Mel, Will you go to prom with me?
She almost dropped the pizzas as she slowly walked through the crowded pizza shop, her heart beating in that way it did whenever he was around. She stepped outside, and he turned to her and lowered the sign, his eyes filled with something she’d never seen before, just for her.
Love.
He gave her a nervous little smile. “I realize I’m over a decade late with this, but I clearly didn’t know what I was missing.”
The cold wind whipped around them, but she was immune to everything except Finn. He paused as a group of high school–aged girls walked by, one of them saying, “Aren’t they too old to be going to prom?”
Melody almost laughed at Finn’s disgruntled expression as they passed. She took a step closer to him, still holding the pizzas…and slipped on a patch of snow. In that half second when the pizzas went flying high in the air and she was sure she was going to fall flat on her back, more than likely giving herself a concussion, strong arms reached out to catch her. She held onto Finn as he grabbed her. The pizzas landed on the ground, and he held onto her.
“You caught me,” she whispered, still clutching his arms.
He gave her a lopsided grin that told her everything she needed to know. “I will always catch you when you need me to…but you have to let me, Mel,” he said, his voice growing serious as he pulled her closer.
“I know. I’ll work on it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you with everything,” she said, standing in his arms. “I just didn’t want my mistakes to reflect badly on you and your career, whatever it might be.”
“You can’t decide what I can and can’t handle. You don’t need to protect me from your life and your mistakes. That’s not the way relationships work. I’m here. Let me be here for you. Let me be all in. Let me be the guy who you come to with your problems. I will never turn you away, Mel. Don’t ever be ashamed. I know who you are. I know you’re an incredible, brilliant, dedicated doctor and a beautiful woman inside and out. I know that from the moment you asked me to prom that you were someone I wanted to know.”
“What?” she whispered.
He smiled, a corner of his delicious mouth turning up slightly. “It takes guts to come up to a guy older than you who you barely know and ask him to prom. Even if it was for all the wrong reasons and we shared siblings who just so happened to be in love. Then, when you walked into that cabin, you changed everything for me. Just like when you walked out.”
“If you left because you thought you needed to protect me, then that’s all wrong. Lasting relationships don’t work like that. Good times and bad. You can’t hide from me, and I can’t hide from you. That’s how it works.”
She gave a watery laugh. “How the heck did you become such a relationship expert?”
He grinned. “I’m not. But I’ve learned a lot from my parents. And I’ve learned a lot of what not to do thanks to Molly and Ben. Though I know they’ve figured it out now. I don’t want to waste time. I don’t want to spend my days without you. I don’t want to settle for okay. Before you came into my life, I was okay. But when you’re in my life, I’m great.”
She stared into his blue eyes, knowing he was it for her. Somehow, he’d managed to get to know the real her, the one she was too afraid to be for so long. She has spent her life living for everyone else, worried about what everyone else would think of her. Now she knew that it all started with her own opinion of herself. Who could ever love her when she didn’t even love herself? But Finn saw all the good in her, he saw the woman she’d been trying to be her whole life, and he’d shown her that she already existed.
“I want to be great with you,” she said softly, meeting him halfway for a kiss.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“Mel, hurry up and shut the door. We need to get this Monopoly game going. Now,” Finn said.
Melody frowned at Finn, closing the door behind her. They had just arrived at Molly and Ben’s cottage, and Finn was already whipping off his jacket and setting up the Monopoly board on the coffee table.
“What is the rush? We just got here. I want to soak in all the memories. And look, it’s already decorated, too. Do you remember decorating the tree last year?” She sighed. A wave of nostalgia gripped her, and she wanted to relish it—something she had started doing this past year. She had learned to slow down. To not race through life like her hair was on fire…or like she was constantly trying to outrun judgment or trying to prove her self-worth. She had worked hard on herself. On letting go of the past in favor of a future she had never thought possible. Therapy had helped. But so had Finn. So had her sisters.
She’d forgiven the girl she used to be and had learned to love herself. She knew a part of that was because of Finn. He loved all parts of her, even the ones that weren’t perfect. Her mother’s problems were her mother’s, and she didn’t know where their relationship would go or if there would ever be one, but the anger was gone. She was working hard on pushing aside the thoughts of inadequacy and her mother’s voice. She had learned that her mother didn’t define who she was. Only Melody was in control of herself.
She looked over at him, knowing she’d found her soul mate in life. There were times before she met Finn where she’d even wondered what kind of a soul she had. But she’d figured it out. He was her best friend. He listened to her, without judgment, whenever she needed to talk—
“Mel, hurry up.”
