Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4)

by Smith, Nicole

  "I know it's early in the day for this at not quite noon, but I think a sip won't harm any of us. We have to celebrate this occasion," Holly said.

  Jason opened the bottle with a pop, and soon they all had a glass.

  Sam held up his glass. "To Eric and Maggie. May love's promise fill your lives with happiness."

  After taking a sip of champagne, Maggie gave Sam a hug. Eric heard him say, "That's going to be some phone call with Mom and Dad!"

  Eric soon had Maggie tucked back under his arm, his hand squeezing her shoulder. "Will your parents be upset?"

  She shrugged. "They'll just have even more reason to come for Christmas to get to know you. Don't worry, they'll love you."

  Eric wondered about that. He supposed there was time enough until Christmas to get nervous about meeting them. He heard Holly asking Maggie when the big event would be happening.

  "I have no idea. This hit me out of the blue," she said, with a grin up at him.

  "Well, it can't happen until after the first of February because my parents won't be back until then. Man, are they going to be surprised."

  "Maybe a spring wedding then, Maggie. That could be lovely," Holly said.

  "We have time to talk about that later," Maggie replied. "Let me get used to the fact that I'm engaged."

  Holly smiled at her and gave her another hug. "I'm so happy for you."

  Jason said, "You know, Marla is going to be bent out of shape over this. She had big plans for people to introduce you to in the city."

  Julia came up and explained to Eric. "Marla is Jason's assistant. She's dating my father, and she's also a matchmaker. She worked on getting Holly and Jason together and still takes credit for it. She had been planning on finding someone for Maggie. She's going to be completely surprised."

  Maggie said, "I hope she won't be too upset. But I've found my man!"

  Jason and Julia both laughed.

  Nobody went back to the puzzle or the poker game. Instead, they sat around and talked about how each couple there had gotten together, the ups and downs along the way to their current happiness. Eric was surprised to hear that everything had not always gone smoothly. Then he thought of the buying-a-building fiasco and could see how easy it would be for things to get off track. But nothing else would mess them up.

  Holly gathered up her sister and brother to help her in the kitchen and before long lunch was on the table. Eric thought he'd never tasted a ham quite so delicious, or a better macaroni and cheese. As he listened to the conversation spiced with laughter around the table, as he felt Maggie grasp his hand, it hit him that he'd never felt so comfortable, so complete. It was as if he was the puzzle that had been missing a vital piece, which was now in place.

  He turned to Maggie and said, "I love you." Then he lifted her hand in his and kissed the top of it.

  Maggie got tears in her eyes again. "I love you, too."

  He sighed with a feeling of contentment.

  * * * *

  Maggie splashed water on her face in the bathroom. She guessed that it should be a pretty emotional thing to get engaged, but she was getting a bit tired of being so teary-eyed. As she walked back into the bedroom, she spied Eric's guitar. That's what the party needed!

  She carried the guitar back downstairs and saw Holly's face light up when she saw it.

  "Music! I knew I was forgetting something. Eric, will you play for us?"

  He nodded. "But only if you all sing along to some Christmas songs."

  "That's perfect," Holly said.

  Everyone sat around the fireplace and Eric started off with 'Let it Snow' which made them laugh. Pretty soon the group was singing along with him, and Maggie was surprised to hear that they weren't that bad. Frank had a nice bass voice that seemed to anchor each song, and they had a good time singing the classic holiday tunes.

  Maggie watched Eric as he interacted with his new family and felt a bit of wonder at him. Here was a guy who'd been completely out of touch socially, yet now he was comfortable leading this song fest. She was a bit intimidated at the idea of meeting his parents as his fiancee, considering that they knew nothing about her yet. He'd told her he was going to get word to them on the cruise so they'd have some warning of the news.

  She was still in a daze, really, at what had happened. True, she had let herself imagine a future with Eric, but when he asked her to marry him, it was a complete shock. In the moment before she'd said yes, she'd had a million thoughts run through her mind. But in the end, it came down to that one simple question. Did she want to be with him forever? And that answer was very clearly 'yes.'

