Her Secret Santa - Miley Maine Page 0,46

I love the desert. That’s why Southern California is such a great place to be, but I also love the wild of Alaska, the trees, the nature, and the weather makes it a wonderful place to live. I think it would be an ideal place to raise a family.”

I saw a twinkle in her eye at the mention of family. “You think about having a family one day.”

I wanted to be careful how I answered the question, but I also wanted to be honest. “Yes. I really do. I think about it quite often. But at the same time, I am not one to rush into things. I believe all things have their own time frame. And when I have kids one day, I know it will be the time in my life when I’m supposed to have them. Do you want kids?”

“I do. I absolutely do,” Julie answered quickly. I smiled as I looked over at her, those beautiful eyes flickering in the flame of the campfire.

I’d decided to bring Julie out in the woods a bit so we could do some camping. She said she’d never actually been camping, so I thought this would be the perfect time to do it. It was good to get away from the modern world for a bit and commune with nature. It helped me get in touch with my roots. I loved to come out here in the wild and sit for a while and meditate. The most serene thoughts entered my brain at a time like that and I found myself just so thankful for everything in my life.

And now I had an even bigger reason to do that. The past few months had been hard but wonderful. I knew that Julie was becoming increasingly isolated and more afraid to venture out. She was of the mind that everywhere she went she was going to run into Saul. I tried to reason with her and get her calmed down on this issue, but she was not hearing any of it. She just wanted to stay isolated in the mansion and lately she hardly ever wanted to venture out among people at all.

I hoped that a bit of fresh air and nature might help that. It was a thought anyway. So far, she did not seem to be enjoying herself.

“I see us together in a long, wonderful future,” I said. “I’ve seen us that way since shortly after we met. I realize it took you a bit longer, but when you see these children of the future, do you see me?”

“Yes. Of course.” I could see it in her eyes that she really meant it. This put me at ease. It was something I’d been wondering lately. Julie didn’t communicate her feelings nearly as well as I wished that she did sometimes. “I see you. I’ve seen you there for a long time now. I want to spend my life with you.”

“I want that, too,” I said. I leaned in and kissed her and then I pulled her closely against me. She felt so good in my arms.

We relaxed together a few moments, both of us just enjoying being there with each other and staring up at the stars and the bright moon ahead of us. The air was cool and crisp, and with the breeze I could smell the winter that was coming in the next few months. I could tell it was going to be a doozy. Coming up here for so many years had really fine-tuned my senses for such things. I wondered if it was something that I could teach Julie. I thought about it and then dismissed it from my mind. I think you had to really experience it for it to become something that ingrained within you. I hoped that Julie would get there in time.

But I wanted to get her out of here and back to her normal life. I wanted to find Saul and bury him right where he stood. I wanted that bastard to be under my shoe begging for mercy before I killed him. I gritted my teeth silently and tried to control the shudder of anger in me. I hoped I would never have to kill that man, or any man for that matter, but I had no problems doing it if I was really pressed. And nothing would press me harder than to protect the woman I loved. Nothing.

I rubbed Julie’s hair and let the soft strands coat my