Unexpected Gifts

by Bronwyn Green

  Looking toward the dining room, she noticed a muted glow behind her. Her ficus plant was draped with softly shining Christmas lights, and a pile of presents sat on the floor in front of the pot. Her brow furrowed, and she pulled the afghan more securely around her and sat up just as Sam entered the room wearing nothing but his worn jeans and carrying a couple of her snowmen ornaments.

  “You’re awake,” he said as he hung them on the plant, causing the branches to droop.

  “Yeah. What’s all this about?” she asked, gesturing loosely at the decorations.

  He shrugged, the dim lights highlighting his bare chest. “You love Christmas. I couldn’t stand the thought of the douche bag taking this away from you, too…so I improvised.”

  Tears burned her eyes as she stared at the man who’d been her friend and also the biggest pain in her ass for the last fifteen years. Having Tyler leave her was nothing. It was going to hurt so much more when this—whatever it was with Sam—ended.

  She was so, so stupid. She wasn’t Sam’s type—never had been. Besides, he was a serial monogamist—one steady girlfriend after another. When this came crashing down around them, not only would her life suck, but it would affect the rest of her family, too. After all, Sam was basically her parents’ second son. There would be nothing but years of awkwardness after this. What the hell had she been thinking? She sank to the floor in front of the makeshift tree and blinked back the tears that threatened.

  He sat on floor across from her and stared at her. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Cassie-girl?”

  “Nothing.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. Instead, she stared at the shimmering lights on the tree.

  “Now, you’re lying on Christmas Day. Your mother would be so disappointed.”

  Yeah, well, that was nothing compared to how the woman would feel when she eventually got wind of what had gone down here, last night. And she would. Finding out stuff her kids didn’t want her to know was her mother’s mutant ability.

  “Cassie?” His tone was hesitant and worried. She’d never heard him sound like that before, and it forced her to glance at him.

  Grabbing her hand, he laced their fingers together. “Did I push too hard last night?” he asked. “Push you into something you didn’t want? Or weren’t ready for?”

  The uncertainty in his expression cut at her, and she tightened her hand on his. “No. That’s not it.” Heat rose to her cheeks. “I wanted what happened,” she said, and a despondent sounding laugh escaped. “I wanted it—and you—desperately.”

  His brow furrowed. “Then, what’s wrong?”

  She scrubbed a hand over her eyes. He might not want to face reality, but the sooner they did, the sooner they could get past the inevitable fall out. “Last night was…amazing.”

  “But?” he prodded when she didn’t continue right away.

  She took a breath. “But…I think we both know that this is just going to end ugly.”

  He pulled his hand away from hers. His eyebrows drew together and disappointment glinted in his eyes. “I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but that’s bullshit.”

  “C’mon, Sam. You can’t really think we belong together.”

  He just stared at her.

  She didn’t want to have to spell it out, but it looked like as if didn’t have a choice. “This isn’t going to go anywhere. We both know that. And, when it ends, it won’t just affect us. It’ll affect my family and yours. Do you really want that?”

  He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off.

  “You don’t stay with women for longer than a few months. I’ve met a lot of them, and they’re wonderful. Gorgeous. Smart. Funny. If they didn’t hold your interest, I don’t have a chance.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Cassie! Is that what this is about?” Before she could answer, he plowed ahead. “Those relationships didn’t work out because those women weren’t you.”

  Anything she might have said died in her throat.

  “By the time I realized that the infatuation of high school had passed and I was actually in love with you, it was too late for me to do anything about it.”

  He loved her? She hadn’t really believed him last night when he’d said he’d wanted her. But he had. God, he’d wanted her. She was still a little sore to prove it. She glanced at his face. There was nothing but certainty there.

  “If there was a chance you could be happy with Tyler,” Sam continued. “I wasn’t going ruin that for you.” He sighed. “I wish I’d known how much of a bag of dicks he was gonna turn out to be.”

  She smiled sadly and adjusted the afghan around her, trying to come to grips with the fact that Sam MacLane was in love with her. “Even if you’d known and had tried to warn me, I probably wouldn’t have believed you, anyway.” She shrugged at his questioning expression. “I wanted the fairy tale. The happily ever after. I guess that’s the problem with reading too many books. You don’t realize until too late that happily ever afters don’t exist.”

  He shook his head. “Bullshit.” He frowned a little. “Okay, maybe bullshit is too strong. Not a lot of people get a happy ending because they’re not willing to work for it.”

  She nodded. He was right. Tyler hadn’t been willing to put in the effort, and, in the end, neither had she.

  “Here’s the thing you should know,” Sam said, taking her hands in his work-roughened ones. “I’m willing to work for it. Hell, I want to work for it. But I need to know if you are, too.”

  Her heart stuttered. If she said no, if she didn’t even give them a chance, she’d regret this for the rest of her life. Realizing there was nothing she wanted more than a chance at happiness with Sam, she slowly nodded. The smile he gave her was the best gift she’d ever received.

  “Good.” His eyes shone with happiness. “Now, open your presents, because, after that, we’re going back to bed.”

