She kissed him. “Obviously.”
After the applause died down and Bayard and Exandra finished answering questions and sat back down, the servers brought out the final course. It was the most perfect risotto any of them had ever seen. The rice was creamy, tender, and expertly cooked.Butter and wine created a rich, savory, melt-in-your-mouth base. But it was not ready to be consumed. Not just yet.
Brother Tomasso stood. “Now,” he said, “we add the Angel’s Snow.”
The servers moved through the room with the freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. And as they sprinkled it over each dish, something quite remarkable happened.
The cheese didn’t merely fall onto the risotto. It floated.
Tiny flakes of golden-white Parmesan drifted and fluttered like snow, each piece catching the candlelight and casting rainbow prisms about the room as it made its way down to the dish.
And as the Angel’s Snow settled into the risotto, everything in the atrium seemed to shimmer. Colors became brighter, richer. The aromas intensified. Suddenly everyone could smell not just the cheese, but every herb, every note of butter, every complex flavor layered in the dish.
“The blessing of abundance,” Brother Tomasso said softly. “What was already good becomes magnificent. What was already beautiful becomes radiant. The snow doesn’t change the dish. It reveals what was always there, waiting to be appreciated.”
Outside the windows, as if responding to the magic inside, real snow began to fall. Soft, fat flakes drifting down from the dark sky, settling on the ship’s deck, on the distant mountains, transforming the world into something new.
A FONDUE FAREWELL
After the feast, as guests mingled and the evening mellowed into something softer and more intimate, small groups gathered in quiet conversation.
Jasper found Wren on the deck, watching the snow fall. He had something small in his pocket—the snow globe he’d bought at the holiday market, which felt like a lifetime ago.
“Wren,” he said. “I have something for you.”
She turned, curious. “Oh?”
He pulled out the small wrapped box. “It’s nothing much. Just something I saw and thought of you.”
She unwrapped it carefully, and when she saw the delicate glass sphere with the tiny camera painted inside, surrounded by stars, her eyes welled up.
“Jasper, it’s beautiful.”
“It’s about capturing memories,” he said. “The light we save from moments that might otherwise fade. Like this cruise. Like—” He took a breath. “Like us.”
“About that,” Wren said. “I know you’re going back to London to finish your degree, and I’ll be traveling for work, and we haven’t talked about?—”
“I’ll be in London for the next eighteen months,” Jasper said. “And you said you’re covering the opening of that new hotel in a few weeks?”
“The Enchanted Mayfair,” Wren confirmed. “Three-week assignment.”
“So we’ll see each other then,” Jasper said. “And after that—well, we’ll play it by ear. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Right?”
She kissed him, soft and sweet and full of promise. “Right.”
On the oppositeside of the ship, Bayard and Exandra stood at the railing, also watching the snow fall on the dark water. They stood close, Bayard’s arm around Exandra’s waist, her head resting atop his.
“I can’t believe this is real,” Exandra said in hushed tones. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up and it will have all been a dream.”
“If it is,” Bayard replied, “then we’re both having the same dream. And I’m okay with that.”
“Adventures at Sea,” she said, testing the title. “Our partnership. Working together every day.”
“Terrifying, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled. “I can’t wait.”
They stood in comfortable silence, watching the snow transform the city into something shiny and new. Inside, through the steamy windows, they could see the warm glow of the party continuing—friends and food and celebration.
