3 Christmas Crazy (11 page)

By the time the casserole was heated, Zak was at the door.

“I missed you.” Zak pulled me into his arms and kissed me in just the way I’d been fantasizing about for days.

“I missed you, too,” I said and kissed him back.

“Something smells good.” Zak took off his jacket and hung it on the coatrack by the door.

“Hash-brown casserole and cheesy bacon biscuits.”

“Sounds perfect. I’ve been traveling back and forth around the country trying to get a flight home and haven’t eaten anything but airline food for days.”

“The airlines are that messed up?” I asked as I spooned the ham-and-cheese dish on a plate.

“They really are. The storm closed the airport for two days. When it finally reopened, there were people everywhere trying to get a flight out of the area. I had to go from New York to Miami and then catch a commuter flight to Atlanta. Just about the time I got there, the storm that had been lurking in the Gulf came ashore, and flights were delayed again. I rented a car and drove to St. Louis, where I was able to get a flight to Denver. It really was a madhouse.”

“Are you home for a while?” I asked hopefully as Zak shoveled biscuits and casserole into his mouth.

“Until after the New Year for sure. After that, I may need to make another trip.”

I refilled Zak’s coffee and cleared his dishes. “I have cheesecake left if you want some.”

“Sounds fantastic.”

I went into the kitchen and sliced the cheesecake I’d made earlier in the week. I put it on one of my special Christmas dessert plates and poured Zak a glass of milk. When I returned to the living room, Zak was fast asleep on my little couch. He’d removed his snow-covered shoes when he’d come in, so I got a blanket from the chest and covered him. I turned off all the lights except the tree lights and tossed another log on the fire. Then I picked up Marlow and motioned for Charlie to follow me upstairs. Spade was curled up next to Zak and Lambda, who had missed his dad and was sound asleep on the rug next to the sofa.

As I got ready for bed for the second time, I sighed at the fact that, although Zak had slept at my boathouse a number of times if you counted the week after my accident in November, he’d yet to make it upstairs. Maybe Ellie wasn’t too far off when she suggested new dresses for the ball. I think her exact word was something
shocking
.

I woke to the sound of cursing, followed an instant later by the crash of glass shattering on the kitchen floor below my loft bedroom. The smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying filled the air as I opened my eyes and sat up. I looked around and tried to get my bearings, my brain struggling toward full wakefulness. I glanced at the rumpled sheets next to me and smiled. Since the
entire
bed was empty, I had to assume that Charlie and the cats had followed Zak downstairs.

I closed my eyes and laid back into the softness of my bed. I snuggled into my thick comforter as I remembered the magic of the previous evening. The thirty-six hours leading up to my perfect night had been a bit rocky, as I’d woken on Sunday morning to find Zak gone, leaving a note stating that he was going to be tied up the next couple of days but would pick me up at six o’clock for the Holly Ball as planned. I’d gone on a bit of a rant when Zak simply disappeared after having been gone for most of the month, but when he showed up for the ball in a horse- drawn sleigh holding a dozen red roses and a bottle of the finest champagne, my tantrum faded to enchantment.

Being a bit of a tomboy, I never really understood the infatuation little girls—and big girls, too, as I’m given to understand—have for the fairy tale of Cinderella, but as Zak led me around the dance floor dressed in a perfectly tailored tuxedo, I understood for the first time how magical it could be to dress in a beautiful gown and dance the night away with your prince while he makes you feel like the most desirable woman in the world.

I slid out of bed and pulled on some thick sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt. As I slipped on my knee-high slippers, I glanced in the full-length mirror near the closet. It looked like the homely stepsister was back. The dress I’d bought during my shopping trip with Ellie on Sunday—dark-green velvet that fit me like a glove—had made me feel like a princess, but by the end of the evening I couldn’t wait to take off the binding thing and slip into something a bit more comfortable.

Luckily for me, the zipper stuck, Zak offered to help, and the rest, as they say, was magic.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Zak grinned as he handed me a cup of coffee.

“What time is it?” I yawned.

“Nine thirty.”

“Nine thirty? I never sleep till nine thirty.”

“We had a late night.” Zak kissed my cheek.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. A long, lingering kiss that might have gone on for hours if Charlie hadn’t gotten jealous and wedged himself between us. I reluctantly ended our kiss and bent down to pet the little traitor who had chosen to follow Zak downstairs rather than stay in bed with me.

“I hope you’re hungry.”

Zak returned to the kitchen and opened the oven as I greeted the cats in turn. “I made breakfast pie.”

“Starving, but just a small piece. I’m meeting Ellie for lunch at one o’clock.”

“I don’t know,” Zak cautioned. “Based on the way Rob and Ellie were melting into each other on the dance floor last night, she may have had a late night as well. Would you like a mimosa to go with your breakfast?”

“I’d love one.”

Zak poured champagne and orange juice into a tall flute. I took my drink over to the sofa and sat down while Zak finished up in the kitchen. He had lit a fire and plugged in the tree and the rest of the lights I’d strung around my little boathouse. Soft music played on the stereo and, outside, gently falling snow drifted through the air. My home was warm and romantic, and I seriously considered calling Ellie and moving our lunch date until after Christmas.

Zak set plates of cheesy breakfast pie and homemade biscuits on the coffee table in front of us. He refilled our coffee cups before joining me on the sofa.

“I have something for you.” Zak handed me a box.

“But it’s not Christmas yet.”

“I know. I want you to have it now. Open it.”

Inside the long green box was a necklace with a delicate chain and a
Z
in the center. In the middle of the
Z
was a beautiful diamond that I was sure was big enough to be seen from across the room. “Wow. It’s beautiful.” I slowly lifted it from the box. “
Z
for Zoe?”

“Or Zak.” Zak smiled as I lifted my hair and he clasped it around my neck. “Unless having your guy’s initial on your chest is too corny; then it can stand for Zoe.”

“I like corny,” I assured him, “but I don’t have anything to give you.” I never had decided on a gift for him.

Zak smiled. “Yes you do.”

We never did eat those eggs.