Twelve Dates of Christmas: The Ballad of Lula Jo (Lonesome Point) (9 page)

Baxter connected to the alley behind the shops on the west side of the highway. A vague plan was forming in Lula’s head—one that involved creeping in the back door to Mia’s shop and hiding in the stockroom until she’d lost Carter—but she barely made it halfway down the street when her path was blocked by a line of holiday floats. The parade didn’t start for an hour, but the floats were already swarming with people stringing lights and putting on last minute touches. People who turned to stare as Lula came running toward them, heels clacking on the pavement, with Carter not far behind, shouting for her to stop.

With a whimper, Lula dodged to the left, into the abandoned parking lot of a darkened, two-story office building. Her toes were screaming and her ankles were twinging, but she pushed herself to run faster. She couldn’t face Carter, not now, when all her romantic dreams were so recently dead and her heart was smashed to pieces, like the gnome she’d hurled to the concrete as she fled her shop. She had to keep ahead of him, just long enough to find a place to hide.

She rounded the corner of the office building and hurried back toward the sidewalk, intending to cross the street and get lost in the chaos of the carnival. But then she saw the fenced-in Dumpsters to her right and aimed her body toward them, slipping through the gate and closing it with seconds to spare as Carter called out again behind her.

“Lula, please wait! I need to talk to you!”

Lula fought to keep quiet, holding her breath, as his footsteps sounded on the concrete outside, afraid he would hear her ragged exhalations. But the sound of his footfalls continued past her hiding place and moved off toward the street. After a few silent moments, Lula released her breath with a whoosh, sagging against the fence as she turned to survey her surroundings.

What she saw made her scream, a wild yelp of surprise that leapt from her mouth before she could contain it.

There, less than five feet away, stood a row of Christmas gnomes, lined up as if they had been caught mid-escape from the Dumpsters. Before Lula could imagine where they’d come from—or calculate the odds of coming face to face with antique gnomes from the same collection as the one she’d so recently smashed—the gate screeched open behind her.

“There you are,” Carter said, breathing heavily. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? I heard you scream.”

“Go away,” Lula said, dividing her attention between Carter and the gnomes, some crazy part of her insisting the vintage ceramics weren’t to be trusted.

“What happened?” Carter asked. “Lula, I can’t make this better if you don’t talk to me.”

“Why should I talk to you when you’re on the
next plane out
?” she asked, fighting a fresh wave of tears. His words had turned the perfect Christmas Eve into a sequel of that horrible night, eleven years ago.

But instead of ducking his head in shame, Carter let out a relieved sigh. “God, is that all? It’s nothing, L.J. Just a ten day trip, two weeks at most, and then I’ll be heading straight back here to you.”

Lula frowned, her forehead furrowing as she looked from him to the gnomes watching their quarrel from the shadows and back to Carter again. “I don’t believe you. You said you were here to stay, you promised. And now, just when I thought everything was wonderful—”

“Everything
is
wonderful, babe! Please, listen! I can explain.”

“I don’t want to listen,” she said with a sniff. “I can’t live through this again! If you’re going, then just go. Leave and never come back.”

“Does this look like I planned on leaving and never coming back?” Carter reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box, opening it before he held it up between them.

Lula’s mouth fell open and her angry words drifted away as Carter dropped to one knee on the sticky concrete beside the Dumpsters.

“Tallulah Josephine Watson, I didn’t intend to propose in a place like this, but all I want in the world is standing right in front of me,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “You are my biggest dream and my greatest adventure. I need to go to London to settle some unexpected business, but as soon as I’m done, I’m coming right back to you. There is nowhere else I want to be.” He took a deep breath. “I know this is fast, and I’ll wait as long as you want, so you can be sure you’re making the right choice. But you’re the only woman I’ll ever love, and I would be so honored if you’d agree to be my wife.”

Lula blinked so fast that, for a moment, it felt like the world had become one of her grandfather’s old 8mm movies. “This is crazy,” she whispered, even as a voice deep inside her insisted the only crazy thing would be to tell Carter no.

“What’s crazy is that we’ve already wasted so much time, Lu,” Carter said. “I don’t want to waste another minute. If I thought I could get you to close the shop, I’d ask you to come to London with me. We could book two round trip tickets and see the sights before coming back here and settling down for good.”

Lula swallowed hard, beginning to feel like a fool. “So I overreacted? And ran through town like a lunatic for nothing?”

“Not for nothing,” Carter insisted in a gentle voice. “I hurt you when I left, and what we’ve found is so new. I understand why you’d take what you heard as a sign that I’m the same fool I used to be. But I’m not, L.J. I swear I’m not.”

Lula nodded as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “I know. I do, deep down. I’m just afraid. I meant what I said, Carter. I don’t think I could live through losing you again.”

He reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing tight. “Then let’s make sure you never have to. Please take this ring as a symbol of my love and know I’ll spend every day from now on proving you can put your faith in me.”

Lula’s lips trembled, but her smile finally found its way across her face. “All right.”

He gripped her hand tighter. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” Lula said softly. “And,” she hesitated, “I’ll go to London. I think it’s time I embraced a little more adventure in my life.”

Carter surged to his feet, wrapping her in his arms and hugging so tight her feet left the ground. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear. “You won’t regret it. I swear.”

Lula clung to his neck, holding him close for several long moments before she pulled away and held up her left hand.

“I’m going to get you something better,” Carter said, hands shaking as he slipped the ring on her finger. “But I hope this will do for now.”

“It will do for always,” Lula said, admiring the simple, elegant ring that fit perfectly on her hand. “I don’t need a big ring or hidden treasure. I told you the first time, all I need is you.”

