Christmas in Bayberry

He shook his head. “No. It didn’t. And lucky for me, I have a suit to wear.”

“So you do. But now I need a dress.”

“You don’t have to dress up on my account. I think you look great in anything. Honestly. You could wear what you’ve got on now and I would think you were the most beautiful woman in the room.”

She glanced down at the navy-blue suspenders from her ski pants over the white long-sleeved shirt. And then she ran a hand over her messy bun with a million flyaways. “I look terrible.”

“Not to me.”

She met his eyes, her cheeks flaming, nervous and thrilled and scared.

As much as she wanted to convince herself that she wasn’t falling for Wes, she knew it was too late. She was falling head over heels for this man who lived far from her tiny town. She didn’t have a clue what she was supposed to do about these feelings. Not an inkling. Because she’d never expected this to happen. And a long-distance relationship was the last thing she wanted.

Chapter Twenty-One

Had that really happened?

Had Wes really asked her to the dance?

It was as though they were meant to be together. Nothing—not distance nor the passage of time—could alter their lives being intertwined. Their fate had been written in the stars.

In the light of a new day, Kate tried to tell herself that she was being ridiculous. After all, it wasn’t as if they were in high school anymore. But that didn’t stop the sensation of butterflies fluttering through her belly, or the worry of finding just the right dress.

In fact, she’d been so caught off-guard the previous night that she wasn’t even sure her feet had touched the ground when she’d walked home. She replayed the scene over and over in her mind. And the part that touched her the most was that after all these years, he’d finally had an opportunity to ask her to the dance.

She couldn’t remember ever being this excited about a date. She tried to temper her excitement with the thought of Wes leaving after the holidays and returning to New York, but not even that realization could dampen her anticipation. She was going to the Candlelight Dance with a date—a very handsome, very sweet, very kind date. And she couldn’t wait.

But she had to wear something extra special. It couldn’t just be something out of her wardrobe. There wasn’t anything there that was special enough for a date that had taken seventeen years to transpire.

And then it came to her. She sprang out of bed and grabbed her phone. She called her aunt. The phone rang once, twice, three times, and she was beginning to think her aunt wasn’t going to answer. Where could she be? It was Sunday morning.

“Hello?” Aunt Penney’s voice sounded a bit groggy.

“Aunt Penney, I can’t believe it. I just got asked to the dance.”

“You did?” Her aunt’s voice grew peppier. “I take it you’re excited about this, since you called me at 6:13 on a Sunday morning.”

Kate gasped and looked at her bedside clock. It was indeed early—way too early for the weekend. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. I’ll let you go back to sleep.”

“That’s okay. When you get to my age, you don’t need as much sleep. And I couldn’t go back to sleep now. I’d be wondering about this date of yours.”

“Wes asked me.”

“I figured that. Give me all the details. On second thought, I’ll meet you in my kitchen in two minutes. You can fill me in over coffee and the muffins I made last night for Fred.”

“Fred, huh?” Kate smiled. With every passing day, those two were getting closer and closer.

“Oh, hush. See you soon.” And with that, her aunt hung up.

Kate scrambled out of bed, rushed to her closet, grabbed her warmest robe, and headed for the door. She paused long enough to slip on her boots, and then off she went into the wintry morning. Luckily, she only had to go down the steps and across the driveway.

Once inside her aunt’s warm kitchen, she slipped off her boots and headed for the coffeemaker. Kate put in a new filter and then added the grounds. Once she’d poured in the water, she pressed the start button. What her aunt didn’t know was that Kate had gotten her one of those coffeemakers that uses pods for Christmas. Instead of a pot of coffee sitting around getting burned, Aunt Penney could have a fresh cup each time. And then there were all of the flavors—so many to choose from.

As the coffeemaker sputtered, her aunt entered the room with a smile on her face. They quietly moved around the kitchen, gathering the sweetener and creamer. Neither of them was a big talker before they’d had their morning boost of caffeine.

At last the coffee trickled into the pot. That heavenly aroma wafted through the room. Anticipation thrummed in Kate’s veins, when she at last poured them each a large mug.

With coffee in hand, Aunt Penney said, “Tell me everything, and don’t leave anything out.”