A breeze brushed Jillian’s ear and she broke the kiss to look around. Snow swirled and danced in eddies of wind across the parking lot. A persistent chime sounded from her car letting her know the key was still in the ignition and the door was open. A car passed on the highway, its tires spewing out rivulets of partially melted snow.
The world really had come to a stop for her to find him and his kiss had set it spinning again.
Jak was still peering directly at her, his penetrating blue eyes seeking answers. “What is it?”
“Did you notice …?” Jillian looked around again, sure that everything had just changed. “Did you see that?”
“Tonight, all I want to see is you.”
He kissed her again and Jillian closed her eyes and melted into it. The warmth that filled her made her wonder if he’d transported her to a tropical beach somewhere. The kiss didn’t last long, but it was long enough to send happy shivers all the way down to her toes. If Jak wasn’t the man of her destiny, no one was.
Jak smiled down at her. “I guess that means I’m not a stranger anymore?”
Jillian laughed, easy and free. All the weight she’d been carrying was gone and the only thing left for her to do this holiday season was enjoy the love and companionship of friends and family. And Jak. “I guess you could say that.”
“I want to be sure.” He took a step back, let her hands go, then took her right hand again in a handshake. “Hi. I’m Jak.”
“Hi Jak, I’m Jill.”
“Jak and Jill. That has a nice ring to it.” His smile was so warm and confident, she just wanted to kiss his lips all over again. “I like live music, putting out huge fires, and women with gray eyes.”
“I also like live music, sitting by a small fire, and I like big strong Vikings with blond hair and no beards.”
Jak’s smile widened. “I feel like we know each other so well now. Would you like to …” he looked around at the restaurant, her car, and the rest of the parking lot. Jillian hoped he didn’t want to go somewhere. She was in love with the moment and with their love story so far, even though the spell had been fulfilled and the world sent spinning again. He motioned to the bench behind him. “Are you warm enough to sit out here for a bit?”
Basking in the glow of this Christmas miracle, Jillian didn’t know if she’d ever get cold again. “If I get cold, I give you permission to pull that first date move and put an arm around me to ‘keep me warm’.”
Jak chuckled, deep and full. “One sec,” he told her. He went to her car, turned off the headlights, pulled the keys and shut the door then came back and took her hand. Even with gloves on, his touch made her feel giddy all over.
“Am I okay parked there?”
“I know the owner,” said Jak. “If he tows you, I’ll make it my life’s mission to get even with pranks for the rest of my career.”
He led her to the bench and they sat.
“You look cold over there,” he said, and put an arm around her.
It really wasn’t that cold in the protected patio so close to the building, but Jillian wasn’t about to complain. She leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder as he brought his tree-trunk arm to wrap around her. All she could see from their position on the bench was the intricate choreography of the swirling snow in the glow of the parking lot lights.
There was so much she wanted to know about him, but one thing was at the front of her mind. “That first night we met,” she said, “at the concert? Charlotte said you had told her something special was going to happen that night? Did it ever happen?”
“You should know,” said Jak without taking any time to think about it. “You were there.”
She felt a wide smile split her face. She had a lot to learn about the prophecy he’d mentioned, but just knowing they had both been each other’s Christmas miracle was deeply satisfying.
“It’s the reason I’m still sitting here,” he continued. “Not a day has gone by since that concert that I haven’t watched for you everywhere. Even my months fighting the Arizona Trail Fire, I scanned every face I saw, just praying for that second meeting.”
“About that,” said Jillian, realizing they were half a block away from that alley, “sorry I didn’t recognize you on our second meeting.”
“I didn’t … scare you, did I?”
Jillian felt his arm tense. “Uh, I wouldn’t say you scared me. More like terrified beyond all comprehension.”
Instantly Jak turned and leaned forward in front of her. “Oh no, I am so sorry. I was trying to be less intimidating, just in case you didn’t recognize me.”
