Bright Haven: An Amberly Novella Read online

  I drifted off to sleep while listening to Mike go about the sounds of morning, including the whirr of coffee beans in the grinder. Mmm…coffee. Mike would bring me some, and until then I could sleep just a little longer…

  I drifted off into a dream, floating on the clouds of the perfection of sleeping in on a day off. It wasn’t a weekend, but for some reason I still got to sleep in…

  My eyes flew open. It was Christmas morning! Mike wouldn’t have gone through his stocking without me there, right?

  I blinked and shook my head. No way would he do that. Did I have time for a shower? Should I take one? Should I leave my Christmas pajamas on? Why hadn’t I thought through the exact logistics of today?

  I sat up, and just then Mike walked in with a tray of food and a mug of coffee for me. “Hey, you’re up!”

  “As up as I can be first thing in the morning,” I said, watching Mike closely. He had a big smug Cheshire Cat smile on his face.

  I wanted to ask him what he was up to, but maybe I was just projecting. “Did you already eat?” I said, forlornly looking at all my food and wondering if I was going to eat alone.

  “Of course not,” Mike laughed. “I just have to make several trips.”

  He arrived a few minutes later with another tray of food, and settled into bed with me. We ate in semi-awkward silence while my mind raced with possibilities for the day.

  “Did you know it’s Christmas?” I said to him in a conversational tone, like we were strangers discussing the weather.

  “Oh really?” Mike’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “I heard something about that,” he said, and took another bite of eggs. After he swallowed he said, “I guess I should have gotten you something.”

  I laughed into my coffee, trying not to burn myself while also getting it inside my bloodstream as fast as possible.

  “I built a fire downstairs,” Mike said, as if he had said, “I replaced the furnace filter.” The guy was playing it really cool. Maybe he knew what I was up to?

  “Maybe we should go enjoy it after breakfast and see if Santa came,” I said, batting my eyes innocently in response to Mike’s amused face.

  “I know for a fact Santa didn’t come last night, but I’m hoping for this afternoon,” Mike said, looking me over intently. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make me blush.

  Two could play at this game.

  “Good idea. We should go down and see if there’s anything bulging just for you,” I said. I held my breath, trying not to laugh at the over-the-top innuendo, but Mike cracked first, his laughter shaking the bed so much I had to hold our breakfast trays steady so they didn’t tip over.

  He didn’t stop laughing, and then I lost it. Could I have come up with a more crazy innuendo? I couldn’t think of one.

  Good thing Mike likes me.

  10

  David

  The fire crackled in the living room, setting the perfect Christmas morning scene. Mike and I each unhooked the stockings we filled for each other and settled on the couch.

  “I guess we should actually switch,” I said, my heart pounding with anticipation. Christmas morning was always exciting, and this was my first Christmas with Mike.

  Mike looked down at my stocking in his big carpenter hands. “Good idea, unless you filled my stocking with things for you?”

  “Like giving you things that I love, and you hate, so I can have them?” I laughed, staring down at the stocking I’d filled for Mike.

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Mike said. He held his hand out for his sock. “Let’s do this.”

  I handed him his bulging stocking (and laughed to myself as I thought it) and took mine from him. “How do you want to do this?” I said. “Because my sister and I would see who could hold out the longest without opening their socks.”

  Mike blinked at me. “Are you serious? Like you competed to see who could go the longest without opening gifts?”

  “I think it started with my parents. They would hold off until that afternoon, or night. Or the next day. Or even the next!”

  Mike frowned at me like he was questioning his entire relationship with me.

  I pushed forward. “I think they did it because it drove me and my sister crazy, so then later we started doing it too.”

  Mike shook his head. “Is that what you want to do?”

  “No!” I said. Then I realized how forceful my reaction had been. Mike looked puzzled so I added more gently, “No, of course not. We have this time to ourselves, so this is the perfect time to open gifts uninterrupted and unobserved.”

