by Frankie Love
And I see him.
“Everyone is going to need to leave the property,” a firefighter directs us.
Samson nods and leads me toward my sister and the rest of the family. The wedding party is huddled on the road, our heels sinking in the deep snow and our bare legs shivering.
“An employee told us that everyone has been safely evacuated,” Sophia explains, her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Taylor looks like a train wreck, stress written in his eyes, and I hate that everything is ruined.
“Does anyone know what happened?” my mother asks. My father’s hand is on hers, and everyone’s watching the back half of the hotel crumble. The sky is full of smoke, and the fact that it’s already nightfall doesn’t help anything.
“I heard someone mention an electrical fire,” my aunt tells us.
As we watch the firefighters work to extinguish the flames, I feel Sampson slip away from me.
Instantly, I wish he were back at my side. I see him speaking with my father and Taylor several feet away.
“I’m so sorry, Sophia,” I tell my sister, wrapping her in a hug. The bridesmaids, Janet and Cecily cling to their husbands, everyone shocked at what has happened.
“It’s all so tragic,” Sophia whispers. “I guess there’s no rehearsal dinner tonight.”
Janet, Cecily and I take in her words. I wish with all my heart there was something I could do to fix things for her.
My mom is talking loudly, not helping the situation, “With this being a holiday weekend all the hotels are booked solid. My third cousin Caroline wanted to come, last-minute, to the wedding, but she couldn’t find a place to stay anywhere.”
“Not a single place to sleep in Whistler?” I ask. “Aren’t there, like, a thousand hotels here?”
“Perhaps, but Caroline wouldn’t stay anywhere less than four-star.”
I realize this is not the time to pick a fight, but it's hard not to roll my eyes at my family’s propriety. All we need now are warm beds, food, and shelter. The truth is, we should just be grateful we are alive.
Several minutes later the men rejoin us.
“Everything okay?” Sophia asks, then groans at herself. “My God, that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever said. Of course, everything is not okay. Everything is ruined.” She wipes the tears from her eyes and Taylor wraps her in a hug.
“Actually, Sophia,” he says. “Everything isn’t lost.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia asks looking up at her husband-to-be.
“The best man saved the day.”
All eyes turn to Samson, who immediately drops his gaze. This mountain man looks uncomfortable in this fancy suit and his beard tells a bigger story. He’s a man who lives on the land and loves this country.
So how is Samson, this reclusive wanderer, going to save the day?
“How?” Sophia asks.
Samson nods his head, looking at my sister. “You’re welcome to join me at my place, for the weekend. It’s not the Claremont, and I’m sorry for that Sophia, but I think it might work in a pinch.”
“Your place?” She asks. She shakes her head confused. “But I thought you lived in a cabin in...” She purses her lips. “Where exactly do you live?”
“I love outside of Faro, in the Yukon. But I have a place here that I keep as an investment property.”
“Investment property?” Sophia asks, looking at me to see if I knew about this. I shake my head, as confused as she is. His words don’t match the image we have of him in our minds.
But then I laugh to myself because this is Samson. Has he ever been anything I thought he was? I thought he was incapable of love, of opening up, being humble and being open. But that isn’t the case all. I got to know him as HeartofGold and realized there’s more to him than meets the eye.
“Why do you have an investment property?” Sophia presses. “I thought you lived in a cabin. In the middle of nowhere.”
“I do live in the middle of nowhere. But, I have a mine up there.” Samson looks at the ground, clearly uncomfortable with her line of questioning.
“A mine?” I ask, thoroughly confused. I guess I assumed Samson hunted bears and foraged for food.
“I, uh, bought some land when I moved up north, and, there was some veins of gold in the Heartland Mountains, which I own.”
“What do you mean, veins of gold?” Janet asks. “Like, a gold mine?”
Sophia is typing away on her phone, lips pursed. Then a shocked gasp escapes them. “Holy shit. You’re not joking.” She turns her phone to face us, images of his mine, his properties, and even a Wikipage on him are listed.
Samson runs his hand over his beard. “Look, I’m a miner, and there was a gold rush a few years back.” Samson nods stoically, looking at the ground, crossing his arms. It’s as if talking about money and his accomplishments is the most uncomfortable thing in the world.
I smile at that, appreciating how he isn’t bound by the trappings of material things. He doesn’t lead with what he has always done. He’s himself, and I can’t help but think maybe I’m not the only one who wears her heart on her sleeve. Maybe Samson does too.
“A gold rush? What does that mean?” Sophia asks.
“It means he’s billionaire.” Taylor says. “Don’t look at me like that, Sophia,” he continues. “I had no idea either. He just told your dad and me just now. But I think this plan is a good one. Solid. It’s not perfect, it’s not the dream you had planned, but we can still get married, you and me. We can still start our life together.”
Taylor wipes away her tears and then she wraps Samson in a hug. “Thank you, thank you so much,” she gushes.
I’m relieved to see my sister finding a way to roll with the punches after so many years of being uptight.
“So how far is your place?” Janet’s husband asks Samson. “Because it’s fucking cold out here. And it’s only gonna get colder.”
