A Merry Little Christmas (20 page)

His chuckle was pure joy. “I didn’t ask you anything yet.”

“I know, but I can feel it in my heart. Like dawn coming.”

“Like Christmas coming early.” His lips hovered over hers, drifting ever closer.

“I love you,” she whispered just a millisecond before their lips met. Before his kiss sealed his unspoken promise with honest tenderness. It was a tenderness she would cherish for the rest of her life.

Like a gentle sunrise, light blurred the edges of Amanda’s vision. She heard a faint rustle and the pad of stocking feet. Colt lifted his lips from hers and pulled her tight against his chest. “Look at Wonder Boy.”

There was Jeremy, grinning in the gleam of the Christmas tree. The angel’s pure white light drifted over them like grace.

Christmas Eve, two years later.

“I
think he’s
finally
asleep,” Amanda whispered to her husband and carefully closed Jeremy’s bedroom door.

“Jessie is, too.”

Amanda joined Colt in the hallway, catching a glimpse of her daughter asleep in her bed. Joy brimmed every time she looked at her child. Todd had been a match, after all. The bone marrow transplant had been tough, but Jessie was a real trooper. With her illness past, she looked like any healthy little girl, snuggled in for the night.

God had been gracious, so very gracious.

The third door was the nursery. Little Annabelle Rose, named after both their mothers, smacked her lips in her sleep, a contented sound.

Amanda’s heart filled with thankfulness for these wonderful blessings.

In the living room, the Christmas tree cast jewel-toned hues against the long bank of windows of their Moose Lake home. Outside, through the dark glass, it was snowing, sifting like spun sugar onto the snow-covered deck that faced the lake. A fire crackled in the stone hearth; the house was expectant and silent. Even the treetop angel seemed to be waiting.

It had been a busy two years, but heaven-sent. She’d gone to work as the head of their new charity, which helped families with critically ill children. Her life had purpose, love and happiness, and all because of the man who drew her into his arms, who had kept all his promises. He was a real man, a wonderful blessing, who had changed her life.

“Do you know the best thing about this Christmas?” she asked, gazing up at his beloved face.

“We don’t have to have it early. This year, it’s right on time.”

“And I have a feeling that from here on out, every Christmas will be merrier than the next.”

“Believe it.” Colt kissed her, long and sweetly, on this holy night full of hope and grace.