"I know it's a lot to ask," I tell her. "You have a job and you've already planned to move back. I'm just asking you to consider this. To stay in Vermont and help me keep the place going, and hopefully expand it. The event planning would be all yours. You could make it whatever you want. As for running the inn, I'd love your help but if you only want to do the events, I'll handle the other stuff on my own."
The phone gets silent again, then I finally hear her voice. "Where would I live?"
"I was thinking we'd stay at the inn."
"We? So we'd live together?"
"We wouldn't have to. It's up to you."
She's making me nervous. I can't tell if she wants this or not.
"Would we get to stay in our room?" she asks.
"You mean the one we've stayed in before," I confirm.
"Yes."
"I'm the owner, so yeah."
I just called myself the owner. Of an inn. I can't believe this is happening.
"So let me clarify," she says. "I get to run my own event business, live in a beautiful country inn, with the guy that I love? Hmmm. I might need some time to think about that."
"Take all the time you need." I'm smiling now because I know her answer.
We're really doing this.
"Okay, I've made my decision," she says.
"That was fast. So what'd you decide?"
"Yes!" she squeals. "Are you kidding? This is amazing! I can't believe you did this! You're really buying the inn?"
"Just need Tom to sign the deal. He wants this, Sophie. So does Lois. But they didn't want just me. They wanted you too. They think we'll make a good team. So do I. I just wasn't sure you'd agree to it, especially since you'd already taken a job."
"I never wanted to move back there. I took that job because I thought it was my only option. But this... this is better than anything I could even imagine. I'm so happy right now, Aiden. I wish you were here so we could celebrate."
"How about I drive up right now?"
"Don't you have to be at work tomorrow? You said you gave them two weeks."
"I'll call in sick. I have a week of sick days to use. Maybe I'll be sick all week." I go to the hall closet and grab my suitcase. "I'm packing right now. I'll see you tonight."
"It'll be late. Why don't you wait until the morning?"
"I've waited long enough to be with you. Longer than I should have, and I'm sorry for that. All the time we spent apart here in New York was time we should've been together. I'll leave in a few minutes. I'll text when I'm heading out."
"Aiden?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too. I'll see you soon."
As I hurry to pack, I keep thinking how crazy this is, buying an inn and moving to Vermont. But I'm also in love, and love makes you do crazy things.
Sophie awakened a part of me I'd hidden away because it wasn't practical or logical. It was the part of me that dreams of doing something that doesn't fit with what others expect me to do. The part of me that was alive when I was a child, but died when I got older.
It'd still be dead if Sophie hadn't come into my life. She makes me see my life in a different way. The way it was meant to be all along. The only thing missing is a partner to share it with, which I'm hoping will be her.
If she says yes.
26
Six Months Later
Sophie
It's the first day of spring, and the day we break ground on the new addition. It's going to be a simple space that's just one big room with lots of windows. The open space will allow me to transform it all different ways, depending on the event. The contractor assured us it'd be done by June, but just to be safe I've decided not to schedule anything in there until early September.
The first event is going to be a wedding reception. Since it's in the fall, the room will be decorated with deep oranges and reds, with pops of yellow.
The wedding itself will be outdoors. Aiden and I finalized the plans for the outdoor event area last month. The work is scheduled to begin in April and be completed by June. The wedding will take place in the new gazebo, which will be decorated with fall flowers and little twinkling lights. The