12 Christmas Romances To Melt Your Heart (8 page)

B
lake bustled around his kitchen
, incredibly energized considering the three hours of sleep he’d gotten the night before. The reason for his sleepless night lay upstairs, and he glanced at his watch, wanting to give her as much time as possible to sleep while allowing for breakfast and arriving at the clinic on time.

Last night had changed everything just as his first night with Sarah on Christmas Eve had one year ago. This time he didn’t know how he could leave her again. This realization had him rethinking every truth he’d held dear about his goals, his future, and his needs. Up until last night, he’d considered hockey his number one need, now she’d turned his entire life upside down and had him questioning his steadfast commitment to all-things hockey.

He could have a fulfilling future without hockey, couldn’t he? Would Sarah be enough to keep him satisfied for the rest of his life? He thought so.

Blake stood in his kitchen and stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows in the great room at the dark, swirling waters of Chinook Channel. He loved this place. Yet did he love the island and Sarah enough to be content and happy here? He also loved the game, the swish of his skates on the ice, the adrenaline rush of a shot hitting the net, hearing the crowd cheer after a hard-won game. That part of his life was gone regardless of whether he stayed on the island or returned to Seattle to coach. He’d never play NHL hockey again. He was mourning the death of a career. He wasn’t sure he had the strength to mourn the death of his relationship with Sarah for a second time.

Memories flooded back from this past summer of him leaning against the ferry railing as it pulled away from the dock. Sarah stood on shore with tears streaming down her face. Leaving her broke his heart and hers, but she’d insisted on the breakup, believing it was for the best. His life had been in Seattle, hers on the island. Now he wondered if he should’ve fought a little harder, explored options he’d been reluctant to explore, and reexamined his priorities.

His injury and the subsequent loss of his career had devastated him, but walking away from Sarah had destroyed him. Now he’d been given a second chance, and he’d be damned if he’d blow it this time.

He heard Sarah on the stairs. His heart quickened its pace in anticipation, a smile spread across his face, and warmth permeated through his body.

She smiled as she crossed the room, dressed for the clinic in the set of work clothes she’d left at his house back when they’d still been together. Cyrus padded after her, wagging his tail, and hoping for a handout. Nick opened one eye from his spot on a dining room chair and went back to sleep after yawning.

“Good morning,” Blake said, and it really was a good morning.

“Good morning to you, too.” She smiled one of those radiant smiles that gave him hope and cast sunshine in every dark corner. They kissed long, passionate, and deep. He almost forgot about the hollandaise sauce bubbling in the pan until he heard the timer go off.

Reluctantly, he extricated himself from her embrace and stirred the sauce, which was now thick and creamy. He turned off the burner.

“What are you cooking? It smells heavenly.” She peeked into the pan.

“Eggs Benedict.”

“Oh, one of my favorites.”

“I know.”

“And no one makes Hollandaise sauce like you do.” She winked at him.

He grinned at her as he prepared their breakfast and placed two plates on the table. They sat down and ate in comfortable silence, reminding him of the many happy times he’d sat at this very table over the years with his parents and siblings. How he’d love to fill this house with children again so their laughter bounced off the walls and transformed this empty place into a cozy home.

Many times over the past five years, he’d wanted to sell. The memories were just too overwhelmingly painful. Yet, when Sarah was here, he didn’t dwell on the past tragedies, but instead he focused on the happy times and making even better ones.

He finished the last of his breakfast and placed his fork on the plate. She, too, finished and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“When are you going back to Seattle?” Sarah asked, her tone casual, even though he knew the question wasn’t the least bit casual.

“I have no set deadline.”

“Last night was—wonderful.”

He nodded slowly, reaching for her hand. “I don’t want to sleep alone, Sarah. One night together isn’t enough, and I don’t think I can handle another breakup.”

“Where do we go from here?”

He squeezed her hand tightly. “I love you, honey. We can’t give up on us so easily this time.”

“I love you, too, Blake. So much it physically hurt to be separated all these months. How do we fix this?”

He shook his head. “Hell if I know, but I’ll think of something.”

“I can’t ask you to give up hockey any more than you’d ask me to leave this island and my practice. Coaching is more than a full-time job.”

“Coaching isn’t my only option.”

“But isn’t coaching what you really want to do?”

He shrugged. “Not necessarily. I’d like to stay involved in hockey, even if on the periphery, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if coaching is the direction I want to go. They work longer hours than anyone involved with the team. After all these years of dedicating my every waking minute to hockey, maybe I want more than hockey in my life.”

She glanced at her watch. She had to go. “We’ll come up with a solution together.”

“Yes, together we will.”

He leaned across the table and kissed her.

