Free McDonald_MM_GEN_Dec2013 by Donna McDonald

so much until we get home—to my house. Is that okay?”
    “Sure,” Eve said, shrugging with a smile on her face as she looked out of the window again.
    It wasn’t long before Sam’s hand reached over the console and captured one of hers. His tight grip on her fingers made her smile.
    After Sam parked in the garage, Eve climbed out and waited for him to open the door into the house. What she found inside was yet another surprise to her. “Wow, this place sure looks different. I guess I haven’t been here in a while.”
    She took off her coat and laid it across a chair, as Sam looked around too.
    “About six months ago, I decided I needed it to be different. Mostly the makeover is just paint and new furniture. The only part of the house that still looks the same is the kitchen and Nathan’s room. I did buy a new desk for my office. I got in the habit of working from home when Angeline got sick. Now I do it because I like it, so I wanted to be more comfortable in the space.”
    “I haven’t changed anything in the house,” Eve said, feeling now as if it was something important that she’d forgotten to do. “Most of the time I find the familiarity of it all to be soothing to me.”
    Sam tossed his keys on the wraparound counter and hung his coat on the back of one of the high-back counter stools. “Nathan and Megan helped me do this. I think they did a good job. Don’t you?”
    That had her attention shifting. “Megan helped? That may just be the first secret she’s ever kept from me in her life. I think I’m actually proud of her for not saying anything.”
    Sam smiled at her teasing. “Can I offer you a glass of wine? I have two kinds of red. One is the kind you like best.”
    Charmed, Eve nodded. “Why do you have the kind of wine I like?”
    Sam didn’t answer at first. He opened the bottle, attached an aerator, and poured out a glass for each of them. He walked around the counter to hand her one.
    “I have your preferred wine in my house because it allowed me to dream of moments like this one. Plus, I don’t do much booze even though I drink wine pretty regularly. I guess I believe all that stuff about red wine being healthy.”
    “Me too. Well thank you then—for having the wine I like—and everything else,” Eve said, taking a sip. “I had a good day, Sam. Joyce and Greg are terrific. They adore you.”
    “The feeling is mutual. I have exceptional in-laws,” Sam said.
    “Indeed, you do. Most are like mine. My in-laws tolerated me, but they didn’t approve of my relationship to their son,” Eve said, taking the wine glass he offered. “Care to show me your gas fireplace? I’m glad you got Greg and Joyce’s furnace going. Their house was definitely chilly for several hours today and I hadn’t necessarily dressed for warmth. I’m thinking any fire that takes the chill off me tonight is a good one.”
    “Would that even be true of the fire I’m intending to build in you?” Sam asked.
    Eve smiled and took the hand Sam held out to her, feeling something inside her shifting into acceptance. “Yes. Even that one,” she said.
    ***
    They were sitting on pillows on the floor much like they had sat on the rug at Eve’s house the evening before. With a fire in front of them and his Christmas tree twinkling behind them, Sam thought the day probably couldn’t get much better for him, but he was going to go for it anyway.
    Reaching behind the chair he leaned against, he pulled two Santa hats into his lap. The largest one he put on his head, squashing it over his wildly curling hair that needed a haircut he’d forgotten to get. The other hat he handed to Eve.
    “Mood enhancer,” he said.
    Eve sputtered trying not to laugh. Sam looked like a wicked Santa with that mischievous glint in his eyes. She set what was left of her wine on a nearby table and then took the other hat still dangling from his long fingers. “What mood are you wanting to enhance? I’m not sure we know each other well