Bring Me Home for Christmas

you, honey.”
    He washed his face, brushed his teeth and ran hot water over his hands to warm them. He got down to his boxers and T-shirt and left his folded jeans and shirt on top of his trunk. Then he sat cross-legged on the bed, facing her. “How about if we pack up tomorrow and head for San Diego Tuesday morning?” he asked.
    “That would be wonderful, Denny. Thank you.”
    “I’ll go out to Jilly Farms first thing in the morning to tell her I’m leaving.”
    Becca frowned. “You haven’t told her yet? You told me last week you’d take me home by Christmas.”
    “You had your own obligations around town and to be honest, I had to figure a few things out about leaving. There’s a lot of stuff to do in the greenhouses when the temperature drops like this. And Jack’s…well, the bar has been so busy with people driving up here to get a look at that tree, I wondered how he was going to get by without my help. But Jack’s the greatest. He totally understands. He said if he needs help he can always call on some of his friends, like Brie’s husband, Mike. He even joked that his friends are a lot cheaper than I am.”
    “What if Jillian says she just can’t manage without your help?”
    “She’s got Colin and Luke Riordan if she needs something in a hurry,” he said. “I got as much done out there as I could after we decided to head for San Diego. The only big worries for her right now are snow related. The passages from the house and sheds to the gardens have to be plowed and those greenhouses can’t withstand snow on the roofs—they could collapse. But just like with Jack at the bar, if she needs an extra hand or two, there are friends around.”
    “You know, I could always catch a flight,” she said. “I mean, if you’re needed here. I know you have commitments…”
    He put his hand against her cheek. “Do I look crazy? You’re my primary commitment.”
    “I wouldn’t hold you to it, Denny.”
    He leaned toward her to place a gentle kiss on her lips. “You’d better hold me to it. I’m counting on that. Now I have a question for you. I know you have your own apartment. Are you going to let me move in with you? Will that freak out your parents?”
    “Huh?”
    “I could stay with Rich,” he said. “But really, Becca. I just don’t want to let you too far out of my sight. I scared myself good the last time we got too far apart. Will your parents get all upset about that? If we live together? Because it’s going to take a while to find a job down there. Don’t worry, I have some money saved that we can put toward rent, but—”
    “Live with me?” she asked. “You’re staying?”
    “Where would I go?” he asked, completely confused.
    “I thought you were just going to drive me home and come back here!”
    “What gave you an idea like that?”
    “I don’t know. Because you said how much you loved it here, because you wanted me to try it, because…because you didn’t say you were moving! You said you would take me home for Christmas.”
    He stared at her for a moment. “Listen, if you’re not ready to take this to the next level, if you need a little more time before we start planning a whole lifetime together, I can just ask Rich if I can have his couch. But seriously, the way we can’t seem to keep our hands off each other, I bet I end up staying over at your—”
    A squeal of laughter erupted from her and she threw her arms around his neck. Then she planted a kiss on him that quickly melted into a deeper, more demanding kiss. Their heads tilted, mouths opened, tongues dueled. Denny moved to embrace her; his hands slipped under her pajamas to stroke her naked back.
    When their kiss finally broke, she laughed.
    “See what I mean?” he asked. “We might just as well share the rent, since there’s no question we’re going to share the bed.” She giggled.
    “And this is funny, how?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “I didn’t get it,” she said. “I thought asking to go home was something you were going to do for me. I thought… We’re going to have to work on our communication.”
    “Well, I thought I might have to come back up here after Christmas for a few days to pack up and at least get Jillian on stable ground so she could manage without me. Those were a couple of the details I was trying to get organized in my head while you were finishing up your homework club, pageant practice and stuff. But when you get down to it, I don’t have that much to