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Nicole slowed and steered the two toned pickup onto a long dirt road, almost hitting her head on the ceiling when the truck tire dropped into the first of many deep ruts.
“This would be a terrible way to find out you've secretly been a serial killer this whole time, and this is a very elaborate scheme to murder me in the woods,” Waverly squeaked, white knuckling the cracked faux-leather of the passenger side of the bench seat.
Nicole laughed and shook her head, forgetting the Waverly was blindfolded. A feat that had taken much convincing and promising that Nicole was most definitely not a serial killer.
“It would, wouldn’t it,” Nicole said back, laughing. She glanced over at the woman in the passenger seat of Nedley’s truck, still shocked that Waverly Earp called her her girlfriend. That out of all the admirers in Purgatory, Waverly had chosen her. How could she be so lucky?
The creepy cases, unexplainable deaths and maulings, the hush and turning a blind eye to secret unheard of government agencies were worth it to be here, in this moment, with the woman of her dreams. Nicole reached out and coaxed one of Waverly’s hands from its death grip and laced their fingers together.
The truck hit another pot-hole and Waverly squeezed Nicole’s hand so hard she felt the bones crunch together. Nicole winced but didn’t let go. They were almost there. It was just around the corner.
“Tell me again why you can’t say where we are going,” Waverly said, face scrunching to keep the blindfold from falling down as the truck hopped its way down the lane.
Nicole grinned, as much as Waverly seemed to have hated the idea of a blindfold, she was being such a good sport about it.
“It’d ruin the surprise! Five more minutes.”
Nicole extracted her hand for a brief moment to switch the music on her phone from general queer pop to something a little more festive. It was time to set the mood.
”Rockin' around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop”
Nicole grabbed Waverly’s hand again, glancing at the parts of Waverly’s face she could still see, mesmerized by the slight pursing of Waverly’s lips as the song continued to play. Nicole knew if she lowered Waverly’s blindfold, her eyes would be crinkled around the edges, her brows furrowed, the look she got when she was solving a problem. A look that could bring Nicole to her knees in a second flat.
This was why Nicole couldn’t start playing the music she’d wanted to play the whole ride here. Waverly was too smart. Too good at solving puzzles.
“Why the sudden change?” Waverly muttered, her grip on Nicole’s hand tightening and loosening as if she could squeeze the answers out of Nicole.
Nicole bit her tongue to keep from replying. Waverly wasn’t asking her. Her mind was already running with the little information Nicole had allowed. The rutted country road. Christmas music. Nicole wouldn’t be surprised if Waverly figured out the location of their date before the truck stopped in three minutes, according to the GPS.
Waverly sat in silence, focused on the song. She rolled down the window, letting in the frigid December air and the earthy, citrus spiced, piney scent of the Balsam Firs that turned the snowy hillside into a field of spikey green.
“It smells amazing,” Waverly whispered, turning her face towards the window and taking one last deep breath before rolling the window back up, a smile slowly spreading across her face. The song ended and Taylor Swift crooned from the speakers.
”My winter nights are taken up by static
Stress and holiday shopping traffic
But I close my eyes and I'm somewhere else
Just like magic”
Nicole alternated between watching her and navigating the treacherous road.
“I think I know where we are,” Waverly said, reaching for her blindfold.
“Not yet!” Nicole burst out with a laugh, dropping the hand closest to her to swat away Waverly’s other hand from her blind fold.
Waverly’s soft smile turned into a full blown grin as Taylor started the first verse.
”In my heart is a Christmas tree farm
Where the people would come
To dance under sparkling lights
A barn, bright red next to the perfect white snow, came into view as Nicole steered the truck around the final bend with a large banner proclaiming McDonald’s Christmas Tree Farm - Cut Your Own! A bonfire blazed, a safe distance from the barn, next to a small hot cider shack. Couples and families sat next to the blaze roasting marshmallows and sipping on cider. A line of cars waited on the other side of the barn as their dark green Christmas trees were baled and loaded to the top of their cars.
Nicole parked the truck and jogged around to the passenger side, her boots crunching in the snow. She opened the door. Waverly swiveled her body towards Nicole, her hands falling to rest on Nicole’s sides as the red-head slid the blindfold off of Waverly’s head.
“Keep your eyes closed,” Nicole instructed as she slid her hands down Waverly’s arms and took Waverly’s hands in her own, helping her out of the truck.
Nicole turned her gently in the direction of the barn and the bonfire. She wrapped her arms around Waverly’s waist and whispered in Waverly’s ear, “Open your eyes.”
Nicole felt Waverly’s sharp intake of breath and kissed her girlfriend’s cheek, “We are getting our first Christmas tree.”
Waverly turned to look at her, a hesitant grin on her lips, a question in her soft brown eyes. “Our first?”
Nicole blushed but held strong, “I want to get Christmas trees with you for as long as you’ll let me.”
Waverly spun around, her arms wrapped around Nicole’s waist, pulling Nicole close. Waverly met Nicole half way, their lips meeting in a soft, perfect kiss.
Waverly pulled back slightly before snuggling into Nicole’s chest. Nicole rested her chin on the top of Waverly’s head and closed her eyes, letting herself get lost in the perfectly rightness of the moment.
From her pocket, her phone continued to play:
Under the mistletoe
Watchin’ the fire glow
And tellin’ me, “I love you”
Just bein in your arms
Takes me back to that little farm
Where every wish comes true