Zoey knelt in front of him, taking Graham’s hands in hers. “Graham Barnett. You have made me so happy from the moment I walked into the Tourist Trap,” she told him with a watery smile.
“That was my line,” Graham told her, voice cracking despite his curving lips.
“And every day since has only been better.”
“My line too.”
“I love you, and I can’t imagine spending a day without you at my side. You and me and Jake. Our family.”
“You’re really good at this,” Graham said in a low, rough voice.
“So if you’re going to ask me, it’s okay. You already know what I’m going to say.” Zoey pressed a kiss to his rough knuckles. “Also, it’s really cold down here.”
“Dammit,” he groaned. “I love you.”
Wrapping her up in his arms, Graham whispered something into her ear, something Lana couldn’t hear. Immediate tears filled Zoey’s eyes, but she was smiling too as she nodded. Another whisper, more words that were for them and them alone. This time, Zoey was bawling as she choked out a yes.
Then Graham put the ring box in her hand. Zoey gasped as she opened it and saw what was inside. A sparkling diamond set in a hand-carved cedar band, decorated with delicate images of the forest and mountains of Moose Springs.
“Did you carve this?” Zoey asked, eyes huge.
Graham nodded, wiping at her tears and keeping her tucked close. “Do you like it?”
“This is perfect.”
The couple finally seemed to realize they had witnesses to their engagement, and they turned. Lana had managed to keep herself contained until the moment Zoey looked at her, holding up the ring box.
“Lana, we’re engaged!” Zoey said, as if she couldn’t believe it herself. With a squeal of delight, Lana closed the distance between them and flung her arms around Zoey.
The others gathered in to congratulate the couple.
“You can put it on,” Graham said into Zoey’s ear. “I did make it for you.”
“I’m afraid I’ll drop it. What if it falls off my finger? What if I ruin our happily ever after? I have really slim fingers. No, it’s staying in the box.”
“What if you lose the box?” Graham countered.
At her worried look, Graham took the box from her hands and carefully slid the engagement ring onto Zoey’s finger.
“It won’t slip off.” He glanced over at Lana. “L helped me size it right.”
“You knew?”
“Dearest, everyone knew the night he met you.” Lana was feeling a bit misty-eyed herself. “I told him your ring size the day you decided to stay in Moose Springs.”
Lana turned to Graham, and to her pleasure, he squeezed her in a hug so tight, he lifted her off her feet. Setting her down, Graham kept an arm around Lana’s shoulders.
“Thank you for bringing her up here,” Graham told her. “I met the love of my life because of you.”
“Zoey brought herself here,” Lana assured him. “She would have found this place eventually. I was lucky enough to be here when she did.”
“Yeah, me too.” He squeezed her shoulders. “How are you? You took a dip in an ice bucket yesterday.”
“I’m fine. Not even a sniffle. Rick’s been taking good care of me.”
Graham followed her line of sight to where Rick was standing with Easton.
“He’s a good guy. Being around you has made him a lot happier than I’ve seen him in years. Let me know if he causes you any trouble. I’m happy to play protective big brother anytime you want.”
They shared a grin.
“Thank you, but I can’t imagine him doing a thing wrong,” Lana told him. “Actually, since I have your ear, I was wondering if I could talk to you. Not now, obviously.”
Sighing dramatically, he leaned into her. “You’re going to make me do actual mayor things, aren’t you? On my engagement day. You’re so mean to me. They haven’t even sworn me in yet.”
“Oh, no one will care if a few formalities are skipped. I only want a little meeting to talk about some things we can both do for Moose Springs. I’m thinking Jonah desperately needs a day off and some help.”
Chuckling, he pressed a swift kiss to her temple. “All right, darlin’. Only because I love you.”
He ambled away to rejoin his friends, steal a kiss from his fiancée, and wrap Zoey up in his arms. Knowing those two, they wouldn’t be letting go of each other anytime soon. Standing off to the side, Lana watched them celebrate. Four friends…five now that Zoey was officially one of them.
Rick came up to her, his Santa beard now tucked into his coat pocket.
“You belong here,” Rick said in her ear. “With them. You’re part of their family too.”
She wanted to believe him. Large, fat snowflakes were falling, dusting his shoulders, and he looked so cute in the Santa costume, Lana wrapped her arms around his waist.