  We both looked over to the hearth where Bacon lay, looking at us with one eye open. As soon as he realized we were looking at him he opened his other eye and thumped his tail.

  “Mostly unobserved,” Mike laughed, and shook his head.

  “What if we each pull out an object and take turns?” I said. “If it gets uneven, one of us will wait it out until we are even at the end.”

  “Perfect idea,” Mike said. He reaching inside and pulled out a Sweet Storybook. “Hey, it’s not Christmas without these!” he exclaimed.

  I reached into my stocking and pulled out the same. “I agree. Countdown to the girls wanting to turn them into necklaces.”

  Mike laughed, his deep chuckle rolling through the room. He reached inside his stocking again and this time pulled out a wrapped gift. He looked at me in dismay. “Were we supposed to wrap everything?”

  I gave him an imperious look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Santa fills the stockings.”

  Mike raised an eyebrow. “Okay, well Santa’s methods vary wildly from recipient to recipient then.”

  “Of course they do. That’s how he keeps everyone guessing,” I said, completely sure of my facts. “Open it!”

  Mike tore off the paper. “Earbuds and a new charger! Thanks Santa! Now you go.”

  I reached into my stocking and pulled out more razor blades for my razor. “Hey, I needed more of these.” I felt warm all over, knowing that Mike noticed even the little things like me being low on razor refills.

  “You’re welcome. Should we do the next ones at the same time?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

  “Yes! Let’s be wild and crazy,” I joked. I reached into my sock and waited for him to do the same. He pulled out a tube of his favorite shaving cream, and I pulled out earbuds.

  This was so fun, and kind of silly.

  “Again!” I said, getting into the hedonistic pleasure of it all. This time we both pulled out DVDs. I looked at the title and blinked at Mike, momentarily speechless. Mike looked down at his movie and then over at mine and laughed. “I gave you my favorite Christmas movies.”

  I turned the movie over, and then looked at the front again. “Die Hard is your favorite Christmas movie?”

  Mike gave me a mischievous grin. “Yep. It counts. It takes place at Christmas.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I had no idea. I’ve never seen it.”

  Mike tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling for a moment, and then back at me, like he had to physically react to this heresy. “You told me that, and I still can’t believe it!”

  “Now we can fix it!” I said, thinking about how we could cuddle up and watch it together. Happiness just kept spreading inside me. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I’d get another pulse of it. I looked over at his movie. “That’s one of my favorites too.”

  He looked at the cover and grinned. “Elf,” he read. “I’ve seen it, but it’s been a long time. I remember liking it.”

  “It’s great,” I said. “You’ll love it.” I felt inside my stocking and sure enough, there was another movie. “I gave you two movies too,” I confessed.

  “Ohh,” Mike said and reached inside his stocking again. He pulled out “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and furrowed his brow. “I thought this was a Halloween movie?”

  “It’s both,” I said. “Remember? It is about both holidays?”

  “Maybe?” Mike sai
d, frowning into his memories.

  “It’s so fun that you don’t remember — the whole thing will be fresh when you watch it.”

  Mike chuckled and looked at the back of the movie case. “True,” he said. “We have a lot of movie nights ahead of us.”

  “We have a lot of everything ahead of us,” I said. My cheeks got hot at the bare emotions I felt, but I meant everything I said.

  “Yes we do,” Mike said. “Okay, let’s see your last movie.” He leaned over, and seemed to be full of anticipation. I kind of wanted to guess, but I didn’t want to spoil the fun. I mean, what if I guessed? No, the surprise was better.

  “Bad Santa”? I said. It looked like one of those movies I never wanted to watch in a million years.

  Mike turned a little pink himself, which just made me want to throw everything on the ground and crawl onto his lap. I resisted, and let him explain. “It’s so over the top and bad in a good way. You know how some movies are like so fake Christmas cheer that they make you kind of hate the holidays?”

