Christmas Crush by Kate McLachlan

Author:Kate McLachlan [McLachlan, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Regal Crest Enterprises LLC
Published: 2014-11-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

JASMINE FORCED HERSELF to wait until the sun rose before heading over to Darcy’s. They were closing in on the shortest day of the year, though, so it wasn’t until nearly eight o’clock when she finally made her way to Darcy’s lot. She was starving.

The gate was unlocked. Tied to the gate handle with a white ribbon was a lavender rose. Jasmine smiled, untied the ribbon, and took the rose with her to the RV. The door opened before she could knock, and Darcy stood there with a hint of a smile on her face.

Jasmine held up the rose. “It’s beautiful,” she said.

“So are you,” Darcy said.

Jasmine climbed into the RV and gasped. More lavender roses stood in a vase on the table next to an assortment of cut fruit, a tray of pastries, and a pitcher of orange juice.

“Oh, look what you did!”

“I’m not much of a cook,” Darcy said, “but I can shop.”

“What time did you get up?”

Darcy shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

“Me either,” Jasmine said and moved into Darcy’s arms. It was astonishing to her how quickly it had become a natural place to be. Somehow Darcy had convinced her, without even trying, that her arms were a safe haven, that Jasmine could be sure of her welcome there, that she would always be embraced. With a happy sigh, they melted into another kiss.

They were too hungry to kiss for long, though. They sat on opposite sides of the table and pushed the flowers to the side so they could look at each other as they ate.

“What’s your favorite Christmas memory?” Darcy asked.

Jasmine popped a grape in her mouth and tried to think of what it was that made her heart light at Christmas. “Advent calendars, I think,” she said finally. “Mom always bought one with tiny chocolates in it. When Rose was really little, I got them all myself, except for Sundays. Mom got the Sunday chocolates. When Rose was bigger, we had to take turns, but it was still fun.”

Darcy had a croissant halfway to her mouth, like she’d forgotten she was eating. Her eyes smiled. “Do you still do that?”

“Not since Mom died. I haven’t thought of it for years, until now.” Jasmine shook her head. “What about you? What’s your favorite Christmas memory?”

“Picking out the tree,” Darcy said without hesitation. “We always picked one from our own land, so I scouted all year long for the best one. When it came time to pick one, everybody got a vote, but they always ended up picking mine. Because it was the best.”

“She said modestly,” Jasmine mocked.

Darcy grinned. “That’s why, when I was trying to come up with a fund-raiser idea for SleepSafe, I decided to sell Christmas trees. I love them.”

Jasmine stared into Darcy’s eyes, and for a moment she forgot to talk. In Darcy’s eyes she saw answers to questions she didn’t know she had, and the longer she looked the more she saw. Finally she blinked. Trees, she reminded herself. They were talking about trees.

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