A Mrs. Miracle Christmas - Debbie Macomber Page 0,62
winter, before the lake froze over, Jerry put the boat in storage, and those who were not going to stay for winter took the last passenger ferry out. After that, a ski-plane made infrequent stops at Ponder, landing on the frozen lake.
With only a few businesses and families in the vicinity, we had everything a small wilderness town needed, including two taverns and two churches. The town balanced itself out that way, I suppose. I loved the peace and quiet and had made a good life for myself on beautiful Caribou Lake in the small town of Ponder.
“Have you listened to anything I’ve said?” Alicia asked.
“Uh…”
“That’s what I thought. In case you’ve forgotten, Josie is leaving for Seattle first thing in the morning.”
Like I’d forget what day it was. I’d started to ask Josie to marry me a dozen times or more in the last couple days but could never get out the words that I wanted to say. Now it was down to the last night, down to practically the last minute.
“I know.” Already I could feel the tension building up inside me.
“Are you seriously going to let her go?” my sister harped.
Much as I love Alicia and her two kids, I didn’t need her to remind me that the clock was ticking away when it came to Josie and me. Pressuring me to make my move wasn’t helping. Alicia was right about one thing, though. I shouldn’t have put it off as long as I had, but my rationale was simple: I was afraid, and with good reason. Josie had plans; she had a job waiting for her in Seattle. She had friends and family there as well. While I loved her and wanted to make her my wife, I wasn’t sure that was enough to convince her to stay. I’d put off popping the question until it was either propose now or watch her leave come morning.
Besides, the reason I’d waited this long was because I knew if I’d asked too soon and she didn’t accept, then it would have been awkward for both of us for the remainder of the time Josie had at the lodge. So I’d held off. It made sense at the time. Little did I realize how much pressure I was putting on myself to convince her to stay and to marry me by delaying it until the last night. I guess I’d hoped she’d be so madly in love with me that she wouldn’t want to leave. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be hard to convince her to stay.
“You have a lot to offer a woman, Palmer,” Alicia continued, once again interrupting my thought process. “For all you know, Josie could be impatiently waiting for you to say something.”
“I wish.”
“Just do it. You love her, right? Make your move.”
My move. That was a laugh. The most Josie and I had done was hold hands and kiss like it was the end of the universe. Those kisses rocked my world. And they were hot. Sizzling hot. I had to assume she enjoyed our kissing, too, because we both looked forward to the times we could be alone. I might not be a mind reader when it came to women, but I saw the light in Josie’s eyes when we were together, and I could live on one of her smiles for a week or longer. We had spent hours together over the past six months, and outside of our individual jobs, we were inseparable. I had grown to love this woman, and I could only hope she felt the same.
Josie claimed my beard tickled her lips. I offered to shave it off for her. That was a mighty big sacrifice for me, but she shrugged and said it wasn’t necessary. That made me think she wasn’t open to sticking around longer than required, but I’d never know unless I asked.
“We’re going for a walk after dinner,” I told Alicia. “I plan on proposing then.” It didn’t help knowing that her suitcase was already packed. For the last week our conversations had revolved around her life in Seattle. It seemed she could hardly wait to get back. She talked endlessly about the job that was waiting for her. This was a huge opportunity for her. These chats weren’t the most encouraging discussions for me. Every time Josie mentioned Seattle, my stomach tightened.
“Promise you’ll call me afterward.”
“Maybe.” I wasn’t making any such commitment. It all depended on how