Rush’s nose brushes my cheek, his lips kissing at the corner of my mouth. “Are you hungry, my love? We’re nearly there but I’m not opposed to stopping to eat.”
I sigh, turning my face just enough to press my lips to his. “I think I’ll make it.”
“Wait until you see,” Emma gushes. “It’s so pretty and I’m getting a cake.”
“Emma,” Rush lightly admonishes. “It’s a surprise, remember?”
She claps her hands. “Sorry!”
Rush taps my thigh. “I think it’s just about time to take off the blindfold. Don’t you?”
“Yes,” Emma’s hands tug at the fabric, removing it from my eyes. It catches in my dark hair that hangs midway down my back.
I blink at the brightness, brushing my hair back into place, as I try to adjust. Slowly, the scenery comes into focus. “What am I looking at? All I see is trees.”
Both Emma and Rush give a good long laugh at that. “Wait just a moment,” Rush answers, before the trees give way exposing a valley, surrounded by white-tipped mountains. I gasp at the beauty, staring up at the peaks, before my eyes sink lower.
The road we’re on spiders out, splitting into six branches, leading to six beautiful houses with a babbling river that curves around them. “What in the…”
Rush winces. “I hope you don’t mind. Win commissioned the project so none of us got much say in the design or layout.”
“Mind?” I ask, turning to my husband. Is he trying to tell me that one of these houses belongs to us?
“Family compound,” he explains. “The mountains provide a lot of natural protection, and a high-end security system make it virtually undetectable from anything other than a low flying aircraft.”
I stare at him, my mouth hanging open.
“I know the past year has been difficult with all that’s been happening in New York.”
“I keep telling you, the past year has been a dream.”
He smiles. “But the entire family has wanted a place where we can let our guard down, feel safe, and be together. With allthe new babies,” he rubs my belly, kissing my cheek again, “it seems wise.”
I look back over the valley, in awe of what my life has become. “I love it.”
“Tell her the best part,” Emma crows.
Rush grimaces. “Well. Since the family is all here, and it’s someone’s birthday tomorrow…” He looks up at the ceiling of the car. “We might be having a birthday party today to christen the new house.”
“Rush,” I admonish, sitting up in my seat. “You didn’t.”
“He did,” Emma shouts, throwing her arms around Rush’s neck. “Uncle Lian and Aunt Chloe will be there with Marigold. And Uncle Gris and Aunt Arabella too. Uncle Triston is coming, and Uncle Ryker…” She keeps babbling the names of the family members.
“Win and Katarina have been here since the wedding, they planned the birthday party. Little Winston is especially enamored with the river, so I think they plan to stay most of the summer.”
The car pulls into the house that is first and to the left, Rush’s family filing out the front door to greet us, Killian holding what must be fifty balloons as he comes around from the back of the house.
I sigh. “Between you and Killian, she’s going to be spoiled rotten.”
“To the core,” Emma crows, jumping out of the car the moment it turns off. I let her go as she races toward Killian.
Rush helps me out of the car, but he holds me for a moment, in the open door of the car, his arms coming around me. “I love you, Gigi.”
“I love you too,” I sigh, wrapping my arms around him. “I love you more than words can ever express. Thank you for this beautiful life and thank you for…just being you.”
He laughs. “You are the only woman on the planet who would say that.”
“Of course, I am. It’s because we’re perfect together.”
