Under the Mistletoe, page 19
part #1 of Home to Heritage || Book Five Series
Her phone chimed with an incoming text.
Logan
I just sent it off. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.
Maybe she wasn’t the only one counting down the minutes.
Logan
Dress warm.
Warm? How warm?
Devin pushed to a stand, then walked to her dresser and unclipped her charm bracelet. Warm probably meant they’d be doing something outside and possibly active, and she didn’t want to take a chance on losing the bracelet. She studied the gingerbread charm she’d found among the candy at the end of the event. It was adorable and perfect. But finding it squashed any last hope that Logan was connected to the gifts.
After all, he’d only been in the building for less than a minute, and he hadn’t been carrying anything when he arrived. Then again, the Santa hat showing up at her door while he was away and not speaking to her had pretty much made it clear he wasn’t involved. But she still loved the bracelet.
She released a deep sigh and straightened the chain across the dresser, then positioned each charm so it hung straight. So far, she had five charms: an ice skate, snowflake, stocking, the Santa hat, and now the gingerbread house.
Ten minutes later, Devin couldn’t decide between her new cute jeans laid on her bed or Jess’s black fluffy snow pants. How warm was he talking?
Was it a don’t-forget-your-gloves-and-hat warm or come-looking-like-a-fat-toddler warm? She didn’t love the idea of being the most unflattering version of herself for their first official date, but she also didn’t want him ending the date early because he thought she was cold. Snow pants it was. She pulled them on over a pair of leggings and tugged the straps over her shoulders. Maybe she’d bring her jeans in a bag in case they went to his parents’ house.
Her phone buzzed with an incoming call, and she reached for it but froze.
Mom?
Her hand hovered over the phone a moment before she picked it up and accepted the call. “Is everything okay?”
“I should ask you that. It has been over three weeks since we talked. I usually hear from you at least every other week.”
Because Devin was the only one who could pick up the phone. “Everything is great. I’ve been really busy.”
“Can you get away today? They are doing contamination containment in the lab today so we could meet you for that dinner.”
Devin squeezed her eyes shut as the familiar tightening in her stomach began. She longed to see her parents, but they couldn’t expect her to drop everything just because their work was unexpectedly put on hold. “I’m actually getting ready to go out.”
“Can’t you change your plans?” Her mom’s heels clicked in the background. She was probably ready to hop in the car and presumed Devin would do the same.
She swallowed and drew a steadying breath. “Actually, it’s a date and I am really looking forward to it.”
Her mother’s silence said it all.
Devin let out a slow breath, then sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on a pair of thick socks. “His name is Logan Kingsley, and I knew him in college.”
“What does he do?” There no warmth to her tone.
Right, because to her mom, what he did was more valuable than who he was. “He’s in the publication industry.”
“Textbooks?”
“Fiction.”
Again, silence.
“So you want to stay in that small town for a man who spends his day playing make-believe?” Her tone had shifted from cool to a little hostile.
“I like fiction. Besides, my job is here, and he doesn’t even live here. His cabin is…” How did she not know where he lived? “North.”
“North? Meaning Marquette or Manitoba?”
How did she not know this? “Well, he isn’t Canadian.”
Her mother’s tone flattened. “And is he willing to leave north if your job moves you back to Detroit?”
Devin really regretted making that late-night call to her mom about now. But it did answer the question of whether her mom ever got her voicemails. Why did it hurt more to know that she did? Maybe because she’d never answered one of them. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Figure it out? It sounds like you’re diving into a relationship without any forethought or planning. Have you kissed him yet?” When she didn’t answer, her mom pressed on. “Have you told him you loved him?”
“Mom!” She hadn’t been able to keep her tone calm on that one. “I am twenty-six years old. I can make these decisions on my own.”
Her mother was silent for a long time. “I know. But you do realize that you tend to jump without thinking through the ramifications.”
Because she was a fire starter. “I know I make decisions fast, but it doesn’t mean they’re wrong.”
“I didn’t say it was wrong.” Her mom released a sigh as if calming herself. “I just worry about you. You snatched up the job in Detroit, then had to scramble to find housing. You jumped at the job up there in Heritage, and now you’re trying to find a way to keep the job. My guess is that the reason you’ve been so busy is because you’ve planned more than you have time to do this Christmas.”
“It’s better than not doing anything for Christmas.” Her voice rose, and she pressed her lips together, then sat on the bed and massaged her temple. When her mom remained quiet, she calmed her voice. “Sorry. You were saying how I overplan and underdeliver.”
She stood and walked over to her dresser and fingered the gingerbread house charm. The worst part was her mom wasn’t wrong. If people hadn’t stepped in, she would have fallen on her face.
Her mom’s voice calmed a bit too. “I’m saying when it comes to deciding who you will marry, maybe you need to put more consideration into how your lives fit together before you give him your heart.”
