Christmas at Twilight (26 page)

It might be scary, but she was going to choose happiness. She was going to choose healing. She was going to choose love. She was going to choose Hutch.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes to everything. Yes to it all.”

He let out a long exhale, smiled deeply. “You and Kimmie and Ben, you healed me. You made me whole.”

Happiness swelled against her chest as she looked up into kind eyes that quickly turned lusty as they zeroed in on her lips.

He kissed her hard and she lifted her arms to encircle his neck to deepen the kiss. He pressed a firm, broad palm against the small of her back, his mouth hot and urgent. She was just as frantic, darting out her tongue, egging him on.

Abruptly, he broke the kiss, leaving her whimpering in protest.
No! Don't take it away.
“Are you really up for this? You're hurt.”

“So are you. Love is the best medicine. You're what I need right now. Any and everything else can wait.”

“Meredith,” he murmured, kissing her again and again.

His self-control was shot, but so was hers. In nothing flat, she was naked on her back, Hutch straddling her, his knees buried into the mattress. “We'll go easy.”

She parted her legs and he lowered himself between them, made a hungry noise of masculine approval in the back of his throat. He stroked both sides of her face with his thumbs and peered deeply into her eyes.

Hutch's trembling hands threaded through her hair and he captured her mouth with exalted kisses. He moved inside her, slowly at first, but then urgency swept through them and he quickened the tempo.

She lifted her hips, urging him on, letting him know he didn't have to treat her like fine china. She could handle herself. She wanted the full brunt of him.

Life.

That's what he offered.

Full and robust. Life. She'd been living in the shadows for so long, she was ready to come out into the light and enjoy herself. Enjoy him.

His rhythm rose, claiming her with a thrusting sureness. She surrendered to him, mind, body, and soul. She was no longer afraid. This was where she was meant to be.

He pressed his mouth to her ear, whispered, “I love you, Meredith. I love you beyond measure. Love you beyond the earth and the moon and the stars. Love you until the last breath leaves my body. Love you now, forever, for always. You are my goddess, my queen, my everything. You've rescued me. Saved me from myself. And I want to spend the rest of my days honoring you.”

“Hutch,” she cried, and grasped him around the waist, pulling him in as deep as he would go, holding on as hard as she could while she tightened her body around him.

His entire body tensed and he breathed her name in a heated gasp, and a shudder rolled through him that matched the one quaking through her. They tumbled, reaching the peak at the same time in a thundering rush, and then lay exhausted and entwined, panting for air, basking in the earthy ebb.

Wet tears dropped onto her face from above, mingling with the tears seeping from her eyes.

“You're crying,” she whispered, and touched his face.

“With rapturous joy,” he assured her.

They kissed tenderly and held each other for a long, long time.

“I had no idea it could be like that,” she whispered. “I never felt anything like this. Have you?”

He dried her eyes and she dried his and they looked into each other past a thousand lifetimes and into a future filled with possibilities.

“Only with you, my love,” he assured her. “Only with you.”

A
week later, it seemed as if the entire town turned out for Ashley's memorial service. No seats remained inside the church, and overflow mourners lined the sidewalks outside. TV reporters had been roaming the streets for days, interviewing anyone who would talk to them.

Everyone wanted to know about the brave young woman who'd given up her own life to save those she loved. The story had made the national news and piqued the interest of a cable network that specialized in crime shows, leaving Hutch and Meredith to mull over the decision whether to allow their story to be dramatized. On the one hand, taking advantage of what had happened felt a bit like exploitation, but on the other hand, if the program could prevent even one person from going through what Meredith had been through, maybe it was worth considering. Not to mention that the money the network was offering could start a college fund for Kimmie.

A sad smile briefly lifted Hutch's lips. His sister would have loved the attention. In death, she'd gained the kind of respect and adoration she'd longed for in life.

Flynn and Jesse kept Kimmie and Ben during the memorial, but on the advice of a children's grief counselor, they brought them to the graveside services, where Ashley was laid to rest in the family plot. Kimmie was subdued, but she did not cry, and when it was over, she slipped her little hand in Hutch's and said, “Can we go get hot chocolate now?” He wondered how much of it she really understood.

The days that passed were muted and fuzzy and filled with legal obligations. They put the house up for sale and contacted a lawyer about getting the warrant that was out on Meredith dropped. The community rallied around them—bringing casseroles, watching the children for them when they had appointments to keep, offering sympathetic shoulders to cry on.

It was a bittersweet time, of deep sorrow mixed with the heady joy of falling deeply in love. Regretful that Hutch could not save his sister, but honored to be able to care for her daughter.

If the last few months had taught him anything it was this: that he couldn't save someone else, he could only save himself. It all came down to choices. The daily decisions, both small and large, that marked the passing of a life. If he wanted to live in peace, then he had to choose the peaceful path. It was as simple and as complicated as that.

