“I do love you,” Chris said through a watery set of beautiful blue eyes.
“That’s all they need to know,” Paxton replied. “Oh, and they’ll want to know the wedding date and when the kids are coming… But we’ve got some time for that stuff, now that Adler and Morgan are engaged.”
Chris laughed and said, “Yeah, we’ve got some time, huh?”
“Let them take the heat for a while. You and I can focus on us,” Paxton replied. “And, right now, I would like us to focus on sleep. It’s been a long and very eventful day. And tomorrow, we’re finishing up the last touches on your new restaurant. We need to be well-rested.”
“Pax?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m finishing this damn massage I started. I went to the store on the way here to buy this calming oil crap. You’re going to lie here, get a rub down, and relax. Then, we can go to sleep.” Chris smiled down at her with a lifted eyebrow that told Paxton she meant business.
“Whatever you want, babe.” Paxton held up her hands in defense.
“Now, roll over, and at least pretend like you’re not thinking about the million things you have to do tomorrow.”
“Chris, whenever we’re like this, I’m only ever thinking about you.” Paxton smiled up at her, ran her own hand along Chris’s cheek, and added, “Well, you and the million things I have to do tomorrow.” She smiled before letting out a laugh at her own joke.
EPILOGUE
“Christmas was a disaster. This party better be good,” Chris said.
“Christmas was not a disaster. My parents loved you. They asked how many grandkids we were going to give them, since Adler and Morgan said they’re going to give it a few years before trying,” Paxton replied, pouring Chris a glass of white wine. “This party is already good, babe. Everyone is out there smiling and laughing.”
“I just don’t want to run out of food,” Chris said. “My biggest concern is that we’re going to run out of food.”
“Why?” Paxton laughed at her. “The caterers brought enough for an army. Currently, we only have about half an army in our living room and dining room. The patio with the heaters is a big help; makes it less crowded inside. That was a great idea you had, to steal those from the hotel deck for tonight.”
“I’ve never hosted a party like this before, Pax. I don’t exactly know what I’m doing. I mean, I’ve made the rounds. I greeted everyone. I made sure they all have drinks and know where the bathrooms and food are. I took their coats and put them on the bed in the guest room. What else am I supposed to do?”
“Relax and enjoy our party.” Paxton left the wine bottle and glass on the counter and wrapped her arms around Chris, pulling her girlfriend into her body.
“I threw out the bone from the ham at Christmas. I thought your mom was going to kill me.” Chris pressed her face to Paxton’s chest. “How was I supposed to know she’d want it for a soup later?”
“That was a delicious soup.”
“You are not helping,” Chris muttered against Paxton’s chest.
“Babe, my mom loves you. My dad loves you. My sister loves you. Her soon-to-be-wife loves you. Everyone loves you. Is that better?”
“Yes, that’s better,” Chris muttered again.
“It’s New Year’s Eve, Chris. It’s already close to midnight. A few of our friends have already gone home because they want to watch the ball drop from the comfort of their own beds. We’re going to go out there and just enjoy being with our friends, celebrating the new year and our new life together.”
The hotel would open in two weeks. It was done. Technically, they could have opened earlier, but Paxton had insisted they have the holidays with their friends and families and take a little staycation. It had been a great suggestion. Paxton had closed on the house at the end of November. It was the one Chris had found for them. Even though Paxton was the one to sign on all the important lines, they’d treated it as their home from the beginning. Chris still had the house she rented. She spent some nights there and some nights at Paxton’s place. Wes had already begun working on the basement apartment he claimed the moment he laid eyes on it.
Chris and Cheyanne weren’t exactly close, but Wes had enjoyed getting to know his grandmother more and more. Chris was slow to embrace her, but she had allowed Cheyanne to remain at the house even after she’d fully healed from the car accident. Paxton knew one of the reasons Chris had softened a little where her grandmother was concerned was because Cheyanne had actually gone to the police to tell them what she knew about the cult. The FBI had already been investigating the compound for the past five years, along with the ATF. Cheyanne could potentially help them bring an end to what had been going on there for decades. Chris had smiled when Cheyanne had told her that at dinner, and Paxton had smiled at Chris because she knew Chris was thinking about her mother and how happy it would have made her to know that others wouldn’t go through what she’d gone through as a child.