  I thought back trying to remember some of the Christmas movies like that I’d seen in my life, but weirdly all the bad ones were so forgettable — I couldn’t remember them. But I remembered that annoyed feeling I’d get. “Yeah, kind of,” I said. I stared at the scruffy actor playing Santa on the cover.

  “This movie turns that on its head,” Mike said. “It’s not for everyone, and no way should we leave this out where the girls can watch it. But, it’s full of dark humor, and taps into that grinchy feeling we can get every year, and validates it.”

  “So it will turn us into grinches?” I loved this side of Mike — I loved hearing his take on Christmas movies, and seeing what he really liked.

  “Actually, that’s the funny part,” Mike said. “It’s this black comedy, but it’s actually sweet at the core.”

  I looked at the movie in wonder. “Let’s watch this tonight!” I said. “I can’t wait to see Christmas done dark.”

  Mike’s face exploded into a beaming smile. “All right! I don’t want to talk it up too much, because you know how that ruins things. It’s not perfect or anything, but it’s really fun when you’re worn out from all the Christmas-ing.”

  I had energy for a little more Christmas-ing, and I hope Mike did too. We both reached into our stocking again and pulled out oranges. “Usually the orange goes in the toe,” I said. My heart pounded as I watched Mike reach into his stocking again.

  “You too,” Mike said. He waited until I reached all the way in. There was some kind of gift — I pulled it out.

  “Hey, you did wrap something,” I said. It looked great too. It was wrapped in black paper and had a silver ribbon on it. Or — someone had. “Did you wrap this?”

  Mike looked pleased with himself. “I had it done, which counts. So, yes.”

  I chuckled, my heart up inside my throat. “You too,” I said, nodding at his stocking. My heart pounded harder.

  Mike pulled out my last gift, a little box about the size of a mint tin. “I wrapped it myself,” I said. I’d used painters paper and black ribbon. It seemed the most fitting for Mike.

  “How should we do this?” Mike said. He scooted closer to me and we both held our wrapped gifts on our laps.

  “Do you want to go at the same time?” I said. My nerves were getting the better of me. “Or maybe — how about you go first? I scooted right up next to him and leaned against his large frame as he slowly opened the little gift.

  “Did you give me mints?” Mike said, picking at the little pieces of tape holding the paper closed. “Is this a hint?”

  “Ha,” I said. “You’ll have to open it and see. Though mints are pretty awesome. I should have thought of that.”

  Mike finished opening the package, and held a little black tin in his hand. He gave me a puzzled look. I nodded and said nothing. He lifted the little lid to reveal a black ring.

  “It’s a ring!” he said. He frowned, and I knew what he was thinking. He’s a carpenter. He can’t wear rings — he might lose a finger.

  “It’s silicone,” I said. It even has grooves on the inside so your finger won’t sweat under it. If it gets caught on something, under a certain amount of pressure it will break. So it can stand up to normal life, but in a bad situation, you can get free.

  “Oh wow,” he said, and gently touched the ring, still in the box.

  “May I?” I said, and reached for it.

  Mike pulled the box away from me. “Actually, uh, I need you to open your gift first.”

  “But…” I felt like I was somehow bungling the moment, but I didn’t know what I was doing or how to fix it. Mike looked completely serious. “Okay, but…” I started to say.

  Mike put his arm around me and leaned down and kissed me. “Please?” he said, his head leaning against mine.

  I can never resist that. I picked at the expertly wrapped gift. Who did this wrapping job? Where would he go to have something like this wrapped? What could it be? Oh my god. Realization swept through me and my mouth went dry. I didn’t now if I should laugh or be upset.

  “Are you okay?” Mike said, snuggling into me as he spoke.

  “Yeah,” I said. My fingers shook as I pulled the paper off the package. It was a ring box. I looked up at Mike and his soft hazel eyes crinkled around the edges and he smiled at me, his gentle sweet smile.

  “Open it,” he said, his fingers stroking my shoulder.

