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“Oh, good,” Collins said. “Because I love you, too.”
To say I was taken aback would’ve been an understatement. I was flummoxed, speechless, and unsure of my next move until it presented itself like I’d been seeking it out all along.
“Thank you so much, Collins,” I said, surprising myself when my voice broke. “I love you, too.”
My new life was so real and immediately immersive that my past in New York only punctured my present twice: one missed call from my ex-fiancé and one text message from my former best friend. I blocked both their numbers, slamming that door shut.
Yeah, New York could kiss my butt. I was done with it and the people who had made it a living hell for me.
“I can tell you now, I was wishing and hoping so hard that you would stay out here,” my mom said, thrilled to have me near her as she thrived in her new condo. “Especially because you’re going to have to help me pick out what I’m going to wear on my date next week.”
Was I ready for that? Hell, no. But I was ready to be supportive of my mother in ways I hadn’t been able to manage before. If she wanted me to give her my opinion on a skirt and shirt combination for her first app date, then I simply needed to be there for her. There was no alternative.
Committing to this place, beyond the newly confirmed closeness with my mother, was rewarding. My family felt complete now—better and more fulfilling than ever before. It was like I had been dreaming in black and white every day up until now. And now, I was living that colorful dream every day.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we loaded up into Graham’s Range Rover from his small fleet of cars and drove up an unpaved road through the mountains. Collins’ shrieks of delight at being bounced around in her car seat by the rough path were contagious, and Graham and I laughed at her antics as she held Hank to her chest for dear life.
“When are you going to tell us where we’re going?” I asked, hanging on to the handle on the roof of the vehicle, not too terribly unlike our first encounter in my rental car.
“When we get there,” Graham repeated for perhaps the fourth time. “For now, you just sit back and relax.”
“Collins, aren’t you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked her, turning around and laughing as she flopped loosely, all her limbs lax and subject to the whims of the road. Only the buckles of her car seat held her in place as Hank darted in and licked her face at every opportunity.
“Better not,” Graham warned, grinning at her in the rearview mirror.
“It’s a surprise,” Collins explained apologetically. “You should be patient, like Hank.” My dog was the opposite of patient, and I was frankly impressed the turbulent ride hadn’t made him vomit on anything.
After a few more minutes, however, we reached our destination with everyone intact.
The surprise was a small clearing at the base of a waterfall, spray tumbling down to a clear pool feeding wildflowers and tall trees. It was magical, quiet—aside from the water—and away from any sign of civilization except for us. It was secluded and exposed all at once—an excellent respite from everything we’d experienced up until this point.
“A picnic surprise!” Collins shouted, her voice bouncing off the sheer rock walls of the waterfall as we unpacked the Range Rover. “For Heather!”
“I think those might be my favorite kinds of surprises,” I told her, smiling at Graham. He watched me quietly. “Thank you. I love it.”
“It’s no Big Apple,” he said after we enjoyed a meal fit for a five-star restaurant spread out on a blanket. We’d chased Collins and Hank around, tested the temperature of the pool, which was very cold, with our toes, and now, she was occupied with replicating a flower chain I showed her so that Hank could wear one, too.
“Tourist,” I teased. “This is about as far away as you can get from New York, and it’s perfect.”
“You’re not going to miss all the hustle and bustle of the city?”
“What, like San Francisco’s not right there?” I leaned close and kissed him chastely. “As I said, this is perfect. I love it, and I love you.”
“Love you, too,” he murmured, kissing me back.
“Aunt Lauren was right,” Collins declared, choosing that moment to tune back into us adults. “Special friends kiss a lot.”
“Keep it up, and you’re not going to have any special friends until you’re forty,” Graham threatened before lunging forward to tickle Collins until she squealed and scampered off, Hank barking after her.
By sunset, Collins had grown subdued, tired from all the action. And in spite of the rough road back, which Graham took as gently as he could, Collins was fast asleep with Hank’s head on her lap by the time we returned to the manor.
Home. It hadn’t taken long to call the manor home—the home I’d always dreamed about and a place that was much more than a repository for physical things. This was the place I wanted to make memories in, to fill albums with pictures, and to be cozy and perfect.
We parked the vehicle in front of the house. “You get Collins,” I said to Graham, easing slowly out of my seat so she wouldn’t wake up. “I’ll grab Hank and everything else and take it up to the house.
“Just leave it. I’ll have someone come out for it.”
“It’s just a few bags, Graham,” I said, shaking my head at him even if he didn’t see it.
