Mistletoe Memories by Jennifer AlLee

Author:Jennifer AlLee [ALLEE, JENNIFER]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62416-475-0
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Zeke returned his well-worn Bible to his coat pocket. He’d never wanted his speech to be about him. The War Memorial was for the community, to honor those who lost their lives in service. God had reasons for keeping him alive and allowing Henry to die.

I trust Your purposes, Lord, and I will fight whenever You call me to battle, but…

Leaving the rest of the service to Reverend Cottrell, Zeke grabbed his notes off the podium and walked across the stage, fully aware of the growing ache in his chest. He wanted more than another battle. He wanted more than protecting widows and orphans. Even if his mother didn’t come with him, he was moving to Colorado.

He stepped onto the first stair.

“Deputy, where are you going?”

Startled out of his reverie, he looked to Marianne and Polly standing on the bottom step.

“Home,” he offered with a cheeky grin, “before the clock strikes midnight.”

He took a step down, and Marianne took one up.

“Fearing you will turn back into a pumpkin?” she asked, moving past him to the top step where their eyes were level. Before he could answer, she grabbed his lapel, keeping him from moving off the stairs. “I thought at midnight was the time the prince chased after the woman he loved.”

“I…”

“Yes?”

The green-on-green print of her gown accentuated the brown of her hair, her eyes, and that kissable mole on the side of her mouth. He should speak. He should. Yet chasing after the woman he loved was the last thing on his mind when she was standing before him.

“I know,” Marianne whispered.

“What?”

“I know why God kept you alive, Ezekiel. So that I could love you. So that you could love me. So that we could give a beautiful, clever, and funny little girl a home.” She stepped closer to him. “If you will have me, know you gain an immediate child, too, and I know that’s asking much—”

“Woman, if I will have—”

Zeke would have liked to have been the one who began the kiss, but he was man enough to admit Marianne pulled him against her and did the initiating, and that he gallantly held her close to keep them from toppling down the stairs. Like a true gentleman would.

Even though they were never in any danger of toppling.

Ignoring the whistles and applause, the sudden musical outburst from the orchestra, and Polly clinging to them, Zeke drew his lips from Marianne’s to whisper, “Would you like to live in Colorado?”

Marianne released the front of his coat, wrapped her arms around his neck, and wove her fingers through his hair. “I will go wherever you take me.”

Zeke raised a brow. “Even if my mother comes with us?”

“I would insist upon it.”

“Really?”

Her grin took on a mischievous slant. “Really.”

“Really!” Polly yelled.

Once again, Marianne began the kissing. Zeke didn’t mind. His goal from the moment he arrived at Schooley’s Mountain on Tuesday had been to find Polly a home. Not only did he do that, but three days later, he found a home for himself, too.

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