“This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” Lana told him. “I know it’s two days away, but still…”
Those hazel eyes had lightened to a shade of green she’d only seen last night.
Taking her face in his hands, Rick kissed her, a long, slow kiss that made Ash start gagging in the background. He kissed her again, mouth lingering. “You’re gorgeous.”
Lana started to reply she had nothing on his Santa-ed self, but he added, “You are, inside and out, and braver than anyone I’ve ever met. You’ve taken on the Santa Moose.”
“The Santa Moose isn’t that scary. Elusive but not scary. I’ve completely failed at catching it so far.”
“The Santa Moose is terrifying.” He pressed the softest of kisses behind her ear. “And I know you’ll catch it.”
Lips curving, he drew her deeper into his arms. Lana really didn’t care when her phone started to chirp in her back pocket, but when it went to voicemail, she checked the caller ID.
“It’s my parents’ home,” she told him. “My mother’s office line. They have to be the only people still living with more than one landline.”
Lana answered when her phone started to ring again. “This is about the worst time possible,” she said as Rick pressed another kiss to her neck, then her collarbone. “I promise to call you tomorrow on Christmas Eve, Mom. But I decided to stay in Moose Springs for Christmas this year.”
“Lana, you need to come home.” Jessica’s voice was sharp with the kind of tension she never let anyone see. “It’s Killian. There’s been an accident.”
Chapter 15
Flying wasn’t new to Rick. He’d travelled plenty in his semipro days and more than a couple of trips to see his parents. Flying in a chartered jet from Anchorage to Chicago on a moment’s notice? That was definitely new.
Rick had packed a bag without even asking if she wanted him to go with her. He knew how much she loved her cousin, and from what Rick could tell, Killian was in bad shape.
Like…really bad.
He’d gone through this before, and Rick’s heart was breaking for Lana. He didn’t want her to lose someone she loved. But if she did, she wasn’t going to go through the trauma alone. So he had boarded the plane with her, holding her hand as they flew directly to O’Hare. He kept her hand on the ride to the hospital.
Only when they stepped into the lobby did she let go, shifting the slightest bit away from his shoulder.
Lana kept her head held high as they walked through the hospital, her face a mask of dispassionate professionalism that didn’t match the caring, passionate woman he knew at all. The clicking of her heels on the floor seemed louder than normal, grating on Rick’s senses if only for the fact that she had changed into them on the plane. As if Lana felt she had to wear heels to the hospital.
“Are you sure you want to come in?” Lana asked him as they reached the elevators. “My aunt says that Killian’s hard to look at.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Rick said, respecting the extra inch she’d put between them. The instant she needed him, he’d close that distance faster than she could blink. “Are you sure we’re allowed in ICU? I thought only one family member at a time.”
At least that was how it had been after Diego barely survived his own family’s car crash as a teenager.
“The Montgomery name is on the side of the building. They’ve been letting us back in pairs.”
Two people were in the hall outside the hospital room, a man and a woman familiar to Rick from the pool hall, but he didn’t know them personally.
“Those are Killian’s best friends. My mother said they were there when he crashed,” Lana explained before stepping up to the pair. “Enzo, Haleigh. How is he?”
“Killian woke up finally.” Haleigh’s eyes were red rimmed, and her mascara had smeared from tears. “He’s upset.”
“What do you expect?” Enzo snapped at her. “He’s paralyzed.”
“They don’t know that. And at least he’s not dead.”
The two began to argue about whether or not Killian would survive his crash, their voices rising and falling, pulling glares from the nurse’s station.
“I don’t know what he sees in either of you,” Lana said with unusual sharpness. “If you’re intent on making a scene, please do so somewhere else.”
Ignoring their offended expressions, Lana brushed past them and entered the room. Rick didn’t know where he would be most helpful—tossing these two out of the hospital for her or following her.
He chose to follow her.
The astringent scent of chemicals hit his nostrils, combined with sweat and urine. Rick tried to ignore all the wires and the IV running from the machines behind him into Killian’s arms and torso, and the plastic tube leading to a catheter bag hanging on the edge of the bed. If the substantial bruising and lacerations on Killian’s face and arms didn’t clue him in to how hurt Lana’s cousin was, the blood in his urine was a bad sign.