Chapter 25 Haven
Haven
The first thing I do when we step off the plane is take a long, deep breath of fresh mountain air. The crispness hits my lungs, and it’s bright enough that I’m searching for my sunglasses.
It’s glorious.
I sense movement from behind as Alex’s arm snakes around my waist and pulls me into his chest. “Welcome home, baby. How does it feel?”
Sinking back, I let out a deep, contented sigh. “Good. Really good.”
“I’m glad.”
Turning around, I stare into his eyes, as blue as the Aspen sky, with little creases fanned around the edges. Everly’s nestled in his arms, feet dangling down as a stark reminder that so much has changed since we were last here. How much we’ve gained.
I left a nervous wreck and returned in love.
“You did so well, baby girl.” I kiss her hand with a chuckle, as she hides her face in Alex’s neck. There’s no doubt my girl is a daddy’s girl.
“Of course she did.” Alex kisses her head. “Between the two children and six adults, including Miles, my money was always going to be on the children being better behaved.”
“And having your own plane helps.” The anxiety of traveling with a crying baby in a cabin full of people is something I never want to experience again.
Alex’s lip pulls up with a wry smile. “I’m not disagreeing there.”
“Are you two going to stand here all day? Or can the rest of us get off, too?” Miles gripes from the cabin, only to stop at the top of the steps and inhale dramatically through his nose. “Fuck yes. Get that in your lungs. God, I love Aspen.”
“Daddy! Uncle Miles said a bad word.” Max appears, still wearing his fire engine pajamas and slippers from the flight he slept most of the way through.
“Someone’s awake,” Alex mouths.
“You’re right, Maxy, I did. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
Max assesses Miles, his eyes squinting in disbelief because he, like all of us, knows it’s going to happen again before we’re even in one of the three SUVs waiting. But instead of telling him otherwise, he spins around and heads back into the cabin.
Miles looks between the pair of us, peers back in the cabin where Clementine and Hendricks are, then claps his hands together decisively.
“Right, by my estimation, we have fifteen minutes before everyone’s got their shit together enough to leave this place, therefore I’m designating myself activity leader—”
“Milo, Haven and I are going back to the ranch—”
“Nope.” He holds his hand up to silence Alex and pulls out his phone. “Give me fifteen minutes.”
Alex rolls his eyes but doesn’t reply. We follow Miles down the steps, where the porters are already unloading all the luggage we brought for the trip and placing it by the SUVs.
Between the skis and snowboards for the boys and Clementine, plus Lando’s equipment, there have to be two dozen suitcases and bags. It would have been significantly more if Alex hadn’t sent a couple of guys ahead of time to my house to ready it for our arrival and unload all of Everly’s things.
I’m double-checking that Alex’s and my cases are kept separate, because while we’re going back to my place, everyone else is staying at the cabin they had last year, when a squeal of excitement has me spinning around.
Saylor whizzes across the tarmac in a golf buggy being driven by an airport porter, arms stretched as wide as her smile.
“Ohmygod, ohmygod. Havey. You’re back. God, I missed you so much.” She jumps off and squeezes me so tight she nearly cuts off my air supply. Even though I’ve spoken to her almost every day, the happiness and excitement I have at getting to hug her again come out in a big ball of laughter.
“Where’s Everly?” she asks, finally releasing me enough to realize I’m not holding her.
“Right there.” I jerk my chin over to where Alex is laughing with Miles, who still has the phone to his ear.
Ever theatrical, Saylor gasps loudly. “Jeez Louise, I’d forgotten what a bunch of straight-up hotties this family is. And look how big Everly is! She’s so tall.”
I beam my response. “I know.”
“C’mon, I have to hug her.”
Because her arm’s still around my waist, I’m dragged over to Everly, who looks up at Saylor with wide eyes.
“Hi, Everly, d’you remember me?” she asks, holding her hands out only for Everly to arch back with a grunt. “Oh.”
“She’s a bit cranky. She just woke up,” Alex replies. “Also, hi, Saylor.”
“Hey, Alex. How’s it going?” Saylor steps back. Her eyes drop to the ground and move back up. I know she’s only messing around, but in his cream cable-knit sweater with Everly in his arms, he looks good. “Really living that baby-daddy vibe, I see.”
He doesn’t get a chance to reply, though, because Miles throws one arm around Saylor’s shoulders, the other around mine, and pulls us in. “Okay, kids, here’s the plan . . .”
Saylor gets that look in her eyes where she’s trying to act cool, but it’s anything but. If I’m not mistaken, Miles has added another member to his fan club. I should warn her off, but she deserves a bit of fun.
