AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I set my glass down and looked over at her, and she had a single tear on her cheek. I wiped it away and kissed where it had just been.
“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard your dad speak,” I whispered.
“Me too,” she said with a laugh.
I leaned over to kiss her and once again couldn’t believe my luck that she loved me. A lifetime with Skye sounded like it was going to be full of adventure around every corner.
28
SKYE
The morning after our impromptu engagement party was a complete blur. Everyone was frantically running around, trying to get everything packed up and ready to go back home. Fortunately, as the only person without children to worry about, my packing was done fairly quickly, and I got to spend one last morning enjoying my coffee with the most incredible view.
I wasn’t usually one to get nostalgic, especially about something that hadjusthappened, but I was already missing the resort and all the magic it had brought me. It wasn’t just the scenery, the skiing, and the general atmosphere, though all those things certainly contributed. It was more about the things that happened there.
When I packed my bags and headed to the airport two weeks earlier, I had no idea this trip was going to change the entire course of my life. And it may sound dramatic, but my entire life really had changed.
I arrived a single woman with no intention of seeking someone out to fall in love with. I was wrapped up in my work, and happy with my living situation. Now I was going home engaged to my childhood best friend, preparing to move in with him, and suddenly become the step-parent to two amazing girls.
I never considered myself a lucky person, but I was certainly feeling that way now. I knew my friends back home were never going to believe any of it. I had just about sworn off men, and I figured marriage and a family were never going to happen for me. I had my work, and that’s all that mattered.
But now…now, Owen was all that mattered. Owen, Laila, Cora, and our life together. I still couldn’t believe it was real, and I hoped when the plane landed in New York, it would all still be a reality.
I sat on the porch pondering for a long time until the door to the house opened behind me. Figuring it was Sierra or my mom, I didn’t turn around, and waited for them to come to me. But instead, two strong arms wrapped around me, embracing me in a tight hug. Owen kissed the side of my neck and held me tight for a moment.
“You ready to go?” he whispered.
“I wish we could stay here forever.”
“I do, too. But we’ll be back before you know it.”
“That’s true,” I said with a smile, envisioning our perfect summer wedding in the Alps.
“And I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make life at home just as magical as it has been here.”
“I know life is going to be great as long as we’re together.”
He kissed my neck again and slowly pulled away.
“The car will be here in about twenty minutes,” he told me as he made his way back into the chalet. “Do you want me to bring your bags out front?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll grab them.”
Owen smiled and disappeared through the door. I took a few more minutes to get my last deep breaths in, and then I followed him inside.
Hours later,we were finally getting ready to board the plane back to New York. It was wonderful that all of us were on the same flight home together, as I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to my family yet. I still had a few more hours in the skies before we all went our separate ways.
I walked around the gate area with Mae and Eva for a while, looking at the trinkets in the store windows, smelling all the food, and trying to keep them from stealing candy out of the shops.
I am fully convinced that the parents of toddlers are superheroes in disguise, especially twin toddlers. Sierra and Greg were grateful for the brief break, and I was soaking in every last second with my sweet nieces. I wasn’t sure when I would see them next, but I knew they would be much more grown up by then.
When our plane started boarding, I got in line with Owen, each of us holding one of the girls’ hands. Cora was determined to sit next to me, even though my assigned seat was several rows away, so I was prepping her for disappointment when Beth scooped her up and carried her to the correct seat.
Owen, Beth, and the girls all sat down before me, and I had only been seated for a moment when Owen appeared in front of me with a smile on his face. Their seats were in the second and third rows, and mine was all the way in the seventh row, so I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he seemed happy about whatever it was.
“Good news,” he said.
“Yes?”
