Good. Just read and slept. Penny and Don picked us up in a huge black Mercedes.
??I bet they were excited to meet you.
They brought me balloons and a huge stuffed bear.
Nice.
How’s Ben?
Haven’t seen him yet. Just landed. We’re still waiting to deplane.
I bet he missed you.
I hope so. And I hope you and Charlotte will come visit us after she finishes her book.
I’ll see if we can.
Lilly was about to put her phone back in her lap and start listening to what was being said again. But because she was also hurt that Julian didn’t come get them from the airport, she took a moment to text him instead.
I can’t believe you didn’t come get us.
Three dots appeared. She thought he was going to finally say something back, but then they disappeared and she didn’t get anything.
chapter 30
Sloane was nervous as she made her way down to baggage claim. She felt like a different person from the woman who’d left Seattle a month ago. Back then, she’d been so single-minded, so caught up in her work and trying to make her business a success that she’d gotten tunnel vision. The design studio was all she could think about, all she wanted to think about. It was a wonder Ben had put up with the neglect.
A month away had given her a better perspective. She still loved her business and wanted to succeed, but Italy had reminded her how much the people in her life meant to her—how muchBenmeant to her.
He was waiting for her with a dozen roses in one hand, smiling as he caught sight of her rushing toward him.
“Feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen you,” she said as she threw her arms around him, nearly crushing the flowers.
He laughed as he stumbled back. She’d obviously hit him with more force than he’d expected. But then his arms went around her, too, as well as they could with the flowers, and she felt the safety and security of being pressed against her life partner.
“I missed you so much,” he murmured.
She pulled back to look into his face. “I missed you, too. It’s so good to be home.”
He handed her the flowers, and she dipped her head to smell one of the fragile buds. “These are beautiful.”
“Impractical. But I thought this occasion called for impractical—something that would simply say,I love you.”
She let the warm glow inside her reflect on her face. “I love you, too.”
Other travelers were walking past. Some looked as rumpled and tired as she was, and yet they grinned when they saw the flowers. An old guy even gave them a thumbs-up. They were becoming a bit of a spectacle, probably making people wonder if they’d just gotten engaged, which was no doubt why Ben lowered his voice to a whisper when he said, “Did I dream what you told me about having a baby?”
“That I want one? No, it wasn’t a dream. I meant it. I still do.”
“What about your business? I know it’ll be hard—”
“Lots of moms have businesses. If they can do it, so can I. I no longer see it as mutually exclusive.”
“I’ll help. I’ll do all I can to give you the time you need,” he promised.
“I know you will. But I’m not going to have a baby just to pass him or her off to you. I don’t want to be an absentee mom. I want to be part of the experience. I’ll just have to learn how to become a better juggler.”
His eyes sparkled as he said, “I can’t tell you how excited I am.”
