A New Year's Kiss

by Delaney Cameron

  Her glance roved the dimensions of the room that until a few months ago had been filled with boxes of papers and discarded furniture from previous owners. Without telling her, Lance cleaned out the room, hired a contractor to refinish the floor and repaint the walls, and then equipped it with everything an artist could ever want or need. He kept his wedding gift to her a secret until they returned from their ten-day honeymoon to New England.

  Her gaze fell to the shiny, gold band that had so recently joined the square-cut diamond ring on her hand. Every moment of their wedding day was etched on her memory like the individual strokes of a brush on canvas. It had been six weeks since that April afternoon when they said the words that made them man and wife. Six weeks of filling in details of the things she loved about Lance and finding dozens more.

  Their guest list had been purposely small. Among the people invited were Holly and her husband Devon. Norah wouldn’t have been human if she hadn’t been a little curious to see Lance’s first love. The actual meeting didn’t last more than ten minutes, and in a strange way, Norah was sad to see it end. She took an instant liking to the lovely woman wearing a white hat that matched the one worn by the little girl being held in the arms of her tall, handsome husband.

  Movement on the landing brought her glance to the doorway. The smile on Lance’s face was the same one she saw every night before she went to sleep, and every morning when she woke up. His fingertips lightly traced her jawline and then cupped her head, drawing her close as he deepened the kiss.

  “How was your afternoon in court?”

  “Not bad. We’re almost ready for closing arguments. I was coming to see about dinner. We could try that new French restaurant.”

  “I have to get cleaned up first.”

  “How about I make the reservation for eight? Afterwards we can drive to Waterfront Park and walk around for a while.”

  “I’ve never been down there at night.”

  “No one’s taken you to watch the submarine races?”

  “Afraid not. The closest I got to that was back in high school when a guy tried to lure me into a hayloft at a 4th of July picnic. After refusing politely a few times, I poured my glass of lemonade down his shirt. He finally got the message.”

  Lance laughed. “I bet he did.”

  She guided him to the easel near the window. “What do you think?”

  Lance grinned at the pencil sketch of him sitting at his desk. “That’s an interesting take on the pair of robins nesting in the tree outside my office.”

  “I’ll get back to the robins. You were more interesting today.”

  “I hope I’m more interesting than birds on any given day.”

  She smiled and took his hand. His strong fingers curled around hers as though they sought, and found, reassurance. “You’re more important to me than anyone or anything.”

  Lance wasn’t slow to let her know what he thought about that. Norah had a feeling dinner was going to be late once again.

  The End

  I hope you enjoyed reading Norah and Lance’s story. If you liked it, please consider telling a friend or leaving a review. Thank you!

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  Also by Delaney Cameron:

  Team Mom (Finding Love, Book 1)

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  Just days after her return to St. Marys, Darcy runs into her childhood crush. Given that she was twelve and he was nineteen at the time, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t remember her. And she’s just as happy to keep it that way. Her dreams of him coming back to find her grown up and so beautiful that he can’t help but fall instantly in love with her should have been long forgotten. All he can ever be is a reminder of how much she lost when she veered off the road to avoid an oncoming car.

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