Jillian pulled her glove off and put a hand on his cheek. A five o’clock shadow made his skin a bit gritty, but it was infinitely better than the caveman beard and the skin-to-skin contact was heavenly. “It was the beard. I may have … issues with beards.”
She broke eye contact and laid her head on his shoulder again. Jak’s arms tensed and wrapped her more closely. “I had some bad experiences dating last year,” she explained. She hadn’t talked about it to anyone except Emma, and never really thought she’d talk about it again, but she felt so comfortable sitting in Jak’s arms, she found herself going on.
“Three bad experiences, each worse than the previous. The last one happened in an alley on campus. The blind date was going great, I thought, but the guy decided it was time for a make out session.” Jillian took her time. Not rushing through it, just letting it come out and still feeling one hundred percent comfortable with Jak. “When I declined, he decided he wanted even more than that and started grabbing me. At first I froze, too terrified to act. He was so much bigger than me. When he started pulling my dress up, I freaked. Starting scratching at him, but he didn’t care.”
Jak let out a low growl.
“He just kept going. So I screamed. I bet if you’d been listening you would have heard it up here in Park City. Dogs all over Salt Lake started howling. I was lucky. It was finally enough. He pushed me to the ground, really hard, and ran off. Anyway, he had a long beard and when he was trying to kiss me I felt like it was weighing me down like a heavy blanket.”
There, they had talked about it and could go on with Christmas now. It actually felt good to get that out.
Jak leaned forward again and his eyes bored into her. They glistened with moisture and were intense enough to cut diamonds. “I promise you, never again in my life will I wear a beard. I feel so bad that I scared you that night in the alley. I wish I could take it back. Shoot, I wish I would have been there that night on campus. I would’ve wiped up the alley with his stupid beard.”
“Thanks,” said Jillian. “It was a hard night. Emma was off skiing in Colorado. I found myself in a church, feeling scared, victimized, dirty. So I started praying. And …” this was actually the part that was hard to say out loud since it was so personal. “Well, God spoke to me. I didn’t, like, hear a voice, but the words came into my mind clearly. Three times I will meet my true love. Three times broken, three times to heal. I know that sounds vague and probably really weird, but I knew what it meant immediately. And I felt God’s love and his healing.”
“You amaze me,” said Jak, staring openly at her. “To know where to go for healing at such a hard time, and to be able to hear that. I don’t know if I could ever have that kind of faith.” He pulled her to him in a hug and said over her shoulder, “I’m so, so sorry about the night in the alley. I promise I’ll replace that memory with a million positive memories if you’ll let me.”
Happy tears came to Jillian’s eyes. Later she’d tell him about her black-out and that she remembered none of it. Never had she felt so comfortable with any man; it was as if she’d known him for years. She nodded and he planted a kiss on her cheek and held his face against hers, cheek to cheek. It was perfect. Even though she felt so close, she was reluctant to move too fast with him.
“You passed the stranger test,” she whispered.
“Good,” said Jak, pulling back far enough to look her i
n the eye. “Do you have any rules or prophecies about dating?”
Jillian laughed and shook her head, looking forward to many, many dates with him.
Except …
“No rules,” she said. “Just some bad news.”
Jak’s eyes widened. “Me too. You first.”
Jillian didn’t like the sound of that so she hurried through her news. “I just graduated from the U. I fly home to Napa tomorrow.”
He froze. Just stared at her without acknowledging she’d spoken.
“Jak? It’s a quick flight to San Francisco, then the drive isn’t far. I have some leads, but haven’t landed a job yet, so I don’t even know if I’ll end up in Napa, or even in California.”
One side of Jak’s mouth quirked up in a smile and he looked around as if he thought they were being spied on. He even pulled out his phone and clicked a button but it didn’t light up so he tucked it away. “This is a setup. One of the guys is in on this.” He called out to no one. “Very funny. You can come out now.”
“Um, Jak? Who are you talking to?”