Long after Sarah left for the clinic, Blake sat at the table and stared out at the water. His parents had filled this house with love. They would want him to do the same. They’d set a great example of what a relationship should be like, and he’d avoided the pain of thinking about them and his family for too long. When he was with Sarah, the sharp pain of loss dulled to an ache and the emptiness inside drained out of him, filling him with hope.

The time had come for Blake to move on with his life.

Grabbing some boxes from the garage, he carried them upstairs to the room his parents had always occupied and began to clean out the closet. Since he’d spent very little time in the island house over the past five years, he’d never gotten around to it before. Now seemed like as good a time as any.

After putting the clothes in the boxes, he moved to the nightstand. Pulling open the top drawer, he removed a Bible he remembered his mother reading from on Christmas Eve and smiled. He reverently placed it on the keeper pile. Underneath the Bible was one sealed card with his name on it in his mother’s handwriting. His mother had been quite an artist and often made her own cards. A wave of shock vibrated through him. His hands trembled, and he blinked several times.

The week before their fatal Christmas Eve plane crash, his parents had come to the island house to decorate. She must have made this card that weekend. He dug through the drawer for the cards for his siblings but found none, which was damned odd and very disconcerting.

He read through the tears now blurring his eyes.

My dearest Blake, our children are our greatest pleasure. Our greatest reward has been seeing you grow into the man you are today. I love you dearly, and Christmas is a time for remembering the good times and making more memories.

If I only had one wish, it would be for you to experience the same love Dad and I have had for each other and our children. There is nothing more precious in this world.

This is my gift to you. Love deeply, love often, and love with all your heart, no matter the risk, but love is worth it.

Blake put down the card, covered his face with his hands, and wept like a baby. Inside he was a hot mess of emotions. Nick crawled onto his lap and purred. As he held the cat, he purged his pain with soul-deep sobs. As his tears dried up, a serenity he rarely felt unless he was with Sarah wrapped him in a comforting blanket of hope.

Before he could overthink his decision, he picked up the phone and dialed a cell number he’d never used.

“Ethan?”

“Yes?” said the Sockeyes president and majority owner.

“This is Blake Daniels.”

“Blake, how are you?”

“I’m sorry to bother you on your personal number.”

“Not a bother at all. Have you given my offer consideration?”

“Yeah, I can’t do it. I’m staying on the island.” Instead of the words filling him with dread and regret, they freed him, making him feel light as air.

Ethan didn’t respond for a moment. “I understand. It’s a woman, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s a woman, and I love her.”

“You’re making the right decision, Blake. The team has other opportunities you might be interested in, which won’t require a full-time commitment and will allow you to keep one toe in hockey. You interested?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good, we’ll talk after Christmas.”

“Great, looking forward to it. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you, too.”

Blake ended the call. He had a lot of work to do before Christmas Eve on Thursday. He’d better get started.

T
he clinic was slammed
all day on Christmas Eve and didn’t slow down once. Despite how busy she was, Sarah kept reminding her brain to engage in something other than reliving the last few nights with Blake. They hadn’t discussed his future or theirs since that night they’d had dinner, and she didn’t push it. They had time to work things out, hopefully a lifetime.

She dragged her mind back to real time since her furry patients deserved her complete attention, and she gave it to them, but Blake garnered all her attention between patients. Her staff darted quick looks at each other as if wondering why she walked around with a perpetual smile on her face.

After the last patient left, Janna locked the door and stalked toward Sarah, who blinked innocently at her.

“Okay, spill.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sarah glanced at her watch. Blake would be picking her up at home in an hour for the Deckers’ annual Christmas party. She needed to grab a shower and change.

“You’ve been walking around the last few days in a goofy fog, completely not your businesslike self. You even laughed when that spoiled rotten little shit of Mrs. Martin’s nipped at your sleeve and piddled on your lab coat.”

“All in a day’s work for a veterinarian.” Sarah couldn’t stop smiling or glancing at her watch.

“Meeting someone?” Janna narrowed her eyes and studied her friend.

“I don’t want to be late to the Deckers’ party,” Sarah hedged.

“You’ve been getting laid, haven’t you?” Janna covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, my God. It’s true. You did. Let me guess, tall, dark, handsome, and puckilious, right?”

Sarah continued to smile. “Perhaps.”

Janna shook her head. “I knew it. You two might as well admit defeat and figure out how to make this work.”

“We’re trying. I’m wracking my brain. He’s been offered a coaching job which would require he be in Seattle pretty much twenty-four-seven, and I have my practice here, but I’m wondering if I could find another veterinarian to take some of the load off me.”

“I bet you could. We’re certainly busy enough. There are other hockey-related things Blake could do, too, that won’t require that time commitment.”

“Like what?”

