by Sarah Gai
Winter pulled the ring up close, wiping the stray tears away so she could get a better look. She gasped as she saw within the gold snowflake in the middle was a diamond-shaped piece of glass that held a real, honest-to-goodness snowflake. She looked back at Nolan. "I can't believe this. This is beyond magical, Nolan."
"It's a symbol. The gold snowflake is me and I will always protect you and love you and surround you with everything I am."
Winter crawled onto the sofa with him, kissing his face, his eyes, and his neck until her tears dried. He would never know the gift he gave her that day. He not only gave her his heart, but he included the significance of the two other men she had loved and lost, sharing his promise of forever with them. She thought she loved him immensely already; but in that moment, her love for him grew to unheard of heights.
Nolan
As the sign for Ligonier, came into view, Nolan gently nudged his wife from her slumber. Winter rubbed at her eyes, pushing herself up to sit straighter. It had been a long two-day trip by car from Port Townsend, but it was going to be worth it.
"Are we there?" she signed, not waiting for an answer as she looked into the backseat of their new family car and smiled as she peered at their son.
Within one month of proposing, Nolan and Winter were married in front of family and friends on their property. Only a month after that, Winter found out they were expecting and Nolan almost fainted with happiness. To say he treated her like a porcelain doll, fragile and breakable, was an understatement, one he was continuously chewed out for.
His girl was a fighter and stronger than anyone he had ever known. As the pregnancy progressed, Winter began designing book covers and websites from home. His mother, Kim, was overrun with requests for Winter's work and had to bring on a personal assistant just to help Winter out. The business expanded; aside from publishing, his two favorite ladies were running Reed Logos and Branding.
Rosie and Carl had a little girl they named Viola. She's the cutest thing to walk the earth aside, from his and Winter’s son, Hunter. Viola was a softer, girly version of Connor with platinum blond hair and a genuine smile that lit up a room.
Hunter had just turned six-weeks old and, even though he was blessed with Winter’s thick, black hair from birth, Nolan still held out hope he was going to take after him. Maybe the hair would lighten? Either way, he was going to be one handsome young man. The best thing about Hunter was he had two parents who would love him unconditionally.
Everything seemed to be working out in their lives, which was all that mattered to them. Aunt Peggy sold her home in Seattle and moved in permanently with Abigail. The garden beds were restored to their former glory as the two women worked side-by-side daily on the property, the sister-in-laws almost inseparable. You would have never thought they were once enemies for a time.
As for Winter and her mother, it was a work in progress. However, since Hunter was born, Abigail called almost daily just to see how her grandson was doing; Nolan saw the smile that crept onto Winter’s face every time.
Sadie and Henry were about to head off to travel the world on a six-month European trip. Sadie was a regular visitor at their home as she and Winter worked out their differences.
Nicole and Charlie were only two months away from making Nolan and Winter an aunt and an uncle. Unfortunately, they never got around to taking their honeymoon; Nicole refused to go anywhere while she had Winter's wedding to plan.
As for Winter’s friend Holly, she visited for the wedding and flew home a week later. Nolan enjoyed watching them communicate, their mouths and hands moving simultaneously. Holly and Winter knew each other on another level. They were akin in a way he would never truly experience. Four months later, the newlyweds found out that after Holly helped Winter out by picking up her things from her old workplace, Holly happened to strike it up with Andrew, Winter's old boss. They have been together ever since and Winter was overjoyed. They both deserved happiness and each other.
Winter pulled him from his thoughts. "So, you didn't answer me," she huffed.
"You looked away," Nolan signed one-handed, keeping the other on the wheel. They had gotten good at communicating with one another, using their own shortened words and symbols for names and meanings.
"It doesn't matter. I can tell we are here and I can't wait to get out of this car!" she signed back. Nolan watched her while keeping an eye on the road.
"And see Autumn."
Winter grinned, "Yes, and see Autumn."
Their new friends left Port Townsend and headed home the day before Nolan was released from the hospital, yet the couples stayed in touch. Winter and Autumn messaged daily and had become the best of friends. Autumn even learned to use Skype to showcase her new ASL skills on a weekly basis after her classes. For Nolan and Winter’s wedding gift, Eric sculpted a large snowflake made completely of wire, intricately melded, bent, and entwined, which sits outside the backyard. Winter loved it so much she built a small pond around it that ices over in the winter.
They pulled up in front of the B&B Autumn booked for them, owned and operated by Autumn’s aunt, Ava. The Reeds would stay in Ligonier for two days before heading another eleven hours down to Savannah, Georgia to see his sister, Summer. Nolan was excited to be seeing her again.
The door to the B&B flew open and Autumn came rushing down the porch stairs. Winter jumped out of the car rushing into her friend’s arms.
