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It was strange. I’d never lived with a boyfriend before. Even with Max, we stayed with each other most nights, but we each had our own rooms at the resort. But now, I was living with James. I’d already been living with him, but it had a totally different feel now that I was staying in his room with him, and even more so now that the kids all knew.
I was pretty sure Leann already knew, even before James told her. At least, she insisted she did. That girl was sharp as a tack, both in her intelligence and her wit.
“Come on, guys,” I called to them. “School doesn’t open when you get there. Let’s go.”
“Sorry,” Katie said, rushing out of the room she shared with Leann, carrying her shoes. Her hair was in a pair of very sloppily braided pigtails, which she showed me with a smile. “Leann said she’d do my hair.”
“That was really nice of her,” I said, feeling a warmth in my chest at the sweet gesture. “And is Leann coming?”
“She said two minutes,” Katie told me before sitting at the breakfast bar and beginning to eat her oatmeal.
“Two minutes?” I called down the hall, hoping both Leann and Ben would hear me.
“Four minutes!” they called back in unison.
I rolled my eyes and checked the time. They were going to have about a minute to scarf down their food.
“Morning, beautiful,” James said, coming out of his room—ourroom—and straightening his tie. I bit my lip, remembering how just last night, that tie was in my hands, sliding up and down, wrapped around his length…
James seemed to notice me staring because he cleared his throat, though his bright green eyes remained locked on mine. God, I could stare into them all day and never get tired of looking at them.
“Um, good morning,” I said after far too long of a pause.
“Are you gonna kiss?” Katie asked from behind me.
I turned to her with a smile and hugged her from behind, gently tickling her. “What do you think? Huh?”
“Stop!” she giggled breathlessly. “Don’t tickle me-ee-ee!”
“It’s way too early for tickling,” Leann said grouchily as she finally emerged from her room, her hair brushed out and falling over her shoulders.
“Then I won’t tickle you,” I said before pointing to her bowl. “Eat. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
She grumbled inaudibly, but sat at her seat and started to eat just as Ben came running out of his room wearing two different socks.
“Come on,” I said, deciding to fight my battles, and deciding this wasn’t one I cared about.
The chaos of it all was comforting in a strange way. It was disorganized and wild, but it was mine.
It wasours.
James was still eating his oatmeal when I kissed him on the cheek before rushing out the door to get the kids to school.
When I came back, James had already gone to work, but he’d left me a note on the table.
Don’t worry about the cleaning today, and I’ll pick the kids up from school. Go enjoy the slopes for a bit. –James
I smiled and picked up the little piece of paper, taking it to my room and tucking it into a book to preserve it. I’d always done things like that. It wasn’t always easy to remember little moments and gestures over the years, but by keeping little mementos, I could look back on them fondly. I had an entire box filled with things like that from my grandmother, who passed away a couple of years ago.
I got my gear out and laid it all out on the bed so it would be ready to go, but looking at it reminded me of a lingering question I had.
I pulled out my phone and the card that had been mailed to me after I’d qualified for the Olympics. The number for the coach was on there, and I dialed it, sitting in a desk chair by the window, overlooking some of the harder slopes.
It rang only a couple of times before he answered.
“Paul Nelson,” he said by way of a greeting.
“Hi,” I said. “This is Haley Birmingham.”
