Page 58 of Snowbound

“I love you too, Carly. I have since that first moment I kissed you. I should have told you before, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I’m sorry that I ever let you leave. I’ve been…” My voice catches in my throat, and she takes hold of both of my hands, squeezing them, giving me the courage to finish my sentence. “It’s been lonely since you’ve been gone.”

“Do you really want me to stay?” she asks, tears shining in her eyes.

“Don’t even think about leaving again,” I growl and lean in to kiss her. Her lips are as plush and warm as I remember, and kissing her feels like a layer of ice melts off me.

All of a sudden, the misery I had been feeling seeps away, and I can’t help but smile.

She wraps her arms around me and says, “I don’t know why I agreed to those clients. All they did was yell at me and tell me I was stupid. And the whole time, I kept thinking about Ruth and John. How are they, by the way?”

“They just got back from Italy. They’re doing great. He’s as sunburnt as a tomato.”

She giggles. “I bet they have so many pictures, so many stories.”

“I bet they’ll be delighted to show you. I wasn’t exactly in a great mood when they tried to show me.”

“I can’t wait to see them.” She grins. “They made me realize that theirs is the kind of wedding I love to plan, not these huge clients. I don’t care about the money and name-dropping. I just want to feel like my job is worth something.”

“Noble. But Carly, the city. You hated every second you spent here.”

“No, I didn’t,” she says, shaking her head, the tears shining in her eyes finally falling. I wipe one away with my thumb, lingering on her cheek.

Even crying, she’s pretty. I already knew that, though.

“I thought I did, but going home just made me realize how lonely I was, how much people just don’t care about each other. Here, I felt like I was part of something. Yeah, I’ll miss twenty-four-hour convenience stores, but they’re worth losing to be with you.”

“To be with me,” I echo. “You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure you dummy,” she says, hitting me lightly in the arm. “I came all this way back for you.”

“My door is always open to you, and it always will be. Even if you just came back to be friends, you would be allowed in.”

“But it’s okay that I haven’t come back to be friends?” she stammers. “Because, if you want to, I want so much more than that.”

“I’m glad you said it,” I whisper. “I’ve dreamed of you every night since you left.”

“Good,” she whispers back, her face so close to mine that her foggy breath lingers on my cheeks in a minty cloud. “Because I have a confession to make.”

“A confession?” I frown. “You’re not secretly an alien or something, are you?”

“No.” She giggles. Then she takes a deep breath, looks me in the eye and says, “We’re having a baby.”

The words are so baffling to me that I can barely comprehend them.

“We’re…? You’re what? Pregnant?”

“Yeah, I’m pregnant. With your baby.”

“You’re pregnant,” I echo, feeling like a parrot.

My mind reels with the idea of it. As if by magic, she dropped onto my doorstep and delivered the family that I’ve secretly always yearned for.

I can barely comprehend it.

“If you don’t want to be involved, I’ll understand,” Carly blurts out. “I would prefer to have you, of course, to do this together, but I don’t want to force you into anything?—”

“Stop right there,” I say, taking hold of her hands and kissing her knuckles. “Did you not hear anything I just said? I want you, and I want this baby. I want our family to be happy. Is that too much to ask for?”

“No.” She lets out a sob and falls into my arms. I wrap them tightly around her. “No, it’s perfect.”

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