“Where have you two been?” Morgan asked when they made their way out to the patio at the back of the house.
“We were in the kitchen. I got my girlfriend another glass of wine. Is that okay with you, Burns?” Paxton fired back with a light laugh. “Why are you guys even hanging out back here? It’s gotten colder.”
“We just turned those heater things up. It’s not too bad now,” Morgan replied. “Where’s Addie?”
“She’s yours to keep track of now.” Paxton shrugged.
“So, I’m yours to keep track of, then?” Chris asked her.
“No, I think we both know you’re the one that’s going to be keeping track of me in this relationship.” Paxton kissed her girlfriend’s temple. “I’ve been whipped for a while now.”
“Sounds about right, Champ.”
“I was actually thinking about that the other day,” Paxton said.
“Thinking about what?” Adler asked when she made her way out the sliding glass door to join them.
“A pool.”
“A pool?” Chris asked.
“Yes. I seem to remember a certain race one night, in a hotel,” Paxton said.
“Never tell me,” Adler replied, shaking her head from side to side while moving in front of Morgan and taking Morgan’s arms to wrap around her own waist.
“We were in a swimming pool, and we were fully clothed,” Paxton explained.
“Bathing suits,” Chris corrected. “But we just swam. Champ, over here, had just regaled me with stories of her many swimming victories.”
“She wasn’t that good,” Adler teased.
“Sometimes, it sucks spending this much time with your older sister,” Paxton fired back.
“No one made you move here,” Adler said, winking at her.
“You made me visit.”
“Visit isn’t the same thing as moving, Pax.”
“She’s right,” Morgan added.
“It’s not like I could leave,” Paxton said.
“Why not?” Adler laughed.
“You know why, Adler.”
“The hotel?”
“I met her.” Paxton nodded in Chris’s direction.
Chris looked over at Paxton and realized that her girlfriend had gone shy all of a sudden. She wrapped her arm around Paxton’s waist and pulled her into her own side.
“I am very awesome,” Chris said to try to take the focus off her blushing girlfriend.
“That’s true. You are pretty awesome,” Morgan replied.
“I’m going back inside. It’s almost midnight. Come inside and kiss me?” Adler asked, turning her head slightly back to Morgan.
“Sorry, ladies. Duty calls.” Morgan followed Adler back inside the house.
“Hey, why’d you get all reserved just now?” Chris asked, turning to stand in front of Paxton.
“I didn’t.”
“Pax…”
“Adler made fun of me a little bit when I first got here. I never told you about it, but she picked on me for meeting a girl and moving where she lived
immediately.”
“Didn’t she do the same thing?” Chris asked.
“Not exactly. It took a while for Adler to move here. I moved here practically the day you and I met.”
“Because you loved Tahoe, and because you wanted to buy the hotel,” Chris said.
“And because I loved you.” Paxton shrugged again.
“Hey, guys… The ball’s about to drop,” Wes said through the sliding glass door. “Grandma said she’s going to leave after that. She’s pretty tired.”
“Tell Cheyanne you two can stay here tonight so you don’t have to drive home in the snow,” Paxton told him.
“Cool. Thanks, Pax. Can I sleep downstairs in my room?”
“Wes, we talked about this. It’s not your–”
“Yes, you can sleep in your room,” Paxton interrupted Chris.
Wes smiled and closed the door, leaving them alone on the patio outside.
“It is his room, Chris. He knows it, and we know it. I know we’re not technically living together yet, but it’s his room as much as this is his home and your home. I mean, we picked out the bed for the master bedroom together. I even let you pick the painting that hangs over it.”
“Let me?” Chris asked.
“I wanted the other one, with the trees and the little rowboat. You wanted this one.”
“So, you let me have it?”
“Yes, because I want the flat screen.”
“I already said you could have the flat screen; you just want a huge one.”
“It’s not huge. I just want to be able to see what’s on the screen all the way from my bed. Chris, our bedroom is huge.” Paxton laughed.
“Ten!”
“Nine!”
“It is huge, but that doesn’t mean the TV has to be.”
“Then, I want the rocking chairs my parents gave us for Christmas in there.”