Maybe the fire analogy didn’t really work with relationships. That was something she needed not only to start but to maintain. Were they jumping into everything too quickly?
“It’s our first date.” The barking at the front door meant Logan had probably arrived. “And he’s here, so I need to go.”
“I can hear it in your voice. You’ve already fallen for him. I am saying, planning and preparation go a long way. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know, but I have to go right now. I love you.”
“And I love you.” A beat. Finally, a sigh came over the line. “We look forward to seeing you at Christmas.” With that, her mom was gone.
Just a few minutes ago, she’d been reliving that kiss, eager for a repeat, and now all she could think of was the fact she didn’t even know where he lived.
Devin walked to her closet and dug around until she pulled out her pair of UGGs. She slipped them on, then pulled on Jess’s ski coat and hurried down the stairs. Logan was talking to Jess, who was dressed as an elf and standing by the front door. When he spotted Devin, a smile stretched full across his face.
Jess sent her a teasing look. “You two have fun. I’m off to open Santa’s Workshop for a couple hours.”
“How are supplies? Do I need to order more?” Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? “Maybe I should go help.”
Jess’s brow wrinkled, then she nodded in Logan’s direction. “First of all, not a chance. And second, I told you I was taking over the store, not helping. So hands off.”
She sent Devin a wink, then motioned to all her layers. “Besides, you seem ready for something outdoors.”
Was she ready? For this date, definitely. But was she ready to dive headfirst into this relationship? Like it or not, her mom was right—there were a lot of pieces to figure out. Devin grabbed a pair of gloves by the door and shoved them in her pocket, then grabbed a hat. If she was going to look terrible on their first date, she might as well complete the look and be warm.
Hopefully, wherever they were headed provided a place for some talking. Because they probably needed to hash through a few things before they shared kiss number two.
Logan didn’t know what had happened over the last six hours, but this was not the same happy Devin he’d dropped off at the community center. He cast a quick glance at Devin, who was staring out the side window as he navigated back to the property he’d visited earlier. He’d gone home and called Hannah first thing. She’d seemed to think it was a good deal, so he’d put in an offer. It was all moving quickly but yet it felt right. The idea of leaving his cabin churned inside, eating at him.
He loved his cabin, but being alone didn’t have the same appeal anymore. Of course, right now Devin looked like she was regretting the date, so maybe he needed to rethink this. Or at least figure out what he’d done wrong. “Is everything okay?”
Her head spun toward him. “Where’s your cabin?”
“Near Thompsonville.” Not that many knew where that was. “If you drew a line between Traverse City and Manistee, it’d be about halfway. Too bad no roads go in that direction. Why do you ask?”
She shrugged, the distant look returning. “I just realized that I don’t even know where you live.”
“Funny you should bring that up.” Logan turned down the winding drive. He came to the end and parked facing the small lake. He drew a slow breath. He wanted this to come out right. Like he was sharing his heart, not proposing after six hours of them having a relationship.
He hadn’t even thought much about how this might sound until she had become all jittery on him.
“Logan?” She scanned the area.
“I just made an offer on this property.”
Her face jerked toward him. “Why?”
Well, that wasn’t quite the response he was expecting—or hoping for. Evidently, he’d come across more as a psycho than he intended. He shifted into park. “Because I think I am tired of living so far from family. They’re all here. You’re here. When I have kids—”
“Kids?” Her voice squeaked.
This was going from bad to worse.
“I am not saying—I’m just saying in theory someday I may want kids.” He turned his shoulder as much as he could to face her. “Do you not want kids?”
“I want kids someday.”
“Okay.” He was completely lost. All he knew was that she was freaking out and he had no idea what had set her off or how to bring her back. “What is really going on, Devin? Do you regret the kiss?”
“No.” The word was just above a whisper.
“Do you regret telling me you loved me? I know it’s soon and if you didn’t mean to say it, I understand—”
“I meant it.” She finally met his gaze. “I definitely meant it. I love you.”
He reached across the space and interlaced their fingers. “And I love you. So what has you so scared right now?”
Her finger began to toy with his. “What if they move my job back to Detroit?”
He hated the sound of that. Heritage was one thing, but going back to live in a city was something totally different. And yet, for Devin he would. “Then we’ll figure it out. I can write anywhere.”
“What if you buy this property and we break up?”
Everything in him fought against the idea. Now that he had finally gotten her to be his, the last thing he wanted to think about was her walking away. But he also knew it was a real possibility.
“My parents are still here. And if I changed my mind about living here, I can sell it. We don’t have to have the whole plan on day one.”
“You’re right.” She dropped his hand and pulled her gloves from her pocket “So what are we doing here?”
“One thing first.” Because maybe she was right, that they needed to make sure they were on the same page with the big things. One thing specifically. Because as much as he already knew he loved her, he needed to know. He drew a deep breath and ran a hand down the leg of his jeans. How did he explain this without sounding psycho?
