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  “Alright, when you’re done, the extra room is on the left for you, Susie. Sorry Daniel, you get the couch.”

  “Not a problem.” Daniel gives Taylor the little side shoulder bro-hug.

  “She’s going to love it,” Susan assures Taylor, and kisses him on the cheek. “I always hoped it’d be you two together someday,” she whispers as she pulls away.

  “Really? Why didn’t you ever tell me that before?”

  “It wasn’t my place in high school, you’d just started hanging around the house, then she went off to school and you were still in high school. When she married Eric, what was I to say? She didn’t listen to anyone, and then she slipped away from us. I’m so glad she’s back. And I’ll be even happier to see you two together. You are a good man. She needs a good man, life’s been hard for her.”

  “Thank you. I hope you’re right and we’ll be together.” He hugs her one last time and heads back to Isabella.

  Daniel and Susan finish decorating the kitchen and living room, and get the turkey in the oven before heading to bed. They’re both going to be tired, but they know it was worth it. It’s about time someone spoiled Isabella.

  * * *

  Morning arrives and Taylor wakes before Isabella, but likes being able to just look at her for a while. She’s been through the wringer, yet it doesn’t show in her features. She’s taken every blow and just moved along, her strength and heart intact somehow.

  He places a kiss on her cheek whispers in her ear as she begins to wake, “Merry Christmas, baby.”

  “Mmm . . . Merry Christmas to you, too.” As she looks at him, she wonders how she got so lucky.

  “Okay, let’s get dressed. I can’t wait to show you the surprise.”

  “Tay, I don’t need more. Can we just have a lazy pajama day?”

  “Tomorrow we’ll have a lazy pajama day, but today we need to be dressed. You’ll be happy you did, I promise.”

  “Okay.” He kisses her and then pulls her up to get out of bed. She’d forgotten they were naked and is embarrassed when she stands. Trying to hide herself with her hands proves unsuccessful, but very entertaining to Taylor.

  “Don’t cover yourself, I love looking at you. Who wouldn’t want to look at you? You’re gorgeous . . . fully dressed or not.”

  “Thank you.”

  The blush that spread across her face and chest at his declaration is even more beautiful to him. “I’m going to keep telling you until you believe it. Now, let’s get dressed.” He kisses her nose and grabs her hand, then pushes her into the shower, and tells her to make it quick.

  She does as she’s told, excited to see what Taylor has planned today. While putting on her make-up in the mirror, she realizes she’s changed. Her eyes are bright again, and the overall expression on her face is that of . . . well, happiness. When did that happen? Could she really trust this feeling again?

  “He’s a good man. He’s attentive and caring. He does everything he can to show me I’m important to him. Shit!” She puts down her make-up brush and sits on the toilet seat. “I think I’ve fallen for him.”

  The knock at the bathroom door scares her. “Um . . . yes?”

  “Almost ready?” Taylor’s calls from the other side of the door.

  “Give me a few more minutes, please.”

  “Sure.”

  She quickly finishes getting ready, all while worrying about how to deal with the realization that she really does love Taylor. A different love than she’s ever felt before, and she’s not sure what to do or say now.

  When she walks out of the room, Taylor is standing at the window, looking out at the beautiful lake behind the cabin. Before letting him know she’s there, she takes a moment to really look at him. His tall, lean body and those sexy broad shoulders scream of confidence, and he deserves to be confident. It’s that confidence that she was drawn to in high school. Today, she’s drawn to the heart he has for those he cares for. It shows in everything he does, everything he says.

  He turns and sees her staring, but instead of teasing her or putting her down like she’s used to, he simply walks to her and says, “You look beautiful today. Let’s go see your surprise.”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  AS TAYLOR LEADS to the kitchen, she gets a whiff of that perfect Christmas smell. She smiles, loving that he has surprised her with a traditional Christmas meal. He must’ve started it while she slept.

  Not really paying attention as they walk through the living room, she misses the extra decorations, until she turns the corner into the kitchen and sees the table set. There are four place settings among the beautiful Christmas display. She turns to Taylor, who somehow got behind her, allowing her to walk into the kitchen area first, and starts to ask about the other settings, when she sees Daniel and Aunt Susan standing behind him.

  “Oh, My Gosh!” Isabella squeals while running over and hugging them. “How did you get here?”

  “Surprise!” Taylor’s excited voice calls from behind her.

  “This is your surprise?” She turns and looks at him, watching him get closer.

  “Yep. I wanted you to have your first family Christmas since you were a kid. You should always be with your family when you want to be.”

  She barely lets him finish before launching herself into his arms and kissing him. “Thank you. This is the best Christmas ever.”

  “It’s not even close to being over. Just wait.” With a quick kiss he tells her to go catch up with Daniel and her aunt while he makes some breakfast.

  Daniel and Susan ask Isabella how she’s holding up in California. She tells them that she is hoping to volunteer a bit after the New Year and that she can’t wait for the divorce to be final. That’s when her Aunt Susan gives Daniel the nod to go help in the kitchen so she can talk to Isabella alone.

  “Isabella, dear. I’ve known you all your life. I love you like my own. I’ve never given you advice before, mostly because I waited too long and missed the opportunities. But I want you to listen to me. Eric was an ass. We all knew it, but never wanted to fight with you. I’m so sorry we didn’t. You always deserved better than him. I wish I would have told you before you graduated that I could see how much Taylor cared for you, but I didn’t know him well enough to butt in. Now, you’ve been given a second chance at love, and with him. Take it. Don’t let it pass you by. He’s worth the risk. I’ve always thought you’d be perfect together.”

