Sugar Lust

Chapter Fourteen

Christmas came and went, and Emmeline hadn't told anyone about the engagement. It was so close to her heart that she wasn't quite ready to tell the world yet. She wanted to savor the feeling, linger in the joy before hearing from those around her that they were too young to get married, or they were making yet another mistake.

Nicholas didn't care who knew; he was bursting at the seams to share the news but respected her wishes and didn't say anything. Emmeline promised as soon as the Christmas craziness was over, they would start telling the world. If she was being honest, she couldn't wait to start planning their wedding, but she loved this magical quiet time where they could just be happy. By the time New Year's Day came around, she was more than ready to announce their engagement, and Ginny was first on her list.

"Really?" Ginny screamed into the phone the moment the news had left Emmeline's lips. "I'm so happy for you guys! You guys really are the perfect couple!"

"Thank you," Emmeline squealed, glancing down at the little diamond on her left finger. It had been a pain to take it off over the holidays. Any hint of a ring and everyone would be suspicious. They had spent most of Christmas day at her parent's house, and it was hard to keep the news to herself, but she was determined not to have Millie's first Christmas overshadowed by what was sure to be their immediate disapproval.

"We need to do something to celebrate," said Ginny. Emmeline could hear the happiness rising in her voice. That meant a plan. Probably one that she couldn't say no to.

"What do you want to do?" she asked cautiously.

Ginny was quiet for half a second and said, "Don't worry about it. I have it covered. Just meet me at my house at noon, and dress for outside."

"What's going on?" asked Nicholas as Emmeline hung up the phone.

"I don't know, but she was really happy when I told her about the engagement. We're supposed to be at her house for lunchtime."

"Of course, she would be." He threaded his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. She could feel his morning excitement pressing into her back, and her body shivered in response.

"She wants us to dress for outside, whatever it is. Isn't it supposed to be super cold today?" Emmeline's forehead creased, and she looked at Millie. Her back and forth on all fours. She was threatening to crawl any day now.

"Millie will be fine."

"I suppose," she said, unconvinced, and then started going through Millie's clothes, trying to find her warmest sweaters. By the time they were ready to leave, Millie had three layers on under her snowsuit, and her face was pink from screaming at the top of her lungs.

"There is no way we're going to be able to do up her car seat with all these clothes on her," Nicholas said, comparing the seat and his daughter, who seemed to have quadrupled in size in the past few minutes.

"We'll just have to make it work," Emmeline said, loosening the straps on the car seat to wedge Millie into it.

A few minutes later, they were pulling up to Ginny's house. She stood outside waiting for them in her black parka and a long red scarf.

"There you are! We're just waiting for Callum. You have told him, right?"

"We're going to the next time we see him," Emmeline answered.

"He should be here any minute; I figured you guys wouldn't mind. Follow me." Her eyes danced as snowflakes softly fell through the trees, adding an extra inch to the ground covering that was already there.

Nicholas leaned over and commented, "She seems far too happy—maybe the snow has frozen her brain!"

Emmeline elbowed him in the gut.