A Very Married Christmas: A Silver Bell Falls Holiday Novella(9)

She shook her head. “That’s not it at all. I loved it. Everything was beautiful.”

“Then…what’s the problem?”

First she shot Josiah a glare, then she looked at her father. “Isn’t it enough that I have settled down in Christmastown, USA? Do I really have to share my wedding day with the holiday too?”

“I thought you were over that,” John replied. “You know, your aversion to Christmas.”

With a loud huff of frustration, Melanie stood and walked across the kitchen to refresh her coffee. “This isn’t only about that!” she cried. “As the bride, aren’t I entitled to have what I want on my wedding day?”

In that moment, Josiah felt a little guilty. “Mel, maybe we should…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “No, you wanted to get an impartial third-party opinion on this, so he deserves to have all the facts.” Then she turned to her father and explained how she had envisioned her wedding—which basically was almost identical to what Josiah wanted, just minus the holiday cheer.

When she was done talking, she sat back down and pushed her food around on her plate.

John reached over and covered one of her hands with his. “Okay, planning a wedding isn’t supposed to stress people out until you are well underway. This is too much too soon,” he commented.

And as Josiah sat there and watched Melanie looking so miserable, he knew what he had to do. Slowly, he pushed his plate away and reached over and took the fork out of her hand before clasping her hand in his. “I didn’t mean to put this much pressure on you. I guess I thought you’d warm up to the idea just like you have with all the other holiday-related things I’ve thrown your way. I was being selfish and I’m sorry.”

When she looked up at him, her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “All of those things did end up being better than I thought, but…this isn’t a parade or a tree, Josiah. This is going to be one of the biggest days of our lives.”

He swallowed hard. “I know,” he said quietly. “I know.”

“So where does that leave us?” she asked, emotion clogging her throat.

“It leaves us looking at dates on the calendar after January first.” The words almost stuck in his throat, but he said them and he meant them. As much as having a Christmas wedding meant to him, Melanie meant more. The last thing he wanted was for them to start out their lives together with hard feelings about their wedding and him not playing fair to get his way.

Looking at John, he nodded.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Melanie asked.

At the moment, no, but he opted to keep that to himself. “I am. I want us to have the perfect wedding and that means on a date we both agree on, okay?”

She visibly relaxed and just like that, it was like a switch flipped. Melanie began to talk excitedly about how she could see them using most of Lisa’s décor at the barn and modifying them to look a little less wintery and how she could still use the referrals for wedding boutiques in New York City because she didn’t want to have to plan their wedding around how long it took to get her gown.

“This is so exciting!” she said, jumping up from her chair. “I’m going to go grab my laptop so we can start looking at the calendar!” She gave Josiah a loud smacking kiss on his cheek before sprinting from the room.

When she was out of sight, John looked at him. “You’re a good man, Josiah.”

He shrugged. “Her happiness means more to me than anything. And she’s right. I’ve pushed my own agenda regarding the holidays since we met. It’s time for me to respect her boundaries—especially on such an important day.”

“I know how much this meant to you and I was more than willing to come here today and try to persuade Melanie to be a little more open-minded. I guess—like you—I didn’t realize how much this sort of thing still bothered her.”

Josiah was about to comment but his cell phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket, he glanced at the screen and quickly answered. He listened as his deputy gave him the details of a high-speed chase heading toward the city limits of Silver Bell.

“I’m on my way,” he said firmly and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“Everything okay?” John asked, coming to his feet as Josiah did.

“Looks like a bit of trouble is heading toward town in the form of a chase. I need to get out there and see what we can do to slow it down and maybe stop things before someone gets hurt.” He moved around the kitchen with efficiency as he grabbed his shoes and his coat. Walking to the mudroom, he crouched down and opened the safe where he kept his gun, badge, and holster.

Melanie walked in just then. “What’s going on?”

He straightened and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ve got a chase heading toward town. I’ve got to go and do my thing.” He kissed her one more time. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, worry lacing her features.

There wasn’t time to say more. The drive into town would take fifteen minutes and he’d be on the line the entire time with his team to make sure the area was secured. Adrenaline began to pump as he got his head into sheriff mode.

And as he pulled away from the house, wedding dates were the last thing on his mind. Keeping the people of Silver Bell Falls safe was his only concern.