“A consultant. Don’t hockey teams hire consultants? Or maybe an announcer for home games only? Or maybe he could be a part-time broadcaster? I don’t know, but I bet the team would work with him.”

Sarah nodded. Janna was right. She’d been stuck thinking he would coach, but could some other position with the team satisfy his hockey fix and give them time together; or if he wanted to coach, she could come to the island when he was road trips and go to Seattle when he was home.

“Later, Janna.” Pulling on her coat, Sarah headed for the door with Cyrus hot on her heels.

“See you and your hunk at the party.”

“You bet.”

Sarah walked on air to her SUV, certain they could utilize a little Christmas magic. It was Christmas Eve after all, and the entire town was lit up with colorful lights, bloated Santas, and an assortment of reindeer. A dewy haze settled over the bay, giving the entire area a surreal feeling, as if she were in some fantasy world. Sarah had every intention of finding a way to make her fantasy come true. She realized having him part-time was better than not having him at all. These months apart proved that. They could work this out. In fact, after the first of the year, she’d start looking for a partner.

Her stubborn refusal to participate in a long-distance relationship now seemed ridiculous. It wouldn’t be easy, and if he was on the island the majority of the time, she could deal. Sarah felt better than she’d felt in a long time.

Together they could do this.

B
lake spent
Christmas Eve day planning his future. When you loved someone enough, you made sacrifices to be together. He would be his Christmas gift to Sarah, though that wasn’t all he had planned. He chuckled to himself as he imagined a big red bow tied around his dick.

He finished his chores, dressed in a nice pair of jeans, a blue button-down shirt, and shrugged into his leather jacket. The weather was typical for this time of year with no snow in the forecast. With the exception of last year, he knew that was par for the course. In all the years he’d been spending Christmas on the island, he could only remember a rare time or two with snow, including last year. The chances of it snowing this year were zero to slim.

Blake drove the few miles to Sarah’s house. She was waiting outside for him, bundled in a red coat with a sprig of holly decorating the collar. He grinned at the festive sight of her. She hopped in before he barely had a chance to bring the truck to a full stop.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself.”

“You look great.” He grinned appreciatively, feeling pretty pleased with himself.

“So do you.” She leaned in for a kiss and he gladly obliged.

“Are you okay with being fashionably late?”

“Absolutely. What did you have in mind?” She shot him one of her sultry looks.

“Oh, baby, that’s tempting, but not exactly what I had planned.” He pulled down her driveway and drove to a small park on a point overlooking the channel and neighboring islands. Taking her hand, he led her along a path until they’d reached the end of the point. His leg hurt like hell from the uneven terrain, but he didn’t give a shit. He had more important things to consider than his healing broken leg.

Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he took a moment to punch play on his Christmas playlist and shoved the phone back in his pocket. He turned to Sarah, taking both her hands in his, while Bing Crosby crooned
I’ll be Home for Christmas.

“Nice ambiance,” she teased.

He winked at her. “I talked to Ethan about the coaching job.”

Sarah sobered, her smile wiped from her face. She swallowed and appeared to be holding her breath. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him thanks, but no thanks.” He managed in a steady voice.

He could tell she was struggling not to appear too happy. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. I signed a lease on the café today, and Ethan and I will talk after Christmas about other hockey opportunities that don’t require as much of my time.”

“I’ve been making plans to find a partner so I can spend more time on the mainland.”

One corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “I think you should go through with them, you might need more time off regardless—so we can raise a family.”

Her radiant smile shone brighter than the Christmas lights flickering off the water from the houses scattered along the shoreline.

Blake grasped her hands tightly. “I can’t kneel, or I would.”

“Blake,” Sarah gasped and a lone tear ran down her face.

“I’m not much for poetry so I’m going to keep this simple and short. I love you, Sarah. Will you marry me?”

She didn’t react at first and he almost had a heart attack until she started to grin. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

He put a big-assed diamond on her finger, and they hugged, kissing each other while the world paused around them. Finally they drew back and gazed into each other’s eyes.

“I love you, Blake Daniels, and I always will.”

“Merry Christmas, honey.”

“Merry Christmas. Look, it’s starting to snow.” She pointed toward the trees where they could barely see the tiny flakes falling, while
White Christmas
played on his phone.

Through the light sprinkling of snow, Blake noticed a single bright star in the inky sky. Back when he was a kid and after his beloved grandfather died, Blake’s father insisted the star was special. Blake could still hear his words:
You’ll never be alone. That star is Gramps watching over us and making sure we have a guiding light when it’s our turn to come home.

Blake had come home. With Sarah as his life partner, he’d spin memories and weave stories for the next generation of Daniels children. The families they’d lost would live on through those stories, never to be forgotten.

And so would the love at the heart of Christmas.