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The firefighters finished their adjustments to the strap and picked up the gurney again.
“Gotta go,” called Billy. “I’ll see you all soon. I’ll be back for Christmas, I promise.”
Could he really promise that? Christmas was three days away. Jenna decided to trust him. With that look in his eyes, she wouldn’t bet against him.
“That’s right, we’ll see him at Christmas,” she declared. “He’ll be off the injured list by then.”
Billy flashed two fingers at her, and she gave him a wink. Two points to her… but all the points to both of them.
“Give him a hug and let him go,” she told her sons. “Gently.”
“Now you, Mommy!” Bean clamored after he’d kissed Billy goodbye, leaning in from his perch in Caldwell’s arms.
“Yeah, now you.” Billy grinned as he beckoned her to him. She leaned down and they plunged into the deepest, sloppiest, most obvious movie kiss possible when one person was knee-deep in snow and the other was flat on his back on a gurney.
When she drew away, everyone applauded. “You all saw that, right?” Billy crowed. “Benna is back, and better than ever. Save the date, y’all!”
“What date, Daddy?” Bean scratched his head, looking confused. “Who’s Benna?”
“I’ll explain it later.” Jenna reached out her arms for her youngest child. “I can take him now,” she told Caldwell. He was an interesting-looking man, attractive, with deep-set eyes that seemed to see everything. With a kind smile, he handed her son over.
But, Bean being Bean, he slipped between them and landed face-down in the snow.
Everyone cried out as Jenna fished him out, with a little help from Annika. “I’m going to take him inside,” she told Billy. “I love you. Text me as soon as you get there. I love you so much.”
Their hands clung together, and then the gurney was whisked away. “I love you!” was the last thing he called from the open hatch door of the chopper. “Save the date!”
Laughing, her heart a ball of pure fire and love, Jenna watched the helicopter lift off, with her soul mate onboard. It would have felt weird to part like this, but Billy was right, the boys needed her. And they were a team, her and Billy. No matter where they were, they were a team. They were together, now and forever.
She turned back to the house, Bean’s warm weight a comfort. Annika came with her, her tall form pacing through the snow next to her. God it was good to have her back. But…so many questions.
“Annika, you look ridiculously happy. Is that because of…”
“That tall drink of water back there? Yes, it is. Oh my god, I have so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to start.”
Jenna shifted Bean on her hip. She thought of her father’s painting, of her mother’s collapse. She had so much to tell, too. The revelation about why their mother had left, the possible genetic clue she’d discovered. The way she’d spoken her mind to her father. The way he’d accepted her critique of his piss-poor communication and neglect.
“I don’t care where you start, but I want to hear everything.”
“Mmmm, I don’t think you want everything…” Annika teased.
“Bean, cover your ears,” Jenna commanded. When Bean had clamped his mittened hands over his ears, she told her sister, “Now talk.”
“Wow, what’s gotten into you? You didn’t used to be this bossy.”
“I was, I just hid it.” Jenna winked at her sister.
“Fair enough. I always knew you had it in you. And you and Billy, well, I’m happy for you. Sincerely, whole-heartedly. I’m not even worried at all. Go figure.”
“Thank you for that.” Jenna’s eyes moistened, though that could have been from the cold air wafting off the snow.
They reached the back terrace, where the snow had been cleared, and she set Bean down. He bolted off to find Tyler, or a snack, or something. Jenna turned to Annika and folded her arms across her chest. So much had happened since the last time she’d seen her sister. The entire world had changed. Annika had gone through something just as intense, and if appearances didn’t lie, just as romantic.
“I want to hear it all. Just pretend we’re kids again, with no internet and a TV that only shows baseball games, and Papa’s painting and it’s just you and me.”
“Okay, then, I guess I’ll start at the beginning.”
“When you were working at the clinic and a billionaire came in with his little boy after their boat burned down?”
“Who’s telling this story, you or me?”
“You.” Jenna folded her lips together and pretended to zip them.
Annika flashed her brilliant smile. “Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in a castle near a lake…”
