Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
When Candy opens the door, she gasps at seeing us on her porch.
She’s staring at us, and I can tell she’s happy to see us.
“Merry Christmas!” Mason yells, jumping up and down, all excited.
His excitement is contagious and I laugh at his antics. I put my hand on the door frame. “Can we come in?”
She’s still staring at Mason, but she opens the door farther. “Of course. Please come in.”
Mason runs into the house. “I’ll be right back. I have some stuff to carry in.”
She smiles at me and follows Mason into the house. I make several trips bringing everything inside and when I’m finally done, I come to a halt when I see Mason sitting cross legged next to Candy on the rug. There’s a video game on the tv that they’re both playing.
The racing game has them both squealing and when Mason ends up the victor, he jumps up and turns around to me. “Dad, Candy has the best game. Please, please, please can we get me one?”
Candy smiles over at me, and in that smile, I realize that everything is going to be okay. She ruffles Mason’s hair. “You can have this one, if your dad’s okay with it. I hardly ever play it.”
She looks at me questioningly and with a little worry on her face, like maybe she overstepped.
Mason’s already jumping up and down. “Can I, Dad? Can I?”
Laughing, I walk over to him and squat down in front of him. “How about when you come over here you can play it?”
Mason starts to say something, but I finish by telling him, “We’ll be spending a lot of time here or Candy will be coming to our house. So we’ll see where we are most of the time and figure it out then. Okay?”
He jumps up and down. “Yes!”
I look at Candy out of the corner of my eye. She’s smiling from ear to ear and I know right then that I made the right decision. Even though I’d sworn off relationships, I’m happy that I took a chance on her.
I pick up the tree that I laid down behind the couch. “So, now, it looks like we have a tree to put up! Where do you want it?”
She jumps up and down, clapping her hands together. “You got me a tree?”
I stand it up next to me and hold it with one hand. I encircle her waist with my other arm and bring her close to me. “I thought since this is going to be our first Christmas together, the first of many, we should have a Christmas tree.”
And because I can’t wait a second longer, I bend down and kiss her lips softly.
Chapter 9
Candy
I thought that I was going to be alone for Christmas. I was sad, but I was prepared for it. Now I’m sitting on the couch with Cane’s arm around me and Mason’s asleep already with his head on my lap. My fingers are stroking through his hair, and I can’t help but smile at how fun today was.
We put lights on the tree and Cane helped me find my granny’s box of ornaments and we put those up. We ate a full Christmas dinner and Mason and I played around twenty racing games on the video game player. Cane gave me a Christmas present and it was a beautiful ornament that had our names, including Mason’s, and the words “First Christmas” on it.
Now the house is silent and we’re sitting here with only the lights from the tree illuminating the room.
I turn toward Cane, as much as I can without disturbing Mason. Looking into his eyes, I lean in and softly kiss him. “Thank you, Cane. This has been the best Christmas. And it’s all because of you and Mason.”
The side of his mouth lifts up. “So I guess I checked off everything on your ‘Mr. Right’ list?”
My face heats. That stupid list. “I don’t need that list to tell me how I feel.”
“Oh yeah? How do you feel?” he asks.
“Happy, blessed, loved…” Oh my God, I just said that out loud. “I mean…”
“No, you can’t take it back. You should feel loved, Candy. I love you. And I know Mason is going to love you, if he doesn’t already.”
I gasp, staring at him. “You love me?”
He nods and kisses my temple.
“I love you, too, Cane. I know it’s quick, but already I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
I lay my head down on his chest and I hear the steady beat of his heart. He wraps me closer to him and right now, I can’t imagine my life getting any better.
Cane
We sit and watch the lights on the Christmas tree twinkle for a while before I finally pick up Mason and carry him to the guest room. When I come out, Candy’s standing in the doorway watching us.