Nolan sat looking at the two women giddy with excitement. He nodded towards Eric as he slowly made his way down the steps, but his eyes moved back towards his wife. How did he get so lucky? Winter might not hear the world, but she saw things, small things each person did, and felt things most would never pay attention to. We dull our senses because we don't need to focus, taking for granted our ability to hear, missing out on so much. We don’t see people the way we should. We don’t notice the miniscule, unspoken things they are trying to say. Winter had shown him those hidden qualities and quirks a human could have without a single word needing to be uttered. She showed him what life truly held.
Nolan turned to look at Hunter, sleeping soundly in the car seat. He would grow up learning the best of both worlds—hearing his daddy speaking with him and learning the intricate language of his mother and the extraordinary world she lived in. Yes, Nolan was one lucky man!
If you loved reading Winter Signs as much as I loved writing it, please I would really appreciate you leaving a review at the site you purchased from. You will truly never know the gratitude an Indie Author feels when a reader helps them out, xoxo.
This book, by far, has been one of the greatest and hardest to write. I came up with this story after sitting in a cafe with a friend having a lovely cappuccino. One thing I always do is look around at the tables of people, imagining what their life story could be, even giving them occupations and accents I think they could have. This day though, none of my usual thoughts or imaginings took place as I peered over at a table with two women talking animatedly, their hands signing a million miles a minute, their mouths moving, yet making next to no sound. And then they laughed. I smiled. Seriously…I was like, “Wow! I want to know what they were saying!”
Well, like the crazy person I am, I simply walked over, leaving my friend at our table, and kindly introduced myself. Let me tell you that day the character of Winter was born. And I thank God that I made the decision to speak to those two amazing women. One of the biggest challenges I faced was writing the dialogue. In sign language, there are a lot of short cuts used in sentence structure. So to make it readable for the hearing that have never used or cannot understand sign language, I decided to use full sentence dialogue.
I really do hope you enjoyed Winter Signs. Grief is a hard thing and there is no time limit on how long it will last. It could be a month, a year, a decade, or the rest of your life that you mourn over the loss of a loved one, a marriage breakdown, or a friendship you thought would never end. You see, grief comes in all shapes, but no matter how long it takes, know th
at it’s okay to feel and know that, when you’re ready, the sun is waiting right outside your window wanting shine on you once again.
Love Sarah Gai xo
Okay, so I’m going to make this quick. I actually cry when I write this part because I’m me and I cry at everything.
First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Saviour whom has gifted me with the passion to write for which I thank you daily. To my amazing husband who believes in me and lifts me up with kind and loving encouragement when I’m having a bad day, you are my rock and I love you more than you will ever know. To my beautiful boys who are just as quirky as me, I am honoured to be your mother. I love you my little snuggle bunnies! To Lisa White, my dear friend and fellow author, our daily chats keep me grounded and make me smile. I love that we found each other and I love you for encouraging me with my writing. To Kim Burger, my editor, I don't think there is a book I haven't thanked you in. What would I do without you? Seriously, you are the only person who understands my crazy mind and I love your crazy, beautiful mind, too! To Ilsie, my cover designer from The Woodsy Fawn, we have been together since my first book and I just don’t know where I would be without you. I write a book and instantly think, “Ilsie will know what I’m thinking as far as cover design.” Thank you for being there! To all of the bloggers who support every book release, I’m sending you all kisses. And my readers…thank you! You are amazing! You make me smile and want to be a better writer and I love that you send me emails or talk on Facebook…seriously, I love it! I love it so much I spend just as much time on social media and looking at my inbox as I do writing!
Love Sarah Gai xo
So this is me in short. I'm plus size and completely adorable (or so my husbands tells me). A momma of three princes who light my world. I drink way too much coffee, chocolate is a staple. I love to write after midnight and my addiction for short stories is insatiable. With such a limited amount of time to enjoy quiet writing, I have mastered the skills of fitting a lot into a small amount of pages. Humour keeps me smiling and well.. if you've read my books you'll know that I put a lot of myself into the characters. And to answer your questions. My best friends and I forgot the part about growing up and love every minute of it. I always dare my readers to figure out which character I moulded after a piece of myself in each book and email me. Think you can pick it?
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Also by Sarah Gai
Contemporary Romance
Season Named Series
(All can be read as a series or standalone)
Autumn’s Dance (Book 1)
Winter Signs (Book 2)
Summer Notes (Book 3) Coming Soon!
Spring Mornings (Book 4) Coming Soon!
Plus size chick lit
The Curvies Series
Curve My Song (Book 1)
Curve My Attitude (Book 2)
Curve My Heart (Book 3)
Sparkles Book Club
Sparkles in Love (Book 1)
More…
Loving Brody & Saved by Sam