“And now I’m smart enough to believe you,” he said, leaning in to seal the words with a kiss before murmuring against her lips. “What do you say we take this somewhere that smells less like rotten cabbage?”

Lula giggled. “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all night.” She slipped her hand in Carter’s.

“So what made you scream?” he asked as they started through the gate.

“The Christmas gnomes,” Lula said, laughing again as she motioned over her shoulder. “It was so strange to see them all lined up like that after I’d…” She trailed off, her mouth going dry as she saw the place where the gnomes had been standing was empty.

“I swear they were there a minute ago. I was upset, but I’ve never hallucinated a day in my life.” She let go of Carter’s hand and crossed the small space, peeking behind the Dumpsters. But there was still no sign of the gnomes, a fact that sent a shiver working down her spine as she spun back to face Carter. “What could have happened? They didn’t just walk off on their own.”

“Maybe it’s a Christmas miracle,” Carter said with a crooked grin. “Sent by Aunt Louise to show she forgives us for pranking her all those years ago.”

Lula frowned, “Be serious.”

“I am serious.” He recaptured her hand and led the way through the gate. “If you hadn’t screamed, I wouldn’t have found you, and you wouldn’t be wearing my ring right now. I’m going to call it the Miracle of Gnomes.”

Lula shook her head with a sigh. “I’m pretty sure that’s sacrilegious.”

“If people can celebrate seeing Jesus’s face on a piece of toast, I can celebrate the Miracle of the Gnomes,” Carter said. “Toast goes stale, but my love for you is going to stay daisy fresh.”

Lula laughed, relaxing as they stepped onto the sidewalk, despite the strangeness of the night’s events. She couldn’t explain what had happened. Maybe her eyes
had
been playing tricks on her. All she knew was that she was grateful things had worked out the way they did. She would much rather be walking back to her shop on Carter’s arm than hiding by a Dumpster.

They arrived at her truck, and Carter offered to push while she steered to the side of the road. But when she turned the key in the ignition one last time, the truck sparked to life as if it had never died in the first place, raising the hairs on Lula’s arms.

“The Miracle of the Dead Truck
and
the Miracle of the Gnomes,” Carter said as he slid into the passenger seat beside her. “Seems like someone up there wanted to see us together pretty badly.”

“There are children starving in Africa,” Lula said as she turned the truck around and started for home. “Why would the Powers that Be waste one miracle on fools like us, let alone two?”

“I don’t know,” Carter said, letting his hand rest lightly on her thigh. “But I’m grateful. I don’t ever want to spend another night without you.”

Lula covered his hand with hers, her heart melting at the simple gratitude she heard in his voice. “I love you, Carter Bryce.”

“And I love you L.J. For keeps.”

They returned to the store, and Carter cleaned up the shattered gnome remains while Lula went back to manning the tables out front. By the time the parade started, Lula had sold all her dolls and given away the last of the cookies. She and Carter put the tables back in the store room, grabbed blankets from upstairs, and snuggled on her front steps as the marching band shuffled past, playing holiday songs, cowboys and cowgirls rode down the street on horses decked out for the season, and brightly lit floats rolled slowly by.

And later, they went upstairs and made love as the moon rose above Lonesome Point. Outside, the first snowfall in four years dusted the desert like powdered sugar, making every ordinary thing seem a little bit magical, but inside Lula’s cozy apartment, two people who were meant to be were making their own magic.

Lula and Carter had found their happy beginning, and for them, every day to come would be a place for more everyday miracles.

The End

Keep Reading for a free sample chapter of LEATHER AND LACE, Mia and Sawyer’s story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Jessie Evans, gave up a career as an international woman of mystery to write the sexy, contemporary romances she loves to read.
She's married to the man of her dreams, and together they're raising a few adorable, mischievous children in a cottage in the jungle. She grew up in rural Arkansas, spending summers running wild, being chewed by chiggers, and now appreciates her home in a chigger-free part of the world even more. 
When she's not writing, Jessie enjoys playing her dulcimer (badly), sewing the worlds ugliest quilts to give to her friends, going for bike rides with her house full of boys, and drifting in and out on the waves, feeling thankful for sun, surf, and lovely people to share them with.

More sexy, contemporary novels by Jessie Evans:

Lonesome Point, Texas

LEATHER AND LACE

SADDLES AND SIN

DIAMONDS AND DUST

12 Dates of Christmas: A Lonesome Point Holiday Novella

GLITTER AND GRIT

Always a Bridesmaid

BETTING ON YOU
(Book One)

KEEPING YOU
(Book Two)

WILD FOR YOU
(Book Three)

TAKING YOU
(Four-Novella/Short Novel)

Fire and Icing

MELT WITH YOU
(Book One)

HOT FOR YOU
(Book Two)

SWEET TO YOU
(Book Three)

SAVING YOU
(Four-Novella/Short Novel)

Escape to You Novellas

AUDITIONING YOU
(Book 1)

DARING YOU
(Book 2)

Edgy, New Adult Reads written as J. Evans

ONE WILD NIGHT
-Wild Rush One

THIS WICKED RUSH
-Wild Rush Two

ONE PERFECT LOVE
- Wild Rush Three

THIS SWEET ESCAPE-Wild Rush Four (Danny and Sam’s story)

ONE BEAUTIFUL REVENGE-Wild Rush Five

THE PROTECTOR

A Kindle Worlds novella set in the world of

H.M. Ward’s The Arrangement

CHAPTER ONE

When you grew up in a place as small as Lonesome Point, Texas—a bend in the road, sustained by tourism to a ghost town, barely clinging to its dusty spot on the map—you learned to make your own fun.