when exit signs for Abbotsford appeared on the side of the highway, I made my way to the right lane to take our exit ramp. Kathryn went quiet as we crossed the overpass and entered the rural community of Abbotsford. We drove through the major part of the city first before heading out into the flat countryside where my family home awaited us.
The fields were covered in about half a foot of snow. The roads were plowed but the gritty salt left on the pavement made the tires loud. Kathryn didn’t seem to mind. In fact, it seemed to me like she wasn’t in the car with me anymore.
She was gazing out at the winter wonderland that always took my breath away whenever I made the drive home.
“You should see how green it is in the summer,” I told her.
Chapter 19
Kathryn
At the end of a long two-lane road, Ethan pulled into a narrow driveway. The property was blocked off from view of the road by tall dense shrubs topped off in snow that made them top heavy and droopy. Little white lights tried to glow valiantly through the snow, but they were hard to spot.
Upon driving through the barricade of shrubs, Ethan’s family home came into view. It was a beautiful, classic house with white siding and black shutters. A beautiful wreath hung on the red front door and a Christmas tree glittered in the living-room window. White icicle lights trimmed the roof and a string of red and white lights framed the garage.
It was the kind of house you saw on the front of a Christmas card, not in real life.
“This is where you grew up?” I breathed as I took off my seatbelt and prepared to step out into the cold night air. I wasn’t wearing the right shoes to walk up a snow-covered driveway but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Heels or no heels, I was going inside.
“It is,” Ethan said as he took his keys out of the ignition. “It didn’t look quite like this when my parents bought it, but over the years, my dad made some upgrades. He always told my mom he’d give her her dream house one way or another. And he did.”
That sounded romantic but I didn’t tell Ethan I thought so.
We got out of the car. Snow kissed the tops of my exposed feet and I stifled a yelp. I hurried up to the front door which was covered by an overhang and stomped my feet to knock snow off the patent leather.
Ethan stepped up on the stoop beside me and looked down at my feet. “My mother might have a pair of socks you can borrow if your feet are cold.”
Now that was the kind of thing a boyfriend did. I glowered at him. “If you ask your mother if I can borrow a pair of socks, I will strangle you with them, Ethan Collinder. Do you hear me?”
“She might have Christmas ones,” he said innocently.
“You’re making it worse.”
He laughed, shouldered open the door, and bellowed down the long hall that we had arrived.
I heard a chorus of hellos down the hall. People began making their way around the corner to come see us while Ethan helped me out of my jacket. He hung it up for me and tucked my shoes out of the way before stepping out of his own boots and greeting his mother with a kiss on the cheek and a big hug.
She smiled at me over his shoulder, her plump cheek all squished up against the side of his neck, her small hands rubbing circles over his upper back.
I smiled back and fought the sensation that I didn’t belong there.
When she released her son, he moved on to hug his siblings and his mother shook my hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Kathryn. We’ve heard so much about you. Come on in, dear. What can I get you? A glass of wine? Beer? Water?”
“Wine would be lovely. Thank you, Mrs. Collinder.”
“Please,” she said, patting my wrist, “call me Naomi.”
Naomi bustled off back down the hall toward what I assumed was the kitchen while Ethan made introductions.
“Guys, this is Kathryn. Kathryn, this is my sister, Dana, my brother, Eli, and his wife, Casey.”
I shook their hands one after another like an assembly line. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” they echoed, but I could see in their eyes that they were as thrown by my being there as I was.
Suddenly, I