by Hanna Hart
Ava thought about what kind of father Walker would be and found herself swooning at the thought. He would be perfect, of course. Kind and caring, supportive and hilarious. He would be a hands-on dad, teaching their little one to wrangle cows and ride horses. He would buy their little one a child’s size cowboy hat and boots.
But of course, this reality did not exist. It didn’t happen six years ago, and there was a large possibility that it wouldn’t happen in the future, either.
"Alright, we just have a couple more shots we want to get,” her director, Jacklyn, said as they traversed the edge of the lodge property.
“No problem,” Ava said, following the woman toward their equipment.
She did some B-roll of a snowboarder looking out across the white, snow-struck field, staring up at the ski lift amidst a quickly pinkening sky. It was a beautiful shot.
“We were hoping you could ride the ski lift to get the next shot?” her boss instructed, pointing out over the distance to the ski lift. “The sun is setting, and we want that perfect sweep of the hills.”
Ava bit her lip and looked out over the mountain, getting a feel for the shot. She walked up to a hard, silver case in her stack of equipment and said, “I can use my drone for that. It'll be able to get a wider scope than I can with my camera.”
"Can we do both?” Jacklyn asked.
"Sure,” Ava said, drawing her brows together curiously. “That's not a problem. I'll just have to do the drone quickly before I jump on the lift. I don't want to miss the sun going down.”
"Perfect,” Jacklyn said, moving her gloved fingers into an ‘OK’ sign. “Thank you.”
She took the drone out and sent it expertly into the air. She watched as it captured views of the warming sky and one of the skiers going down the bunny hill.
Next, she flew the machine high across the snow-capped mountains for tingling views of the beautiful property. Seeing everything come together was the part of the job she loved the most. The finished project was going to be fantastic.
“Ski lift!” Jacklyn called, and she grit her teeth.
“I’m on it!” she called out. She hated being rushed.
She shuffled up to the ski chair lift and was surprised to see that an attendant was already waiting for her to mount the lift. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t an attendant at all. It was Walker.
Her heart dropped when she saw him, and it took her a moment to fully comprehend him here, in her space. It was two worlds colliding.
"Hey,” she said in surprise.
"Hey, you,” he said with his perfect smile. He reached his hand out to her, green eyes lighting up in the fading sunlight.
"What are you doing here?” she asked.
"Helping you up on the lift,” he teased, pulling her up onto the chair. “Rumor has it you are notoriously bad at it.”
"I was in my younger years,” she said, allowing him to hoist her up onto the contraption. “But I've become something of a pro at it these days.”
"Is that right?” he flirted.
"That's right,” she said and then jumped in shock when the chair lift began moving up. “I was really bad at a lot of things when I was younger, actually,” she said, meeting his eyes as they ascended the mountain property. “Like confiding in the people that I loved.”
“I’ve done a lot of thinking these past couple of days,” he said. “And this whole not talking thing? I don’t like it one bit.”
“I don’t like it either,” she smiled.
“This not having you around, thing? I don’t like that either?”
“Then it goes,” she said, quickly picking up their familiar banter. “It’s fired!”
“Good,” he said, setting a hand over the top of hers.
“Walker, I am so, so, so,” she began, but he squeezed her hand and said, “Ava. It’s okay.”
She could feel her emotions getting the better of her and her lip began to tremble. "I feel so terrible,” she cried. “I can't stop thinking about what things would have been like if I had just told you. I was just so ashamed that I—”
Walker shook his head, and his presence was so calming that she suddenly felt lost for words.
“I am so sorry that you had to go through all that alone,” he said earnestly.
Her eyes brimmed with tears, and they burned against her eyelids in the cold.
“I'm sorry, too,” she said. “I should have known that you would be there for me. I should have told you and every day that I didn't tell you it hurt me, and now it's hurt you, and I can hardly stand it.”
"There is nothing we can do about that now, as you said. It's done. Does it hurt?” he asked rhetorically, looking out over the blankets of snow that covered the smooth ground below them. “It hurts more than I ever thought it could. But I know that is just a fraction of what you experienced when you lived through it. You're a strong person, Ava. Stronger than me.”
"That's impossible,” she said and let out a sad laugh. “Besides, I heard you disarmed a nuclear bomb the other day. Now that takes real courage.”
Walker laughed, too. “Rhys,” he said, rolling his eyes playfully.
She looked at him then like he was her savior, come from above to bring her back to life.
“Hey,” he said. “Maybe there's a reason why all of this happened the way that it did. We both had the chance to separate and grow. Maybe I had to lose you to realize how much I had taken you for granted.”
"You didn't take me for granted, Walker," she hushed.
"Sometimes I did, and I never want to do that again. The time we've had apart has helped me become a better man. And you're different, too. Maybe you don't see it, but you are. You've opened up to me more in the last two months than you did in the two-plus years we were together, and I think there's a reason for that."
"Walker," she began, but he hushed her.
"I don't want to live in the past anymore. I want to look to the future, if you'll still have me."
She cried then. "Of course, I will."
"And the offer’s still open for you to come to Texas with me," he winked, nudging her.
"Yes," she blurted out. "Yes, yes, yes!"
A smile pulled at both sides of his lips, and it made her feel breathless. "Wait, what?" he grinned.
"Yes, I want to come back with you," she said.
"Are you sure? What about your mom and your job?
"We'll figure it out," she smiled. "Together."
Walker looked happier than she'd ever seen him before, and it only reinforced to her how much he cared about her happiness and their future together. "Then I think there's just one more thing I want to say before we make this official," he said.
"What is it?"
He raised a gloved pinky finger into the air. "The next time either one of us has a life-changing event, we have to promise to tell each other. We're partners from here on out. Where you go, I go. Your needs are my needs. Your love is my love. Your burdens are mine to carry. We have to be honest with each other." He paused. "Promise?"
"I promise," she said, hooking her pinky finger around his. “Always and forever.”
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About the Author
Hanna Hart is a passionate sweet clean contemporary romance author who has found the love for writing since the age of 6.
Hanna lives in the beautiful Santa Cruz California with her loving husband, two children and dog Milo. Other then dreaming up of extremely sweet & romantic stories, Hanna enjoys spending time with her family, going to the beach, cooking great food, traveling the world, and getting a lot of exercise.
Hanna’s purpose is to delivery very sweet romantic stories to her readers that will touch their hearts in a very meaningful taking them to another place that will positively impact their life.
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