His eyes still darted around a little, coming back to her face then off to the side or past her into the parking lot. “How’d you really find me here? And how in the world did those guys find out about the job offer? Did they hack my email?”
“Job offer?” Jillian took his face in her hands and forced him to focus on her. “I don’t even know who you’re talking about.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” His face lit up as a smile split his lips and brightened his eyes. “What’s meant to be will always find a way.”
“Can you find a way to tell me what you’re talking about?”
Jak took a breath. “You promise you’re really going home to Napa, and this isn’t one of my firefighter buddies pranking me?”
“Promise.”
“Okay. You’re the first to know this. About five seconds before I went into the Station 3 party here today, I signed a contract with the Forest Service. I’m going to be a Managing Wildfire Specialist and I start in two weeks. Their Pacific Southwest office is in—”
“Vallejo, California,” they said in unison.
He had to be pulling her leg now.
Jak went on, obviously excited if the speed of his voice meant anything. “The position opened unexpectedly and they needed to know right away. I looked for you today, even waited here in this alcove for a few minutes expecting you to walk up. And I realized that the answer I’d been looking for regarding this job, was you not showing up. Not having found you tipped the scales in favor of wildland firefighting. And now you’re here. What is it from Vallejo to Napa? Fifteen minutes?”
“Ha. You can’t drive anywhere in California in fifteen minutes. More like twenty-five.”
“We’ll practically be neighbors,” said Jak. “Actually I haven’t even started looking for a place. Napa has a nice ring to it.”
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” said Jillian.
“Another Christmas miracle,” agreed Jak. “How’d I get so lucky?”
“Good living?”
Jak chuckled. “If it’s good living, I’ll keep living good the rest of my life. But we only have one night together until you leave and I have to wait a couple of weeks to see you.”
“Let’s make it count,” she said, resisting the urge to look at her phone to check the time.
“I’d drive you to the airport tomorrow, but I’ll be at the fire station.”
“You have to work on Christmas Day?”
Jak nodded.
“That stinks. I guess someone has to be Superman when someone calls 911. Your turn this year, huh?”
“Not exactly,” said Jak. “Henshaw has teens and little kids at home. I don’t. So I agreed to trade the day with him.”
That touched Jillian’s heart. What a special Christmas gift for him to give one of his coworkers. “I heard you were a good Christian boy,” she told him. “Guess it’s true.”
Jak’s eyebrows lowered in confusion. “Who told you that?”
“It’s my little secret,” she said, deciding to keep the story about how she’d tracked him down to herself. For now. “Now about that date?”
“I just have one request, then I’m all yours.”
“It’s Christmas Eve,” answered Jillian. “How could I say no?” She quickly added, “Keeping in mind that you are a good Christian boy, and it is our first date.”
Jak coughed out a laugh. “Of course. It’s nothing like that. Since I’m working tomorrow, I planned to go by my mom’s since I won’t see her on Christmas Day. Is that the lamest first date ever?”
Jillian giggled. She actually loved the idea of a quiet night with family—even if it wasn’t her family—and maybe some hot chocolate and a fireplace. Besides, she still needed to settle up with Beryl.
Standing, and pulling Jak’s hand to follow her, she said, “That sounds wonderful actually. I owe her a new phone screen.”
Jogging to stand in her way, Jak said, “What’d you say? You owe who a new screen?”
“Your mom.”
Apparently that didn’t clear up the confusion because he still looked at her like she was speaking gibberish. “If that’s a your mama joke, I don’t get it.”
Jillian laughed again. “I cracked your mom’s phone screen, but I had to come find you so I didn’t have time to take care of it yet.”
“This night just keeps getting more interesting. Can’t wait to hear that story.” He winked and said, “Wait until you see what I have planned.” Now he was the one with a secret, and Jillian realized she still liked it, even though she’d have to wait to find out what was up.
Tonight was going to go down as the best Christmas Eve of her life.
