The carriage rattled and lurched as it ran over a huge rut in the road, jostling him and Emmy so much he instinctively put his arm around her.
“Sorry about that!” the driver shouted. “Had to take a detour because they’re getting ready for the fireworks later tonight.”
Kieran looked at Emmy. “You okay?”
She nodded, and for a moment he thought she would move away. Instead, she nestled against him.
Pitter-patter.His heartbeat danced, and he tightened his arm around her. He smiled as the snow gently fell around them. As the carriage took them back to the center of town, Emmy snuggled against him.
Now this is magical.
Six
“Mom?”
Emmy felt a tap on her shoulder, and Carina’s face came into view.
“You’re a million miles away.” She shook her head and cut into her pancakes. “I’ve been talking nonstop for five minutes. You probably didn’t hear a word I said.”
“I’m sorry.” She sat back in her chair, her pancakes untouched. It was Sunday, and she and Carina usually had breakfast together at her apartment before they went to church. “What were you telling me?”
“That two of my friends saw you looking cozy with Kieran yesterday at Jingle Fest.” Carina popped a bite of syrupy pancake into her mouth.
Emmy froze. “They what?”
Carina swallowed. “They saw you and Kieran taking a carriage ride.” She sighed. “How romantic.”
“It wasn’t...” She couldn’t even protest properly, because it would have been the biggest lie she would ever tell. Cuddling with Kieran during a winter carriage ridewasthe most romantic thing she’d ever experienced. Or at least it would have been, except for what happened later...
“So when’s the wedding?” Carina teased, finishing off her pancakes.
Emmy grabbed her uneaten breakfast and got up from the table.“All we did was take a ride.”And kiss during the fireworks. She put her plate on the counter and stared at the potted succulent plant on her small window above the sink.
Ever since last evening she’d been in a delightful daze, reliving her afternoon with Kieran.
After the driver dropped them off, they’d wandered around the festival some more, sharing warm chestnuts and apple cider as they waited for the fireworks. He told her about some of the Christmas customs in Ireland, and she was particularly fond of the one where folks put a candle in the window as a guiding light to greet loved ones coming home for the holidays.
Then it was time for fireworks, but it was so crowded they couldn’t find a place to stand, much less sit. Finally, they ended up in a short alleyway between two buildings. Even the alleys had been cleaned up and decorated for the festival.
“We won’t be able to see the fireworks,” Kieran had said as they stood by one of the brick walls draped with tiny twinkling, colored lights. “But we can hear them.”
She didn’t give a fiddle about fireworks right then. When they were in the carriage, she had tried so hard to keep her attraction to him at bay. And how was she supposed to do that when they were sitting so close and he was holding her hand? Then when the carriage had swayed, he’d put his arm around her, so she gave up and cuddled with him. Even then she thought he was just being polite, like when he’d taken off her mitten and held her cold hand.
But there was nothing polite about the intense way Kieran was looking at her then. She was growing warm from the inside, and as soon as the first firework went off, he leaned in close. “Remember prom night?” he said, his voice husky and low.
All she could do was nod. Her back was pressed against the wall, and he’d put one hand next to her on the brick.
“I have only one regret from that night.” He angled his head toward hers.
“Wh-what’s that?”
He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “That I didn’t do this.” He lowered his mouth to touch hers.
She’d practically launched into his arms. The Jingle Fest fireworks were almost over, but hers and Kieran’s had just begun.
Carina appeared by her side with her dish. “You’ve got it bad.”
Emmy stared at her. “Got what bad?”
