That Holiday Feeling (Virgin River #8)(87)

“Sure. Of course. I didn’t say anything otherwise, did I?”

“You didn’t have to,” Pam said. “You laughed and joked with him on the phone, but the second you hung up, you got real sober. Serious. Maybe a little worried.”

“Do you think it was a mistake to let him go?” Annie asked.

“The time will fly by,” Pam said. “It’s nice to see you like this. You love him.”

“I love him,” she admitted. Because he was sensitive but also very confident and strong, she thought. He was a sucker for a bunch of puppies even though they were such a pain to take care of. He didn’t even have to think twice about whether to be out till two in the morning because someone had a problem with an animal. The way Annie had been raised, she’d come to accept that people who cared for animals had a special kind of soul, a precious gift. You weren’t likely to get much back from animals except a lick on the hand or maybe a good performance in a competition. And in her family’s case—the animals provided milk and meat, their roof, their very beds and clothes, their land and legacy. She had been raised with deep respect for animals and the physicians who cared for them. Those gifted doctors were men and women who knew the meaning of unconditional love.

“I love him because he’s tender and strong and smart,” Annie said. She smiled sentimentally. “And he’s so cute he makes my knees wobble. But, Pam, I didn’t tell him. I tried to show him, but I didn’t tell him.”

Pam chuckled. “You’ll have your chance very soon.” Pam stepped really close to Annie and made her voice a whisper. “Sweetheart, you’re beautiful and smart. And I bet you make his knees wobble, too.”

She smiled at her friend. “Thank you, Pam. That’s sweet. The sweetest part is it wasn’t just a compliment—I know you meant it. Did I tell you he asked me to go with him?”

“Ah, no. You might’ve failed to mention that. And you weren’t tempted?”

“Sure I was tempted. But it’s his trip and I have family things going on. But after this, if he feels for me what I feel for him, it’s the last time I’m letting him get that far away from me without him knowing how I feel.”

Pam gave her a fake punch in the arm. “Good plan. I’ve worked with you for five years, Annie, since before you bought the franchise on this little shop. Have you ever been in love before?”

Annie let go a huff of laughter. “Don’t be ridiculous—I’m twenty-eight. I’ve been in love plenty of times, starting with Dickie Saunders in the second grade.”

But never like this, she thought. Nothing even close to this. She wanted to massage his temples when he was stressed or worried, wanted to curl into him and bring him comfort, wanted to trust him with every emotion she had. She’d go into battle for him if he needed that from her, or better still, laugh with him until they both cried. It would feel so good to stand at his side and help him with his work. Or argue with him for a while before making up—she would have to promise never to have PMS again and he would have to pledge not to be such a know-it-all. Green as a bullfrog, he’d called her. She’d never had a man in her life who could see right through her so fast, who could read her mind, feel her feelings.

Realizing she’d been off in kind of a daze, she refocused and looked at her friend. She shrugged.

“That’s what I thought,” Pam said with a smile.

Nathaniel was pressed up against the cold window of a packed 747 all the way from San Francisco to Miami. Over five hours of nighttime flying. Three or four times he got up and walked around the dimmed cabin. Normally he could sleep on long flights, but not on this one. When he arrived at his destination at 7:00 a.m. on the morning of Christmas Eve, he had almost an hour before meeting his friends for breakfast in a preselected restaurant in the international terminal.

By the time he got to the restaurant, Jerry, Ron, Cindy and Tina were there, surrounded by enough luggage to sink a cruise ship. Missing were Bob and Tom and their wives. Jerry spotted Nate first and called, “Hey, look who just dragged himself off the red-eye. You look like hell, man,” he said, grinning, sticking out a hand. “Get this man a Bloody Mary!”

Nate shook hands, hugged, accepted the drink, complete with lemon wedge and celery stalk, and raised his glass. “Great to see you guys,” he said. “We can’t keep meeting like this.”

“Beats not meeting at all.” Jerry looked at his watch. “We have an hour and a half.” He looked around and frowned. “Nathaniel, did you manage to get your luggage checked through?”

“Nah, I left it with a skycap.”

There was some head shaking. “Always has been one jump ahead of us,” Tina said.

“Thing is—I can’t make it. Sorry, guys.”

Confused stares answered him. “Um, don’t look now, buddy—but you’re in Miami. Almost at Bahama Mama heaven.”

Nate chuckled and took a sip of his Bloody Mary. “This was a good idea,” he said of the drink. “I left my luggage at the airline counter with the skycap. They’re working on a flight for me, but it looks bleak. Who would travel on Christmas Eve on purpose? Why are they booked solid? I’d never travel on Christmas Eve if I didn’t have to, but I told them I’d take anything. I might end up eating my turkey dinner right here.”