  “Oh, are we?”

  He leaned forward and kissed her nose. “We are. And it’ll be in a real bed where I can love you properly.”

  Her lips quirked. “That wasn’t proper?”

  “Not even close,” he said darkly, and desire flared to life within her at his tone.

  “Now, open this.” He handed her a present. It was lumpy and messily wrapped and could only be from her mother. Cassie adored her and would recognize her poor gift wrapping skills anywhere. Feeling more than a little guilty that she’d skipped the family gathering in order to sit home and pout, she pulled at the tape, lifting it away from the brightly colored paper. Inside, was a new pair of mittens and matching scarf her mom had knitted. She opened present after present from her parents, her brother and sister and from Sam’s family, too.

  Sam picked up the last gift. She could tell it was from him. No one else she knew wrapped gifts with that kind of military precision. He set it on her lap, and sat back and waited, looking a little uneasy. She couldn’t remember him ever being nervous around her, before. Of course, that was before everything changed last night.

  And, she wondered, for what was surely the five hundredth time, if they’d ruined everything by falling into bed together. She stared at him and shoved that thought right out of her head. They hadn’t ruined anything. This was where they were supposed to be. Together.

  Her fingertips traced the edge of the package before untying the red ribbon he’d used to decorate it. Peeling away the tape and paper, she revealed a plain cardboard box. She lifted the lid, and tears filled her eyes.

  “I know I don’t have all of them. And I’m not sure if the ones I found are even the right editions, but… Hey. Are you crying?”

  Cassie swiped at the tears that slipped down her cheeks. In the box were books. Copies of books that had been part of the collection that had been destroyed when the firefighters had put out the blaze in the garage below her bedroom all those years ago. She flipped through the pages—gilt-edged volumes of fairy tales, an illustrated version of The Hobbit, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Anne of Green Gables—
they were all here. He’d actually taken the time to find the older editions she’d had as a kid.

  “I wasn’t sure if you’d replaced them, but I figured, if you had, you could always use these at the library.”

  “Where did you find these?” she asked, stunned by the gesture.

  “Mostly eBay, but I hit a few used bookstores, too. I’ve been looking for them for a while.”

  She couldn’t believe he’d gone to all that trouble for her. It hit her, then. She was stupid for mourning the loss of Tyler for months. He’d never cared enough to do something like this. Hell, she was fairly certain he had no idea what her current favorite books were.

  But, Sam? Sam remembered the books she’d loved as a kid. He’d come over here in a blizzard to check on her. He’d loved her and wanted her to be happy—even if it wasn’t with him. Her heart ached with the fullness of love and the realization that she’d almost sent it packing into the worst storm of the year. Well, she had. But fate and a crappy driveway had intervened. She set the box aside and shifted to her knees in front of him, keeping the afghan wrapped around her.

  “You’re about ruin our chances for a bed, aren’t you?” he asked, tracing a callused fingertip down her chest, along the edge of the blanket.

  “You can handle it.” She grinned then sobered and leaned forward, cupping his face in her hands. “Thank you. This is the best gift I’ve ever been given.” Still holding his face, his stubble tickling her palms, she closed the distance between them and kissed him. Long and slow. Pulling back, she shook her head. “I take that back. It’s not the best gift.”

  He raised a dark eyebrow at her. “Oh, really? Then, what is?”

  “I’ll give you a hint. It showed up covered in snow and was completely unexpected.”

  He grinned and grabbed her around the waist, laying her back against the floor and pulling the covering from her body. The cooler air tightened her nipples as the lights from the makeshift Christmas tree cast a warm glow over their skin. “The best presents always are.”

  “Hmm…this gift does seem a little cocky, though.”

  He nuzzled her neck. “You’d better not be thinking about exchanging it.”

  She stroked her hands over his shoulders. “No way. No exchanges. No returns.” Despite everything they’d shared, her cheeks flushed at her admission.

  Sam stared into her eyes. “No refunds, either.” He dropped a tender kiss on her lips. “And definitely no more holidays alone,” he murmured against her mouth.

  She shook her head slightly, her lips brushing across his. “I love you, Sam.”

  He lifted his head, something that looked like relief shimmering in his eyes. “Say it again.”

  “What?”

  “Indulge me.” He brushed his thumb across her cheekbone. “I’ve been waiting a really long time to hear you say it.”

  “I love you.”

  She loved the slow, sweet smile that spread across his face.

  “I love you, Cass. I have for years, and that’s not going to change.”

  Her eyes burned, but this time, they were tears of happiness. “You really are the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

  “Ditto.” He slipped between her legs and rocked against her. “And, remember…expect the unexpected.”

  Cassie wrapped her arms around him and urged him closer. “Always.”

  Bronwyn Green is an author, blogger and compulsive crafter. She lives Michigan with her husband, two kids and three somewhat psychotic cats. When not frantically writing, she can be found helping in her youngest son’s classroom or binge-watching Netflix while working on her latest craft project. Bronwyn loves to talk to her readers and can be found at www.bronwyngreen.com.