“There’s a polo match this afternoon. What do you say about a quick freshen up, and then we all head down to the club?”
“Sounds awesome,” Saylor responds without a beat.
“Haven?”
“Um . . .” I look at Alex, trying to see what he wants to do. I thought our plans once we arrived would be to go back to the ranch and settle in.
But I hadn’t counted on Saylor peering at me with big, wide, pleading eyes. Alex notices them too.
“I’m happy with whatever you want to do, babe. The house is ready, and we can ask Birgitta to stay with Everly and Max. Let me go and see what Clementine wants to do.”
“Yes,” Saylor adds, “please go see what Clementine is doing.”
With a chuckle, he jogs back up the plane stairs, and the second he disappears inside the cabin, Saylor is on me.
“Please, can we go? Please. It’s been so boring without you. I haven’t been out in forever.”
“We haven’t been out since I found out I was pregnant,” I correct.
“Exactly. We owe it to ourselves. And I bet there are some hotties, the polo club would be so fun. For me, I mean,” she adds as I raise a brow. “You’ve already got yourself a hottie.”
“Just see what Alex says. There’ll be lots of time to party this week, which is why everyone else joined on this trip.”
Truth be told, I’m so happy they joined us. It made leaving Valentine Nook a little bit easier. I’ve gotten used to seeing them every day, and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.
“Who’s that?”
I follow Saylor’s gaze to where Birgitta is throwing bags haphazardly into one of three SUVs, her long white-blond hair flicking behind her as she does.
“Max’s nanny.”
“She’s the nanny? Wow, she’s hot. She’s not going to be Everly’s nanny, is she?”
“No, we don’t have a nanny.” I shake my head. Even though it’s definitely useful having her around, it’s the most ridiculous sentence I’ve uttered, because who do I think I am?
Actually, the winner of the most ridiculous sentence award was “I don’t need one hundred million.” A statement I still stand by. I don’t.
“Good plan. Because if nannies in England come looking like that? All I’m saying is she’s no Mary Poppins.”
“Saylor . . .” I nudge an elbow into her ribs anyway. “Shh.”
Alex reemerges from the cabin, followed by Clementine, who sprints down the stairs the moment she spots me, though I think it’s more that she’s spotted who I’m standing next to.
“Hi, you must be Saylor.” She grins. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’ve been so excited to meet you. Do you ski? You must come with us this week.”
There’s half a second of Saylor sizing up Clementine, because she’s finally meeting someone with the same energy level and enthusiasm, before she matches her broad smile.
“I do ski. That sounds awesome.”
Clemmie claps her hands together in rapid-fire. “Splendid.”
It’s only when Clemmie turns to Miles that Saylor mouths, “OMG I love her,” which probably has everything to do with Clemmie being English and all her words coming out in that clipped tone that’s so hard to mimic.
It took me a little while to get used to it and not grin maniacally at everything she said, but now I hardly notice.
“C’mon, Milo, what’s the plan?”
“Just waiting for Alex and Hen to decide what they want to do.”
Thirty seconds later, they emerge from the cabin—Hendricks dressed like Alex in jeans and a thick dark sweater, carrying Max—and walk down the steps. Next to me, Saylor lets out a quiet sigh.
“Okay, if everyone agrees, we’ll go back to our respective abodes, then we’ll head to the polo ground in an hour,” Alex says, peering at me. “Hayve, is that okay with you?”
I nod, because as much as I want to see the house, I have a sudden urge to let off a little steam.
“Sounds good to me.”
Miles whoops. “Then let’s fucking go.”
As I open the car door, Max says, “I knew Uncle Miles would say a bad word again.”
Flying private is definitely better than flying commercial, but it still doesn’t help with the jet lag.
In fact, after we headed back to the ranch, I could have easily crawled into bed and stayed there.
I don’t even get time to take it all in and enjoy the moment of being back for the first time in two months because Saylor’s hurrying us along.
Which means that after saying a reluctant goodbye to Everly, we’re a little discombobulated when the car drops us off.
But because Miles knows everyone, we’re taken inside the players’ entrance instead of the regular patrons’ entrance, where we find him waiting with Clemmie and Hendricks.
“Ah, good, you’re here. Let’s go,” he says by way of hello, before we’re whisked off again.
We follow him around the path and through a set of gates leading up to the main clubhouse.
“Get out of my way, asshole!”
It’s only because Hendricks pulls him back in time that Miles doesn’t get trampled as a pony canters past him.
By the time I register what’s happened, all I see of the rider is a long auburn braid bouncing against her back.
Hendricks pulls him back to standing. “Shit, are you okay?”