Christmas in Pine Island: A small town holiday romance

way I’d leave her behind. She deserves a Christmas vacay just like the rest of us.
“You bet, babe.”
“And how are we getting there?” Morgan asks. She holds up a pair of black leather leggings and then a leopard-print miniskirt. “I need to pick my travel outfit.”
I smirk at her impractical choices, but I’m too excited about the surprise I’ve arranged for our transportation to tease her about them. I rub my palms together with excitement. Morgan slowly turns, her eyes squinting as she takes in my sly eagerness.
“Eric . . .” she laughs. “What have you got up your sleeve? Remember, I said it doesn’t have to be over-the-top!”
“I’m a rockstar! Over-the-top is what I do best, babe! Picture this: I’m sending towncars to pick each couple up and whisk us away to our rendezvous point at Teterboro airport.”
Her hands find her hips as she surveys the clothes she’s piled on the bed. “Alright, alright. So we’re flying . . .”
“Oh, we’re flying, babe. We’re flying on the luxury chopper I’ve chartered to take us straight to Everett Christmas Lodge and Tree Farm.”
Morgan squeals with excitement, her hands flying to her face before she launches at me, leaping into my arms. I catch her and pull her close, gazing into her eyes.
“You didn't have to do this, Eric,” she whispers, earnestly.
“The point is that I wanted to,” I answer with just as much conviction.
Morgan nestles against my chest, resting her head on my shoulder. Her breath is soft and warm against my neck. “I love you, Eric King. Whether near or far, home or abroad, I love you.” she murmurs softly, fingers stroking up and down my tattooed arms.
“I love you, too,” I whisper back.
Inwardly, I silently add, ‘And because I love you, Morgan, I'm going to go all out to make sure this Christmas is everything you imagined.’

Jacob Eckart
My head is spinning with thoughts of the beautiful holiday memories I'm about to make with Ryan and Stacy. This will be the perfect cap on Ryan’s last Christmas as an only child, and I plan on making sure he has a ton of fun.
He might be my nephew, but he’s a son to me in every sense of the word—and to Stacy too. Adopting him after Jenny died has been one of the best decisions of my life. One made much easier by the amazing woman by my side.
I still don’t know what I did to get so lucky.
For a long time, I’d thought luck forgot about me. Losing my parents at a young age, I was raised by my sister. Then when she died too . . . Well to say I’d given up is a bit of an understatement.
I was young and stupid, and I did some things I wasn’t proud of in the months after Jenny’s death. Mostly, I lived up to my reputation as the Hartbreak Kid and the tabloids never let me forget it.
I’d truly lost my way back then, but thanks to Stacy, I’ve found where I belong again. With her, and Ryan and our new little one on the way.
A lot has changed in my life and I know even more changes are coming, but there’s still lots of fun to be had once Ryan steps into his big brother role. But I want to make sure he knows how much I love being a father figure to him first.
I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t have any family left to lean on, but it’s really important to me that Ryan feels included in this new family we’re building. He’s in the same boat as me. No parents, no siblings.
Stacy gets it. Even though she has a huge family, they’re not really all that close anymore. I guess that’s why we just fit together so well. We were three lone wolves before we found each other.
I’m so thankful I found my pack.
Stacy and I have already discussed all the ways we want to make Ryan feel special once he has to share our love and attention with another child, but so far, he’s just as stoked for the baby as we are. It won’t be long until the news gets out because he’s been telling everyone who will listen about the fact that he’s going to be a big brother.
Honestly, it makes me smile. I’m happy we can give him a sibling—someone to grow up and share secrets with. It’s truly a priceless gift. One I’m only just starting to appreciate now that I’ve lost my sister.
Stacy’s hand abruptly curls around my wrist as we make our way down the hallway leading to our penthouse apartment. She pulls me to a stop, chewing her bottom lip. It’d been obvious enough that she had a lot of things running through her mind while we were at Club Thorn, so it doesn’t surprise me that she looks so pensive right now. But I know my girl, she’ll talk when she’s ready, so I’ve been exercising patience.
“Hey,” she says softly, looking up at me with eyes so worried that it makes my heart almost break. As much as I want to protect her from the world, that’s just not always feasible, especially when we’re about to grow our family.
“Hey yourself,” I answer, cupping her small face in my hands. She’s so petite that I loom over her curvy figure. “What’s up, sweetheart? Talk to me.”
“Are we really doing this?”
I laugh softly, smoothing my hands against the gentle curve of her belly. “Stace, it’s a little late for second thoughts here.”
“Not the baby,” she says, swatting my hands away.
I know she isn’t talking about our baby, but I want to lighten the moment—anything to take the worry from her gorgeous eyes.
It works, because she’s smirking up at me now. “I meant, are we really going on this trip?” she asks. “Leaving so suddenly is pretty insane, right? What if Ryan doesn’t have a good time? What if the lodge isn’t kid-friendly? What if he