The Forever Christmas Tree by Sandra Hill

Author:Sandra Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-09-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Heaven laughed the day man invented the word “closure” . . .

“Oh. My. God!” Wendy put a stinging palm to her chest and stared, appalled, at the rising marks on Ethan’s cheek. “I am so sorry, Ethan. I never intended to do that.”

Ethan stared at her, equally shocked, but then he yanked her into his arms and kissed her, hard. Then soft. Then hard again, before putting her away from him and shaking his head with disbelief. “I never intended to do that, either. I swear I didn’t.”

They gaped at each other.

She pressed her fingertips to her lips, testing for bruises, or just to check whether he’d actually kissed her. If you could call it a kiss! More like a reciprocal slap!

Then they both burst out laughing.

“Well, now that we have that out of the way,” Wendy said with a calmness that surprised her because inside her emotions were roiling.

What would he do if I put my hand to his face and traced the red finger marks I raised? Would he turn his mouth against my palm the way he used to? Would the tip of his tongue tickle the skin and raise goose bumps on other parts of my body?

Or maybe he would trace my lips which he’d just kissed so hard, in anger. Then softer, in apology? Then hard again?

His emotions must be conflicted, too.

“Can we start over?” Ethan inquired, smiling sadly.

She flashed back to the present with his words. Surely, he didn’t mean . . .

Without waiting for a reply, he said, “Forget that bad start there. I’m glad you came, Wendy.”

Oh, so that’s what he meant. Not that I would want him to mean it any other way.

“I know this isn’t an ideal meeting place, especially with the chill factor, but I didn’t want the gawkers-turned-gossipers to have a field day. Damn, I’m rambling like an idiot, aren’t I?”

She nodded her understanding, of both the need for privacy and of his nervousness, and motioned for them to walk, in the opposite direction from the lighthouse. The brief dart of his gaze toward the old structure told her loud and clear that he remembered as well as she did what had happened there. On the other hand, he was a guy, and guys weren’t sentimental about such things.

Although the view off the barrier islands was spectacular, there were no nice beaches on Bell Cove, and this section was no different. Some sand and sea grass and occasional scrub pines, but mostly rocks. Luckily, they both wore flat-heeled boots and were able to manage the uneven terrain. It was cold so close to the water with the wind biting the bare skin of her face, but her mother’s coat was warm, and, frankly, she felt a bit overheated with nervousness. Ethan was dressed for the weather, too, in a drab green parka over an ivory, cable-knit sweater and jeans. Whether he was overheated or not didn’t bear thinking about.

“You first,” Wendy said. “You’ve implied that I deserted you twelve years ago without giving you a chance to plead your case.

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