Free Deep Freeze Christmas by Marian P. Merritt

remember?"
    Her cheeks turned a deeper crimson, redder than he thought possible.
     
     
     
     

Douze
     
    Leona lifted both hands to her face and nodded.
    "Aren't you going to say them? After all, a promise is a promise." Cameron laced his pinky finger through hers and tugged on her hand. His teasing smile twitched her stomach. "C'mon. It wasn't that bad."
    She lowered her hands but held onto his. The fluttering in her stomach reminded her of that day almost twenty years ago. Her trembling heart brought her back to her first heartbreak. She looked at him and recognized the familiar twinkle in his perfect blue eyes. "I said, 'I promise, I'll love you until my dying breath, Georgie Fleming."
    "And I said?"
    "You said, 'René, some lucky guy will snatch you up before I have a chance to come back and get you.'"
    He brought her fingers to his lips and gently kissed the tips. "I've thought about you so often since that day. Why haven't we kept in touch?"
    She knew why she hadn't looked him up. He had her heart and a gnawing fear kept her from reaching out for fear he wouldn't feel the same. They'd lost touch. He'd moved away and moved on. She'd moved on. Her work had filled her heart's desires. She'd exchanged her love of Georgie Fleming for her love of cooking and the dream of owning her own restaurant.
    "Work, life, moving in different circles. All those things. I'm so driven to open Leo's again that's all I think about."
    His eyes widened. "That's right, Leo's was your dad's place on the lakefront. It's closed?"
    "Gone. Hurricane Katrina."
    "Oh. I'm sorry. You want to rebuild in the same place?"
    "You bet. It's such a beautiful view of the lake. Besides, we still own the property. I've been saving and learning as much as I can. I'm hoping to start re-building within the next year."
    He smiled. "I'm a little jealous. You're living our dream. Remember how we sat in that silly tree house and talked about our dreams. Everett wanted to be a firefighter. You and me, we wanted to be chefs. We said we'd get married, open our own restaurant, and call it R & G's." He shook his head in a slow methodical way as though he remembered more. "Kid dreams."
    "If it makes you feel better, Everett's not a firefighter."
    He looked at her with an expectant gaze. "Really. What is he?"
    "A doctor."
    He chuckled. "I should have known. He doctored every stray animal we came across."
    "Yeah, remember when we went to our papa's ole place on the bayou, and we ran into that alligator with the cut foot that he thought about caring for?" She laughed at the memory of her brother taking a few steps toward the thing and jumping back when the alligator had hissed at him.
    "He ran backward for about ten yards and then tripped on that tree branch. We had to doctor him." He snickered. "Well, at least he's doing what he wants to do, right?"
    "He is. He's a natural and his patients love him." She loved recalling those days. Her…René, the little sister tag-a-long Everett and Cameron had tolerated. Although Cameron had been only two years older, to a nine-year-old he was the more mature man whom she'd adored.
    Leona lifted her knee and turned toward Cameron. "Wanting to be a chef and have your own restaurant was all you talked about. Honestly, that was probably one of the reasons I think I wanted to be one. Your passion inspired me. It also helped that my family had a restaurant." She leaned forward and touched his forearm. "What happened to your dreams, Cameron?"
    He cleared his throat and his eyes lost a bit of the luster from earlier. "Once we moved to California, things changed. Dad made it clear when he found out I'd been taking cooking lessons from Julian that his son was destined for a grander calling. His calling. As a young boy, I thought it was cool that my dad thought so highly of me and wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Now, as a thirty-year-old, I don't see it the same. I've traded my dreams for his." He squeezed his lips together, stood, and walked