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Epilogue
Two Years Later
“Excuse me, sir? Would you like a hot towel?”
Cole looks up at the flight attendant, irritated. “What would I do with a hot towel?”
The woman gives him a lipsticky smile. “Refresh yourself, sir.”
“What?”
I lean over him. “We’re fine, thanks,” I say politely. She smiles back absently, not even bothering to look at me. Her blue eyes stay fixed to Cole’s face.
This is the sixth time she’s floated over to our seats to offer us something. Blankets, pillows, champagne, tissues, magazines. Every time, she takes the chance to touch Cole’s shoulder, or lean over him to shove her boobs in his face. She’s clearly shooting for a quickie in the aeroplane bathroom.
I’m not jealous; I honestly think it’s pretty funny. Hell, if I were her, I’d be hitting on him, too.
But it’s clearly annoying him, and this situation is stressful enough for him as is, so I step in.
“Would you mind leaving us be?” I ask, as kindly as possible. “My husband’s a bit of a nervous flier, he’s trying to get some sleep.”
Cole grumbles when I say the wordhusband.I can tell he’s pleased. He loves when I call him that.
“H-husband?” The woman stutters.
“Yep!” I show her my hand. She takes in the three gold wedding bands stacked on my ring finger.
The boys gave them to me just a couple of months ago. They did it one at a time; Eli, on top of a ski slope with the mountains all around us; Cole, on a walk in the woods; and then Riven, kneeling at the side of the bed before I went to sleep that night. Each ring has the man’s name engraved on the inside.
Obviously, we don’t have a piece of paper saying that we’re married. But we have the love, and the commitment, and all the promises. Which seem like the most important part.
The flight attendant pulls herself up, suddenly professional. “Of course, ma’am,” she says smoothly. “We’ll be landing in Arlanda in forty-five minutes. Enjoy the rest of your flight.”
“Great. Thank you!”
She sashays back down the aisle, and I turn to Cole. He looks kind of cute, with his massive body scrunched up into a plane seat. But I know he’s uncomfortable. I tip my head onto his shoulder. “You okay?”
“I fucking hate this.” He looks out of the window at the fluffy white clouds and scowls. “Why the Hell would anybody do this?”
“We’re almost done,” I promise him. “You’ll be hacking down trees and saving moose in no time.”
He snorts. “I’m sure the moose are fine. You’ve been off the roads.”
We’ve spent the last week in London. I had a showing for my paintings at one of the galleries in the city centre. It was incredible; tons of art enthusiasts and critics showed up to see my latest collection. A lot of the paintings got bought, and I had an awesome time meeting so many other artists. I can hardly believe that this is my life, now. Over the last year, I’ve also had shows in Dublin, Edinburgh, Gothenburg and Stockholm. Usually, Eli and Riven take turns accompanying me on the trips, but this time Cole offered to come with. I’m pretty sure he hated almost every single thing about London, but he stood by me the whole time, supporting me.
His eyes flick back out of the window. He scowls at the clouds like they’ve personally offended him.
“Until then,” I put a hand on his thigh, “I can think of a way to pass the time.”
He slides a hand round the back of my neck and tugs me into a rough, deep kiss. It’s been two years, and his lips still make me feel like I’ve been set on fire. If anything, the feeling’s just got stronger.
This time, when the flight attendant passes by, she moves right along.
From Stockholm, we have another two-hour flight up to Kiruna. The flight is delayed, and Cole spends the connection time grumbling and pacing up and down between the brightly lit shops and cafes. Every so often, he goes into a shop, buys something, then brings it back and dumps it onto the little plastic table next to me. So far, I’ve gotten two romance paperbacks, a cup of coffee, a salad, a cinnamon bun, and a pack ofbilar. Apparently, trying to keep me happy is the only thing that’s keeping him sane right now.
I sit back in my plastic chair and sip my coffee, watching him.
When he came to me and told me that he wanted to come with me on this trip, I was taken aback. I’d never invited him before—I honestly assumed he wouldn’t want to go. Eli’s right at home in the city, although he misses the slopes. Riven deals with it fine. But Cole just wasn’t made for bustling crowds and queues and chain restaurants.
