Epilogue

It was late—almost midnight. Tanner’s parents were at his house and Chloe felt a little guilty that he was here with her instead of home with them. They’d gotten home from dinner at Billie’s a little while ago and it had been so much fun. It was loud and chaotic, and her family had just totally embraced the Westyns—not that she expected anything less. Her family was awesome and so were the Westyns. But she had to admit that she had a moment or two where she feared they wouldn’t hit it off.

After dropping his parents off, Tanner brought her home and now they were curled up on her sofa, watching the fire in the fireplace, and enjoying the peace and quiet after such a boisterous evening.

“I feel bad that your parents are home alone,” she told him.

“Are you kidding? They both said they were exhausted and were going to bed. Then they said that they’d see me in the morning, so…”

“So…you’re going to stay tonight?”

“If that’s okay.”

Turning, she smiled at him. “Of course it is!” Glancing at the tree, she sighed. “Growing up, we had a tradition where we got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. It was always pajamas, but I loved it.”

“We did the same. As a matter of fact, my parents gave me a new pair of pajamas earlier, before we left for Billie’s,” he said with a laugh.

“Obviously you saw us all open pajamas tonight too.” Straightening, she nodded toward the tree. “I have something I wanted to give you tonight, but it is most definitely not pajamas.”

He laughed. “That’s good, because I think we both know I don’t really wear them. At least, not when I’m with you.”

Blushing, she stood and walked over to the tree, picking up a tall box from the back. “There are more for you under the tree that we’ll open tomorrow, but…this one I wanted you to open tonight.” Standing in front of him, she held it out. “Merry Christmas, Tanner.”

“Chloe…” He glanced around. “I have something for you too. Let me get it and we can open them together.”

“Absolutely not. I can wait. Please.” Then she sat down beside him, eager to see the look on his face.

“O-kay…” Carefully, he tore the wrapping and pulled it off before studying the nondescript box.

Her heart was racing because this was a first for her and she hoped he loved it.

“Holy…Chloe, this is…this is amazing!” he said, his voice filled with wonder. “Is this hand-painted?”

She nodded. “You won’t be able to use it out on the slopes, but it’s something that I hope you’ll want to display. It was a labor of love.”

“This is the most thoughtful thing I’ve ever received. I can’t believe you did this.”

It was a snowboard that she had painted herself with a picture of him when he won his final competition. She’d found the picture online and thought it captured him so perfectly. Painting on a snowboard was a fresh experience—and not one she particularly enjoyed—but for this gift, she made it work.

When he turned his head and looked at her, his eyes shone brightly. “You are the most amazing woman in the world,” he said gruffly. “Thank you for this.” Leaning in, he kissed her softly. And just when she thought he was going to take the kiss deeper, he pulled back. Placing his gift carefully to the side, he smiled at her. “My turn.”

“Yay!”

He stood and walked over to her front closet, and she watched in confusion as he opened the door and pulled out a huge box.

“Um…when did you put that there?” she asked with amusement. “I can’t believe I missed that!”

“When my folks and I picked you up earlier. Remember when my mom asked you about your paintings and you showed her the guest room?”

She nodded.

“That’s when.” Grinning, he walked over and placed the box in front of her. It looked big enough for a giant flat-screen TV, but she hoped that wasn’t what it was. She wasn’t big on sitting in front of a television.

Be thankful, no matter what it is.

“Well? Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked, still standing beside the box.

Nodding again, she tore at the paper and on the front of the box was the logo of the snowboard company they were working with on their designs.

“Oh my goodness! Is this what I think it is?” she asked excitedly.

“You’re going to have to open the box and see!”

He helped her lay the box down on the floor before opening it. Inside there were several wrapped boxes. She glanced up at him. “Um…”

“They’re numbered,” he told her.

“O-kay…”

Picking up the first one, she opened it and found a three-foot snowboard with the very first design she and Tanner had decided on—a wintery fairy castle. For a minute, all she could do was marvel at it. It was so much more than she ever dreamed it would be. Tears stung her eyes and she was about to thank him, when he gently took it from her hands.

“Open the next one.”

The second one had one of her original superhero characters. There were gorgeous shades of blue and green, and it was absolutely stunning. “Tanner, these are…”

“Shh…there’s more,” he urged, handing her the third one.

Laughing, she took it from him, and it had a group of popular superheroes on them. They were working on getting the licensing rights to them, but she figured these boards were just for them and not for sale. Before she could comment on it, he was handing her the last board.

“These are so much better than I thought they’d be,” she said, tearing open the wrapping. “Ooh…the space one! And the stars actually sparkle! I love it!” But when she looked up, Tanner was holding another box. “Shouldn’t we leave some for tomorrow?” she joked.

“Oh, there will be more tomorrow. And honestly, these aren’t gifts that I bought. They just happened to arrive in time for Christmas and I wanted to give them to you when we were alone.”

“That’s very sweet of you. Thank you. I love them all! I never even considered seeing my art in this way.”

“Everyone loves your work.” Then he sat down beside her. “And I love you.”

Smiling, Chloe leaned in and kissed him. “I love you too.” Then she looked at the boards. “I was feeling like you were trying to outdo me again… I mean, I only got you one board and you got me four!”

“Five,” he said, handing her the other box.

“Tanner…”

“This one I did do myself. Well…I ordered it. I didn’t paint it myself. I leave that level of artistry to you.”

He was so damn precious and she couldn’t believe he did all of this. “As long as you don’t expect me to actually use this…because even though I mastered skiing…”

“You mastered the indoor bunny hill…”

“I don’t think I’m ready for snowboarding.” Grinning, she tore off the wrapping. “Maybe next year I’ll give it a try.” Pulling the board from the box, she stared at it, mildly confused. “Um…”

It was a plain white board with the words “Team K” on it.

“What am I missing?” she asked.

“That’s us,” he said. “Team K. Team kindergarten. And I thought maybe that could be our…our company name for the boards and gear we’re going to do artwork for.”

Her heart simply melted. “Tanner! I love that! It’s perfect!” She launched herself into his arms, kissing him with everything she had. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, beautiful. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.” Resting her head on his shoulder, Chloe didn’t think she’d ever feel this happy, didn’t think she’d ever find what everyone else around her was finding. She’d never been so happy to be wrong. “I want to stand them all up over by the tree,” she said. “Then we can come back here and snuggle.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get rid of all the wrapping paper, but the box will have to wait until tomorrow to go out.”

She agreed and began moving the boards so she could enjoy looking at her tree and seeing all of them at the same time. It took a few minutes to get them all standing just right, but when she stepped back, it was exactly what she had envisioned. “I think I need to get a picture of this because it looks great! Can you…?” But when she glanced over her shoulder, Tanner wasn’t sitting on the couch; he was down on one knee. “What…what’s happening right now?”

Holding up a ring, he said, “I had one more gift for you tonight that I didn’t want anyone else around for.”

He said all the right words—everything she could ever possibly dream of. And for the first time in her entire life, Chloe felt like she was the luckiest Donovan of them all.