’t think places like this really existed. I’m a California girl, and I love the warm weather and beach life, but I could get used to spending time here as well.”
“The lake has that effect on people,” I say.
“Yeah, I think its charm is even rubbing off on our travel bug,” she says.
