Destined to Love (Starting Over Trilogy Book 3) (21 page)

“I didn’t notice; you must have good ears.” She turns around and puts her long hair up into a high ponytail.

I have good ears or I’m becoming a good liar.

We arrive at the cottage and see a large clothing bag lying across the bed. I look at it, and Angel and Maria both yell at me.

“No, Mason!” Maria shouts. “It’s Angel’s mother’s wedding gown. Don’t look. She wants to surprise you with the dress.”
 

“I’m just looking,” I say, holding my hands up in surrender.

“No looking; behave or you’ll have to leave,” Maria says, laughing.

“Come on, Mason, let them be alone to do what they need to do.”
 

I kiss Angel and Maria, then follow Raùl outside. We pass Josephine on the way out.

“I see they ran you both off,” Josephine says, laughing as she heads inside the cottage.
 

“They sure did. Is Carl home?” Raùl asks.
 

“He’s waiting on you both. He suspected this would happen,” she says, closing the door behind her.
 

We walk over and see that Carl is on the front porch with three Bud Lights sitting on a table.

“That took less time than I expected.”
 

“It doesn’t take long to make Maria mad.” Raúl laughs.

We sit outside talking about the items I asked Raùl to bring with him from Los Angeles.
 

“I have them hidden in the house, Angel doesn’t suspect anything. I was going to hide them from Maria, but that is useless. She knew I was hiding something as soon as I got off the plane.”
 

“Angel will be very pleased with what you are doing.” Carl smiles.

“I hope so. I’m a little worried it will upset her. What if she had another idea?”
 

“Trust me, she will love it.” Raùl takes a long drink of his beer. “If it was a bad idea, Maria would have said so.”
 

That is a good point. Angel, Maria, and Josephine walk across the yard, smiling.

I stand and kiss Angel when she reaches me. “That must have gone very well.”
 

“It did; the dress is in much better condition than I thought it would be.”
 

I sit down and Angel sits on my lap.

“Your Uncle Raùl and I will drop it off at the cleaners tomorrow and it’ll be good as new.”
 

It’s Thanksgiving Day and it’s our first Thanksgiving together. Angel and I are going to my parents for dinner. Raùl, Maria, Carl, and Josephine will also be there. We begin our day with Angel cooking a few of her specialty dishes to take over with us.

“You do realize plenty of food will be there?”
 

“I know, but there is just something about showing up empty handed that doesn’t sit well with me.”

“They are just glad to have us there. They don’t care what we bring as long as we show up.”
 

“I know and I appreciate that. It’s just a few dishes, nothing special. I’ll just be a few more minutes.”
 

I take a tortilla and scoop up some bean dip onto it.

“Let’s leave this dip here, so we can have it for later.”

“I made
you
some extra, but
this
is for your parents.” She laughs. 

I take another scoop and she smacks my hand, laughing.

“Mom said to remind you to bring your notebook with you. She wants to finalize everything for the wedding.”
 

“I have it all ready. Can you believe we’ll be getting married next month?”
 

“It’s not soon enough if you ask me. I can’t wait to finally have you forever,”

“Mason, whether we get married or not, you already have me forever.”
 

“I know that; I just want to make sure everyone else knows that, too.”

I walk over and wrap my arms around her.

“You are so possessive.”

“I can’t help it.” I kiss her and she kisses me back.
 

We are greeted by my parents and Madison as we pull into my parents’ driveway. Raùl and Maria’s car is already in the driveway. Josephine and Carl must have rode with them. Dad walks down the stairs and helps me with the food Angel made.
 

“Angel, this smells delicious,” my Dad says holding up a glass dish.
 

Angel looks back behind her and smiles. “Thank you, it’s a bean dip. It was my Momma’s favorite recipe. I hope you like it.”
 

“If it tastes like it smells, I’ll love it.”

We gather around the large dining room table. It is set with a white lace tablecloth and my grandmother’s fine china. Mom uses this china only for holidays and special occasions. The candles are lit on the table beside the white lily centerpiece. Dad always buys lilies for my mother.

We snack on appetizers and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while the ham and turkey cook. A family tradition since childhood. After dinner we watch football. Also a childhood tradition.

Carl has the privilege to say the grace today. We stand around the table and hold hands.

“Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you for this wonderful meal before us. We thank you for bringing us all together on such a wonderful occasion. Thank you for keeping us healthy and for all the wonderful blessings we have everyday. We pray that you bless and look after the less fortunate and guide them. In your name we pray, Amen.”
 

We all say “Amen” in unison before taking our seats and enjoying a wonderful meal together.

“So, Angel, we hear your wedding dress is almost ready,” Mom says.

“It is, and it’s in better condition than I had anticipated.”
 

We mostly talk about the upcoming wedding. Everyone knows where I am taking Angel on our honeymoon but Angel. I want to surprise her and I had to do some research before booking our flights. I needed to get the exact location on the island.
 

Time to clean up. We guys help — sort of.
After dinner and after
we all help with cleanup, the guys turn the TV on to watch the football games. I stand at the large bay window and watch the girls outside. Angel has her notebook and pen in hand taking notes. They walk around the yard pointing at certain areas where the
bushes and trees are.

