Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“My money’s on Abbi,” Violet says through a mouthful of cookie.
“Traitor.” Henry glares at her. “What are they planning, Howard?”
The old man holds up the tray. “Tea, anyone?”
My phone chirps with another text from Mama, asking where we are and how long before we get to Greenbank.
“We should get going soon.” Henry peers out the front window. “The snow is picking up and we have a few hours to go still.”
Disappointment skitters across Violet’s face. “But you haven’t opened your gifts yet!” She dives under the tree, rifling through Henry’s deliberately set piles, picking one up to shake it—while flashing a toothy grin over her shoulder at him—before pulling out two wrapped boxes. She drops one in each of our laps.
Henry eyes it. “You didn’t need to get me anything.”
She shrugs. “It’s nothing big. ’Cause, you know, you have everything already. But you might as well open them together.”
I steal a glance at Violet—with her bottom lip pulled between her teeth—as we peel away the tape and unwrap the boxes.
“I love it!” I hold up my olive-green knit hat, admiring the braided pattern.
“I thought that color would go with your hair.”
I tug it on my head. “Thank you, Vi.”
“She’s been working on it every night for the past two weeks,” Gayle exclaims.
Inside Henry’s box is a simple beige knit beanie.
“You had a black one on at Rockefeller, so I thought something different would be good. You don’t have one like this already, do you?” Violet waits for his response with her hands balled into tight fists.
“I don’t have this color.” When Henry meets her eyes, his sparkle with something raw I can’t identify, and his jaw is taut. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Violet.”
She blushes and then averts her gaze as if uncomfortable.
I lean in. “And I’m thanking you, too, because your father looks hot in a beanie.” It’s the first time I’ve called him anything but Henry in front of her.
Violet scrunches her nose with disgust as Howard and Gayle laugh.
Henry shakes his head at me before holding up his index finger toward Violet. “Okay, you can open one today. The skinny, silver one in the tree.”
I frown curiously at him as Violet bolts for it. I wrapped all the gifts we brought, but I didn’t wrap that one.
“It’s a surprise,” he mouths with a knowing smirk.
She tears open the thin rectangular box and pulls out a plastic card attached to a lanyard. “A ski-lift ticket?” She frowns as she reads. “Colorado?”
“I thought the three of us could go there for a few days next week. I have a hotel there.”
She reads the pass again and her face lights up. “That’s my birthday.”
A soft expression unfurls on Henry’s face. “I know.”
I hadn’t even thought of Violet’s birthday, so swamped with work and Christmas.
But Henry did.
I feel my pulse in my throat as I watch this exchange, the urge to throw myself at this man tremendous.
Violet looks at her grandparents, hopeful.
“Well, of course! He’s already cleared it with us.” Gayle’s smile is broad. “You only turn sixteen once.”
“I’ve never skied before,” she admits, looping the lanyard around her neck.
“Neither have I. We can learn together,” I say.
“I’ve already booked you both an instructor for the bunny hill,” Henry confirms.
“And you’ll be on—”
“The black diamond runs.”
“Of course. Because there’s nothing Henry wasn’t born good at.” I throw my hands up in mock annoyance, earning his amused snort and a round of chuckles.
We help clean up and spend a few minutes saying goodbye, with Violet diving into Henry’s arms in a hug that makes my chest swell with emotion.
I find myself wishing we could stay. Or take her with us.
We’re halfway down the path toward the SUV when it dawns on me. “Aspen, Colorado?”
“Took you long enough.” Henry smiles. “Relax, he knows better than to come anywhere near you, trust me.”
I hope so. That night with Michael is the only thing I regret, and I regret it with every bone and sinew in my body. If I have to ever see him again, it’ll be too soon.
I shed my coat for the long car ride to Greenbank and then admire Henry’s handsome profile as he punches the address into the GPS.
“Why are you staring at me?” he murmurs.
“Am I?” I reach up to twirl strands of his hair between my fingertips. “I was thinking that you’re going to make a great father. I mean, you already do, but you know what I mean.”
“I do, and I think we should start trying now.”
“Now?” My heart skips a beat, not expecting that response. “I’m still on the pill.”
“Stop taking it.”
I could. I’m supposed to start the next package tomorrow. “But what if it happens right away? The wedding is still four and a half months from now. I have to fit into my dress.” Which I still haven’t seen.