  Eric had finished a song and now said, "This is a song I've been working on for Maggie. You guys will be the first to hear it."

  She sat up straighter on the couch, unsure what to think. He'd written her a song? Then he started playing, a beautiful melody picked out on the strings of the guitar. He began to sing, and the quiet was a palpable force that the song's words dropped into. As Maggie listened to the words, the promises of love, the future opening out before them, she felt the tears once again streaming down her face. But she didn't mind them this time. He was singing to her from his heart, singing his love to her, and it was the most precious moment she'd ever experienced.

  When the song was over, everyone looked at her. She got up off the sofa and walked to him. She set his guitar aside and put her hands on either side of his face. Leaning close she kissed him, gently and softly but with a passion underneath. She put all that she felt into that kiss.

  Eric looked into her eyes as she pulled away. "I'm thinking you liked the song," he said quietly, his green eyes dark with love and desire.

  "That was the best Christmas present, ever."

  They turned as they heard sniffles. Holly was passing out tissues to Julia, Anna, Betsy, and yes, even Frank.

  "You've got talent," Sam said. "You should do something with that song."

  "Nope," Eric said, shaking his head. "That song is only for my Maggie."

  "Okay, you gotta stop," Cody said. "The romantic gestures are killing me."

  A wave of laughter spread around the rest of them.

  "Come on, guys. Time to move the rest of the firewood. Let's bundle up," Jason said. "I think it has gotten colder out there."

  Holly promised to have hot chocolate waiting for them when they were done. She and Maggie headed for the kitchen.

  "I am so tired," Maggie said. "We were up late last night and I think I could sleep for the rest of the day."

  "Do you want to go lie down?"

  "No, because then I'll be up all night. I've heard rumors about your hot chocolate. It's supposed to be magical."

  Holly smiled. "Maybe not magical, but really very good." She started showing how to make real homemade hot chocolate to Maggie.

  Anna walked into the kitchen. "Thank goodness for grandmothers. Betsy is reading to Joshua. I'm hoping he'll fall asleep."

  "He did well during our sing-along," Holly commented.

  "He loves music," Anna replied. "Anyway, Maggie. Betsy just told me that Frank told her that Eric was thinking of buying you a building. Did you know about this? Because I told her that I think you deserve some warning of something like that. Most people don't go around buying buildings for their girlfriends."

  "Don't worry, Anna. He already sprung it on me. He had a whole plan for my new business--an arts and crafts shop. Believe me, he now has a new plan for that building. We had quite a--a fight I guess. At the least, a disagreement, about it."

  "Okay. So you guys were able to work it out."

  "Yeah. He now knows he was an idiot."

  Anna and Holly laughed.

  "Where's Julia?"

  "Nursing Jenny. She's slowly weaning her, but she still nurses her a couple times a day."

  Maggie sat down at the counter, and reached over for a bowl of chocolate candy that was sitting out. She unwrapped a piece and popped it into her mouth. "You know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking I'm going to have to pla
n a wedding. With my mother. Do you have any idea what that will be like? She is going to want to design the wedding. And who knows what Eric's mother will be like. I haven't got a clue about her."

  Holly asked, "Will your mother really want to design it?"

  "Yes. I know for a fact that she has been designing wedding dresses for me and for my sisters since we were little girls. She has a special file filled with her ideas for our weddings."

  "Wow," Anna said, watching Maggie eat another chocolate. "Are you okay with that?"

  "It will depend on whether or not I like the dress," Maggie said with smile.

  "How can you eat the way you have today and stay so small?" Anna asked.

  Maggie was surprised. She looked at the chocolate in her hand and then back up to the two women. "I must be more stressed out by this wedding thing than I thought. I am just craving chocolate, a sure sign of stress for me."