“Son, you’re missing a great game,” my Dad yells from the Lazy Boy recliner.

“I’ll be right there.”

Angel looks up from the yard and waves to me.

I wave back and smile.
 

Angel turns her attention back to the activities in the yard. She moves her arms around and Mom nods while Angel writes something else down on her paper. When Angel looks up again and sees that I am still watching her, I decide I need to move. I may be creeping her out, standing at the window, watching her. I sit on the couch and watch the rest of the game.

Once the game is over and the last of the wedding plans are complete, we say our goodbyes. Mom sends home a plate of turkey; she know how much I love left-over turkey sandwiches.
 

“Buckle up, Beauty.”
 

Angel looks over at me and laughs. She has the seat belt already in her hands. “You like to say that, don’t you?”
 

“I just want you to be safe, that’s all.”
 

“You do know that when you’re not around, I remember to buckle up on my own.”
 

“I would hope so. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I lift her hand and kiss it.
 

“I had a great time today.”
 

“Good, so did I. I’m glad Carl and Josephine were there. Did you happen to taste her pies?”
 

“Oh, did she make those?” I had the apple and the crust melted in my mouth.”
 

“I know. Mom said she made all the pies. I wonder if she’ll make us one for our wedding.”
 

“Mason, stop it. We are not having pie at the wedding.” She laughs.

Later that night, we lie on the couch and watch
Miracle on 34th Street
. It’s a family tradition of Angel’s and her family. Of course Angel falls asleep in the middle of it. I think that is another family tradition. I don’t wake her. We sleep on the couch together until morning.

Angel
 

I meet with Marilyn and discuss what she would like to see done in her master suite. She already has a beautiful space. I can’t imagine why she wants to change anything in here. Sometimes, I think people can have too much money.

We walk through the bedroom and into the two large walk-in closets, the sitting area, and the master bath. Her suite is larger than my old cottage. Once I get an idea of what she would like to have done to her suite, we have tea and crumpets outside on the lanai. She turns the fireplace on and the area warms up quickly. The waterfall is also on and adds to the relaxing ambience. This is definitely a nice space. Very pleased with my work, she tells me how much she enjoys her lanai and how much time she and her husband spend there.

I head home but stop by the jewelry store first. I bought Mason something for Christmas, and I want to see if it’s in yet. It’s our first Christmas, and I want it to be special. I arrive home and see Mason unloading several large boxes from his car.

“What are you doing?”
 

“Maria called and said she had some things that belonged to you and asked if I wanted to pick them up.”
 

“I didn’t leave anything there.” I walk over and help Mason with the last box and follow him into the house. Several other boxes are already on the floor. I open a box and remove the bubble wrap from the small item. Not believing my eyes, I hold the glass snowman Christmas ornament from my childhood.

“Oh, Mason, look.” I hold up the fragile ornament for him to see.

He gently takes the glass snowman from my hands and smiles.

“We bought it one year we spent Christmas down here, at one of those shops over on Anna Maria Island.”
 

“It’s beautiful.”

I anxiously open another ornament and then another. I feel like a kid at Christmas. Mason sits on the floor next to me and helps me. Soon we are sitting among a mess of bubble wrap, old newspapers, and old Christmas ornaments. Mason and I look around and begin to laugh.

“Well, we have a choice,” he says. “We can either put them all away or we can put up a tree.”
 

“Really?”
 

“Really.”
 

“Let’s go and get one.” I stand up and brush the dust off my clothes.

“I think my grandparents’ tree is still here,” Mason says, standing and brushing off his clothes. “Go change into something more comfortable, and I’ll look in the garage for the tree.”
 

“Yay, I’ll make some hot chocolate and play some Christmas music.”

“Ok, Beauty, I’ll be right back.”
 

“Mason?”
 

“Beauty?”
 

“Thank you.” I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him. “I love you.”
 

“I love you,” he says, kissing me back. “Go and change. I’ll be back in a minute.”
 

I put on a pair of black yoga pants and a white tank top and start a pot of homemade hot chocolate. I look through my CDs until I find a Christmas one. Harry Connick, Jr. Who doesn’t love Harry? I play it on the surround sound before joining Mason in the living room.
 

“Need some help?”
 

“Harry Connick, Jr., huh?” Mason smiles his big dimpled smile.
 

 
“It was either that or Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas.’” 

“Oh, Harry’s good.”
 

“I thought so.”
 

“Hand me the tree stand, will you?”
 

“Yep.”
 

Once the tree is in the stand and we decide on the perfect spot, I check on the hot chocolate.
 

“A lot of marshmallows, a little, or more than a lot?” I yell from the kitchen.
 

Mason walks into the kitchen and stands behind me. “Seven, please.”
 

I look up at him. “Only seven? You do know they are the tiny ones.”
 

“Grandma used to give me and Madison seven when we would stay with her. No more and no less.”
 

“Seven little tiny ones for you and a ¼ of a cup for me.”
 

“Angel?”
 

“Mason? They are little and I like them.” I smile and hand him his mug of hot chocolate.
 

Mason smiles and takes his mug from me. “We are going to need a dentist for you in the next few months,” he says while walking into the living room where the bare tree stands in front of the large bay window.