Lighting the Flames (31 page)

His hand gently traced her cheek, pushing another
strand of her hair behind her ear.

“
I
love you, Genevieve. For years now. All that time, every summer we
were together, it was perfect. But since
…
a while now, I wanted
you. Then, after your parents died, and I went to school,
and
…
I thought you might not want to be around me, around the
reminder of what happened.
”

He looked down suddenly, and Gen ducked her head
until she met his eyes and lifted his chin so he looked at her
again.

“
I
’
m sorry I didn
’
t tell you why I was
leaving, that I was going to school. And that I
didn
’
t call you or try to see you when you got back from
Iceland. I was stupid.
”

“
No,
that was me yesterday, when I wasn
’
t sure if I should
text you.
”

“
You
should totally text me. All the time.
”

“
Yeah? Well, you should totally kiss me. All the
time.
”

“
I
like your plan better.
”

They were still
kissing by the door when the pizza delivery came. Gen agreed, after
they demolished the entire pie, that it was probably the best pizza
ever, second only to Nadine
’
s. She helped him
clean up all the scattered pieces of Styrofoam that had migrated
across his carpet.

Jeremy showed her
parts of his apartment, like the cubby he
’
d
“
borrowed
”
from one of the cabins, refinished and turned into a
cabinet for his movie collection. He had different mementos of
their adventures, too. A flat piece of metal with faded numbers on
it turned out to be a scrap from one of the canoes
they
’
d moved all around camp one summer. A rock
she
’
d painted last year during rainy day arts and crafts
showing a golf cart parked on top of the flagpole
—
a feat
they
’
d never figured out how to pull off
—
sat on the table near
the sofa.

Then she noticed his menorah in the corner
cabinet.

“
You
made that back when we were ten or eleven, right?
”
She opened the door
and pulled it out, the thick blue and green glaze cool under her
fingers.

“
Yeah, I think so. I didn
’
t have one, so I
borrowed it from my mom.
”

She held it closer to
her.
“
Do you have candles?
”

He nodded.

“
Can
we light it?
”

He swallowed, then nodded again.

It took some whittling
of the wax with a butter knife, but eventually they fit eight
candles into the uneven holes.
“
I think I used a
pencil eraser to make those holes. No candles are that
small,
”
Jeremy said, thin twists of wax falling from between his
fingertips as he sharpened the bottom of a Hanukkah candle.
“
What was I
thinking?
”

“
I
like it.
”
He shook his head and passed her the last candle. Gen lit a
match, and together, his arm around her shoulders, her hands around
his waist and her head tucked under his chin, they said the
blessings.

She stopped after the
second, but Jeremy continued, his low voice surrounding her and
moving through her as he said the prayer that honored miracles and
unexpected joy.
“
Baruch ahah adonai, eloheinu melech
ha
’
olam shecheyanu v
’
kiymanu
b
’
higyanu lazman hazeh
.
Blessed are you,
Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has granted us life,
sustained us, and brought us to this day.
”

Gen finished the
prayer with him, her voice barely above a whisper.
“
Amen.
”

When he kissed the top
of her head, she looked up at him.
“
It
’
s not the first
night.
”

“
No,
but it
’
s pretty miraculous.
”

“
What is?
”

“
You
’
re here. There
’
s nothing
I
’
ve
ever wanted more.
”

In his arms, and in
his home, Gen felt safe. She didn
’
t think before
speaking. She didn
’
t need to.
“
I love
you.
”

He breathed in slowly,
as if he wanted to bring the air that carried her words inside of
himself.
“
Another miracle.
”

“
If
I stay the night, there
’
s no way Scott can
interrupt us.
”

Jeremy lifted his
head, a huge grin spreading across his face.
“
Epic
!
”

Gen laughed.
“
Wow,
almost a whole hour without yelling about something being
epic.
”

“
Yet
another miracle.
”

“
Your neighbors must hate when you do
that.
”

He shook his
head.
“
Nah, there
’
s not much that
’
s epic without
you.
”
Then he leaned down and kissed her like breathing was
entirely unnecessary.

The light of the menorah danced on the walls amid
the sound of laughter, the crackle of chocolate wrappers, and the
crunch of graham crackers. They talked about the northern lights,
the stars out his window, and the flakes of snow that blew past.
Then the shadows of two people merged into one before the lights
went out.

Thank You

Thank
you so very much for reading
Lighting the Flames
.
I hope you enjoyed it.

If
you did, or if you didn
’
t, I welcome your
review at whatever location you prefer, with as many or as few
animated gifs as you like. If you elect to review this book, I am
grateful. Thank you.

If
you
’
d like to read more fiction that I write, I invite you
to subscribe to my Hey I Wrote Another Book mailing list:
http://eepurl.com/-5-Cf

I
shall contact you with brevity and some hilarity in the event that
I write another romance. If you
’
d like to tell me
that I should write one RIGHT NOW, please do feel free to email
me:
s
[email protected]
.

This
project began because I have a rule: I
’
m not allowed
to complain about the same thing twice. If I do, I have to either
shut up, or do something about it. This was my way of doing
something about the lack of holiday fiction that featured Hanukkah.
I hope that you enjoyed it.

May we all live happily ever
after, in every season.

About the Author

Sarah
Wendell is the co-founder and current mastermind of the romance
review and commentary site
Smart Bitches Trashy Books.
She
’
s the author of
Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance
Novels
, and the co-author
of
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The
Smart Bitches
’
Guide to Romance
Novels.

This is her first full-length
piece of romance fiction.