Page 49 of Back Home For Christmas

“I know that everything is all sunshine and roses at the moment, but I don’t think it will stay that way if I live at home past this week,” I said. Even as I said it, I couldn’t wait to get my own apartment in my perfect little beach town that I had missed so much. There had been a hole in my soul ever since I put my camera away and left Cape Shore. Now I felt so full, I might just burst.

“I’ll get a place,” he said. I sat up and turned to look at him, pulling up the sheet to cover my naked chest.

“You mean?” I couldn’t finish the question for fear of embarrassing myself with overly ambitious, wishful thinking.

“I told you; I am only happy when I am with you,” he said. “I will never let you go again.”

“What about your work in the city?” I asked.

“It’s the future Cat. I’ll work from home,” he said. Tears filled my eyes as I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He brushed the tear from my cheek with his thick, calloused thumb and pulled me in for a deep kiss.

I realized that I would have to announce our relationship sooner rather than later, but that could wait. I wanted to bask in the greatest Christmas gift I had ever gotten for as long as possible.