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I sigh now, but it’s chased with laughter. How did I miss this? I open my eyes, then kneel so I’m closer to her height. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”
She beams, that frown disappearing, stat. I shut the door to the garage and head back into the house, bounding up the steps to the kitchen, Eliza on my tail.
Elodie’s in the kitchen, crunching into a piece of toast, reading something on her phone, wearing a pair of wide-legged jeans and a red blouse with black polka dots—her chocolatier costume, as she has said. Setting down her phone, she tilts her head and looks my way in question. “Did you forget something?”
She was adorable when I packed, reminding me not to forget my charger, my toothpaste, and a book for Eliza to listen to on the drive even though it’s less than a couple hours away and we usually talk the whole time.
“You and Amanda,” I answer confidently. And once more, I don’t want to wait a second longer. I don’t want to figure things out after the trip. The future is now. “I don’t want to take this trip without my wife. I don’t want to spend Christmas without my wife. I don’t want to go into the new year without my wife. We want to wait for Amanda to get out of school and take this trip with her and you. Today.”
“Gage Archer, you keep surprising me,” she says with a smile. Then she turns to Eliza. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes!” Then Eliza turns quiet, looks down at the floor, then back at Elodie. “I think I love you.”
And that’s it. I’m just done for.
I press the heel of my hand over my eyes, my throat tightening.
Elodie closes the distance to my daughter, sets her hands on her shoulders, and says, “And I love you.”
Ah hell. My eyes are stinging now.
They hug and when Eliza breaks the hug, she shoots me a curious look. “Do you have something in your eye again?”
“Yes,” I choke out.
“It’s been a while since that happened,” she says.
“I know,” I say, my voice cracking. A long while.
“You can join in too.”
And I do, hugging both of them like I don’t want to let go—because I don’t.
Eight hours later, Amanda has washed the clay from her hands and packed a bag, and she’s tossing it into the trunk.
“Kenji will handle the shop tonight and tomorrow,” Elodie says to me.
“That guy deserves a raise.”
“Don’t you worry. I already gave him one. I might have also suggested to the blond guy he’s been crushing on at Samira’s shop that he should stop by and pick up some free chocolate I left out for him.”
“You little matchmaking sneak.”
She shrugs proudly.
Then the four of us get into the car and set off for our first family trip. As the girls chat in the back, I reach for Elodie’s hand, squeezing it across the console. “Got another room,” I say quietly to her.
“Oh, you did?”
“Yeah. I figured newlyweds need it.”
She tips her forehead toward the back seat. “And I bet they’ll like sharing a room.”
“I bet they will too.”
As they chatter on, Elodie asks, “You’re really not upset at all about not getting the second location?”
I shake my head with zero regret. “The thing is, I’ve never been happier not to get it,” I say. I tell her about looking into the window last night. “I didn’t see the location I thought I wanted. I saw Sticks and Stones. Sticks and Stones is busy and popular. I don’t have to be greedy and get more. I have enough. And I love spending time with my family.”