“Only thirty minutes away. It won’t take long.”
“And should we order dinner to go?” my mother asks. “Is there, I don’t know, pizza delivery?”
“Oh, my God,” Sophia laughs. “I’ve never heard mom order pizza in my life.” She calms down and says, “I can’t believe the hotel burned down, all of our things are destroyed, were’ standing in snow, and eating pizza for my rehearsal dinner. This was so not the plan.”
We all shake our heads, still not believing what’s just transpired.
“We don’t need to get pizza, Cora,” Samson tells her. “I already called my cook and she’s called in a handful of extra staff for tonight. There will be a dinner for you, Sophia, I promise.”
Cook? Investment properties? The gold rush?
I shake my head in disbelief. Samson saved the day, proving that he truly has a heart of gold.
“Then, let’s not sit around anymore, I’ll sort things out with the hotel later, but for now let’s get everyone out of the cold,” my father says.
“Before you go,” Samson says my father. “I need to speak with you.”
My dad nods and everyone begins to go separate ways, Samson telling them that he’ll text them his address.
I look at my sister, Taylor, and my mom, deciding who I should ride with, grateful we’ve all rented cars when we landed in Whistler.
“Ava Grace,” a voice calls to me. I turned and find Samson looking at me. “I need to talk to your father, but then, you’re coming home with me.”
Chapter Eighteen
I pull Ava Grace’s father aside so we can have a talk. Because later, Ava Grace and I are going to have a talk.
A talk that’s going to change everything.
“What’s this about, son? It’s freezing cold out here you know,” he tells me.
“I know, sir, it’s important.”
“Well then?” He looks at me, waiting for me to continue.
“Here’s the thing, I moved out to the Yukon because I was determined to live my life on my own terms. I did
n’t want to be owned by anyone, have anyone tell me who I needed to be or how I needed to do it. I don’t ask permission.”
Troy nods, and I appreciate that he’s trying to follow.
“The thing is,” I tell him. “I thought I didn’t need to ask permission, for anything. But I was wrong. I need to ask you permission, sir. Permission for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
Troy’s eyebrows raise, clearly shocked, I’m not surprised. I figured he might not know everything that’s gone down between Ava and me, but I need to do this right. Even if it’s uncomfortable or seems old-fashioned, I know one thing about Ava Grace. She’s a romantic. Asking her father for her hand in marriage is something I want to do for her. For us.
“Is this something she’s hoping you’d ask? I don’t mean to be rude, Samson, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“I know, sir, I know it might seem unexpected—”
“No, not unexpected. I’ve learned through raising Ava Grace that expecting the unexpected is the only way to survive when it comes to that girl. And who am I to judge? You want to be with her and she wants to be with you, well then welcome to the family. I trust her implicitly. But you, Samson, can I trust you?”
“Yes, sir,” I tell him. “You can trust me, I won’t let you down.”
Troy nods slowly, reaching his arms around me and giving me a fatherly hug. I haven’t received a hug like this in twenty years.
“It’s not me you need to worry about letting down, Samson. If she’s going to be your wife, Ava Grace is the only one you need to worry about making happy.”
In the car, Ava Grace is silent. I’m silent too, not wanting to push her, but so badly wanting to help her.
Eventually, we get on the road and I know it’s up to me to break the silence.
“I’m so glad you weren’t hurt in the fire, Ava Grace.”
She makes a sharp intake of breath. Her hand reaches for mine. “I forgive you, Samson. I forgive you and I should have told you that sooner.”
“We’ll talk about that, but I don’t want to stress you out. This whole night has already been so—”
“No, I’m not stressed out,” she tells me. “I feel like I know exactly who I am and exactly what I want. And Samson, I hated spending a month without you.”
I look at her, at this woman who takes my breath away. I didn’t expect her onslaught of emotions like this, telling me she’s accepted my apology and that she has missed me.
I wanted her to say these things, of course I did, but I knew I didn’t necessarily deserve them.
“I know what I want too,” I tell her.
“What do you want, Samson?” she asks, squeezing my knee. “Besides giving me your meatballs?”
Her joke makes driving fucking impossible. All I want is to pull over and have her here and now. I groan, feeling my cock grow hard, but knowing I need to get my girl safely home.
I keep my eyes on the road. “I want to talk this all through, but I need to get you to my place safely, first. Hell, especially after we’ve been through the fire, been through hell and back, I need to get you home in one piece.”
“I understand,” she says, keeping her hand on my knee.
My heart is pumping, so fucking grateful that she forgive me. Ava is sitting next to me laughing about mother fucking meatballs and I know we are made for one another.
“So,” she says, “you’re not actually this reclusive man living alone in the woods?”
I shake my head to clarify. “I am a recluse. I live alone, except for some employees.”
“But you live out in the woods? Pretty far from here?”
“I live about a two-hour flight from here, and it’s in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. But it’s beautiful. And I’m lucky bastard to have so much.”
“I can’t believe you’re a billionaire. You really pull off the I-don’t-give-a-shit-vibe very well.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Ava Grace laughs, and that laughter fills the car with what sounds like a thousand stars.