A month later, he got a call from the mortuary saying that the angel headstone carved in Ashley's likeness that he'd commissioned had come in, and they planned a pilgrimage to the cemetery with the children for the following day.

That night, for the first time, Hutch dreamed of his mother and his sister together. It was spring and they were sitting on the dock in Adirondack chairs overlooking the river. Pink mimosas were in bloom and the sweet smell of fresh buds filled the air. Fluffy white clouds bumped across a powder blue sky like carousel horses. They wore flowy white dresses and wildflower garlands in their hair, looking as if they'd stepped from a Monet, soft and blurry and beautiful. They were laughing and talking and sipping peach lemonade.

Hutch stood across the river from them. He waved a hand, but they did not see him. He opened his mouth to call out to them, but shut it closed without uttering a word. They were beyond him.

The clouds parted and the sun came out. Simultaneously, they lifted their smiling faces to the sun, and he woke with the certainty that they were both finally at peace.

The next morning, there was lightness to him that had never been there before, as if someone had attached balloons filled with helium to his heart. He told Meredith of his dream and her eyes widened.

“I had the same dream,” she whispered. “Right down to the lemonade, and I never even knew your mother.”

Goose bumps went over his body. He had no explanation for them dreaming the same dream, nor did he want it explained. The fact that it had happened was significant enough.

They made pancakes in quiet reverence, and afterward, packed the children in the car for the trip to the cemetery.

Immediately, Kimmie was drawn to the angel statue atop Ashley's headstone. She crawled up to trace her plump little fingers over the angel's face. “Mommy,” she whispered.

Meredith darted a concerned look at Hutch.
Should we intervene?

He shook his head and marveled at how well they communicated without words—a look, a gesture, a touch, and each knew what the other was thinking.

“Mommy's in heaven.” Kimmie breathed. “She's an angel.”

Meredith placed a hand to her mouth, and tears brimmed her eyes.

“Mommy saveded me from that bad man, but then she had to go away.”

Hutch crouched beside his niece, put his hand to her back. He wanted to comfort her, reassure her, but he didn't know what was the right thing to say.

“Heaven is in the sky.” Kimmie cocked her head with awe in her eyes as if she'd figured the whole thing out.

In that moment a sunbeam of light broke through the overcast winter sky, and Kimmie's face dissolved into a beautiful smile. She tilted her face up to catch the sun and waved gaily at the sky. “Mommy is in heaven lookin' down on me.”

Tears streamed from Meredith's eyes and she quickly turned away.

Hutch gathered his niece into his arms and hugged her tightly. “That's right, sweetheart. Your mama is in heaven looking out for you and she loves you very, very much.”

Kimmie's chubby palms patted his cheeks. “Don't cwy, Unca Hutch. It's gonna be okay. I pwomise.”

Twilight, Texas

Christmas Eve, one year later

T
oday, Hutch loved family therapy almost as much as he loved his family.

He sat on the hard wooden bench seat, watching the clock and counting off the seconds until the judge entered the courtroom. Normally, Judge Blackthorne wouldn't be hearing cases today, but after Hutch had done some tall talking, the judge had agreed. Hutch wore a wool suit. It was itchy, but he didn't care, didn't fidget. Both arms were slung over the back of the seat. Dressed in their Sunday best, Meredith sat to his right, Kimmie and Ben to his left.

The diamond wedding ring he'd placed on Meredith's finger a year to the day after his team was ambushed in Afghanistan glistened in the light. She'd insisted on getting married that day. Something good to memorialize what he'd lost. He still couldn't believe she was his wife.

He'd worked for Gideon for a few months, but decided security work simply wasn't for him, and he took a job as a carpenter and loved it. They sold the house on the river and moved to town in a quaint Victorian just off the square, remodeling it in their spare time. Meredith had just completed a refresher course in nursing and she was excited about starting her new job working in the newborn nursery at Twilight General in January.

From the moment he'd used the Magic Slate to tell Meredith that he needed her, they'd been a team, both made stronger and bonded by their shared goal of caring for the children. Somewhere along the way that bond had turned into something deeper, richer, more textured and complicated.

Because of her, he'd become a better man. The road had not been easy and he knew there would be more ups and downs for them, but there wasn't another soul on earth he'd rather take the journey with than Meredith.

She was the other half of him. The part he'd never really known was missing until he found her. And they were just at the beginning. An entire future stretched before them and he couldn't wait to get started.

Meredith squeezed his hand, and he could feel the excitement pumping through her.

A big grin was welded to his face. Hutch could not stop smiling. All the love these three people pumped into him left his heart feeling as full as the stuffed turkey waiting for them at home.

Their lawyer sat in the row in front of them, along with the children's social worker and the family therapist they'd been seeing. She was there to vouch for them and bear witness to them officially becoming a family.

