Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
I swallow hard as something that’s been bothering me comes into my mind. I don’t want him to think badly of me. I want to start off right.
“You know, Elias,” I say with my cheeks blushing. “I didn’t want to marry that man. I—“
“You don’t have to explain, Ava,” he says with a loving look in his eyes. “Sometimes we do crazy things for love. Sometimes fate drives us to weird places before getting us where we need to go. I’m just so happy you’re here. I’m so relieved. You know what you’re like?”
“What?” I ask, smiling uncontrollably.
”You’re like a Christmas gift that you wanted every day for thirty years and then you get it, and it’s even better than you thought it would be.”
I step on my toes and kiss his chin as my eyes water. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Maybe, I’ll let you unwrap me later.”
“It’s Christmas all over again,” he says with a flirty look.
I laugh as we continue walking down the mountain and into the valley.
“What do you do for Christmas?” I ask him.
“It’s always so fun,” he says with a big smile. “All of my family comes for the day and I make a huge feast. Turkey and the works. But don’t worry, I’ll do everything. You can sit back and relax the whole time.”
That sounds amazing. I spent the last five Christmases reading a book in a Chinese restaurant by myself.
“But we can miss it this year if you want us to see your family instead,” he quickly says. He’s so sweet.
“I don’t really have any family, Elias. The last time I saw them was when they were on the news. And it wasn’t the good kind of news. I have family. But they’re not family.”
He nods, knowingly.
“You’re a part of my family now, Ava. You’re not alone anymore.”
I’ve been alone for so long. It feels good to have someone to rely on. Someone to care for me.
“I can’t wait for them to meet you,” he says with a smile. “You’re going to love them and they’re going to love you. Like me, they’ve been waiting a long time to meet you too.”
“Oh no, so much pressure! I hope I don’t disappoint them.”
He shakes his head. “That would be impossible.”
“Oh look!” I say as we walk into the middle of the valley. Fireflies begin glowing all around us. It’s magical.
I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s beautiful.
Elias catches one in his hands and shows it to me. “Cup your hands,” he says. “Hold them together.”
He puts the firefly inside and I close my hands.
“Ahhh!” I screech playfully. “I can feel it flying around in there!”
“Keep it in there,” he says as he catches another one. “It will be worth it.”
He catches a bunch more and keeps stuffing them inside my hands until I can feel my palms buzzing.
“Now, open it,” he says softly as he watches.
I lift my hands as I open them and it’s like dozens of little sparks of magic flying out.
“That was so cool,” I say as we continue walking to the forest.
I’m so curious about him. I want to know everything. I realize that even though I know we belong together, I still haven’t learned all the small stuff.
“So, are you like a… stay in kind of guy or go out every night and socialize kind of guy?”
“I like to stay in,” he says. “I hope that was the right answer. But if you want to go out, I’ll go out with you. I’ll do anything with you, Ava. I’m just so happy to be by your side.”
“I’m happy too.”
We stop and kiss in the valley under the moonlight with the fireflies igniting all around us.
Elias exhales in relief when we find the bag of money where he stashed it.
My mouth drops when he unzips it and I see all the stacks of crisp one hundred dollar bills. There’s so much money in there. Like, so much.
“You were going to spend all this?” I say as I stare at it in shock. “On me?”
“I would have given ten times this if I had it,” he says in a serious tone. “I would have given anything for you. I would give you my life.”
“How much is in here?”
“Seven point five million dollars.”
All that… For me. He’s crazy.
I like crazy.
I kiss him on the lips and smile as I pull away. “I have good news. You can have me for free!”
“Then, we’ll spend the money on an amazing life together,” he says with a nod.
I almost forgot…
“I’m rich too! I have a million dollars to add to the pile.”
“Then we have all the money we need,” he says as he gazes into my eyes, “and all the love we need. It looks like our future is going to be just—“