Page 173 of Snowbound Surrender

December 24, 1814

“Spicer?”Scarlett called. “Would you mind fetching the library stairs?”

“Not at all, my lady,” said her husband’s valet with a quick grin. Scarlett didn’t miss the wink he sent in the direction of her maid, who was now his wife. How wonderfully it had turned out for them, she thought wistfully.

Once Spicer had returned to Oak Hall, Scarlett took the mistletoe ball in hand, ready to hang it in the same place as last year.

“Do you suppose, Marion, it’s silly to want to decorate as similar to what we did previously?” she asked her maid.

“Not at all, my lady,” Marion replied. “Tradition is important.”

“You are right,” said Scarlett with a nod. “And we are beginning new traditions.” She was two steps up when Hunter came charging into the room.

“What do you think you are doing?” he burst out, and for a moment, Scarlett stopped in shock. Was he really protesting the Christmas decorations once again this year?

“Hanging the mistletoe,” she said, but before she even knew what was happening, he had picked her up and placed her on the floor, plucking the bough from her hand.

“Please do not continually try to kill yourself decorating this house,” he said, shaking his head, and Scarlett chuckled as he leaned up to hang the bough on the hook in the doorframe. “Now,” he continued, stepping off the ladder. “We must ensure this mistletoe has been hung correctly.”

“Oh?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “And how do you propose to do that?”

“If you’ll take a step this way,” he took her arm and led her two paces forward. “We shall now see.”

Scarlett looked up, saw the bough overhead, and smiled at Hunter, but soon her lips were otherwise occupied, by his moving over hers. If it wasn’t for the fact they were surrounded by servants, she didn’t know where the kiss might lead, but soon Hunter broke away, with a promise of “tonight,” in her ear as he slipped away. He didn’t go far, however, simply to the corner, where greenery was piled, ready to adorn the household.

“Well,” he said, “we better get to work if we’d like to complete the entire house by this evening.”

Scarlett grinned. It seemed the man who had previously despaired of Christmas had had a change of heart.

“What special gift would you like for Christmas this year?”

“Do not tell me you haven’t already prepared it?” she asked, and he grinned at her, teasing.

“I suppose I would simply like to know how close I am to what you truly want,” he said, and she smiled at him. “You have already given me all I could ask for,” she said. “The opportunityand the freedom to help others when I please. I appreciate what you have done more than you know.”

“You are the one with unsurpassed talent and generosity,” he said, and Scarlett’s cheeks warmed as she turned away from his unwanted yet admirable praise.

The next hour flew by so fast that Scarlett was shocked when one of the maids entered the room, calling to her. “My lady? You asked me to inform you when Holly awoke.”

Scarlett practically ran from the room, up to the nursery, with Hunter following close behind her. Would she ever tire of this, of holding her daughter in her arms? She took the baby from the nursemaid and held her close, sinking into the rocking chair, inhaling the sweet fresh scent of her child.

Holly had been born three months before, and Hunter called her his Christmas gift, as that was when their love began, resulting in their child. Scarlett looked at him now, as he crouched next to her chair, and they shared a smile of contentment over all the joys they shared together.

Scarlett closed her eyes for a moment as she thought of how painful her life could have been if she had kept Hunter frozen away from her forever. Instead, they now shared a life of joy, of warmth, and of love. So unlike her parents’ own unhappy marriage, although Scarlett’s mother had been overcome with happiness at Holly’s birth. That reminded her…

“Oh, Hunter?” she said, hating to break this moment, but needing to tell him before she forgot. “My, uh, parents may come to visit, but just for a day or so. My mother desperately wanted to come spend time with Holly, and my father insisted as well…”

She trailed off at his look of horror. “My parents are coming as well,” he said with a bit of a strangled noise, and despite her share of his dismay, she had to laugh at the expression on his face.

“Oh dear,” she said, biting her lip. “This could make for an interesting Christmas.”

“It could indeed,” he said, nodding his head slowly. “But this year, my love, there is nothing, and no one, that can detract from our love, nor our trust in one another.”

“I agree,” she said, smiling at him and holding Holly close. “Whatever comes our way — jealous ladies, snowstorms, or even meddling parents — we will face them together.”

“So we shall,” he said, leaning in to place a quick kiss on her lips, before kissing Holly’s forehead.

“Happy Christmas, my love.”

“Happy Christmas.”