“Now you’re making me nervous. I already know you’re Victor Holt. What else is there?”
“Over the last week, I started to have this strange nudging that I need to look into adoption.”
“Adopting who?” That was a reasonable question. One that he didn’t have an answer to, which only made him seem a little more off.
“The Wallis kids keep coming to mind over and over, but I know the Barlows are adopting them.” She nodded but didn’t comment. “I’m not saying I am going to adopt or that if I do it will be anytime soon. Who knows if anything will ever come of it. But I need to know now if you are even open to the idea. Because if you aren’t—”
“I am. I don’t know when or what it would look like, but I am definitely not against it.”
He scooped up her hand again and ran his thumb back and forth over her knuckles as a huge weight eased away. He wasn’t sure if he could walk away from her if she wasn’t open to it, but he was glad he didn’t have to find out. “Good to know.”
“What about the rest?” She sank into the seat, staring out the front again. “That’s just one issue. There are so many things we still don’t know about each other.”
“Then we’ll talk about them. One at a time. Ask me anything you want.”
Her brow pinched as if trying to decide what to ask first. “So what made you start writing?”
“I told you that I wrote my first story at twelve and loved it. But I never considered doing it for real. When I was fourteen, I found my mom crying in her room. It was Luke’s eighteenth birthday. Do you know Luke’s story?” When she shook her head, he went on. “Luke and I have different dads, and his dad disappeared with him when he was three. So from three until when he walked back into our lives about seven years ago, we had no idea where he was or even if he was still alive.”
“Your poor mother.”
Logan laced his fingers with hers as he took a slow breath. “Every year, Luke’s birthday was hard for her, but his eighteenth birthday was particularly difficult because it was the realization she’d missed his entire childhood. My dad had warned us kids it was coming. So I wrote a story for her called The Lost Prince.”
He glanced at Devin. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she didn’t speak.
“It was about a boy taken from the castle who one day returns to be the king and save everyone. Looking back, I pretty much plagiarized the story of Joseph in a medieval setting, but my mom loved it.”
Devin wiped the corner of her eye. “I’m sure she did.”
“After that, I found her reading that story every birthday, every Christmas, every time she grieved. She must have it memorized by now.”
“You are an amazing writer.”
“Not back then. But I think it was less about the writing. God used it to give her hope and a reminder that He knew where Luke was and He still had him in His hand. From then on, she seemed more calm, and I knew that I wanted to write more stories that offered hope to people living in a dark world. I know my stories don’t have the gospel in them, but I hope people can see the love of God in them.”
“I know they can. God used them to challenge me.” She squeezed his hand. “So these meetings…”
He couldn’t keep the smile from tugging at the corner of his mouth. “The Stone of Anwar series is officially being made into movies.”
She squealed. “And when is book four releasing?”
There went the smile. “They didn’t like my first draft. That’s why they had me writing the serial novella.”
“Well, your fans are loving Rand and Astryn, so I’m sure they’ll love whatever you do with Bastian and Ellia.”
He wished he was as confident.
“I know you have more questions, and I promise to answer them. One at a time. But I’m starting to sweat in all these layers. Can we—”
“Of course.”
He unlaced their fingers and grabbed his gloves and hat before climbing out. The sky was clear, and with the moon almost full, the snow seemed to glow around them. Devin got out of the car and came around to stand next to him. “What are we doing?”
“You are going to build your first snowman.”
“What? I don’t even know how to start. How do you get a snowball that big?”
He bent over and scooped up a handful of snow and packed it in a tight ball, then handed it to her. “You start with something small, then keep adding the layers. One at a time.”
She knelt and scooped up some snow and smashed it into the side of the snowball. “This might take a while.”
“True, but it’ll be worth it.” He settled down next to her. “How do you feel about cats?”
“I’m allergic.”
He scooped up some snow and added it to the growing mass. “Me too. See, this isn’t so difficult after all.”
Twenty minutes later, they had talked through a lot of basic life questions and had a five-and-a-half-foot snowman. Well, at least the three round pieces were in place.
Logan hurried over to the truck and returned with a bucket. He pulled out a handful of rocks and held them out. “Want to do the honors?”
Devin picked up a rock and pressed it into the middle section of the snowman. “I thought you were supposed to use buttons and coal.”
“Well, since I didn’t want to rip apart my mom’s jacket, I decided these would work. Besides, this way, we aren’t leaving trash behind.” He grabbed one of the rocks and pushed it into the snow a few inches above hers.
“I can’t believe we built a snowman!” Devin added the last of the three rocks for the buttons and moved on to the mouth. “Now I wish I’d added that snowman-building contest to the events.”
“You could still do it.”
“I don’t have enough time. I’m not even sure people would show up.”
