Page 173 of Beautiful Trauma
EPILOGUE: KELLAN
One Year Later
I paced anxiouslyas I watched the delivery men setting up the enormous telescope on the balcony. It was an anniversary gift for Mila. Our first year together had gone by in a blur. It seemed like yesterday we’d exchanged vows at the altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. We’d spent a glorious honeymoon in Bora Bora before settling back into life.
To ensure I could surprise Mila with the telescope, I’d had my sisters-in-law take her for a spa day. It had taken me months to find the damn thing. I’d tried to find one similar to the one her mother had, but that was harder than I’d thought.
I just hoped that she would like the one I got, especially since it took up a chunk of the balcony. After glancing at my watch, I had a message saying Mila was on her way back from the spa. “Shit!”
Throwing open the terrace door, I asked, “How’s it coming?”
“We’re finished,” one of them said.
“Good. My wife is on her way home.”
“A surprise gift, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s our first anniversary.”
One of the men shook his head. “It seems like just yesterday it was my first anniversary. Now we’ve been married twenty years.”
The other nodded. “We’re thirty-five.”
“Congratulations. That’s impressive. As much as I would love for you to hang around to give me tips on a long marriage, I’m afraid I need you to get the hell out of here.”
They laughed. “No problem,” one said.
Once I’d got the men out, I finished throwing some clothes in my suitcase. We were leaving for New York on an evening flight.
At the sound of the door opening, I came into the living room. “Hey, my love.”
Mila smiled. “Hello to you.”
“How was your spa day?”
She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Pure bliss.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Are we still going to New York today?”
“Yep. The jet’s ready when you are.”
Lust burned in Mila’s eyes. “And we’re going to check out Inferno?”
“We sure as hell are.”
She moaned. “I can’t wait.”
“Well, before we go, I wanted to give you one of my gifts.”
Mila’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. “You did?”
“It wasn’t practical to travel with it.”
“Ooh, it must be that painting I’ve been wanting.”
Fuck. I didn’t know she wanted a painting. She hadn’t mentioned it. Or maybe I hadn’t been listening. “Sorry to disappoint you, but it doesn’t hang on the wall.”
