| I laughed and went inside. I discarded my jacket and gloves, sitting them on one of the chairs and kicked off my shoes. I was on my way upstairs to change my pants when Nick came in. � Where are you going?� He asked taking off his gloves. � Upstairs to change my pants, that you so graciously got wet when you shoved snow in them,� � Ok,� He smiled. I quickly changed into a pair of sweats and one of Nick�s large flannel shirts and went back downstairs. Nick was sitting in front of the fireplace with his back to me, lighting matches and tossing them onto the logs. I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. � You�re never gonna get it to start just throwing matches in there,� � Well since you know so much about starting fires, go ahead Smokey,� He smiled. � My shirt never looked so good, by the way,� � Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Carter,� I said rolling up my sleeves and adjusting the logs. � You can�t have the heaviest logs on top, they�ll smother the fire,� � Well excuse me,� � You�re excused. And you have too many logs in here. Here,� I said handing him two logs. � Save those for later,� He sat them aside. � So how do you know so much about making fires?� � We used to have a fireplace, and I�d always help my dad whenever we made a fire.� � You really miss your dad, huh?� He asked quietly. � What you makes you say that?� I asked stopping to look at him. � Well, I noticed whenever you talk about your dad, there�s a sparkle in your eye that you don�t get when you talk about other things from your past,� � I miss my dad.. I miss my mom too, though. That�s honestly a good memory, making fires with my dad,� � I like sharing memories with you, Heather,� � I like it too,� I smiled. I took the book of matches from Nick and lit the fire. � There,� I sighed. � Much better,� *** Nick and I spent the day talking and sitting in front of the fire; sometimes going outside and playing in the snow, and sometimes we�d sit on the swing out back and just watch the snowfall. Nick made dinner and we watched some television. The day passed quickly. � You know this is becoming quite the tradition,� I said sipping my champagne. � What?� � Sitting in front of the fire at night after dinner, which was excellent by the way,� � Thank you,� Nick smiled. � I hate for this weekend to end.� � We just got here yesterday, and you�re already talking about leaving?� � I�m not talking about leaving tomorrow, but we eventually have to go back,� � Ugh, I don�t want to. Never ever talk about going back.� I said finishing my champagne. � It�s better here. No work, No Rachel, No AJ, just us,� � You want a refill on your glass?� He asked. � Please,� He disappeared into the kitchen, and I walked over to the window to look out at the snow. � So I was thinking,� Nick called from the kitchen. � We�d come back here at the end of the year, ya know with the fam. They�re usually here for Christmas, but leave before New Years. I was hoping we�d stay until after new years,� � That sounds good to me. What does your family think about that?� � What do you mean?� � About me. They�ve never met me, and suddenly you�re inviting me to family holidays.� � Heather, this is not sudden. My family has known about you for a long time, they knew about you before we even started dating,� � They did?� � Yeah. Heather how many times do I have to tell you that I�ve loved you forever. Here,� He said handing me my glass. � And when they finally do meet you, they�ll love you almost as much as I do,� He said wrapping his arms around me. I took a couple of sips of my champagne before noticing a small sparkle from the bottom of the glass. I looked down in the glass and shook it. � What is that?� I thought. I reached into the glass, and pulled out a diamond ring. � What�s this?� I asked quietly. � What does it look like?� He said quietly. � I�m afraid to say it out loud. It might not be true,� � No, it�s true,� He laughed quietly. � I want you to marry me,� � Marry you?� I asked breathless. He took the ring from my fingers and the glass from my hand sitting it on the table. He gently took the ring and slid it on my finger. � Heather, I�ve had this ring since a week after I met you, two years ago. It�s been sitting at my house, waiting, just like I have. I bought this ring just for you, and was never going to give it to anyone else. I love you with everything that I am, and I never want to know what it�s to live without you, so I�m asking you to be my wife,� Part Thirteeen |