The side door opened and a robed Judge Blackthorne emerged from his chambers.

“All rise,” instructed the bailiff, and everyone got to their feet.

The judge listened while the lawyer presented the case. He looked over the paperwork. Talked to the children, the social worker, and their therapist. Then he called Hutch and Meredith before them.

“Presiding over adoptions is the highlight of my job,” he said. He proceeded to pronounce that Ben and Kimmie were now legally Hutch's son and daughter, and Meredith had legally adopted Kimmie.

After hugs and smiles and kisses and photographs, they linked hands and walked out onto the prettiest town square in Texas.

They had all been through so many trials and so much sorrow, but as Hutch looked at his dear family, he knew that he was living a blessed and wonderful life.

Don't miss the other books in

New York Times
bestselling author

Lori Wilde's fabulous series!

Read on to discover how the other couples of
Twilight, Texas, found love!

The Sweethearts' Knitting Club

Throw a penny in the fountain of the Twilight town square, and you'll be married to your first love
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For ten years, pretty Flynn MacGregor has been turning down the same solid, upright man's marriage proposal. Her friends at the Sweethearts' Knitting Club tell her they're a match made in heaven, but Flynn knows there's only one dangerous reason why she keeps saying no: high school sweetheart Jesse Calloway. She was just sixteen when Jesse was forced out of town under a cloud of suspicion . . . but he's never left her heart.

Now Jesse is back, and every time she turns the corner he's there—gazing at her with his smoldering eyes and tempting her with his kisses. Jesse has never played by the rules, and he's made it clear that he's not going to now. And Flynn, who's always done just what her family, friends, and fellow knitters have told her to do, must finally break free and claim the love that binds Jesse to her heart.

Available in print and ebook from Avon Books!

 

The True Love Quilting Club

The pattern of a quilt will always lead you back home.

Trixie Lynn Parks changed her name to Emma, shook the dust of Twilight, Texas, off her shoes, and vowed to make it big in the city. But after twelve years of shattered dreams, she heads back to the ladies of the True Love Quilting Club . . . and to her first love, Sam Cheek.

Some things—and some people—sure have changed. Sam has grown from a carefree boy to a single dad. And even though the chemistry between them sizzles hotter than ever, Trixie Lynn quickly discovers she must choose between the fame and fortune that have finally come her way—or the one true love, who has the power to mend her patchwork heart.

Available in print and ebook from Avon Books!

 

The First Love Cookie Club

The top rules of the First Love Cookie Club: No men. No kids. No store-bought. No gossip!

And no one is going to keep rule #4 now that local-gal-made-good Sarah Collier has reluctantly returned to Twilight, Texas. The once-awkward teenager has become a big-time success with her best-selling kids' books. Now she's come back home to grant one child a very special wish, even though her own heart was once broken by the little girl's father, Travis Walker.

This all makes Sarah wonder, even though you can go home again—should you? Every time she turns the corner, the memory of who she was hits her square in the face, and it isn't pretty. But there's magic in Twilight, Texas—the magic of friendship and the magic of love, if only Sarah would open her heart to it . . .

Available in print and ebook from Avon Books!

 

The Welcome Home Garden Club

Traditional meaning of pink and white roses: I love you still and always will.

Caitlyn Marsh stopped believing in happily-ever-after when her high school sweetheart, Gideon Garza, left for Iraq. Now she raises her small son while her matchmaking gardening club members drive her crazy. Then Caitlyn's world turns upside-down when Gideon swaggers back to Twilight.

Gideon had left town in the middle of night with threats ringing in his ears. A lot of things have changed since then. This bad boy–turned–Green Beret bears scars from the war, the timid girl he loved is an independent mother, and the father who refused to recognize his son in life has, in death, left him a vast cattle ranch.

He still aches for Caitlyn, and now there's a dark-haired boy who looks exactly like Gideon did at that age. Could the child be his? And can this war-weary soldier overcome the scars of the past to claim the family he so richly deserves?

Available in print and ebook from Avon Books!

 

The Christmas Cookie Chronicles

There's a legend in Twilight, Texas. It says that if on Christmas Eve you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your one true love, he will be your destiny.

Four members of the Christmas Cookie Club discover the miracles of the season and the power of love.

Carrie:
Reconnects with her high school sweetheart . . . the only man she's ever loved.

Raylene:
Discovers that the daughter she gave away at birth is living right in Twilight . . .

Christine:
Has given up on love . . . until the man of her dreams walks through her shop door.

Grace:
It's Christmas Eve and Flynn and Jesse Calloway are thrilled to be expecting a new baby. Then Flynn's car hits a patch of ice, and Jesse must move earth . . . and heaven . . . to save her and their unborn child.

Available from Avon Books as individual ebooks, and in print as
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