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“Hardly alone” came Belle’s wry comment. “Not when she’ll have not only me and Monty, but also the two self-assigned grandfathers and babysitters currently pacing the hall.”
“It’s positive?” came Ashworth’s query.
“It is,” I confirmed. “But no one can tell Aiden until I say so, and you definitely can’t mention it to Monty. That man cannot keep a secret.”
Footsteps echoed, and Belle stepped to one side, giving the two men room to enter. In two seconds flat I was wrapped in their arms and given the biggest bear hug ever.
“Okay, okay,” I said, with a laugh. “Enough. We have a plane to catch, remember?”
Ashworth laughed, kissed the top of my head, and then grabbed my suitcase and headed out the door. Eli repeated the process with my handbag.
“I’m pregnant, not incapable,” I called after them. “And you can’t be doing this sort of shit once we get home.”
“At least not when Aiden or Monty is near” came Ashworth’s reply from down the hall.
I snorted, linked arms with Belle, and headed after them. “You heard from Monty?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. The Ford is at the mechanics, the Mustang has some sort of drive shaft damage because he hit a pothole, so he’s asked Ashworth if they can just drop us off at the café.”
“I never understood why he insisted on driving us there anyway.” I glanced at her, and my lips twitched. “Oh, that’s right, the long kiss goodbye.”
She nudged me but didn’t deny it. I laughed and added, “Why the café?”
She shrugged. “He let slip something about a cake. I think he’s planning a welcome home party.”
“You haven’t been gone that long.”
“According to him, it’s been centuries.”
“For him, or his little swimmers?”
She grinned. “The latter, no doubt. The man definitely has an appetite.”
Samuel and Saska were waiting out front. Apparently, they’d wanted to make sure we got to the airport safely. I was of the belief it was more to ensure we actually left.
As Saska had said when my statement was being taken, shit sure had gotten interesting since our arrival.
We’d said our goodbyes to Belle’s parents last night. Belle hadn’t wanted them at the airport today, because she didn’t want to cope with the goodbyes and the tears that would invariably happen. Hers as much as theirs. They hadn’t argued, which I did find a little surprising, but then, they’d already made plans to spend time with us over Christmas, which wasn't all that far away now.
It didn’t take us long to get to the airport and through security, and in no time at all, we were on the way home.
It was a good hour and twenty drive from the airport to Castle Rock, but the closer we got to the reservation, the more my heart sang. I’d spent half my life looking for home and family. I had it now, and I was never going to lose it.
Ashworth pulled to a halt in front of the café and switched off the engine. “Mind if I use the loo? I don’t think I’m going to make it home.”
Belle raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. She just jumped out of the car and raced for the door, her suitcase forgotten in her eagerness to get inside and see her man.
She opened the door, stopped dead, and said, “What the fuck?”
I stopped behind her and peered past. The café had been decorated to the nth degree. There were streamers and balloons and flowers everywhere. But that wasn’t all. Everyone we considered a friend was here. Belle’s entire family was here, including her grandparents.
Aiden was there and, just for a moment, time seemed to stop, and he was all I could see, all I could smell. All I wanted.
The desire to rush over and throw myself into his arms was so strong that I took a step forward.
Then common sense hit, and I stopped.
Too much remained unsaid between us. Until all that was sorted, I needed to be careful.
