Page 67 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

C H A P T E R

Gwen

Gwen sat at her desk, staring blankly at the stack of tests on her desk that she needed to be grading. She didn’t hear the low buzz of the classroom as a few of the students talked instead of focusing on their essays. Normally, she would walk around the classroom, offering help to the students and keeping them focused on their tasks. Today, her heart wasn’t in it. At this point, as long as no one was dancing around on the tables or throwing spitballs, she didn’t much care what they did.

“Ms. Cooper?”

The voice snapped her out of her daze. Gwen looked up to see one of her students standing in front of her desk with a worried expression.

“What’s up, Maria?” Gwen asked, smiling at her.

“Are you okay?” Maria asked.“You’re not your normal happy self. You were supposed to come back from vacation all relaxed and stuff, but you don’t seem that way.”

Gwen’s heart twisted at the student’s concern. She was usually so good at hiding her feelings at work, keeping her personal life separate from her classroom. But she had to admit, Maria had a point. She wasn’t herself. And it wasn’t the vacation itself that had been weighing on her mind. It was Sawyer. She missed him. She was constantly thinking about him.

“You’re right. I haven’t been myself. I’m just dealing with some stuff. I’m sorry that I brought it into the classroom.”

“It’s okay. You tell us that we’re humans and have good and bad days. You’re human, too. You’re our favorite teacher and some of us were just worried about you.”

“You’re so sweet, I appreciate that. It means more to me than you know. I’ll be okay.”

“If you say so,” Maria said, walking back to her desk.

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief when the final bell rang. She was about to head down to the library when Abby ran into her room.

“Okay, spill.”

Gwen told her about everything that happened while they were at the resort, including reconnecting with Sawyer.

“I love him. I knew that I had fallen in love with him before he found me after I got lost.”

“Wow. Falling in love with the arch-enemy huh? That’s a classic story,” Abby said.

“He asked me to marry him, but Dad has made it clear that if I do, he’ll disown me and prevent me from seeing Brent.”

She swallowed hard and wiped a tear away. “I’m miserable without Sawyer, but I can’t lose Brent.”

“Your father has no right to put you in that position. He has no right to control your life like that. You don’t live withhim. You certainly wouldn’t need an inheritance from him if you married Sawyer. He can’t keep you from seeing Brent. I bet you could even go to the courts and force him to give you visitation.”

“That’s true,” Gwen whispered. “He’s always been so controlling and he’s held a grudge against the Johnson family forever. He hates Sawyer, and in spite of everything that Sawyer did on the mountain, he refuses to change his mind. Dad is just stuck in the past.”

“Then it’s up to you to break free from your father. You love Sawyer and, if he asked you to marry him, then he loves you, too. Your father shouldn’t take that away from you. If he really loved you, he wouldn’t. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to be with the man you love.”

Gwen let out a shaky breath. “I know. You’re right. I just don’t know how to deal with the guilt of possibly hurting Brent.”

“Like I said, take your dad to court if you have to. The judge will likely listen to what Brent wants. Who knows, he might end up living with you and Sawyer.”

“Brent and Sawyer would both love that. They became close while we were stuck on that cursed mountain.”

“Then, it’s settled. You’ll tell your dad that you love him, and if he can’t accept that, then it’s his problem, not yours.”

“What if Sawyer tells me he changed his mind?”

Abby tilted her head and pressed her lips together. “Really? What kind of insane question is that? He loves you enough to propose marriage. The Johnsons aren’t fickle people nor do they do anything on a whim. If he proposed then the offer is good for at least ninety days.”

Gwen laughed.

She texted her mother and asked if they could have dinner alone. Her mother agreed.

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