Page 35 of Take Me Home for Christmas

“You haven’t even tried the coffee.” Her joke came out sounding a little breathless.

Everett liked that he’d flustered her. He also liked the taste of her lips. He liked that a lot.

“I’m sure it’s perfect.”Just like you.

Her shy grin was glorious. And it touched parts of him that hadn’t been awake for a long time.

“Do you have plans for today?” he asked impulsively. His desire to spend the day with her made him sound a tad desperate.

Kitty shook her head. “It’s my day off. I don’t have much planned other than laundry.”

“What do you say we play hooky together? We can go explore the turtle sanctuary. Walk along the beach. Climb to the top of the lighthouse.”

She laughed. “Well, I do want to pick up some lighthouse ornaments at the gift shop.”

He bit back the cry of jubilation that made its way up into his throat. “Perfect,” he said instead.

Everett reached down and took her hand. He gently tugged her up until they were nearly nose to nose.

“I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than with you,” she whispered before kissing him softly.

His belly did a flip flop. “Me neither.”

He grabbed his messenger bag and one of the coffees while she picked up the other. They were almost to the front of the shop when the sheriff walked in.

“Morning, beautiful,” Lamar called as he swiped off his hat.

“Hi, Dad.” Paige embraced her father. “What’s up?”

The sheriff pulled a leaflet from an envelope he was carrying. “I was wondering if you could display this in your window.”

“Of course I will.” Paige took the piece of paper from her father, grabbed a roll of tape and immediately hung it beside the door. “Tanner and I already bought a pile of toys to donate.”

“So did I,” Kitty added. “Hayden mentioned you might want some stockings this year, too.”

“That would be wonderful,” the sheriff replied. “Thank you.”

“The town is having a toy drive?” Everett asked.

“It’s sponsored by our veteran’s group, actually,” the sheriff explained. “We are small but mighty. Xander Fisk over at the gym organizes our meetings. You should stop by. We welcome anyone who’s been touched by combat.”

Something ugly shot through Everett at the sheriff’s invitation. A cocktail crafted from guilt, anger and fear. Dammit, he’d been trying to outrun the memories ever since his confrontation with Gidget the other day. Now, his heart was racing again, and beads of sweat began to break out on the back of his neck.

Kitty, God bless her, seemed to sense his unease. She threaded her fingers with his and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. The gesture grounded him immediately, and his breath came more easily once again.

“We’ll pick up some toys today. Do they need to be wrapped?” he asked.

“We host a big party at Knotical where we wrap the gifts,” Kitty explained.

He beamed at her. “That sounds like fun. Count me in.” He turned back to the sheriff and his daughter. “Looks like we’re off to do some Christmas shopping,” he said, leaving the sheriff’s offer to get chummy with the town’s veterans unanswered.

“Yes,Madelaine, West is pounding away at the keyboard,” Elle lied to her boss for the second time this week. “He hasn’t given me an end date, but I’m sure it will be well before the end of the year.”

Her skin began to tingle where the hives were no doubt about to break out. She hadn’t lied this much since middle school when she would do and say anything to get out of gym class.

“That’s wonderful,” Madelaine replied, sounding as if Elle had just told her Santa Claus was real. “We knew you could do it. Now everyone will be able to relax and enjoy the holiday season.”

Everyone but me.