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Standard disclaimer.
Penultimate chapter.
Christmas day was a blur of activity for Mercedes. From having hot chocolate with her parents Christmas morning, to spending time with her mom and Michelle.
Michelle and Mark...and their dogs, had shown up mid-morning for brunch, so they'd all spent time in the kitchen together cooking.
It was so different from the Christmases she'd had over the past twelve years.
To be with her mom and sister making homemade cinnamon rolls...a family tradition on Christmas Day...was special.
She'd really missed this, maybe more than she'd allowed herself to admit.
When the doorbell rang around eleven and she found Sam there, she was even more surprised.
"I thought we were meeting later," she said.
"Yeah, but I changed my mind. Besides, I have gifts for everyone," he replied.
"Oh. That's so nice, Sam."
He was constantly surprising her, and warming her heart with the way he treated her family.
They had planned to meet at his house later tonight, when it was just the two of them...alone.
To know that he'd taken the time to bring gifts for her family, was just so...him.
But to be honest, she didn't know why she was surprised, about anything thoughtful he did.
Why did he have to be so damn sweet?
Couldn't he be a jerk every now and then?
He was making this so hard on her.
And that thought was simply ridiculous and set her off in a way that confused her.
Which was also ridiculous, but there it was.
"Sam," Mrs. Jones said, greeting him, as he walked in and shed his coat. "I'm so glad to see you. Merry Christmas."
"Same to you, Marlene." He kissed her cheek. "Do I smell cinnamon rolls?"
Her mom smiled and slid her arm in his.
"You do. And coffee. Are you hungry?"
"Well, my mom did fix breakfast early this morning, but I've had your homemade cinnamon rolls before, and I'm not going to turn them down if you're offering."
"I am," she said, with a huge smile on her face.
They headed into the dining room.
"Merce, honey, pour Sam a cup of coffee, will you?"
Mercedes sighed.
"Sure."
Not at all the way she had planned the day, but whatever.
Sam sat at the table downing two cinnamon rolls, while he chatted with Mark and her dad, so Mercedes busied herself in the kitchen, prepping lunch with her sister, while her mom rested her leg.
"You seem...irritated," Michelle said.
"Me? Not at all." She took out her non-irritation, on the celery and onions she was slicing for the stuffing.
"Are you mad that Sam showed up?"
"We were going to have a mini-Christmas alone, at his place tonight."
"But he's here now, Merce. Isn't it nice that he took time away from his family, to be with you?"
"Yes. It's great."
It really was and she appreciated it. She had no idea what was wrong with her.
They all opened presents, talking excitedly over each other, and looking to see what everyone got.
Mrs. Jones had snuck out to go shopping and had gotten Mercedes a beautiful set of new luggage.
"Not that I want you to use them, mind you," her mom said. "But that stuff you dragged in when you got here, has seen better days."
Mercedes laughed and hugged her parents.
Michelle got her a pair of earrings with shiny blue sapphires.
"I love these, Mich. Thank you."
"I was going to wait until later, when we're alone, to give you this, but I want you to open it now," Sam said, handing her a gift bag.
"Okay. It's not lingerie, is it?" she asked, eyeing her parents.
He laughed.
"No. Definitely not lingerie."
She sifted through the tissue paper, and pulled out an envelope. She opened it up, then read the contents and looked up at him.
"Airline tickets?"
"For New Year's Eve. To Las Vegas. I booked us into the Venetian, and we're going to see a show, then ring in the new year at one of the clubs."
"Oh, Merce, that sounds like so much fun," Michelle said.
"What a wonderful gift, Sam," Mrs. Jones said.
Mercedes didn't know what to think.
New Year's was a week away. But still, a trip? Together?
It was sounding more and more like something a couple would do. A couple in a relationship.
She looked up at him and forced a smile.
"It's great. Thank you."
"You've been working really hard. I thought a getaway for both of us was a good idea. And we'll take a couple extra days to hang out and have some fun."
"Sounds...awesome."
She brushed her lips against his.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"I'll give you your gift later," she softly said.
He waggled his brows.
"It is lingerie, isn't it?" he whispered.
She rolled her eyes.
"No."
They ate and talked and cooked, then ate some more.
All in all, it was a perfect day. Even better, her mother was completely comfortable moving around the house now, since her casts had been shortened even more.
