She rolled the window down and let the rushing wind pummel her face and lift her hair. It was frigid, and she soon couldn’t feel her nose. When she rolled the window up again, she heard Ryan laughing.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” he said.
She sighed. “Isn’t it heavenly? I love it up here. The air is so fresh…”
“Freezing, you mean.”
“Yes, it’s freezing, but in the best possible way. Do you think we’ll see snow?”
“No, I don’t.” He grinned at her. “But you never can tell. Maybe it’ll happen just for you.”
“I hope so.”
“You’re still feeling good about the clinic?”
The sale had gone through faster than she’d expected it to. The new owners wanted to rush it in before the end of the financial year, and she’d been happy to do it. The staff weren’t quite as thrilled as she was. And she’d turned down the offer to manage the place. She didn’t want to stay there, not as an employee. She would start again—do something else. Her life was full of possibilities again, and she kind of loved that.
“I feel great about it. Like an enormous weight has been lifted off me. I thought it was such a great opportunity to own a clinic, work for myself, make all of the calls. But it turns out, I’m just a worker bee. I don’t want to call the shots, or manage the staff, or deal with conflict, or handle lawsuits and bills. I want to show up for work, treat each animal that comes in, and then go home and forget about it.” She sighed. “It’s a pretty confronting ephiphany.”
“That’s okay—running a business isn’t for everyone. I sometimes wonder why I do it.”
“But you’re so good at it,” she pointed out. “It comes naturally to you. You’re lucky.”
He chuckled. “I don’t know if I’d put it that way. It took me years to be able to deal with everything the way I do now. When I first started out, I thought I’d die from the stress.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, of course. It’s hard to make an income out on your own. But gradually, over time, I learned how to manage my workload, how to deal with clients, the types of boundaries that I needed, what was important, and what wasn’t. Now I love it. Most of the time, anyway.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I’m proud of you. Your business is incredible, and you’re so good with the staff. They love you. The Christmas party last week was so much fun, and everyone kept telling me over and over that you’re the best boss they’ve ever had.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like my staff.”
She laughed. “It’s true. And I especially love that you didn’t ask me to organise the party because I’ve been so overwhelmed at the clinic that pulling together a Christmas party would’ve tipped me over the edge.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, it’s not hard — I just booked a restaurant and paid the bill. Easy.”
“And you got gifts for everyone.”
“My assistant did most of that.”
“She’s a keeper.”
He smiled. “Yes, she is.”
“I love your big heart. You always encourage people.” The longer they were married, the more she loved everything about him. She’d never been with anyone like this before — usually she’d get sick of boyfriends, irritated by the little things. But not with Ryan — as time went by, she only wanted to spend more time with him. They didn’t always communicate well, but they were working on it. And their love only seemed to grow.
“Thanks for coming away on this weekend with me. I really needed to get out of town and have a break. And now that you’ve sold the clinic, maybe we can take an actual vacation sometime.”
“I would love that.”
Helen was a quaint town in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in North Georgia. Matilda loved it there, even if it was a little bit cringe with its toffee-making shops and German-style buildings. It was a tourist destination and didn’t try to hide the fact one little bit. But the atmosphere felt similar to a town called Montville in Queensland, which gave it a charm that she enjoyed and made it feel like they’d gotten far away from their everyday lives in Atlanta, even though it was only a two-hour drive.
They checked into their hotel and then donned coats to walk down the main street. The wind on her face was icy and she pushed gloved hands deep into her coat pocket, grateful for the woollen scarf around her neck.
“Where should we eat?” Ryan asked.
“Something’s making me pine for German food.”
