“I hope so, because I’ve sure fallen in love with her, but let’s keep that between us for a little while. I don’t want to overwhelm her. Emotions have been pretty high the past few weeks. I can wait to tell her until she’s ready,” Luke said. “And I hear them all coming this way now.”

“Good talk.” She darted off to the bathroom. Her head popped back out of the door for a moment. “Since I’ve met you in person, I guess I like you.” The door closed behind her.

“Where’s Rebecca?” Diana was the first one inside. “She said she had an emergency and took off in a run.”

“Hey.” Rebecca came out of the bathroom before Luke could answer. “The hotel bathroom was in use, and I couldn’t wait. Natalie and Zoe and I have an announcement to make right now. Right, girls?”

“No tears when we get to base,” Zoe said.

“We want you to be brave like you were when we left,” Natalie said. “Just drive up, drop us off, and then leave.”

“We all hate goodbyes, and this is the only way we can handle it,” Rebecca chimed in.

“You got it,” Tootsie said. “We can do that, but we’ll make no promises about what happens when you’re out of the motor home.”

“Fair enough,” Rebecca said. “Now let’s get this big-ass bus to rolling before we all start crying from just thinking about not seeing all y’all for a while.”

“Next stop, Fort Sill army base, Lawton, Oklahoma,” Luke called out, and the motor home started forward. “Second stop, Joanie and Brett’s hotel. Third stop, Sugar Run, Texas.”

“You make a pretty good tour guide, Luke,” Brett chuckled.

“I thought we were stopping for a night,” Carmen said.

“Change of plans,” Tootsie told her. “Luke said he didn’t mind driving until midnight, and I’m homesick, so we’re taking this big-ass bus home tonight.”

“Sounds great to me.” Carmen yawned. “I may sleep most of the way.”

“That’s my plan, too,” Tootsie replied.

They held it together really well when the girls got out of the motor home, but by the time they’d driven away from the base, the waterworks had begun. The women had gone through half a box of tissues by the time Luke drove them to the area where Brett and Joanie had left their car. When they had left the motor home, Luke headed south toward the Oklahoma/Texas border, but the sniffles just got louder. Being the gentleman that he was, he couldn’t let Diana cry alone, but he wiped his tears on the handkerchief he kept in his pocket.

Dusk was settling around them when Carmen and Tootsie headed for their beds and a late-night nap. Diana buckled herself into the passenger seat beside him. “We’ve looked forward to this for months, and now it’s over. It’s almost surreal.”

“Kind of like Christmas,” he suggested. “Speaking of that, I told Brett and Joanie that they shouldn’t move out until after the holidays so they can have one last Christmas with Zoe in the house. And, Diana, I’ve already called my financial manager and arranged for flights for Natalie and Rebecca to come home. All they have to do is tell us the dates they can be away from base, and it’s a done deal. They can consider it their Christmas present from me. I hate to shop.” He grinned.

“And that’s why I love you,” she said. “Not because you hate to shop but because you are so unselfish and sweet and kind.”

He went speechless for several moments following her declaration. When he found his voice again, he asked, “Would you repeat that?”

“I love you,” she said. “Plain and simple. And not only do I love you because you are all those things, I’m in love with you because you make me feel special and loved. If that scares you into stopping this vehicle and running . . .”

He slowed to take the next exit and stopped at the bottom of the ramp, made a right, and pulled into a gas station. “We could use a fill-up, but that’s not why I’m stopping. I have to hold you when I say this.” He got out of his seat and pulled her outside, where he wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I fell in love with you the first time I laid eyes on you, Diana. I want to spend my whole life with you, but the timing—engagement, marriage—can be in your court.”

His lips found hers in a long, passionate kiss. By the time it ended, Tootsie and Carmen were looking on from the open door.

“Halle-damn-lujah!” Tootsie squealed. “My prayers have been answered. No rush, Diana, but you do realize that someday I’ll be your aunt.”

“No, Tootsie.” Diana smiled. “You’ll always be my mama. That carries more weight than an aunt. But we’re in no hurry, and besides, we’ve got a lot to do before Christmas.”

“And we can do it together,” Luke whispered.

Diana stared into his blue eyes and saw a bright future with him. She leaned in for a second kiss and didn’t care who was watching.

Epilogue

Joanie took a deep breath and inhaled the aroma of the gingerbread that she’d made for breakfast that Christmas morning. Torn wrapping paper was scattered all over the living room floor. Zoe had dashed off to Natalie’s house to see what she’d gotten. Brett came from the kitchen with a cup of eggnog in each hand, gave her one, and sat down beside her on the sofa.

“It’s lasted through fourteen years.” He pointed at the tree in the corner. “Think we should get a new one next year?”

Joanie shook her head. “That one and all the ornaments have too much sentimentality attached to them for me to get rid of them. I still feel like I’m going to wake up and find this is all a dream.”

He moved closer and put an arm around her. “I keep thinking that I’ll get orders at any minute and have to grab my bag and leave. It’ll take a few months of adjustment for each of us.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “But we’ll do it together.”

“And we’ll enjoy every minute of it.” He kissed the top of her head.

Carmen stood in the corner of the living room and listened to the excitement in Natalie’s and Zoe’s voices. Then Rebecca joined them, and Carmen was reminded of past days when they were little girls. For just a split second, she envisioned Eli sitting on the sofa with a beer in his hand. Then the picture faded, and she thought of all the little kids at her new job who had no family that morning. They’d each have a present under the tree—warm socks, a scarf, or maybe a new shirt—and there’d be a turkey dinner served in the cafeteria. Later, when Natalie, Rebecca, and Zoe all went to the church to help serve a three o’clock dinner and see their friends, she planned to slip away and check on the kids at the base. Maybe she’d even take a big plate of cookies for them to share.