  “Wow, really?” Isabella has tears running down her face. She can’t believe what she’s hearing. How did she never see that he liked her too? Now she believes what he told her about high school.

  “He’ll take care of you and help you find your way again. He wants you to be whoever you want to be. He just wants to be with you.”

  “Aunt Susan, how do I know I’m making the right decision this time?”

  “You don’t, we never know for sure. But, this time you’ve found a good man, someone who believes in you, who wants you to thrive, and who wants to be by your side when it all happens. He wants a partner, not just someone to make him look good. That makes all the difference.” Her aunt scoots close and engulfs her in a hug, whispering, “Your heart won’t lie to you, dear. Listen to it.”

  After more tears and a little sniffling, Isabella nods at her aunt. She’s so thankful for the advice. She’s missed her aunt. Today, here in this beautiful cabin, she has everyone she loves. She’ll never get to see her parents again, but today, she feels their love surrounding her.

  After a waffle breakfast, they all take a walk around the lake. Despite the lack of snow, it’s still chilly out. The walk feels good, but they can’t be out too long without freezing their noses and ears off. They laugh about how cold it is in southern California. As they walk back in the door, the smell of Christmas assaults them all. Susan gets right to fixing everything up, and Isabella helps.

  Christmas dinner is perfect. Everyone enjoys the company, and the food is delicious. Isabella looks around the table and realizes that fina
lly leaving Eric has given her so much of her life back. She already knew it was the right thing to do, but this solidifies her aunt’s advice to jump and give Taylor her heart without holding back.

  Finally settling around the Christmas tree, Isabella notices there are four stockings hanging on the fireplace, all filled to the brim. “What?” she asks as she walks over to them. “How?” She looks at Taylor. “How did you do all this?”

  “I had some elf helpers.” He looks at Susan and Daniel, then back to her, and continues, “I wanted to make today extra special. I never want you to forget our first Christmas together.”

  “I don’t think I will. Who filled yours, though?”

  “Daniel and I did, dear. Taylor is pretty special to do all this for you and for us, and we wanted him to have a special day, too.”

  Taylor hands everyone their stocking and they get to opening. When everyone is done, Isabella sees him in front of her, down on one knee. Her eyes fill with tears as he speaks. “Bel, baby. I know you aren’t free to make this official, but I don’t want another day to go by without you knowing how much I love you. I think about you all day long. When we aren’t together, I’m constantly looking at the clock, wondering how long it’ll be until we are together again. I’m not asking you to marry me until you are free, but today, I want to give you this ring that promises you that there isn’t another woman on earth for me. Please say I’m the only man for you.”

  With tears streaming down her face and her heart beating out of her chest, she can’t get words past the lump of emotion in her throat. All she can do is nod at him, but he doesn’t move, he wants to hear her voice. After a few deep breaths, she gets out a breathy, “yes.” Not satisfied with that, she tries again. “I love you, Tay. You are the only man I want.”

  He slips the beautiful ruby ring on her finger and kisses her senseless. When they break apart, she looks at the ring and can’t believe he even knew her favorite gemstone. “How do you know me so well?”

  “I pay attention. I’ve always paid attention to you. On Christmas break your senior year, we were talking about Daniel and his girlfriend at the time, and I don’t remember how, but we got on the topic of cool gifts for girlfriends. You told me that you’d love a ruby ring. Rubies were your favorite because they were the color of the heart, the only way to wear your heart on the outside. When you laughed at yourself for saying something you thought sounded corny, I remember knowing I’d never want to hear another laugh again. Yours was perfect. I could feel it in my heart, and I knew that someday, I’d buy you that special ruby ring. I hope you like it.”

  “Oh, Taylor. It’s perfect. This has been perfect. You’re perfect.” She wraps her arms around him, and whispers, “I love you.” Then she places a kiss on his cheek, and knows there will never be a better Christmas in her life. And it’s all because of Taylor.

  Acknowledgements

  It’s always hard to write these. A lot of the same people need the same credit each time. But for this book it was a little different for me. Working with these other amazing authors to create this anthology was a lot of fun. I thank each one of you for the new experience for me. It was nice to have others working with me towards a same goal for a change. I am truly excited for this anthology and hope we can raise a lot of money for our charity of choice.

  As always, I love my family for allowing me the time to write and edit when they’d rather talk to me or have me cook. I know it has to be frustrating to them sometimes, but I appreciate the time they do give me without argument to write and do what I need for this process.

  My beta readers need a special thanks! After all, it’s them who make sure the details are perfect. I appreciate you so very much!! Two, though, deserve extra thanks!! Tricia Martinez, I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, your notes are among my favorites. I love that I can almost picture you as you read. It’s those heartfelt notes that I appreciate. Thank you for being a part of this journey. Brittany Alexander, you have “hawk eyes” and I love it. Thank you for always offering your opinions and catching the little details that can easily be overlooked.

  This piece was a difficult piece for me to write. I started it with a vision and let me tell you, none of these characters liked my vision at all. This story didn’t go anywhere I wanted it to and these characters are not even the people I envisioned when I opened the document. That being said, I love them dearly. I hope you love them too!

  You can find out more about me and my books at my website www.AuthorLisaSurvillas.com or on facebook at www.facebook.com/authorlisasurvillas.