“May I have this dance?” he asked, pulling her close before she could even answer.
“Yes,” Jenny breathed, smiling as she melted into his arms.
It felt so good to have her there, her small, soft form tucked against his heart, right where she belonged.
As the music played and their friends celebrated around them, Erik knew he was finally home.
21
JENNY
TWO WEEKS LATER…
Jenny stood on the county courthouse steps with Gael on one side of her and Erik to the other, their arms wrapped around each other as her parents took their photo.
The camera flashed and snow flurries danced in the air as they smiled and squeezed each other tight.
Their marriage was official now, and tonight would be their first night in Erik’s apartment instead of at the inn.
She and Gael had originally planned to fly back to Boston to pack up their own apartment. But Erik had sent for their things instead.
Jenny normally didn’t think much about his bank account, but the luxury of having their whole home carefully packed up, moved, and put in storage here made her stomach twist a little.
When she brought it up with Erik, he only chuckled.
“If I can’t spend some of that money making life easier for the people I love, then what’s the point of it?” he’d asked her.
She didn’t really have an answer for that, so she thanked him as graciously as she could, and inwardly was even more grateful.
Gael was happy to enroll in school at Trinity Falls Elementary right away. And her own remaining worries were soothed when he instantly had a dozen friends, and his teacher confirmed that he was doing just fine academically as well.
“Are we all ready to go have some lunch?” her father asked when he was finally finished with photos. “My treat.”
“We’d love that, sir,” Erik told him. “But I have a surprise for Jenny and Gael first. We just need to duck out for about fifteen minutes, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” her dad said.
“Should we meet you at the diner back in Trinity Falls, then?” Jenny’s mom asked.
“That would be great, Mom,” Jenny said. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Her mom squeezed her arm and then the two of them headed down the steps to their rented car.
“Ready?” Erik asked.
“Yes,”Gael said enthusiastically.
Neither of them had any idea what Erik had in mind, but Gael always loved a good surprise.
Jenny, on the other hand, was a little nervous. With all the surprises they’d experienced in the last few weeks, she wasn’t sure she could handle another one.
They all piled into Erik’s SUV and headed away from the courthouse and back down the country road toward Trinity Falls.
It was hard to believe that the snowy landscape would melt into spring in a few more months. Jenny had fallen in love with Trinity Falls under its blanket of snow. She couldn’t imagine what it would look like with leaves on the trees, rows of crops growing in the fields, and flowers blooming outside the little houses. But she couldn’t wait to find out.
Before long, they pulled into the village. But Erik passed the town center and kept going, turning onto Princeton Avenue instead.
“Hey, I know this house,” Gael said as they pulled up beside the little cedar shake house with the big front porch—the same one they had looked at with Sloane just a few weeks ago.
