Page 74 of Snowed Under

“Or as much as I love you.”

We hear Presley’s throat clear as we break from our kiss and look up, both a little sheepish. But Presley’s grin is bigger than mine.

“You guys go and rest. Hunker down for the weekend and we’ll all get together when the storm is over,” she says, passing Little Ginger over to us, along with my sweater from before. He’s now wrapped in a fuzzy blanket with his head sticking out the top.

“Thanks, Pres,” we both say in unison and Presley laughs at us, both already saying the same thing at the same time. Soon we’ll be finishing each other’s sentences.

After she waves us off, we head out to the truck and I get my little tribe all settled in. Ainsley has both Fudge and Little Ginger nestled into her lap. I jog around the other side and jump in, turning to face her. “You did so good today, baby.”

She smiles softly, though I know she’s still shaken up and will be for some time to come. “Thank you for being there, and for getting to me so fast.”

“Always,” I say. “I’ll never leave you, Ainsley. He can’t hurt you again.”

“I know I’ve told you today already, but I love you.”

I close my eyes momentarily, hearing that. “You can tell me anytime. I love you too,Shorty.”

“Can we go see my mom and then head home before the snow comes in again?”

Emma said they are keeping Valerie a little longer for observation until Monday, then we can collect her after the snowstorm passes.

“Let’s do it. Then I’ll make us some snacks and we can have a movie marathon with the kids.” I look down to Fudge, who’s made himself quite at home in Ainsley’s lap. And Little Ginger already has his eyes closed. “I know you want to get your team Charlie fix this weekend.”

She looks across at me as surprise flits across her face. “You’d do that for me?”

The corner of my mouth pulls up in a smile. “I’d do anything for you.”

I lean over and kiss her again. Stroking Fudge at the same time and giving Little Ginger a gentle rub on the top of his head with my finger.

And suddenly my life feels complete with my own little tribe. There’s nowhere else I wanna be right now. Storm or no storm. Here with them is everything I need.

EPILOGUE

Ainsley

A week later …

The snowstorm passed over the weekend and we spent most of the time over at my place with the fire lit and, true to Cole’s word; we had a Twilight movie marathon. It’s just one of the many things I love about him.

We thought it would be fun to hunker down in the basement now that Cole fixed the door; the realtor was taking too long so he just did it himself. We also got the decorations out of storage and jazzed up my Christmas tree. Fudge got himself tangled in the LED lights as we were trying to untangle them, ready to put on the tree.

Cole doesn’t have many Christmas decorations and usually just goes to his parents to help put up their humongous tree. He only has a small tree at his place with built-in fairy lights, plus a wreath for his door and some Christmas lights he always puts out infront of his house.

Little Ginger has been amazing since we brought him home and Fudge has really taken a shining to him. When we first got home that day, we checked outside and around our properties again to make sure we hadn’t missed any other little kittens that may have been stranded. It’s stilla mystery where he came from, but since he had no collar or a microchip, we’re thinking he’s probably a stray. We’re trying not to get our hopes up, but that shared custody thing sounded pretty sweet to me.

Cole has been nothing but doting since we got back that afternoon after crazy Drake tried to attack me. I think he thought I was going to break. While I am still rattled and shaken up, Cole’s been doing his best to help me forget about that for a while and enjoy the time with him and the fur babies while we hunkered down over the weekend. I still can’t believe Drake went crazy like that chasing after me, but I meant what I said; he really needs to seek help and get his life back on track.

We picked Mom up right after the storm and she’s recovering really well. I’ve been over there helping every day until she gets back to her normal routine.

Tonight I’m at work, with Little Ginger his own little travel case with his blanket and a soft toy to rest his head on. He’s been with me all week as it’s a little hard for Cole to take him on the job sites and we need to monitor him while he gets his strength back. He’s been doing so great and getting more food into his tiny body. He spends most of his time sleeping.

Molly, Oscar and Hank just left and I’m about to lock up for the night when I see a familiar figure coming toward me with a great, big, devilish grin on his face.

Cole.

“What are you looking so happy about?” I giggle. I’m still not able to control my pulse around him, or the way he makes me blush with no words needed.

“I thought I might stop by and tell you how beautiful you are.”

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