  Julia walked in with a smile on her face. "Frank just poked his head in the door. The sheriff called and said they expect the power back on by tomorrow morning."

  Maria smiled and thought about how she couldn't wait to get back to her apartment to really celebrate with Eric.

  That night they decorated Holly and Jason's Christmas tree. Since they weren't always at the house, they had a large nine foot artificial tree with a ton of lights already on it. Jason and the rest of the men brought out box after box of ornaments.

  "What on earth are you doing, Holly? There's enough decorations here for twenty trees," Frank said.

  "Now Dad, you just don't understand. The latest concept in tree decorating is to really fill the tree up, from the inside out. Let's turn on some music and get started."

  Maggie sucked on a candy cane while putting little glass star ornaments on the tree. She had never put up a tree of her own at any apartment she'd lived in, since she usually went home for Christmas. She wondered if maybe this was the year to have a tree of her own. Or, better still, why not wait until next year after she and Eric were married and living in their own place? She liked that idea, but it made her think about all the decisions they needed to make, like where to live. Eric had never intended to stay permanently in Sully Point. And if they both wanted to go back to school, it didn't make much sense to buy a house here.

  "Darling, you're attacking that candy cane like it did something wrong," Eric said.

  She jumped, startled to find him standing beside her. "Goodness, you scared me. I was thinking. Do you realize all the stuff we need to figure out? Like housing. Where will we live?"

  "Wherever we want to, I guess. I hadn't thought about it yet."

  "Eric, we have to start thinking of these things. And what about--"

  "Stop," he said, holding up a hand. "We'll work it out, all of it. We don't need to worry about it tonight, okay?"

  She looked into his face and found strength there, and a sense of calm. He was right. She had been starting to spin in mental circles over everything.

  "Eric, what was your Christmas usually like, with your family?" Frank asked.

  "Pretty much like anyone else's, I guess. We usually had a real tree that got put up around the second week in December. My mother is a teacher. She retired this year. But it meant she got off for school vacation like I did. We spent days baking cookies, breads, pies and cakes that she gave away to families of her students, and friends in the neighborhood. I'm still pretty good at making cookies."

  "How did I not know this?" Maggie asked. "What kind of cookies?"

  "Go on, Eric. Ignore my little sister's cookie fetish," Sam said.

  Eric smiled at her. "Sugar cookies and yes, chocolate chip. Anyway, my father is a supervisor at a software company. Or rather, he was. He retired when Mom did. When I was little, he started bringing home computers from work that weren't being used anymore because they were too old. My interest in them started from those first computers. He didn't think it was strange at all when this kid of four years old got into computers. My mother did, though. With her help I didn't have to go through too many boring years in the school system. Which was good and bad, I suppose."

  "I like how you turned out," Maggie said. "So it was good."

  "I think they'd like it here, even though they've lived in Seattle forever. It's a big city with a small town feel."

  "Time to put the star on top of the tree," Holly announced. "I need that ladder closer over here."

  She climbed up and the tree was soon topped by a glittering silver star.

  Eric spoke quietly to Maggie. "One thing my family always did was to go to church on Christmas Eve. How would you feel about doing that?"

  "I'd like it. I think the church has a midnight service here."

  "Then let's do it."

  She nodded, thinking how they'd be making their first Christmas memories together. It was turning into a special holiday season.

  That night, after the tree was admired and marshmallows were roasted over the fire, she snuggled in bed next to Eric, drowsy and warm and feeling more loved than ever in her life. It was amazing how things turned out, she thought.

  "Remember how I was going to hire you to be my boyfriend? Bet you never thought it would end up like this, did you?"

  Eric murmured, "Never in my wildest dreams."

  "It feels like a dream to me. I'm so happy I'm almost scared, scared it could all go away."

  "It won't. We're going to be together forever. We promised."

  She relaxed against him. "Yes, you're right. We did promise. Forever."

