Chapter Twenty-Three

Eli sat next to Adeline on the church pew, rubbing a thumb over her knuckles. She was beautiful, wearing a baby blue dress that hit her legs mid-thigh, and her hair fell down her back, with ringlets framing her face. It took everything in him not to drag her to the altar and marry her right then and there. He couldn’t think of a reason not to, and Eli doubted he’d ever meet anyone who would be her equal. Adeline was funny and selfless, and the most amazing kisser. It didn’t hurt that she was a professional chocolatier. Though he supposed the fact that this was Leanne’s wedding, and not his, was reason enough to stay put. That, and he didn’t know what Adeline would think of the idea of marriage. Eli didn’t want to press his luck.

The guests stood, craning their necks to try to see the bride as she appeared at the back of the church. Isaac impatiently hopped from one foot to the other, like everything was going too slowly for his liking and he was going to run down the aisle, scoop Leanne up, and hurry things along.

“Thank you for doing this for them,” Adeline said to Eli as she nodded to the crew member, Hank, who had donned a suit, ready to officiate the wedding. The man had several tattoos on his face and a ponytail that reached the middle of his back, but no one seemed to mind, and it would add that extra, interesting touch to the movie scene. “They’ll remember this forever.”

Eli wrapped an arm around Adeline’s shoulders and brought her in closer, kissing the top of her head. “Everyone deserves to have their wedding immortalized.”

Adeline adjusted her position to be more comfortable but bumped his shoulder in the process. He winced and pulled back. Not a lot, but enough that Adeline noticed.

She moved away and touched his shoulder. “Did you hurt it?”

They’d already filmed part of the wedding scene, and Eli had managed to bruise himself up. Benjamin had shown up uninvited, and Eli had decided that if he was going to crash a wedding, he might as well break down the door. Considering he was supposed to be drunk at the time and shouting Katrina’s name as he stumbled into the church full of guests, it had made sense. Christopher had loved it, but Eli was paying for it now. The door hadn’t been intended for literal crashing.

“It’s all right,” he said with a smile. He pulled her in again as they watched Leanne walk past them and down the aisle. She had wanted to wear a winter dress, complete with a warm shawl, but because the wedding scene was being used in the movie, she’d needed to wear one that was approved by Christopher. Which meant no sleeves.

Leanne had ended up choosing a white dress that was similar to the one Eli’s mother had worn on her wedding day. It had a simple elegance about it, sleeveless with a tight bodice, and fanning out at the bottom. Eli had a grainy picture of his mother in her dress, laughing, looking like she’d never been happier. That was how he preferred to remember his mom.

As the ceremony commenced, Eli scanned the church. He was surprised to see Jessie sitting with Erwin across the aisle. They argued so often, he’d thought they couldn’t stand each other, but there they were, beaming as if they were the proud parents of the bride or groom. Jessie looked like she was crying, and Erwin handed her a tissue. She thanked him as she took it, then dabbed at her eyes as Leanne joined Isaac in front of Hank.

Eli’s gaze settled on the couple, but then he noticed Davis, the hardware store owner, sitting in the third row. Alone. No one else in the church seemed to be on their own, the pews nearly full. Eli wished he’d have noticed before. He’d have invited Davis to sit with them.

Hank was a man of few words, and his welcoming speech was brief before he invited Leanne to say her vows. She seemed flustered, and she pulled out a piece of paper from a pocket that she’d requested be sewn into the dress. After a moment of looking at it, she stuffed it back into her pocket and took Isaac’s hand in her own. “I don’t need that. Because, Isaac, I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve imagined this day, and the fact that it’s here—” Her voice broke, and Eli’s eyes teared up.

Oh, no. He’d never been the type of guy who cried at weddings, but he felt a whole lot of blubbering coming on.

Adeline handed him a tissue she’d pulled out of her purse. He’d hoped she wouldn’t notice the leakage, but it was too late to hide it now. Eli took the tissue from her with an embarrassed smile.

Leanne hadn’t been able to resume her vows, and apparently Isaac hadn’t been able to handle it either, because his own voice was full of emotion as he said, “Screw it,” and he pulled Leanne in for a long, passionate kiss. “That about says it all.”

Everyone laughed, and Hank, who had thrown in a few of his own whistles, moved on to the “I-dos.”

It had probably been the shortest wedding ceremony of all time, but Eli had the feeling that Christopher would be using most of it in Amaretto, because it had been absolutely perfect.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was filing out of the church to head to the wedding luncheon. They’d resume filming the next day, before everyone headed out on a week-long Christmas holiday.

Eli led Adeline forward into the aisle. She had a firm grasp on his hand, like she was afraid that if she let go, he’d disappear.

“I noticed you remembered all your lines that we went over last night,” she said as they followed the procession out.

