“For something greater, yes,” he said, as if he was pledging to me the same pledge he’d made when he’d taken his oath as a SEAL.
And my heart pounded out a reverberating answer.
For Something Greater…
Nash
LOVER
“This is our place, we make the rules.
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear.
Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?”
Performed by Taylor Swift
Written by Taylor Swift
The tree in the entryway ofWellsley Place was so tall it reached the ceiling of the second floor where cherubs danced with toga-clad gods and goddesses. I grabbed the last remaining presents and hurried back to my goddess in the parlor, sitting with our families by a much smaller tree near the fireplace in the much friendlier room.
The parlor’s tree sparkled with all things lemon, both scents and ornaments filling the air. A tradition I’d forgotten in the years I’d refused to come home. The Wellsley Place signature scent had existed since Nathaniel Wellsley first created perfumes in a time of strife for our country. I briefly wondered what he would think if he could see the room now, full of Union supporters and even a Russian.
Dani’s family had traveled down to Thomasville for Christmas, including Georgie’s sister, Raisa, who’d been spending the holidays with the Whittakers over the last couple of years. Them coming to us had been a gift I didn’t take lightly. It had meant I didn’t have to miss another Christmas with Carson and Maribelle. Even though the holidays I’d missed before had been all my fault, I hadn’t wanted to miss one more. I would have, if needed, because I would always follow where Dani went, but I was grateful we’d all been able to come together here.
I had to sidestep Dani’s two nephews and niece as they chased the puppy who was delighted at having their attention. My heart skipped a beat as I watched the gift Dani had given me evade three pairs of hands. The Great Dane would never take Baker’s place, but she might start healing old wounds just like Carson and I were attempting to heal the ones between us. The dog finally got tired and slid beneath a pile of discarded paper and bows to land with her head in Dani’s lap. I couldn’t blame her. I wanted to do the same damn thing.
The presents exchanged that morning had been thoughtful but small. Nothing overly extravagant, which was the exact Whittaker fashion. The dog had probably been the most outlandish thing. I’d spent a long time debating what to get Dani. After thinking of and rejecting every normal gift that a man might give a woman he loved, I’d finally stumbled on the right answer one night when we’d been tangled together, skin on skin. Her hands had found their way to the tattoo that sat near my blood wings scar, as they often did. And that was when I’d known.
I set the thin, flat box in her lap, and she looked from it to me with a small frown.
It was small enough that it could be jewelry?which had been the present that had lingered in my brain the longest before coming up with this one?but I think she knew me well enough to know I wasn’t going to propose to her in front of a crowd. When I proposed, it would be her and me and our bodies and lips and the I love yous that we were still counting six weeks later, as if we’d never said the game was supposed to only last twenty-four hours.
I sat on the floor next to her as she turned it over in her hands. “I love you.Merry Christmas, Goddess.”
“I love you, Otter. What did you do?”
Mac groaned, along with nephews Sam and Troy, who had all been pretending to be grossed out every time Dani and I murmured our words to each other.
I shrugged. She unwrapped the present slowly, lifting the lid off the gift box, and stared at the certificate for a few seconds, reading it, trying to let it settle into her brain. And then she was up, hugging me, kissing me gently.
“You remembered,” she said quietly.
I nodded. “The appointment is for after everyone is gone. You have time to decide what you want.”
“What is it?” Georgie asked.
“A certificate for a tattoo,” Dani said, and I saw the way her mom and her grandmother exchanged a look, but I didn’t care, and I was sure Dani didn’t either. She was like all the Whittakers: strong, independent, smart, competitive. But she also had an edge that none of the others had. A piece of her that stood out as different. The piece of her that had called to me the very first time Mac had introduced us.
“What are you going to get?” Gabi asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said, but I already knew. She’d drawn the rough sketch weeks ago. A baby tree growing from the burnt remains of a forest. She leaned in and whispered to me, “From the ashes, there’s life.”
All I could do was concentrate on not showing exactly how much her whispering in my ear turned me on in a room full of her family. It wouldn’t matter the words, but the ones she’d chosen only exacerbated the problem. Because she’d told me the tree was both of us. Survivors. Having lived through the fire to be reborn. My body responded to all of it. Her words. Her whispers. She knew exactly what she’d done, because her lips quirked in that delightfully mischievous way I’d come to adore.
I kissed her cheek and whispered back, “You’ll pay for that later.”
She met my eyes. “Challenge accepted.”