She took off her coat. “I don’t get what the hurry is. You know I’ll win this game in like half an hour. And I’m kinda surprised this is the first thing you want to do after barely seeing each other this week,” she said, walking around the sofa.
He shot her a sheepish grin but gestured for her to sit down. She rolled her eyes and sat opposite him, wondering at the panicked look in his gaze. A year ago, she would have assumed something bad was coming. That he’d discovered she wasn’t a nice person and was going to end their relationship. Now…now, she just figured something was up. She glanced at the tray and frowned. “This isn’t our usual—”
But then her heart stopped as she read the various streets on the board.
“It’s not,” he said thickly.
“Luigi’s Pizza…Addie’s Bookshop…the fire station…the hospital… Addie and Drew’s house…the cabin… Is this a custom-made Monopoly board?”
“Keep reading.”
Where Boardwalk should have been was replaced by “Mel and Finn’s cabin.”
“What is this?” she whispered, her gaze going from the board to his sparkling eyes.
“Pick up the Chance card,” he said, pointing to the stack on the board.
Her heart hammered in her chest so loud she was sure he heard. “Finn…”
“I know it’s your most detested pile on the board—”
“Nothing good comes from the Chance deck.”
“Maybe this time will be different.”
She reached across, a faint tremble in her hand as she picked up the card and turned it over to read. She blinked a few times, her breath catching in her throat as she re-read the card.
Advance to Go, Marry Finn.
When she raised her blurry eyes to him, he was kneeling in front of her with a little box in his hand. His own eyes were watery. “Melody, last year you walked in here and proceeded to change my life. We bonded in our mutual misery and mocking of our families but somehow ended up teaching each other so much. You changed me for the better. You made me realize I’m more than a firefighter. And I want to be your husband. I want to be the man who will always have your back, who believes in you, who makes you laugh. I know you said you didn’t want all that, but this year…I can’t imagine not spending our lives together. Mel, will you marry me?”
She clasped her hands against his face, against the scratchy beard he grew for the holidays, at her request, and looked into his ey
es. “You are everything to me, Finn. I love you so much. I finally feel like I’m myself and that I can be myself. You were right. When I said I didn’t want any of this, I’d made myself believe it. I didn’t believe I could ever trust a person enough to show my true self. I didn’t want to burden anyone else. I was wrong. You’ve helped me see that I am strong. That I can trust others to be there for me. You’ve given me everything. Of course I’ll marry you!”
He kissed her, both of them still on their knees, and then he held her close. She didn’t want this moment to end.
The Christmas tree lights twinkled, and as he slipped the diamond ring on her finger, she cried. Because she could cry.
Because she had spent a lifetime hiding her tears and insecurities. Because he always made her feel safe and secure. Because he was everything she ever wanted and the emotions were too big to hide. She never had to hide who she really was with Finn.
She looked up from the ring to him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Are you sure? We can always—”
She kissed him. “It’s perfect. Just like you.”
He gave her a lopsided grin, his eyes sparkling. “Speaking of how perfect I am, what do you think about us buying that empty lot next to this one? We can have our own cabin. You’ll note I did place us on Boardwalk’s spot and Ben and Molly on Park Place.”
A laugh bubbled up from her chest. “Definitely. You know they’re all going to flip out tomorrow when they find out.”
He nodded. “I know. We’ve joined them, Mel. As much as it kills me to admit it, we’ve become the happy people.”
This time, she did laugh as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “A small price to pay.”
“Agreed. Merry Christmas, Melody.”
And then he kissed her.
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About the Author
Victoria James is a romance writer living near Toronto. She is a mother to two young children, one very disorderly feline, and wife to her very own hero.
Victoria attended Queen’s University and graduated with a degree in English Literature. She then earned a degree in Interior Design. After the birth of her first child she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing.
Her dream of being a published romance author was realized by Entangled in 2012. Victoria is living her dream—staying home with her children and conjuring up happy endings for her characters.
Victoria would love to hear from her readers! You can visit her at www.victoriajames.ca or Twitter @vicjames101 or send her an email at [email protected].
Also by Victoria James…
Christmas with the Sheriff
The Baby Bombshell
The Doctor’s Redemption
Baby on the Bad Boy’s Doorstep
The Firefighter’s Pretend Fiance
A Christmas Miracle for the Doctor
The Rancher’s Second Chance
The Best Man’s Baby
A Risk Worth Taking
The Doctor’s Fake Fiancée
Rescued by the Rancher
Falling for the P.I.
Falling for Her Enemy
The Rebel’s Return
The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby
The Billionaire’s Christmas Proposal
The Trouble with Cowboys
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Snowed in with the Firefighter (Shadow Creek, Montana) Page 17