  Chapter 6

  The next week was filled with Christmas chaos. Maggie was close to finishing all her gift projects, but it seemed that rest of the family decided to do all their shopping that week. She spent a day with Joshua while Anna and Sam went to the city to shop. While she was there she was inundated with boxes being delivered by UPS and FedEx. She couldn't figure out what they could have left to shop for in the city, since more than enough stuff had been delivered to their home. Sam was known, however, for going overboard when it came to holiday gift giving.

  Eric had discovered that Sully Point had a Christmas choir, and was spending lots of time with them rehearsing. They planned to go caroling for two nights before Christmas, and would perform at the midnight church service on Christmas Eve. Maggie had told him he was going to freeze his tush off walking around in the freezing weather for the caroling, but Eric seemed excited to be part of the group.

  Meanwhile the computers were arriving for the big delivery. It was set for the week of Christmas. Julia was talking to the most experienced computer users in town to get some extra help setting them up in people's homes. The signup and vetting process for determining who would be getting the computers had gone quickly and smoothly. Eric had told her that it got to him every time a parent's eyes lit up at the thought of their child having computer access.

  Maggie was helping Cody to organize the food giveaway for the week of Christmas as well. They had boxes of cereals, crackers, oatmeal, bags of beans and rice, along with cans of fruit and vegetables in boxes covered with shiny wrapping paper. Each family would get a pre-cooked ham, along with pineapple, sweet potatoes, broccoli and more trimmings for the Christmas dinner. They'd given away turkeys for Thanksgiving, and Maggie and Cody had both felt ham was a good choice for this holiday.

  The toys this year were being passed out by the sheriff's office and the Red Cross volunteers. Maggie spent an afternoon wrapping dolls, trucks, stuffed animals, and race cars.

  She was at home at the end of the week, after having shopped at the mall's craft and sewing shop earlier that day. It had occurred to her that she and Eric needed to have stockings even if they didn't have a tree put up this year. She bought velvet in green to match Eric's eyes, and red for her. She had found some white fake fur to put at the top of each stocking and was making snowmen and Christmas trees out of sequins to go on them.

  Her phone rang and she put it on speaker because her hands were full of sequins.

  "Maggie?"
>
  "Mom! How are you?"

  "I'm fine, but I had expected to hear from you before this."

  "Mom, I called you guys the night I got engaged."

  "Yes, but I thought you'd want us down there for Christmas."

  "Aren't you coming?" Maggie asked, confused.

  "We were waiting for you to invite us, dear."

  "Oh. Oops. I thought you had planned to come down and stay with Sam. I had no idea. Can you guys still come?"

  "Of course. I'm not sure we can get a flight though, we may have to drive. This has gotten a bit confused."

  "I'm sorry, Mom. I was thinking your visit was already set up. Please do come."

  "All right. I'd better get off the phone and make some plans. Talk to you later, Maggie. Love you."

  "Love you, too."

  She turned off her phone and shook her head. How could she have messed that up? It seemed like this Christmas was rattling her more than any previous one. Maybe being in love had something to do with that.

  By the time Eric arrived, after another choir practice, Maggie had decided that sequins were more trouble than they were worth. She had managed to finish the stockings, even though her frustration reached a high enough level to break out the hot chocolate. Hot chocolate was her go-to stress reliever this holiday season. Chocolate in any form had become her favorite food. Considering how healthy she normally was with her food choices, she was a bit thrown by how much chocolate she was going for. But it was just so good.

  "You look frazzled," Eric said. "I picked up dinner at the Diner."

  "What did you get?"

  "Meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans. I thought a basic meal would be good."

  He took the food into the kitchen and began opening containers. Maggie took one look at it and dashed from the kitchen. She barely made it to the bathroom before getting sick.

  "Maggie! What's wrong?" Eric met her coming out of the bathroom holding a washcloth to her forehead.

  "Oh man, I don't know. That hit me out of the blue." She walked over the couch and laid down, Eric covering her with a crocheted throw. "I think I overdid the chocolate."