ALMOST HEAVEN

Chapter 18

Clyde and Laurel stood on the porch waving good bye as everyone got in their car. Jimmy and Sylvia were the first to leave, followed by Mellie and Joe who had Elise in their car with them. They were going to drop her off at her apartment on their way home. She'd had a little bit too much to drink and Clyde had taken away her keys.

They watched them drive off and Laurel shivered. "It feels like snow, Clyde."

"Maybe we'll have a white Christmas after all. Come on, let's get inside. I thought they'd never leave, you know it?"

Laurel laughed. "It's Christmas Eve, Clyde. It's family time."

"Yeah, great and they'll back over here tomorrow for dinner. I'm wanting some you and me time," Clyde said as he closed the door behind them.

He led Laurel back into the living room. The Christmas tree was in the corner of the room and lit up. Clyde turned off the lights in the dining room and only left on one kitchen light over the stove. "I've been wanting to be alone with you all night, Laurel Anne," he called out from the kitchen.

Laurel looked around the room thinking it looked pretty with just the lit tree and the fireplace burning. There were a couple of candles lit on the mantle and the room looked very romantic.

Laurel saw Clyde go into the pantry and then she saw him rummaging through the cabinet where they kept glasses. "Knew we had them," she heard him mutter.

He came back into the living room with a champagne bucket filled with ice and a bottle of champagne. He held 2 champagne flutes upside down in one hand. He smiled at her as he set the bucket down on the floor by the sofa and the glasses on the coffee table.

"Champagne! That's lovely, Clyde." Laurel's eyes sparkled.

Clyde looked down at her as he picked up the bottle of champagne. "I don't think I told you how beautiful you look tonight, Laurel.

"Thank you, Clyde. So do you."

He laughed as he went over in his head the video he watched earlier in the day on YouTube. He was determined to open the champagne correctly, no cork flying through the air, no champagne fizzing all over. He twisted the wire cage six times and then twisted the bottle one way and then shifted his hand to twist cork the other way. There was a quiet little pop and the cork was in his hand.

Laurel clapped her hands. "Well done, Clyde. I've never seen anyone do it so smoothly. I see it helps when your boyfriend is a bartender. You know what you're doing."

Clyde picked up Laurel's flute and handed it to her. "Hold it on an angle while I pour, angel. That way it won't be all foamy on the top." He filled her glass and then she held his for him.

He held up his glass to her. "To the beautiful woman I love. Merry Christmas, Laurel." He touched his glass to hers.

"Thank you, Clyde. Merry Christmas, my love."

She clinked her glass gently against his and they drank.

"That's really nice, Clyde."

"Hmm, it is, isn't it?" Clyde looked at his glass suspiciously. He had made a trip over to the wine store in Fairview and the owner helped him pick out a good champagne.

Laurel laughed. "Why do you say it like that?"

"I never realized how good champagne could taste if it was good champagne." Clyde stared at the glass for another minute, took another sip and then put it down on the coffee table. He found himself suddenly nervous. He sat back on the sofa and watched Laurel for a moment. She was taking a sip of the champagne, the flute raised gracefully to her mouth. He watched as she took the sip, her throat contracting as she swallowed. She put the flute down on the table and sat back beside him.