  I cracked the box and my jaw dropped. Inside sat a shining white gold ring. The edges were smooth, a comfort fit. It was simple yet elegant. Perfect.

  “I think we both had the same idea,” Mike chuckled, looking at his own ring still sitting in the little black tin.

  My face felt hot and I didn’t know what to say. I should have planned this better. I figured I’d wing it but this had thrown me for a loop.

  “David,” Mike said, his voice quiet and soft. I dragged my eyes back to his. “Will you marry me?”

  I gazed into his eyes, feeling happy inside our connection. “Yes,” I whispered. Then I remembered I was supposed to ask that question too. I’d been so caught up in the moment I’d lost my brain. “Um, does that mean you’ll marry me?”

  Mike chuckled and kissed me once, his lips just barely brushing mine, and then pulled back to look at me again. “Yes. Yes, I will.”

  I reached for the little black tin I’d given him. “May I?”

  Mike handed over the box and he patiently watched as I pulled the ring out and slid it on his large calloused finger. “Perfect fit,” he marveled. He made a fist and then opened his hand, moving his fingers in and out.

  “I did my homework,” I said, pleased that Mike could wear a ring without risking injury.

  Mike reached for the box he’d given me and pulled the elegant shining ring off the little holder. He took my hand in his and gently slid the ring down over my knuckle. The ring settled on my finger like it was made to be there.

  “So we can wear our rings now?” I said, wondering if there were rules about that kind of thing. “We don’t have to wait?”

  “We can do whatever we want,” Mike said. “I’m wearing mine! It was my Christmas present and my fiancee gave it to me,” Mike said.

  A thrill ran through me when Mike said fiancee. “Oh my god, we’re engaged!” I said, admiring my ring on my fingers. It shone in the twinkling and crackling low light of the Christmas night room.

  “We are!” Mike said. He pulled me close and kissed me again, this time without holding back. The chemistry between us blazed up in an instant, and the familiar thrilling fire ran through me. How could this be even hotter just because we were engaged?

  But it was.

  And if experience taught me anything, I knew it was just going to get better and better. We had our whole future before us, our families behind us, and best of all, we had each other.

  “Summer wedding?” I said, already thinking about the possibilities.

  Mike nuzzled my neck. “Bacon can be the ring bea
rer.”

  I laughed, it was so adorable and perfect. I looked over at Bacon who had stretched himself out as far as he could to gain maximum surface area to the heat of the fire. His stomach rose and fell as he snoozed in contentment.

  “The girls can walk us down the aisle,” I said. “Just imagine it!” Visions of Ava and Chloe dressed in wedding finery on each of our arms danced in my head.

  “Perfect,” Mike said, and gathered me up in his arms. And then, we celebrated our engagement and Christmas until the fire burned all the way down. Afterwards, Mike took me by the hand and led me upstairs, Bacon following close behind. We curled up in bed together, both marveling at the novelty of the feel of the rings on our fingers, and laughing that we both had the same idea.

  We had a lot of people to tell, a lot of planning to do, and a lot of excitement ahead of us. For that moment though, it was just us, our bed, our dog now curled up with our inky black cat, and the softly falling snow outside.

  Just before we drifted off for our long winters’ nap, I nestled into Mike’s enormous warm chest. “Merry Christmas,” I said.

  Mike squeezed me a little closer and leaned down to give me one more good-night kiss. “Merry Christmas to you too,” he said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” I whispered. I didn’t want the moment to end, but suddenly I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. But I knew I could let go and fall asleep because this Christmas was just the first of all the rest of them. And if experience taught me anything, they would just get better and better.

  Tomorrow I could start planning a wedding. It occurred to me, just as sleep overtook me, that knowing Mike he probably already had the whole thing planned. I smiled to myself, and snuggled closer to his muscled heat. I loved my precise, organized, hunky carpenter. And now I was wearing his ring. And he was wearing mine.