Then she kisses me again, this time deeper, her hands in my hair, her body pressed to mine.
There was a time when I thought I’d never deserve this, never deserve her. But that life is gone, washed down the drain like the last vial I swore I’d never touch again.
She thinks this is just a birthday gift.
But it’s more than that.
It’s a promise.
She’ll always be my Snowflake.
Not just for a season, forever.
Genevieve
1 year and 9 months after buying the van
“I’m so excited to leave for Costa Rica tomorrow!” I say, practically bouncing in my chair as I snap my laptop shut and set it on the edge of my desk. “It will be our last trip, just the two of us!”
I just booked one last excursion for us, get this, we’re going to ride horses on the beach! Like full-on galloping through the surf wind in our hair romance in the air!
Aspen looks up from where he’s tying his sneakers smirking like I’m the most dramatic person alive, which I probably am, but he loves it. “Sounds great, Snowflake. I can’t wait,” He says, standing up and pressing a sweet kiss to my tummy and forehead. It’s funny how he’s already so excited to be a dad. We haven’t even told anyone yet, plus I’m not even showing.
It’s our two-year wedding anniversary this week and we are so overdue for a real vacation. Honestly, it feels like the last few months have just been go-go-go, nonstop, barely enough time to breathe. We’re deep in peak snowboarding season, and ever since Raul passed, Aspen and I have been helping out at Smoky Pine Ridge more than ever. It’s been bittersweet working back at the place where it all started, the place that still holds so many memories of him. Raul was like a father to both of us, Aspen especially. There's no way we could just let the resort flounder, not now. Not when it meant so much to him. To us.
But things have also been hard since mourning the loss of Raul.
On top of that, I’ve been working like crazy on my new clothing line it’s made specifically for snowboarders' girlfriends because, let’s be real, we deserve to look cute and be warm. Don’t even get me started on the community events I’ve been organizing at HealingGrounds, our local coffee shop. Between Aspen going pro, me launching a business, the events, the resort and now finding out we are expecting… our lives are full to the brim. But we’ve earned this break. We need it like air.
Aspen pulls me out of my thoughts when he says, “I have bad news though, my mom just canceled on us. She said she can’t dog-sit anymore, she’s going to Aruba with her new victim.”
I blink, then let out a little laugh. “Victim?”
He shrugs like it’s obvious. “She calls them boyfriends, I call them victims.”
I shake my head smiling despite myself. “Okay, maybe I should ask Lana, she’s great with dogs.”
“Oh okay,” he says. “If she says no, I’ll ask Gio.”
Gio.
The moment he says his name a spark goes off in my head. I freeze for half a second, then feel a devious little grin creeping across my face.
That’s when the idea hits me, the idea. Like lightning-bolt-to-the-brain levels of brilliance. I have the perfect plan!
“Wait, did you say Gio was Italian?” I ask him.
“Yeah, why?” He says.
“Oh my God, I just had the best idea!”
He raises a brow at me, clearly both intrigued and bracing himself. “Uh oh.”
“Let’s parent-trap them!”
“What?”
“You know, like the movie! But instead of trying to get our parents back together, we’re setting our friends, Lana and Gio up.”
