Rebecca Winters - A Mistletoe Proposal - Marry Me under the Mistletoe / A Little Bit of Holiday Magic / Christmas Magic in Heatherdale

But for her to show up while he was fighting a fire now would convince him she had an agenda, and he’d be justified in thinking it. Impatient with herself, she drove on and parked around the back of the shop just three blocks away.

She used the remote to go inside and found her mom was out on the floor with a young couple. They were trying to decide on the right nutcracker for his father, but were having problems. From her mother’s expression, it looked as if they’d been in here a long time and she could use some help. Andrea picked up one of her favorites on the shelf and took it over to them.

“This is King Richard. If I were a man, this one would appeal to me. He has such a proud countenance and bearing.”

Their response was all she could hope for and her mother rang up the sale. After they left the shop she hugged Andrea. “Oh, I’m so glad you walked in when you did.”

“After taking over since yesterday, you’re tired, Mom. I want you to go home now, and I’ll join you after I close up.”

“I won’t say no to that. Are you in the mood for an omelet and salad?”

“A light dinner sounds perfect.”

She eyed her curiously. “Were you able to deliver your gift?”

“Yes. The captain thanked me and wanted to pay for it, but I wouldn’t let him. No sooner did he take the box than he was off to another fire. And now it’s time for you to leave before you drop.”

“I’m going. You look lovely, by the way. I haven’t seen you in that suit for a long time.”

“I think of it as my Christmas suit.”

They hugged again. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

After she left, Andrea spent the next half hour unpacking more merchandise. Once she was through setting things out on the floor, she stood at the counter. While she waited for another customer, she read the emails from Gunter’s family.

Andrea loved her mother-in-law’s newsy epistles. Apparently their oldest daughter, Lisa, was expecting her third baby at the end of May.

Emily was expecting, too.

The whole world seemed to be expecting....

Though this would be as good a time as any to reply, her mind was on the hotel fire. Putting off a response until later, she turned on the radio behind the counter. The talk show station she often listened to gave local updates every twenty minutes. They were coming up on the seven-forty news. Maybe there’d be some information.

But just as it came on, she had another customer and almost fainted when she saw who it was. Captain Jenner had changed out of his uniform. Beneath his bomber jacket he wore a dark blue turtleneck and jeans. He looked amazing in and out of uniform.

In the background they could both hear the news about the three-alarm fire. She hadn’t been able to get him off her mind after leaving the fire station. He and his colleagues were incredibly brave. Andrea couldn’t imagine facing an inferno the way he did every time their station got the call.

“You’d never know you’d been fighting that fire they were reporting on the news.”

His half smile had pretty devastating appeal. “It was put out too fast to turn into a disaster, and now I’m off duty. I’m glad to say I’ll live to see another day.”

She hurriedly turned off the radio. “Your family must breathe a sigh of relief every time you come home from work.” How did they stand it?

“According to statistics, firefighting is only the thirteenth most dangerous job in the world.”

Andrea couldn’t prevent a small smile of her own, though inside she couldn’t understand how he could be so glib. “Only? If you thought that would make me feel better...”

He laughed. A deep male laugh she didn’t expect. One she felt warm her insides.

“Seriously, how does your wife handle it?”

“Tina didn’t like it,” he said without taking a breath. “The great irony is that she died of leukemia a year ago. After all the years we were married while she worried about me, her time clock was running out along with our plans to enlarge our family. We wanted to give Tessa a brother or sister, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

The end of dreams. Andrea knew all about that. She’d never give birth to a child of her own, and she felt as if her heart had just been squeezed by a giant hand. “I’m so sorry.”

He cocked his head, continuing to stare at her. “It’s life.”

“I know.” Her voice had an awful tremor. Time to change the subject. “How can I help you?”

“Tessa and I talked about a special gift to give my housekeeper for Christmas.” Naturally he hadn’t brought his daughter with him. The last thing he would want would be to get her excited all over again about the gingerbread man. “Mrs. Milne is the widow of an army officer—she came to us before my wife died.”

Another widow who’d been married to a man in a dangerous career.

“Tessa loves her, so it has to be the perfect present. That’s one of the reasons I’ve come to your shop.”

“That’s nice to hear. Do you think she’d like a nutcracker or a pyramid?”

“A nutcracker. Tessa was enchanted with the ones she saw in the window.”

Andrea had been enchanted by his precious child. “We have a wonderful assortment of soldiers. The big ones are right over here. Maybe you’ll see one that appeals to you the most.”

He followed her over to the table. “They’re all fabulous.”

“What was her husband like?”

“She’s mentioned several times he looked splendid in his uniform.”

So had the man standing next to her when she’d gone to the station.

“Splendid... Hmm...” Andrea’s keen eye landed on her favorite soldier, who stood fifteen inches high. She picked him up. “Meet the major general. He served in the French Napoleonic cavalry from 1804 to 1815, the most powerful branch of the grande armée. Fourteen hundred officers like this one performed with great gallantry.”

Their hands brushed as she handed it to him. The contact sent a warm sensation through her body. His eyes held hers for a moment before he examined the nutcracker.

“I—I love this one.” Her voice faltered in reaction to his nearness. “This white uniform makes him stand out. It’s an exact replica of the uniforms they wore, down to the black hat and green-and-gold trim on the cuffs and bottom of the jacket.”

“It’s exactly what Tessa would want to give her.” His husky tone set her pulse racing. “I’ll take it.”

“Good. I’ll find the box for it in the back and wrap it for you. Be sure to keep the box. These signed nutcrackers become a collector’s item and are more valuable if you have the same box they came in.”

“I didn’t realize that.”

She couldn’t breathe until she was away from him. Good grief. She’d always heard about widow’s hormones, but had never given it any thought until now. If a doctor were to examine her, he’d declare she had palsy.

After finding the box in question, she returned to the counter with it. “If you’ll notice, there’s a piece of parchment inside that tells you about the major.”

“She’ll love it.”

Andrea’s hands were unsteady as she wrapped the gift in green foil with a red ribbon. He gave her his credit card. She put the receipt in the sack before handing him everything.

“Mom and I appreciate your business.” She flashed him a smile. “Merry Christmas. Since I’m closing up, I’ll walk you to the door.”

Andrea knew she was being obvious, but she wanted him to leave and never come back. It was the exact opposite of her experience with him the first time he’d come into the shop. She couldn’t afford to make more of a fool of herself than she already had. He could have no idea that seeing him again had been very hard on her.