We arrive at the ski resort and there’s an ambulance out front, putting a guy on a stretcher inside.
I open the door of Harper’s car before she can fully stop, running toward the ambulance.
“Hudson! Wait!” I scream. Damn, I really need to start exercising more.
Both men stop and stare at me in confusion. It’s not Hudson on the stretcher. It’s some guy with a broken arm and a bandage around his head.
“Never mind. I thought you were someone else,” I say.
“The guy from the tree well?” the patient asks.
“Yeah.” I look at him expectantly.
“These guys were talking about that when they arrived. I ran into some lady on the hill. Guess first-time skiers really should stick to the basic runs.” He shifts and moves his arm a bit and cringes.
“Where is he?”
A helicopter circles the area above, and I glance at Harper’s car. She and my parents are staring at the helicopter. No. That’s not for Hudson. It can’t be.
I run down the path, unsure where to go.
“Come on.” My dad catches up to me and takes my hand.
He drags me in the direction of the landing helicopter, where there’s a crowd of people.
“Excuse me,” I say, pushing through the throngs of onlookers, needing to reach Hudson who must be waiting for the life flight. I can’t process the nightmares running through my head. “Dad?”
“It’s fine, honey. I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”
I burst through the last layer of people, and a crowd of medical professionals surround the stretcher on the ground. My heart sinks into the depths of my stomach.
“Ma’am, you have to back up,” the security guard says. “Let them do their work.”
“But it’s my…boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” The security guard looks at me as though I have three heads.
“Yes, he was caught in a tree well. Please. I need to go with him.” All I can see is them moving the stretcher toward the helicopter, and I panic, pushing against the security guard’s chest as he blocks me. “Let me go. I have to see him.”
“Please, sir, they have a daughter. Let her see him,” my dad says.
The security guard shakes his head. “I’m not sure—”
“Palmer?”
I stop pushing the security guard and whip around. I must be hearing things because…it can’t be true. Hudson stands behind me, looking confused.
I run to him, bulldozing into him. He catches me, and I cling to him like a koala bear.
“What’s going on?” he asks. “What are you doing here?”
Tears run down my face and all the anxiety inside releases from having him in my arms again.
“Jamison, what’s going on?” Hudson asks.
“We thought that was you on the stretcher,” my dad answers since I can’t.
The helicopter takes off, the wind from the blades whipping up the snow on the ground. I cling to Hudson harder, tighter, afraid to let go.
“That’s some woman who hit her head when some guy ran into her. They’re taking her straight to the hospital as a precaution because she passed out for a few seconds. I’m fine,” Hudson says.
“But you did fall into a tree well?” my dad asks.
“Yeah.” Hudson leans back to see me, but I bury my head in his neck. “I got myself out, and they checked me out. I’m good. My arms hurt from climbing, and I have some scrapes, lost my board, but I’m good. Look at me.”
I inch back and cradle his face.
He smiles. “I’m here.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so stupid.”
“And that’s my cue. We’ll take Adley for the night. You two figure this out.” My dad walks away.
I squirm out of Hudson’s arms. If they’re sore, he doesn’t need to be holding me. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”
“We don’t have to talk. I shouldn’t have asked you to marry me. I just want you in whatever way I can have you. You’re right. A piece of paper doesn’t change anything.”
I shake my head, ready to pour out my heart to him. “Hudson—”
“I just want to go home. I’m exhausted and sore. Drive me home?”
Giving him a small smile, I say, “I’ll gladly play nursemaid.”
We both head to the parking lot, and he passes me his keys.
“Will you wear that baby doll nightie while taking care of me?” he asks.
I laugh, although this conversation isn’t over. I’m going to tell him everything, but I’ll let him get his rest first. “Whatever you want.”
“I want.” He waggles his eyebrows.
He climbs into his truck, and I drive us home, a plan forming in my head. It’s about time I show him exactly how much he means to me.
Hudson sleeps for three hours, which is perfect because it gives me time to get everything ready.
When he stirs awake and rolls over, he finds me staring at him. The anticipation of what I’m about to do is so great that I want to do it as soon as he wakes up.
He jolts back. “Jesus, Palmer. You scared me.”
“Sorry.”
He slowly sits up, his bare chest on display, and I bite my lip because he looks sexy as hell right now. “What’s going on? Why are you staring at me like a stalker?”
I grab my laptop from the nightstand and hand it to him. “Read.”
He rubs his eyes and blinks a few times. “Right now?”
I slide it forward even more. “Yes, now.”
“Okay.” He looks at me as though maybe I’m losing it.
“Could you read it out loud? They tell you to read your manuscript out loud to identify any problems.”
“Really?” I smile sweetly, and he nods. “Fine.”
Pete came into the bedroom carrying pancakes with a hidden treasure under the first one. He couldn’t wait to ask her, his excitement already rising to a level he never imagined.
As he always did, he kissed her to wake her, and Bea’s eyes fluttered open. She smiled and wanted to grab his face and pull it down to hers, but he asked her to scoot up on the bed.
She caught sight of the plate of pancakes, and her stomach grumbled. Pete was way too good to her, better than she felt she deserved. It scared her, although she tried to push those doubts into the far corners of her brain. They still crept in at times like these. Times when she could never imagine being happier than she was in that moment.
Pete’s smile kept growing, and he had this goofy expression she couldn’t decipher. He passed the tray to her. She started buttering the pancakes, lifted the top one, and paused. Her eyes examined the ring placed there, and the panic she thought she’d feel in this moment didn’t come. All the anxiety over a future with Pete disappeared. Something quieted inside her as she picked up the sparkling diamond ring that was perfect for her.
Pete got up on his knees, and his fingers brushed hers as he took the ring from her. Pete told her how much he loved her and explained how he wanted a future with her. Then he said the words she’d thought would terrify her.
“Will you marry me?”
With a grin, Bea held out her left hand for him to slide the ring on. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Pete slid the ring on her finger and took the tray of pancakes off Bea’s lap, bringing her lips to his.
Hudson stops reading and stares at me. “What is this, Palmer?”
I take out the ring and hold it out to him. “Ask me again.”
He shakes his head. “I told you I don’t need you to marry me. I don’t need the marriage license. I can be happy just being with you.”
“And what if I’m not?”
His eyes study me for a long time, and I hold my breath, hoping I didn’t mess it all up. Sitting up on his knees, he takes the ring from my fingers.
“Palmer, I love you. You and Adley are my world. I want to make a million more Adleys with you. I want the crazy life of a chaotic house so that after we’ve put them to bed, I can snuggle with you in the quiet of our home and relax. I want to laugh with you when they do and say the craziest things. But mostly, I just want you. I want to love you through all the good and bad this life will bring us. Will you be my wife?”
I wipe the tears falling down my cheeks. “Yes.”
He slides the ring on my finger, and I tackle him down to the mattress.
“About time,” I joke.
He takes my cheeks in his hands, and I see the question in his eyes. Am I sure? I hope that over time, that question gets answered through my actions.
“God, I love you,” he whispers.
“Will you make me pancakes tomorrow morning?”
He laughs. “Every morning for the rest of my life.”
I lower my body onto his, and we seal it with a kiss.