Page 80 of The Beachside Rental

“I’m sorry.I’ll get you new shoes.Just send me a link, and I’ll order them.”

She shook her head.“It’s okay.They weren’t expensive.”

“But still, I feel bad.”He frowned at Gus.“No more stealing.You hear me.You have your own toys you can bury.”When Simon glanced back at her, he asked, “What are you smiling about?”

“I was just thinking that life is never going to get boring with you two around.”

Simon smiled.“Lucky for us, you’re a good sport.”

“I guess I better be now that I know your dog is a thief.”

Simon’s bottom lip stuck out as he nodded.“But he’s a cute thief.”

Gus let out a whine, as though to agree.

“Yes, he is.Almost as cute as his owner.”She lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Simon’s lips.“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Epilogue

BlackFriday

Her favorite time of the year.

Holiday cheer filled Bluestar.

Jenna couldn’t stop smiling.That wasn’t anything new.Simon was always putting a smile on her face.

For Thanksgiving, they’d invited his parents to Bluestar to spend the holidays with her family.Today, the mothers were off Christmas shopping in town while the men stayed at home to watch football.They left Gus at home with the guys while they went to get Christmas trees.

Myra had opted to go with them.They needed three trees.One for their mother, one for herself, and one for Simon’s place.Jenna couldn’t remember ever buying that many Christmas trees in one year.

It was a tradition to go to the Bluestar Christmas Tree Farm.Jenna had been doing it her whole life.It was one of her favorite holiday traditions.

She followed Simon in her cart.It was hard enough hauling a single Christmas tree in her cart without trying to put three of them on a single cart.

And Myra was behind her in another cart.They made a short parade.Jenna’s cart was the merriest of all, as she’d put a red nose on the front of her cart and then attached antlers to the roof.And then because she was feeling extra festive, she’d strung battery-operated twinkle lights around the roof of the cart.

When Simon saw how she’d decorated her cart, he’d laughed and shook his head in disbelief.When she told him she had decorations for his cart, the smile fell from his face.He totally shut down her idea before she could even explain it.As such, there would be no decorations on his cart, or so he said.She hadn’t given up on the idea yet.

She was grateful that she had put the enclosure on her cart.It was cold and windy that day.In fact, there was a chance of snow in the forecast.It would be their first snow of the year.She was excited.She loved snow for the holidays.After the New Year, the snow could disappear, and the warmth could come back.If only…

When they pulled into the parking lot of the tree farm, Jenna was surprised by the number of available parking spaces.She could remember coming here as a kid with her father.A bittersweet pang touched upon her heart at the thought of her father.She always wanted to go with him to cut down the tree.Back in those days, there wouldn’t have been a place to park.Maybe everyone was out shopping.After all, the town was really stepping up their Black Friday sales.That was probably it, and the crowd would arrive tomorrow.

She parked and got out.She took a deep breath.“Smells like snow.”

Simon walked up to her.“You can’t smell snow.”

“Yes, I can,” she said matter-of-factly.

Disbelief shone in his eyes.“No, you can’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

Simon arched a brow.“And what would this bet entail?”

She paused to give it some thought.“How about if there’s no snow by tomorrow night, I’ll do the dishes for the next week?But if there is snow, I mean even a dusting, you do the dishes next week.”