A Chance This Christmas(48)
She was also looking forward to honoring her father through her first real contribution to Yuletide as an adult. She’d returned to town to make peace with her ex-boyfriend and with the residents, not realizing how much fulfillment she would gain in making peace with her memories of her father.
“If you get tired of life in Yuletide, we can hire help to manage this place while we explore other areas. Spend a few months out West. Anywhere you want.” Gavin smoothed a hand over her hair with his uninjured hand, kissing her temple.
“I’m not going to get tired of it. I forgot how much I missed it. Not just the place, but the people too.” She was anxious for Kiersten to get home from her honeymoon in Barbados so they could spend more time together.
And Rachel had already been hanging out with Emma, who was turning into one of Rachel’s best local champions. Emma had also taken an interest in the charity Gavin worked with, and she was looking to start a chapter in Yuletide to help kids find more fun and healthy exercise outlets.
Gavin drew her away from the window and back into the living room where they’d retreated once Rachel’s mom joined her friends in the town square to visit, take a walk around the empty sidewalks and enjoy the atmosphere.
They dropped onto the leather sofa in front of the fireplace. Well, Gavin took the sofa seat. Rachel climbed in his lap and laid her head on his chest. He wore a lightweight thermal Henley with the name of some faraway ski town on it. She toyed with the buttons on the placket, thinking how very lucky she was to have him back in her life.
“How are you doing with the news about your dad?” Gavin asked, wrapping an arm around her hips to steady her.
After Luke’s call to reopen the investigation into Chris Chambers’ disappearance, his mother had shocked everyone by turning herself in for her role in encouraging him to leave. For helping him to steal that fourteen thousand dollars. They’d had an ongoing affair, apparently, and when her husband found out, he had vowed to kill her lover if she didn’t get him out of town, seeing the adultery as more than just a marital betrayal, but as an affront to the Harris family name.
At the time, Mrs. Harris had traveled frequently to Mexico for her job, and she’d warned Rachel’s father to leave Yuletide as fast as possible from pay phones scattered around Cancun and the Dominican Republic. She’d alerted him to the availability of cash in the town treasury and told him where to find the key. With eight years between her admission and the crime, the local judge could choose to be lenient—or not. Mr. Harris had hired the best attorney in the area to represent his wife’s case.
None of that brought Chris Chambers home, but it had brought Rachel and her mother some peace to know what had happened. He’d been stressed about the revelation of an affair. And from Rachel’s mother’s perspective, it gave her a new freedom from her old guilt about any role she might have played. “I’m glad I finally know what happened,” Rachel said honestly, lifting her head from Gavin’s chest to meet his gaze. “He was a flawed man, but not in quite the same way I thought. I like to think the side of him that he showed us—the side of him that he gave to Yuletide—was him at his best.”
Gavin was quiet for a long moment. “Sometimes, when I’m at a race and I get to the bottom of the hill, I’ll hear someone cheering, and for a minute, I’ll think that I see him.” He shook his head. “That makes no sense, I know.”
“In the future, you’ll have another Chambers at your races to cheer for you—don’t worry.”
Gavin laughed, his voice deep and rich. His happiness making her happy.
Everything about this Christmas was making her heart swell with love.
“I’d like that.” He kissed her nose. “I’m so glad you’re going to be there with me when I go for the gold.”
“You know my mom wants to use that money she saved up to go with me?” Her mother was buying Rachel’s ticket too, insisting on making the whole trip a gift.
“Awesome. I’d love to have her there.” He reached under the couch pillow and came up with a wrapped box. A very small wrapped box. “Merry Christmas, Rachel.”
Her heart stopped for a moment.
Then beat wildly.
“What is this?” she asked, looking over at the tree where he’d left a whole stack of gifts. Then back at the tiny box.
“Your Christmas present.” He eased her off his lap so they sat side by side.
The moment burned into her memory, from the Ella Fitzgerald song in the speakers—the same duet they’d done at the Garretts’ party—to the scent of pine logs in the fireplace and the feel of Gavin’s hand on her knee.
“Gavin?” She glanced up at him again, feeling unsure. They had talked about waiting until the summer to take the next step. “Is this an Olympic pin?” She knew the athletes got commemorative pins at each of the games.
He slid off the couch. Dropping to one knee. “Would I do that to you, Rachel?” His eyes were one hundred percent serious.
Her chest squeezed tight with emotion. She tore off the paper to reveal a distinctive turquoise-colored box.
On opening it, she found a fat round diamond in a platinum setting.
“Rachel.” He took her hand in his. “Would you do me the honor of being my wife? I love you with all my heart and I want you in my life forever.”