She was doing so well, and Mercedes couldn't be happier for her.
In a couple of weeks, she'd be cast free and starting a new form of therapy, to work her muscles, now that her bones were mostly healed.
While Sam, Mark, her mom, and her dad played cards in the dining room, Mercedes and Michelle sat in the kitchen together.
"A trip to Vegas, Merce. Aren't you excited?"
"Sure. Yes, definitely. I've never been there."
"One of the few places you haven't lived, right?"
She laughed.
"This is true." She took a sip of rum-spiced eggnog.
"I like you and Sam together. He's good for you."
Mercedes' gaze drifted into the dining room, where Sam looked perfectly comfortable, with her parents and her brother-in-law.
"Yeah. He's a good guy."
"Even with everything that happened in the past, it looks like you and him have reconnected. You seem happy."
She shifted her gaze back to her sister.
"Do I?"
"Yes. Happier than I've seen you in a long time, Merce."
She hadn't taken the time to think about it. She hadn't allowed herself to dwell, on how she felt about Sam...or about being back in Hope again.
"Things have been going well, and mainly, I'm just so relieved about Mom."
Michelle's gaze turned to their mother.
"Yes. I'm very happy Mom has recovered so well. But I don't think Mom is the sole reason for your happiness, is she?"
Mercedes shrugged.
"I don't know. I haven't given it a lot of thought."
Michelle slid her hand across the table and took Mercedes'.
"Maybe it's time you started thinking about it. About you and Sam. And make some decisions about your future."
She gently pulled her hand away.
"I don't know, Mich. I'm pretty much a live-in-the-moment kind of woman."
Michelle frowned.
"You're not thinking of leaving, are you?"
"Today? Of course not."
"You know what I mean, Mercedes. You're happy here. And Sam? It's obvious how he feels about you."
Was it? She didn't know.
They'd been having fun together, but they shared a past, that had been fraught with difficulties and hurts, that she couldn't forget about.
She had no crystal ball, to see into the future and guarantee she'd never be hurt again...that Sam would always be there for her.
For right now, everything was fine.
As far as tomorrow? Who knew?
She certainly didn't.
She'd lived through enough pain and had no desire to go through it ever again. It was much easier to play it safe.
After Michelle and Mark took off, to spend the rest of the day with Mavis and Ben, Mercedes went upstairs to change clothes, then followed Sam over to his house.
They were barely inside the door, when he pulled her against him and gave her a body-warming kiss, that sizzled away the cold from outside.
Even her toes tingled.
"I've wanted to do that all day," he said.
She couldn't deny the warmth of his kiss, the tender emotion it evoked.
"Well. Merry Christmas to you, too," she said, smiling.
Sam fixed them drinks, and then they settled into the living room.
He had turned on his Christmas tree lights and Mercedes thought it looked good. He wasn't going to buy one, since he said it was just him, but she'd insisted.
Even she owned a tiny Christmas tree, that she would put up in her apartment, wherever she was. It just wasn't Christmas without one.
After he had relented, they had to get decorations. On hearing that, his mother had given him a few of his childhood ornaments, to put on the tree.
Now, it sparkled in his front window, perfectly.
"I forgot to ask you, how it went at your parents' this morning?" Mercedes asked.
"Good. I got socks," Sam said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes.
"And a new socket wrench set, which I needed," he added.
"Glad to hear that you got guy things."
She pulled the gift she'd gotten for him out of her purse.
"I have something for you."
His brows rose, as he took the gift from her, then looked over at her.
"Is it more socks?"
"You have a thing for socks. I can tell."
"It means doing less laundry," he playfully said.
She laughed.
"No. It's not socks. Sorry."
"This is great, Mercedes. Thank you."
"You haven't opened it yet."
He looked down at the package.
"Oh, right. The wrapping is nice."
"God, Sam, there's not a gold bar in there. Just open it already."
He shot her a grin.
"Come on, Merce. Where's your sense of anticipation?"
"And why aren't you immediately tearing into the package? Clearly you do it all wrong."
"I like that we're different in so many ways."
She shook her head.
"That's great. Now open your present."
"Okay."
He slit open the wrapping at one end...carefully, too.
It was all coming back to her now, all the holidays and birthdays, where she had to bite her tongue and wait patiently for him to open a present.
