“Three weeks,” Amanda repeated. This had to be so painful for Tate and her family. She snapped back into the moment. “What do I do? How do I change this?”
“Your fate will take you back to where you belong. You’ll open your eyes soon and you will go back to your family.”
Her grandmother gave Amanda a gentle squeeze and placed her hand on Amanda’s stomach. “You’ll go back and start your own family,” she whispered into hear ear.
Amanda raised an eyebrow. “My family?” She instinctively reached down and touched her stomach. She couldn’t be—could she?
“Hey, you can’t see everything that goes on down there, can you?”
Grandpa Turner gave a hearty chuckle. “Nah, we only see what the big guy in charge wants us to see.”
Amanda felt her cheeks redden, thinking about the shower tryst with Tate. “Good,” she stammered, “I mean, Tate and I have had some doozy fights. I wouldn’t want you to see us acting like children.”
Grandma Thompson squeezed her shoulders. “You ready to go home?”
Amanda blinked back tears. She’d miss her grandparents, but now was not her time. “Yes, I am.”
She walked over to Tate and sat on the edge of the bed. She hoped he could feel her ghostly presence just like her Grandma Turner had felt her granddad’s.
“Tate, I’ve been wrong about so many things. I know everything now, and I understand. I’m so in love with you.” Amanda watched as Tate got up and walked toward the door. Her heart sank. He couldn’t be leaving.
“Don’t you give up on me, Tate Ryan!” she shouted. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who is the better kisser—me or Melanie!” She watched in horror as he walked out the door.
“He couldn’t feel my presence,” she said. “What do I do now? How do I stop this?”
Her grandmother grabbed Amanda’s hand. “All you need to do is open your eyes. We’ll have dinner waiting for when it’s the right time for you to come back. A nice lasagna.” With that, she scooped up the little feline from the floor.
“Goodbye, Amanda,” her grandparents said in unison.
She watched as the three elderly figures disappeared into the white clouds.
“Goodbye,” she said softly. It was comforting to know her deceased grandparents were always watching over her.
She stood over the bed and stared at her lifeless body. What should she do? Open your eyes. The words from Lacy, George, and both her grandmothers echoed in her head.
Praying seemed like the appropriate thing to do. If there was any chance a prayer would be answered, the odds had to be in her favor up here. She hopped onto the bed and began to lie on top of the body. Her body.
She felt a strange sensation as if she were merging with the lifeless figure. “Open your eyes, Amanda,” she chanted over and over, determined to finally do what everyone had advised her to do all along.
She finally understood what they meant.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
Today was the day and tonight was the night that Tate Ryan would finally do it. He would get down on one knee and ask the woman he loved to spend the rest of her life with him as his wife.
His hands were slightly trembling as he opened the blue box. He examined its sparkling contents one last time then gently shut the lid. So much had happened this year. This Christmas, he was looking forward to starting a new chapter with the woman he loved.
Amanda stormed into his office and slammed his door. “We need to talk.”
“Hey, Ace, what’s wrong?” He’d thought the days of slammed doors and narrowed eyes were behind them, but glancing at the now crooked clock above his door, apparently they weren’t. “Everything okay?”
Amanda placed both her hands on his desk and leaned forward.
“I gather not.” He put the tiny box back in his pocket.
“I cannot believe you told Melanie she was a better kisser.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Alex said that Brenda told him that Brad said—”
“Stop.” He paused and then laughed. “I know what you’re doing. You want me to admit that you’re a better kisser. You know I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Why won’t you just admit it?” She glanced up at the clock and flew out the door. “This conversation is not over.”
“It never is with you,” he called out. He was fast on her heels, fiddling with a deep red tie that matched her festive red suit perfectly. He loved it when she wore red. It accentuated everything he loved about her.
They walked into the studio. “You’re a jerk.” She took her seat and smoothed her hair.
“But you still love me.” He took his seat next to her.
“Do not.”
“Oh, I think you do.”
“You love birds at it again?” asked Ernie, aiming the camera toward them.
“Hey, I have something for you.” Tate got up from his stool and reached deep into his pants’ pocket.
Amanda put her hand up in protest. “Don’t care. Don’t want it.”
“You’ll want this, Ace. Trust me.”
“I don’t want your stupid rock with its silly Xmas Dinner saying. Keep it in your pocket because you are going to need all the luck you can get,” she warned.
Her twinkling green eyes and devilish grin were dead giveaways that she was really enjoying this banter. “You’re on diaper duty from this day forward.”
Tate laughed and leaned over, placing the robin-egg blue box in front of her. They had decided to wait to get married until Amanda fully recovered from her surgery and extensive doctor visits after the car accident last Christmas Eve. They also wanted to concentrate on her pregnancy—an unexpected gift from that night.
Now that mother and baby, Nicholas, were both fine, there was one thing left for him to do—and given their history, the Christmas season was the perfect time to do it. He realized he wasn’t on bended knee, but it somehow seemed right to do it now.
“Open it,” he said.
“Fine.” She slowly opened the box that revealed a sparkling diamond ring. She lifted it out and read the inscription inside. “Eggnog,” she said softly.
He could see tears forming in her eyes and knew it was the perfect word that bound them from their first kiss on that Christmas Eve when they were kids until today.
“Tate, it’s perfect.”
“Who knew that stupid boy would turn out to be your soul mate?”
She laughed. “My grandparents did.” She looked up at the ceiling and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
“Marry me, Ace.” Tate held his breath for the answer.
“And three, two, one.” Ernie signaled.
“Good evening, Wilmington. I’m Tate Ryan.”
Amanda placed the engagement ring on her finger, holding her hand out to admire its perfect fit. “And I’m . . . um . . .” The teleprompter wasn’t jammed, but her answer wasn’t on it either. He knew she had this.
“And I’m going to be Amanda Ryan.” She winked at Tate while showing off her ring to the camera. “Your five o’clock news starts right now. Thanks for joining us.”
More from This Author
(From Destination Wedding by Robyn Neeley)
“I do. I do.” Wedding planner Kate Ashby quietly repeated her calming mantra. Paralyzed in her window seat, she stared at the illuminated fasten seatbelt sign while her hands gripped the metal buckle strap.
Please turn off. Please turn off. They had to be close to cruising altitude. Soon, she’d be able to request a strong drink to knock her out for the duration of this bumpy flight.
She sat still, trying to ignore the terror pulsating through her. Why hadn’t she bought sleeping pills before boarding a twelve-hour flight from New York City to Hawaii? Now, that would have been the smart thing to do.