2 Aspen
I chew the inside of my cheek as he walks around the front of the SUV after helping me climb inside. The man stood there as if it was his only mission to make sure I buckled up before he closed the door.
I don't know why I'm nervous. I've spent a lifetime honing my ability to act the way someone expects me to, but Nolan is different. Despite our limited time together years ago, the man can read me like an open book. Something Damien never bothered to take the time to do.
There's a very real chance that Nolan has figured out that I've already made a good guess as to what today's surprise is, but he's better at hiding it than I am.
I’m fidgety when he opens the driver's side door, and it takes all I have not to glance back at the bag in the floorboard I discovered yesterday. He called it earlier when he asked if I rummage through things to uncover Christmas presents. I didn't correct him. I don't want him to hurt any more than he has to. He doesn't need to know that my searching and foraging was more about finding information that would keep Eli and me safe and less about surprises. The surprises we had in our lives were horrible, not gifts and tokens of love. I snooped in an effort to keep us as safe as I could, and more than once, getting caught was possibly worse than what might've been planned from the start.
"You seem sad," Nolan says as he shifts the SUV into drive.
"I'm not," I promise. "Just finding it difficult to stop thinking about the past."
He pauses at the end of the driveway, which is more like a parking lot, considering the cabin Cerberus is inhabiting is in a community of other cabins, all of which are used by tourists. I've heard talk of plans for the purchase of another one of the cabins. I've heard whispers that, eventually, Cerberus will own the entire community if they expand the way they did back in New Mexico. I don't know how to feel about that. I do know if it happens, it'll be either one of the safest places on the mountain or one of the most dangerous. Considering the larger it gets, the more likely people will know about it and target it.
Instead of parking so we can discuss my feelings, he continues, knowing me well enough to know that I'm more likely to speak if his attention isn't drilling into me. There are a lot of traumas I have to get over. No matter how much the man loves me and our son, there will always be triggers.
I squeeze my eyes closed as a moving van heads in our direction. I don't think I'll ever get used to how narrow these winding mountain roads are. Leaving the house makes me nervous just from that alone, not even considering the level of danger we're in if someone connected to my father or Damien spots me. I'd never leave the cabin if it were at all possible.
"I hate these roads," I mutter as I open my eyes.
"You're safe with me, Peach," he says, his tone assuring and soft.
"I know you're going to get Eli a puppy," I blurt.
A slow smile spreads across his face. Much to his credit, he doesn't take his eyes off the road to look in my direction.
"You do, do you?" he asks, his tone teasing and full of mischief. "You're sure that collar you found isn't for you?"
My head snaps back as my nose scrunches. "What?"
His laughter fills the SUV, making me grin.
"I'm not wearing a collar."
He slows at the stop sign, and I'm awarded his full attention briefly.
"Would you wear my ring?"
"Wh-what?" I stammer, the threat of tears suddenly burning the backs of my eyes.
"Wife, Peach. Will you marry me?"
His eyes follow the first tear that breaks free from my lower lashes.
"I asked for your hand all those years ago, Aspen, and had your father allowed it, I would've given up everything to be with you."
I shake my head. "You wouldn't. I couldn't have loved the man my father would've expected you to be."
"But you love the man I am now?"
"With every ounce of my being," I whisper.
"So?"
I dip my head, emotion clogging my throat. "Yes."
His smile is wide, but before he can lean closer and seal it with a kiss, a horn blows behind us.
He mumbles a few choice words under his breath before looking in both directions and turning onto the main street.
"I'm going to need you to tell me that again later tonight, Peach."
"I'll tell you that for the rest of our lives," I promise.
I feel like a giddy schoolgirl, as if the entire world were at my fingertips. I have an adorable son, a safe place to enjoy life, and the man of my dreams. A woman couldn't ask for much more.
"We have to name it Felix," Nolan says as he pulls into a parking lot.
I stare at the woman holding the little puppy who is standing beside her car.
"What kind of dog is it?" I ask, anxious to cuddle the cute little thing.
"A Great Dane," he says with a wide smile.
"Don't they get really big?"
"Within a year, Eli will be able to ride the thing like a horse," he says as he opens the door to climb out.
"Oh boy," I whisper as I follow him out of the SUV to meet the newest member of our family.
THE END
Thank you for reading!