But he finally got through the wrapping to the box, and opened it. Then stared at the framed photograph inside.
Sam lifted out the framed photo and laid it in his lap.
"Where did you find this?" he asked.
"I was moving some old photo albums at my parents', and sat down to go through them. One of the albums was mine. I remembered that I took that photo of you."
Sam stared down at the picture of him, leaning against his first car, an '87 Honda Civic.
The photo was taken of him at the auto shop in Hope, when he'd first started working there. Back when the original owner still ran the place
He was sixteen.
A lifetime ago. And his first start.
He ran his fingers across the picture.
He'd been so young and skinny, before he'd gathered up some muscle.
He looked like a punk, all smirk and attitude, his arms folded across his chest, his ankles crossed as he looked at Mercedes.
He lifted his gaze to her.
"Thank you for this."
"You're welcome. I had it blown up and framed. I figured you might want to put it in your office, at the shop in Hope."
"I will. It means a lot to me to have it." He leaned over and brushed his lips across hers.
"It was either that or socks," she whispered.
He laughed.
"Well, this is much better than socks, and you know what a fan I am of those."
He laid the photo down, then went to the tree, grabbing a small box from underneath it.
"This is for you," he said.
"You already gave me a gift." Her eyes widened at the size.
"This is more...personal," he said, his eyes glittering with amusement.
Mercedes looked down at the box, then at Sam.
"I hope these are earrings or something."
"I guess you'll have to open the box to see."
Sam couldn't wait to see her reaction to the gift.
She unwrapped the package, saw the black velvet jewelry box inside, and lifted her gaze to his.
He saw panic in her eyes.
Okay, he'd thought it was funny. Clearly, she didn't.
He tried smiling at her, to ease the tension, but she wasn't buying it.
"Sam."
"Just open the box, Mercedes."
Her hands were shaking, as she lifted the lid on the box.
Inside, on the soft black velvet, was a key.
She exhaled, then looked over at him.
"What is this?"
"I figured you were tired of standing outside in the cold, so it's a key to my house."
"Oh."
"You know...so anytime you want to pop over, you can just use the key to get inside."
She lifted the key.
"This is..great. Thanks."
Yeah, he could tell she was underwhelmed. Maybe a little shocked. But he had to take those first steps, go slow, if he was ever going to get anywhere with her.
"You already keep some of your things here when you spend the night. And eventually, with your mom getting back on her feet, you're going to want to think about where you want to stay, after...she's all better."
Mercedes lifted her gaze to Sam's, the key lying like a poisonous snake in the open palm of her hand.
"What are you saying?"
'All the wrong things, obviously,' he thought.
"That maybe, you might want to consider this your secondary home, until you find another place to live."
She held the key in the open palm of her hand, like it was something toxic.
"Oh."
'Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all,' he thought.
"Hey, no pressure, ya know? If you don't want to use it, you don't have to. And you can hang out at your parents forever. Or not forever. You're free to do whatever you want, Mercedes. I just wanted to give you another option."
What he really wanted to tell her, was that he loved her, that he wanted her to move in with him, and stay with him.
But the look of stricken panic on her face, stopped him, so he reined in the urge.
Mercedes finally closed her fingers over the key.
"I appreciate this so much, Sam. Thank you for opening your home to me."
Sam thought she was being...so polite and so quiet...like she was choosing each of her words carefully.
He shrugged.
"Hey, no big deal, you know? Since you already had a toothbrush, shampoo, and underwear here, I figured you might want a key."
She finally dropped her shoulders and laughed.
"I can see your point." She scooted closer. "And thanks for Las Vegas."
"I'm looking forward to Vegas," he said, trying to jolt her out of whatever shock, or funk she'd experienced. "I'm ready to play some blackjack."
"Really. So, you're a gambler. How did I not know this about you?"
"I've taken a few trips to Vegas over the years."
"Have you. And did you win money?"
"Won some, lost some."
"How...enlightening. You're like this man of mystery. But I can totally picture you at the blackjack tables."
"And craps tables, too. Wait 'til you see me in Vegas. You might be surprised," he said.
She smiled at him now, and he was relieved.
"I look forward to you surprising me," she said.
He pulled her onto his lap.
"Hey, there are still a lot of things you don't know about me, babe."
He pressed his lips to hers and hoped things were on the right track now.
Stay safe!