10
Jak and Jillian drove in his truck toward his mom’s house. He’d opened the passenger door for her, but by the time he’d come around to the driver’s side and climbed in, there she was in the middle of the bench seat, buckling in. Driving with a beautiful, fun woman in the seat next to him was a dream come true. A little thing, but something he’d always wanted.
Now, taking her to his mom’s house, as in meeting the family, that felt like a big thing. And even though it was a big step in a relationship, Jak was ready. Apparently they’d already met, long enough for Jillian to break the screen on her phone. Bringing her home as a date was a different matter altogether, though.
Yet, he had no doubt things would work out with Jillian. In fact, he couldn’t believe he’d ever doubted. Yes, all the worry and stress about whether he’d find her had made it so much sweeter when she showed up, but he couldn’t help thinking that even if he hadn’t lost sleep and given himself an ulcer, his guardian angels would have taken care of him, and things would have worked out.
Jak glanced at Jillian, who looked up at him, and he had to tear his eyes away from hers. “I should have made you drive,” he said.
“My Subaru is a rockstar at snow driving, but that wouldn’t have been very gentlemanly of you.”
“Still better than wrecking because I can’t keep my eyes off of you,” he said. In his mind he thought back to those moments in front of Pineapple’s where they had just stared at each other. And while it felt like infinity in some ways, it was the shortest infinity ever, and he couldn’t wait to do it again. He’d never get sick of soul gazing with this gray-eyed beauty.
“Also,” he said, “it feels weird to drive down the road without peering into every hood and detouring to any group of people on the off chance that I’d see you.”
“I know, right!” Jillian raised both hands and slapped the dash. “I’ve been doing the same. About drove myself crazy.”
“I love Christmas so dang much,” said Jak. “I mean, I’ve always loved it, but after this, I can’t even say how much I love it.”
Jillian rested her head on his shoulder and hooked an arm around his elbow. “Silent Night” was playing on the radio, snow fell quietly, and everyone on the roads drove like they we
ren’t in a hurry.
Jak’s mom didn’t live far from Pineapple’s, and they pulled into her driveway before too long. It was a modest, one-story home with basic decorations that Jak had helped her hang.
When he climbed out, Jillian slid over and climbed out his side. Jak grabbed a small package from the back seat, then took Jillian’s hand as they walked up to the house. Jillian was the first girl he’d ever brought home. Still, not even a twinge of nerves rattled his mind or gut.
“Did you grow up here?” asked Jillian.
“Yep. Until I became a firefighter.”
Jillian looked around at the neighborhood. “Seems nice and peaceful.”
“Probably a far cry from where you grew up.”
She let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah. A little. I’m going to miss this city.”
“Me too,” he said. “Good thing I already know someone where I’m going.”
“Good thing,” agreed Jillian.
They reached the door and Jak turned to face her. “I’ve got a little surprise for my mom here. Go along with me, okay?” He held up the present.
She looked at it, then back up at him a bit suspiciously. “Can I trust you?”
“You can trust me.”
“All right. I’ll play along.”
“Thanks,” said Jak. “She might freak out a little bit. I’ve never brought a girl home before.”
“Got it,” said Jillian. “I’ll be ready.”
He held up a finger. “Just one more thing.”
Her eyebrows went up in expectation. Jak bent and pressed another kiss to her lips, soft and quick. Barely any contact. Yet somehow it sparked all the happy miracle feelings through his lips and down the rest of his body.
“Everything about you is magical,” he said, wanting nothing more than to stand there and stare into her gorgeous eyes.
“I think you have me confused with Christmas,” said Jillian. “But I’ll take it.”
Jak turned the knob and knocked as he walked in and called, “Hello hello.”
His mom was seated on the recliner, watching a black-and-white movie. She smiled when she noticed him and rose from the chair. He couldn’t tell if she’d noticed Jillian yet, but judging by the pace of her movement, she hadn’t. Jak couldn’t wait to see her reaction when she saw that he’d brought someone home.
Her Christmas Miracle: Park City Firefighter Romances Page 8
