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I grab my coat and purse while Nick walks toward the front door. He puts his jacket on and picks up his keys. He walks back to the counter and picks up the two travel mugs and the little brown bag. I point at him. “Where are you going?”

“With you.”

I blink. “With me?”

He nods.

“Nick, it’s Christmas Eve. You do not want to spend the day out in the cold decorating a ranch for someone else’s wedding.”

He walks toward me. “Yes, I do. If I get to spend time with you, that’s exactly what I want to do.”

I shake my head, about to argue, and he stops me. “I want to spend Christmas Eve with you.”

I smile and shake my head. “You know I’m going to put you to work.”

“I figured.” He leans down and kisses me. “Joy.”

I smile up at him. “Yeah?”

“I don’t care what we’re doing.” He takes my hand. “I just want to do it with you.”

I look around the house and then at the man who once told me he didn’t do Christmas. “Merry Christmas, Nicholas Winters.”

He smiles and kisses me under the mistletoe one more time. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

EPILOGUE

NICK

One Year Later

I stand in the middle of the living room and look at the Christmas tree. Something is wrong. I’m not quite sure what it is, but something is off. I tilt my head one way and then the other, trying to figure it out.

Joy walks into the room carrying a box and stops when she sees me. “What are you doing?”

I point toward the tree. “There’s a bare spot.”

She stares at me. “What?”

I point to the left side of the tree. “Right there.”

She sets the box down and walks over to stand next to me. “I don’t see a bare spot.”

I put my hands on her shoulders and move her in front of me. “Right there. About halfway up.”

She looks for a few seconds and then turns in my arms. “Nicholas Winters, are you telling me how to decorate a Christmas tree?”

I shrug. “I’m just saying it needs another ornament.”

Her mouth falls open.

I shrug. “I know what I’m doing now.”

She starts laughing.

I poke a finger in her side. “What’s so funny?”

She laughs even harder. “You.”