“I have a good teacher.”

The previous evening, they’d built gingerbread houses while rehearsing lines. The result had been eating more candy than made it onto the houses, and powdered sugar dusting Adeline’s entire kitchen—there may have been a sugar fight somewhere in there—and the fact that they managed to rehearse a few lines came as a bonus.

But Eli had had no problem remembering those lines today. Not when they were associated with something so wonderful. Eli couldn’t believe he’d managed to method act for so many years. What a miserable way to live his life.

Just as they reached the church doors, Eli pulled Adeline aside. She raised an eyebrow but followed his lead.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

Adeline nodded slowly, seeming suddenly nervous. “O-kay.”

Eli rubbed the back of his neck. “So, the thing is, I really like you, Addie.” His hand was suddenly moist, and he was unsure if it was his own perspiration or Adeline’s.

Her lips quirked up. “Good.”

“And it’s almost Christmas.”

She nodded again. “I love Christmas.”

That she did. Adeline loved it more than anyone he’d ever met, except maybe his late mother. Eli pulled in a long breath. “I know you normally celebrate Christmas with your mom here in town, but because I kind of took things over and you haven’t been able to do things like you normally would have, well, I was thinking that maybe you could, you know…celebrate with…me. In Oklahoma. With my family.”

Eli squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for Adeline to turn him down. But he was rewarded with a kiss instead.

He opened his eyes and was surprised to see a smile so big that it seemed to take up her entire face. Adeline’s bright eyes matched the smile. “That sounds amazing. I talked to my mom last night and turns out she’s travelling with her new boyfriend. Said she’d make it up to me when she got back.” She hesitated. “But do you think your dad would be okay with that? You had said that he wasn’t much into Christmas since your mother passed away, and then there’s the issue that your family really liked your ex-wife and might not be so happy to see me. I’d feel like I’d be intruding.”

“Well…” Guilt settled over him. “I kind of already asked them about it.” He now wondered if he should have asked Adeline about it first.

Her lips parted in surprise. “They…know about me?”

“They’ve known about you since the chicken costume incident.”

Adeline nodded in understanding, and her cheeks were now tinged with pink. “Right. So, they know me as the crazy chicken woman.”

Eli laughed and took her in his arms. “No, they know you as the fearless woman I fell in love with as we did the chicken dance.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re…”

“In love with you. Yes. And it was the chicken dance that did me in.”

Adeline laughed. “Thank goodness. Because I am so in love with you.” She pulled him in for another kiss, leaving his breaths ragged. When she finally stepped back, she asked, “So, are we driving or flying?”

Adeline Baker was in love with him. And she was going to meet his family. Eli’s heart did a flip, and it took him a moment to remember that she’d asked a question. “As much as I’d love a road trip, I kind of had to give up my car in the divorce.” He hated voicing that out loud, feeling like his previous marriage should be a topic that wasn’t brought up often—or ever. It made his insides churn.

Adeline only look confused, though. “But what about the car parked outside?”

“Must be someone else’s.”

That seemed to further her confusion. “But just before the wedding ceremony, I heard the guy who dropped it off tell Christopher that the delivery was for you, and it is way fancier than anything else around here. Half the people in town don’t even own cars.”

Okay, this was getting weird.

“Can I just show you?” she asked with an exasperated sigh, and then she practically pushed him outside.

And there it was. Right in front of the church sat his Tesla. Christopher was leaning against it, wearing a smirk.

“But how?”

Christopher pushed off from it and gave it a pat. “Seems like your ex-wife had a change of heart. Though how you managed to convince her to give back the car is beyond me.”

“I haven’t asked her for anything,” Eli said, his voice tinged with awe. At least, he hadn’t asked for anything but her forgiveness. And maybe that was all she’d needed.

“Does that mean we’re driving to Oklahoma?” Adeline asked, smiling but also shooting the car a look of suspicion.

“I’m leaving that completely up to you,” Eli said, pulling Adeline in and wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t want this Christmas to be about me. It has already been that way for far too long.”

Adeline gave him a quick kiss, got an excited gleam in her eye, and then yelled, “Shotgun!” She then leapt from his arms, ran around the car, and jumped into the driver’s seat.

“Shotgun means sitting in the passenger seat,” he called after her, though he couldn’t help but laugh at her crazy antics.

Adeline leaned out the window and dangled the keys in the air, taunting him. Eli threw a bewildered glance at his friend.

Christopher only shrugged. “She can be very persuasive.”

That she could.

Because of the enigmatic chocolate-shop owner, Eli wasn’t the same person he’d been last Christmas. He was better. And happier. And Eli hoped he could be as persuasive as she was. Because he’d really like to persuade Adeline to spend the rest of her life with him by her side.

And from the tantalizing smile she was sending his way, he thought he just might have a chance.