Chapter Ten #2
“Mel, at the end of the day, the company is yours. You don’t have to offer him anything if you don’t want to.”
“I know. And a part of me is leaning more towards not taking the offer. For one, I really don’t know a whole lot about the person.”
“If you want, I can take a look into his background more,” Grant offered.
She gave it some thought. “Maybe. I told myself that I wasn’t going to spend my vacation worrying about it, and that I could figure everything out once I got back home.”
The evening passed faster than either of them wanted, and hours later they found themselves walking back through the village.
The Christmas market had quieted considerably as most tourists returned to their hotels and chalets, leaving the village feeling calmer and more intimate.
Grant’s hand remained wrapped around hers as they wandered through the snowy streets. Neither seemed eager for the evening to end.
At one point, they stopped near a small bridge.
Amelie looked down at their joined hands before lifting her gaze back to Grant’s.
The future suddenly felt very close. It was the one topic they had spent most of the evening carefully dancing around.
“What happens now?” she asked.
The question wasn’t really about tonight, and they both knew it.
Grant’s expression softened as he looked at her.
“I don’t know exactly what happens next,” he admitted, his thumb brushing lightly across her knuckles. “But definitely would like to find out.”
A small laugh escaped her. “That’s probably the first time in your life you’ve admitted you didn’t already have a plan.”
His smile appeared immediately. “Oh, I have a plan. I just don’t know all the details yet.”
She snorted a laugh. “Of course you do.”
Amelie shook her head, her gaze drifting briefly toward the mountains below before returning to him.
There had been a time when uncertainty terrified her.
Back then, she needed answers before taking the first step.
She needed guarantees. Somewhere between raising Tyler and Trevor, building Lumi, and surviving twelve years without the man standing in front of her, she had learned that life rarely worked that way.
Sometimes you took the first step and trusted yourself to figure out the rest as you went.
Drawing in a slow breath, she squeezed his hand. “I want to try, Grant.”
The words felt surprisingly easy once she finally said them.
His eyes never left hers.
“I don’t know what this looks like yet,” she continued, “I don’t know how we solve the distance between our homes.
I don’t know what it means for our companies.
There are probably a hundred practical problems waiting for us.
” A faint smile touched her lips. “Actually, knowing us, there are probably several hundred.”
That earned a low laugh from him.
“But none of those things change what I felt watching you with the boys today. Or what I’ve felt every time I’ve looked at you since you walked back into my life.
When I try to imagine my future now, you’re there. And whether that’s terrifying or not, I don’t think I want to imagine one without you.” She took a deep breath and looked into his gorgeous green eyes. “I guess, I’m trying to say that I want us to be a family. You, me, and the boys.”
At first, Grant didn’t say anything, as the confession seemed to settle over both of them.
Grant’s eyes closed briefly before he exhaled a shaky breath and looked back at her. The smile that appeared wasn’t playful or teasing. It was raw and honest. The kind of smile that came from somewhere deep.
“God, Mel,” he said, his hand tightening around hers.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear that. I love you. And now that I finally have you back, and knowing I have two wonderful sons, there isn’t a version of my future that doesn’t include all three of you.”
A tear slipped free before she could stop it.
Grant immediately brushed it away.
“Us being a real family sounds perfect,” he said softly.
Grant stepped closer. He wrapped one arm around her waist as his other hand cupped her cheek. His touch was warm and familiar.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said softly as his eyes dropped to her lips.
Amelie’s breath caught. Every nerve ending in her body seemed suddenly aware of him, his hand against her cheek, the steady strength of his arm around her waist, the warmth in his eyes as he looked at her.
She knew exactly what was about to happen, and God help her, she wanted it. She wanted his lips on hers.
Before she could overthink it, she stepped closer so their chests were practically touching.
“Amelie—” Grant whispered, but she cut him off.
“Kiss me, Grant.”
He smiled, “Yes, Ma’am,” he said and pressed his lips against hers.
The kiss began softly, almost tentatively, as though neither of them quite trusted that this moment was real. There was a tenderness to it, like a quiet recognition of everything they had lost and everything they had somehow found again.
But the longer their lips lingered together, the harder it became to hold back twelve years of longing.