Kit sighed and leaned her head on Carter’s shoulder as they relaxed on the terrace of a popular Paris café, near the heart of the boho community. The café, along Rue Abbesses, teemed with life and made for fabulous people-watching in what felt very much like a multicultural bazaar.
She swirled her favorite French cocktail, kir, in her wine glass. She had adopted the drink the first night they had arrived in France. It was made from crème de cassis—a blackcurrant liqueur—topped with white wine.
Yesterday, they had gone to a world-famous restaurant she had always wanted to visit and now she had, thanks to Carter. The gorgeous, opulent restaurant, Le Meurice, served classic European cuisine.
It was so exquisite that the dining experience alone would have made the trip. Everything else was cake. Preferably Petit fours at the quaint bakery on Rue Saint-Dominique and Rue Malar.
They had spent the nights secured in each other’s arms. They still couldn’t get enough of each other.
Like any newlyweds, the sightseeing might have been slightly limited due to the heat-filled moments of passion between them.
That poor housekeeping staff.
She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of their bodies intertwined in the mornings, knowing they would have fresh sheets to mess up when they got back from their day out in the city.
Paris was a city that catered to lovers. Carter and Kit fit in perfectly.
The spring afternoon was beautiful with a seductive breeze drifting over her bare arms. She loved watching Parisians and tourists as they hurried past. She had always dreamed of coming to Paris and trying famous and unknown cafés and restaurants. The food had been nothing short of outstanding, everywhere they went.
She finished her kir, set the glass on their table, and smiled at her new husband. “This has been the most incredible honeymoon a girl could ever want.”
“Or a guy.” He winked as he filled two champagne glasses with a bottle from the Champagne region of France. He set down the bottle and raised his glass. “To us, sweetheart.”
She loved when he called her that. The two-carat diamond solitaire glittered in the lighting as she picked up her own champagne flute. “To us,” she repeated, and the light chime of crystal rang in the air as their glasses met.
The exquisite champagne went down easily.
When she lowered her glass, Carter held his up again. “To Noah being in remission and to Cody Haymaker for coming through as a match.”
After they drank to that, Kit was feeling a pretty good buzz from the champagne and the kir. She probably had an even bigger buzz from happiness.
She never had imagined anything like this could ever happen to her.
Her life, since meeting Carter, had become incredible. It wasn’t perfect, but she knew she was more than blessed. The only thing that dimmed the light a little was that her sister, Sarah, had refused to get off the street and go into rehab. She was too strung out on drugs to care about anything but whatever she was wrapped up in at the moment. Kit knew Sarah had to live her own life, but it was difficult to watch. It gave Kit such a helpless feeling to not be able to do anything for her sister.
Everything else had been going well in her life and the lives of those around them. Of course there were bumps along the road for everyone, but that was life.
Carter had treated Noah like his own son from the beginning, and the two had developed a fast friendship.
The wedding had been wonderful. Daisy had been Kit’s maid of honor and Noah had given her away during the ceremony. Carter had flown in her mother from San Francisco.
“So much has happened over this past year.” Kit shook her head. “It’s been nothing short of miraculous.”
He nodded. “And the adoption will be final soon.”
The paperwork had taken a while, but every moment had been worth it. He pulled her close to him, running his fingers through her hair before his arm rested on her shoulders.
“I feel like an expectant mother about to give birth.” She smiled. “We will be going home with two sweet toddlers soon. I can’t wait to be a mommy to the girls.”
Carter gave an adorable smile. “I’m looking forward to being their daddy.”
How could a woman not melt with a cowboy who loved children and was a fantastic husband?
Tomorrow, Carter and Kit would leave France and fly to China to finalize the adoption of two-year-old fraternal twins. His cousin, Lora, had adopted two girls from China a few years ago, and had recommended the agency he and Kit had gone through.
The agency was skilled and had guided them every step on the way.
Two months after they returned to Arizona, they would be opening Kit’s new restaurant, a small place to start, just like she’d planned. Once that business flourished, she would open a fine dining establishment in Scottsdale.
She was excited to get back into restaurant work. Cooking at the ranch was fun, but it wasn’t what she would have loved doing for the rest of her life.
Carter skimmed his fingers along her forearm. “How about an evening stroll to the Eiffel Tower for our last night here?”
“Perfect.” She smiled. “Last time we nearly missed it.”
He laughed. “Not my fault it’s impossible to resist you.”
“Pretty sure that’s the definition of your fault.”
“Guilty as charged.”
He stood, and like he always did when they went out, he pulled back her chair and helped her to her feet. He had already taken care of the check, so they left the café, Carter with his fingertips pressed against the base of her spine.
When they were out of the café, they walked hand-in-hand toward a future with nothing but love and amazing possibilities.