Page 41 of Spark

Dex chuckled and it rolled through Hattie. God, she loved it when he did that. Loved everything about the man, holding her to him like she was the most precious thing in the world.

Finding each other, falling in love, getting married a few months after that, had all been such a whirlwind. But nothing had ever felt as right in her life.

When you knew, you knew.

They’d both known, had known from the start—even if Hattie had tried to fight it.

Hattie grinned to herself, a flutter of nerves igniting in her belly. And it looked like they were going to continue on that way—warp speed—and she couldn’t be happier.

Her parents on the other hand, weren’t happy about any of it. They hadn’t talked to her since she told them about Dex. It hurt, but she was okay with it. If they couldn’t love him, accept him, she didn’t want them in their lives.

Noah took a couple of gifts from under the tree, and handed one to his big sister. Darcey looked up at him in surprise. “You bought me something?”

Noah, now fifteen, had recently started working at the garage after school. He wanted to be a mechanic like Joe, and the man in question, dropped the scowl he still had aimed at Dex, when Noah handed him a gift as well.

“For me?” Joe asked.

Noah shrugged, blushing a little. “Just wanted to get you guys something.”

Joe glanced at Darcey, who had opened hers, and was clutching a delicate silver chain with tiny letters dangling off it. J, D, N, & E. Tears filled her eyes. “Noah, oh my God, I love it.”

He shrugged again, but there was no missing the way his chest puffed out, or the smile he was trying to suppress.

Joe opened his and stilled.

“It’s silly,” Noah said. “I just thought…”

“Silly?” Joe looked up at him, clutching a photo in a very cool frame of the two of them at what looked like Noah’s first baseball game. Noah looked about seven in it.

“It ah…it reminds me of when I first moved in with you and Darcey. I never thanked you,” Noah said, “for everything you did for me…for putting up with me…being there for me, both of you.”

Joe was shaking his head before Noah finished talking, eyes glistening. “Don’t ever need to thank me for that, kid. Not ever. It was my privilege, every moment.” Then he stood and pulled Noah in for a tight hug. “We’ll always be here for you, always.” Darcey joined them and they all hugged while the other adults in the room all wiped their eyes.

A little while later, they were back to opening gifts, the kids tearing through theirs, the adults going at a slower pace. Shay had knitted Hugh a sweater, her yearly tradition apparently, and Hugh had gotten her a new e-reader.

Adam got Lucy a voucher for a spa day and something she “needed to open in private” and Lucy got her husband some vinyl records to add to his collection and gourmet chocolates since he had a sweet tooth to rival all others.

Darcey had knitted Joe a hat, Shay had taught her, and got him a bottle of whiskey from the list he’d compiled of ones he wanted to try from all over the world, and Joe gave Darcey tickets to a surprise getaway they were taking after New Year and a homemade coupon book full of ways she could reward him for his awesome present.

Then it was Hattie and Dex’s turn. Dex handed Hattie a small box, looking self-conscious, and cute, and insanely sexy. She opened it and it took her several moments to form words. Inside was a gold charm bracelet. Hattie bit her lip and lifted it. “Oh my God, it’s gorgeous.”

“I thought we could add memories to it?” Dex said, voice rough.

There were already two charms attached, a tiny wineglass and a Christmas tree.

“For when we met,” he said.

Hattie looked up at her husband and knew she was the luckiest woman in the world. “I love it, so much.”

The pride on his face made her heart full. His joy was like a shot of sheer happiness to her system.

“My turn,” he said with a goofy grin on his face. “So what is it, another pair of Christmas socks to add to my collection.”

She laughed. “Hey, it was the thought that counts, and one pair is not a collection.”

“Ah ha! So not socks, then,” he said. “See how tricky I am?”

“A master at gathering intel,” Joe said and everyone laughed.