“It is a compliment,” she tells me, lacing her fingers through mine. “A very good compliment.”
Once everyone has arrived safely to my home, everyone’s eyes widen as they take in my place.
“Damn, brother, this is just one of your homes?” Taylor asks.
“Yeah, but honestly, the things I own don’t define me.”
Ava Grace is by my side. The girl who is incapable of holding back. “So, then what defines you, Samson?”
“The people in my life.”
“Crazy to hear that from you, Samson,” Taylor scoffs. “After you’ve been MIA for so long.”
“People change,” I say, meaning it with every fiber of my being.
Esme and Linda somehow managed to find five people to help run the show tonight. “We sent someone to town to get everyone toiletries and a simple change of clothing,” Esme explains to the wedding party.
“Do you think all of our luggage is completely destroyed?” Cecily asks.
“We’ll know tomorrow,” Troy says. “I just got done talking with hotel and they don’t know how much damage there was. Thankfully, the fire was contained quickly and was just in a portion of the hotel. So, we might be okay.”
“Alright,” Sophia says. “It’s just, my wedding dress...”
“I know dear,” her mother says. “But there is no use fretting over trying to work that all out. Someone is running to grab us pajamas and toothbrushes. So, we can be grateful for that.”
Esme lets everyone know that dinner will be served in one hour and if they’d like to relax in the great room until then, there are cocktails and appetizers waiting.
Everyone starts to leave the foyer, a game plan in place, but I catch the eye of Ava, not wanting her to leave with everyone else.
Not wanting her to leave at all.
“Ava Grace, can you come with me?”
“Are you going to tell me what you want now?” she asks with a smile.
“I am.” I take her hand and lead her to the back of the house. I drape a coat over her shoulders and offer her a pair of gloves. I don a coat as well and open the back door, stepping back into the frigid winter air.
“Better be good, to bring me back out to the freezing cold.”
“It’s good. I promise.” I take her hand and lead her down a path away from the house. The sky is pitch black and you can’t hear a thing. I look at her and then raise my eyes to the stars.
“Ava Grace, there there are more stars in the sky than anyone can count, and that has always made me feel so small. But then I met you, and I didn’t feel insignificant anymore. I didn’t feel like I needed to hide. Your light was burning bright; you are stars, personified. You light up my life and I don’t want to be in the night sky alone. I want to be your star. And I want you to be mine.”
Tears fill her eyes. She’s looking at me as if she can’t look away. And I can’t look away either. She has captivated me.
“I love you, Ava Grace. And I know I am flawed. I know I messed up a part of our story and for that, I am so sorry. But I don’t think our story is finished, I think it has just begun. I think our love was written in the stars. I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me, Ava Grace?”
Ava gasps, covering her mouth in surprise. “Yes, yes Samson.” She’s crying and nodding and trembling all at the same time. She’s laughing the laugh that captured my heart and fills my soul.
I dropped to one knee and pull out the black box. Then I open it, offer the final secret that I’ve kept.
“Oh, my God, Samson. You? You did this... for me?”
“I know is not conventional to ask a woman to make her own engagement ring, but—”
“It’s the most romantic thing. Samson, you truly have a heart of gold.”
She wraps her arms around me, and I breathe her in, her goodness and her truth and her love. I don’t know how I got so lucky as to find her, to have and to hold her, but I do.
/>
And I’ll never let her go.
“I’m going to kiss you now, Ava Grace.”
My hands cup her cheeks and I pull her lips to mine. I kiss her softly, I kiss her gently. I kiss her and promise her my heart.
Chapter Nineteen
I can’t believe my life right now.
We walk into the great room, where everyone is drinking cocktails, laughing, warming up by the fire blazing in the gorgeous fireplace.
I don’t want to steal my sister’s thunder, but today was so wild, so unexpected on so many levels, and besides, everyone I love is here.
My sister and her husband and my parents. My cousin Trudy and her Star Wars fanatic husband and my aunt and her husband. I must tell them the news because there are no guarantees, all we have is now.
Right now, if I tell them, they can celebrate with me. We can toast together... and then Samson and I can continue with our night as planned.
After telling them the news everyone offers us hugs and congratulations. I’m grateful for my sister, because even if she’s got a total stick up her ass in so many situations, her heart is good, and her love for me is real. She wants the best for me the same way I want the best for her. And really, can anyone ask for more than that?
“Ava, I’m so happy. I’m so happy this worked out the way it did.” Sophia’s eyes are filled with tears and I don’t know if it’s the cocktail or the fact that her wedding dress may be burned to a crisp but her support means so much.
“I have the best idea,” Sophia says. “We should have a double wedding. Tomorrow.”
I laugh. “Um, okay, sweetheart, you get right on that.”
“No,” she says, grabbing my hands. “I mean it. After that fire tonight, all I can think is how precious life is. How we can’t have everything perfect—”
“Wait,” I say, raising my hands in feigned shock. “My sister, the one and only Sophia is admitting that life isn’t always perfect?”
“I know, right?” She laughs. “But it’s true. When you find love it would be foolish to squander it, for even one day.”