“Those are oak; the furniture in the bedroom is cherry. I thought we could put those in the living room.”
“Six!”
“Five!”
“Fine. But you’re explaining to my mom and dad why they’re in the living room when they come to visit. My mom said she specifically got them because we have the bay window in the bedroom.”
“Three!”
“Two!
“Why is everyone yelling in the–” Chris stopped herself when she saw the TV through the glass. “Oh.”
“One!”
Paxton pulled Chris into her body then. She smiled at her girlfriend as the people inside their house celebrated.
“Happy New Year, babe,” Paxton said.
“I’ve never actually had a midnight kiss,” Chris confessed.
“You can have one every year for the rest of our lives.” Paxton leaned in, pressed their lips together, and reveled in the warmth of the touch against the cold of the winter outside.
“Pax?”
“Yeah?”
“I think we kind of just decided that this is my house, too.”
“It’s cute that you think it wasn’t already.” Paxton kissed her again. “Welcome home, Christina Florence.”
Chris kissed Paxton once more before she pulled her in for a hug. Through the window, she could see Wes sitting next to Cheyanne on the sofa. Adler and Morgan were exchanging light kisses in the corner of the room. Riley was sitting on Kinsley’s lap in the chair. Reese and Kellan were coming out of the kitchen, laughing about something. A few of the people they’d hired for the hotel were talking to one another in the open dining room. The snow started to fall around them, making it a little colder, but the warmth from the heaters and – more importantly – from Paxton, kept Chris from wanting to rush inside. She finally had a home. She finally had a family. She finally had the love she’d seen so many others find.
“Never call me Christina,” she whispered in Paxton’s ear.
“Fine. But I’m getting the painting with the damn rowboat and putting it in the living room.”
Paxton let go of Chris quickly, moved to the door, slid it open, and went inside. Chris shook her head and laughed. She’d get her back later for that one. If she gave Paxton the boat picture, she could pick out the paint for the bedroom. Chris was thinking navy-blue. She was thinking Paxton would do all the work. As she watched Paxton wink at her through the closed glass door, and then slide it open for her, she was thinking about how she’d finally made the life she’d always wanted for herself.
COMING NEXT
What Happened After…
(Tahoe Series Finale )
This is the Tahoe Series Finale: a collection of 4 short stories about each featured couple in the series. The events take place after each story's respective Epilogue.
Here’s a glimpse into the lives of the ladies of the Tahoe Series. Find out what’s been going on with Kellan & Reese, Kinsley & Riley, Morgan & Adler, and Paxton & Chris.
PRE-ORDER NOW FOR THE BEST PRICE
No After You
(Celebrities Series Book #1 )
Dani Wilder only intended to go to a fundraiser and donate money to a worthy cause. She had no idea that she’d meet the love of her life that night. There were only a couple of problems with that chance meeting. Dani had a boyfriend. That chance meeting – it was with Peyton Gloss, the world’s most famous music star, who also happened to be a woman.
Peyton had only planned on performing that night. When she’d seen the most beautiful woman in the world in the crowd, she had to talk to her. Dani Wilder was a beautiful, kind, smart supermodel, who also happened to have a boyfriend. When the two women spend time together, though, it’s clear to both of them that this is more than merely a close friendship.
In this prequel to “All the Love Songs,” find out what happened the night these two met, and discover how their relationship began.
PRE-ORDER NOW FOR THE BEST PRICE
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NOVELS BY THE AUTHOR
Stand-alone books:
• The Fire
• The Moments
• The Disappeared
Chicago Series:
• Introduction – Fresh Start
• Book #1 – The Best Lines
• Book #2 – Just Tell Her
• Book #3 – Love Walked into The Lantern
• Series Finale – What Happened After
San Francisco Series:
• Book #1 – Checking the Right Box
• Book #2 – Macon’s Heart
(recommended to read after Keep Tahoe Blue )
• Book #3 – This Above All
• Series Finale – What Happened After
Tahoe Series:
• Book #1 – Keep Tahoe Blue
• Book #2 – Time of Day
• Book #3 – The Perfect View
• Book #4 – Begin Again
• Series Finale – What Happened After
Celebrities Series:
• Book #1 – No After You
• Book #2 – All the Love Songs
Begin Again Page 22
