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 Will this change anything? Can we get past this? She looked up at him,
imploring him with her eyes. She wanted him to say yes. God, she wanted
him to.
 I don t know. When the sun comes up, we ll see, he admitted.
Her voice broke when she snuggled close to him.  Well hold me tonight.
Don t let go. Just hold me so I don t forget this.
She cried until she couldn t anymore, and he just held her tight. There
was something strong between them. She knew it. They were their own
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The Right Christmas Dahlia Rose
worst enemies, two stubborn people who were not willing to give an inch. It
was her last thought before she fell asleep with the rhythmic beat of his heart
against her ear.
Morning came much too soon in her opinion. When she woke up, he
was gone as if the inevitable was too much to bear. She dressed and got her
things together before coming downstairs. Zariya found him in the kitchen
drinking a cup of coffee and staring broodingly through the window at the
scene outside.
 Is the coffee still warm? she asked.
 You better drink it quick. While you were in the shower, Mike called.
The system they are trying to avoid is coming in quicker than they expected.
They ll be here in a few minutes, he replied.
 Oh, I thought you were trying get rid of me quicker, she teased.
 Your choice, he stated and stepped away to head to the living room.
 The sun is up. Does anything look different now that it is morning?
she asked referring to the statement he made the night before.
He hesitated and without word a Patrick left the room. She sighed feeling
her tears threatening once more and fighting to hold them back. Zariya took
no more than two sips of the hot coffee before she heard the loud sound of
a helicopter coming to get her. Instead of feeling elation, she felt like a
condemned woman going to her final sentence. She picked up her small bag
and headed to the front door. Patrick was already standing outside as the
chopper descended to the open clearing out front. The blades kicked up
fresh snow from the outlying trees and not packed into the ground. She
stood away from him as one man got out of the chopper and bent low to
avoid the blades as he ran up to the wooden patio.
 Patrick, the man yelled over the loud blade of the Coast Guard
helicopter. He held out his hand, and Patrick took it shaking vigorously.
 Mike, I didn t expect you to come all the way out here, Patrick
commented.
 Next time I ll stay for some of that brandy you keep in stock and a card
game, Mike yelled with a grin.  Is she my package?
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The Right Christmas Dahlia Rose
 Yup this is Ms. Huette, Patrick replied.  Take good care of her. Get
her home safe.
 You got it, my man. I ll regale her with my stories of bravery, Mike
yelled, and Zariya couldn t help but like this man she had never met.  You
ready to go, Ms. Huette?
Patrick pursed his lips looking from his friend to Zariya but said nothing.
With just a curt nod in her direction, he turned to go back into the house, but
his steps never made it there. As she walked away she looked to see him
standing at the door, and her own pace faltered when he came down off the
porch and out into the snow.
 Patrick, she called, and even though Mike s hand was at her elbow
urging her on, she couldn t move.
She saw his lips move knowing that he called her name but not being
able to hear it over the loud whir of the chopper. He began to move towards
her fighting the deep snow with each stride of his long legs. Mike looked at
the curiously when she turned to go back to the man she loved. Nothing was
worth losing him, not a career, not a new line of perfume. She would work
something out, but it wasn t going to be at the loss of something that she
knew would last forever.
 You know if I leave you here, you won t be able to get back to
Charming Island for weeks, maybe months, Mike said with a grin.
 I know. I don t care! I ll see you in the spring, Mike!
She threw a huge smile back at him knowing she was making the right
decision, and elation filled her chest seeing Patrick running toward her in the
snow. Without another word she moved away to meet Patrick half way.
 I ll go with you to New York. Mike will wait while I throw a few things
in a bag, he yelled when their lips parted.  I love you, Zariya, and I ll be
happy as long as I m with you. I can write from a tree in Timbuktu or a
penthouse in Manhattan just as long as you re mine.
 I ll stay here with you. Spring fashion is always better anyway in New
York, and by then we ll figure something out, Zariya called out in return.  I
love you too, Patrick. My job can be flexible if they need me. If not, I ll start
my own damn company!
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The Right Christmas Dahlia Rose
 You have no clothes, he yelled.
 Do I need them really? She raised an eyebrow at him.  You have
plenty of shirts, socks, and boxer shorts.
They grinned at each other before he pulled her into his arms and their
lips met in a kiss. She had found the right Christmas, the perfect holiday in
the middle of Alaska and the harsh snowstorms that went with it. It wasn t
Manhattan, and it wasn t Firth Avenue, but it was everything she wanted.
Zariya forgot the world while they lips clung together in a fiery kiss and the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]