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“I love it.”
Juliet and Chip made eye contact, rolling their eyes, before laughing together. Eve couldn’t help but join in. She knew she’d be hating the snow along with them soon enough.
The day went great as it usually did. In the past few months, she’d gotten into a routine that fit her perfectly. Working at the cafe where she chatted with everyone, getting into the gossip like the rest of them. Going home to Griffin where they were in sync with everything. Cooking supper, maintaining the chores together. Making love.
Griffin had teased her a Christmas wedding would be fun. She declined and insisted at least one thing in her life had to be non-christmasy. In October, along with Juliet and Bryce, they got married in the Bahamas on the beach with the sun setting and the waves crashing. It had been a beautiful day. The breeze lovely. The weather perfect. The people by her side who made her feel like she truly had a family.
By the time evening rolled around, the snow still hadn’t let up. Juliet closed the cafe an hour early because the roads hadn’t been great all day, and not many people ventured in anyway. Griffin picked her up, his cheeks a rosy red.
“You look tired.” She brushed his cheek before kissing him.
“Snow days are never fun. I’ve responded to more traffic accidents than I care to admit.”
Which would explain the rosiness on his face.
“You’re going back to work as soon as you drop me off, aren’t you?”
He grinned. “Only for a few more hours. I have almost every available officer on duty today because of the weather. You’d think people would be smarter to stay home in weather like this.”
“Well, I’ll make some soup so you can warm up faster when you get home.”
The kiss he delivered said he loved that plan.
The drive home took much longer than the drive into town this morning. She worried when he pulled out of the driveway and left. Pushing the concerns aside, knowing it wouldn’t help anyway, she started to cook chicken wild rice soup.
Halfway through, she paused, staring out the window. Her cottage—as she couldn’t think of it as anything else—looked serene and picturesque. Snow piled high on the roof, icicles dangling from the gutters. All it needed was smoke coming from a chimney it didn’t possess and lights sparkling through the windows.
An idea formed as she stared at it.
When Griffin arrived home a few hours later, she couldn’t wait to tell him her idea.
“What do you think about adding the cottage to the hotel?”
His brows puckered, his eyes filled with confusion. “In what way?”
“Well, not just your cottage. But we build other little ones like yours around town. Near the woods, on the outskirts of town to get that picturesque feeling I get while looking outside here. A home away from home. A Christmas vacation getaway like no one has ever experienced. You know the board has been pressuring me to build a hotel around here. They think it would do well in the area. They’ve been wanting to expand outside of Florida for a while. I’ve been resistant. You know I have.”
He nodded, his eyes lighting with understanding as she continued.
“I don’t want a big, stuffy hotel here. This town isn’t made for that. It wouldn’t fit. But cottages. Personal service. Goodies stocked from the cafe. Christmas at your doorstep. Now that I can see. How hard do you think it would be to add a fireplace and chimney to your cottage? It needs one, don’t you think?”
Griffin chuckled as he followed her gaze to look outside. “If you think so, then so do I. You never fail to amaze me.”
She snuggled into his embrace as he pulled her closer. “So you’re not opposed to the idea?”
“My cottage is your cottage. I think it’s a great idea. I also agree, a hotel wouldn’t fit here.” He cupped her cheeks, kissing her deeply. “But you fit here. You have from the moment you arrived.”
“I hated Christmas when I first got here, but if you say so.”
He chuckled. “I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Oh, no. I love you more more.” He grabbed her hand as he guided them out of the kitchen. “I love you so much that I know you want to start planning right this second.”
He had her sit down, then grabbed the notepad she always kept on the shelf in the living room and gave it to her along with a pencil. “I can’t wait to see all your ideas come to life.”
“Like Frosty. It’s going to be as magical as that snowman.”
“I have no doubt.” Griffin kissed her before letting her run wild with ideas.
For another Christmas-filled series,check out my Holiday Romance series! Though, it isn’t romantic suspense. It’s small town contemporary romance.
