Thanks to Fran, Dani, Ariel, Gemma, and all of you for your edits, help, and support.
Saying goodbye to Esme later that day is both hard and easy at the same time. Hard, because I miss her already the second we pull out of her driveway. Easy because I know this won't be the last time I see her. Even though Edward is uneasy whenever I leave the cabin for extended periods of time, I know I'll be spending more time with Esme than I ever expected.
Maybe it's the nostalgia of the holiday.
The thought crosses my mind as Edward and I make our way back to our cabins a little after lunch. We had enjoyed our Thanksgiving leftovers immensely, and Esme still managed to send us home with enough to last us for days.
Excitement runs through my veins as I think about all the different recipes I can make using them, and it makes me smile that something as simple as stored leftovers can bring out a side of me I had thought long forgotten.
Sighing, I watch from the passenger seat as Edward makes his way back into the car. He had traded in yesterday's suit for his, or my, favorite pair of black sweatpants and a gray thermal shirt stretched tightly over his torso and shoulders. A navy blue vest covers his chest as he loads up on more firewood for us back home. Just sitting here and watching him, my head leaning back against the headrest in his car, brings me such a level of peace.
I never watched my husband and thought these things. Even before he transformed into a stranger, I was more dazed, captured under a dangerous spell, than how I am with Edward.
Being with Edward is easy. Effortless. Like a dream.
It's perfect.
"You ready?" He asks me when the firewood is loaded in the back of his Jeep, turning over to look at me as he buckles his seatbelt. He's completely unaware of how the little things he does, like stopping to pick up wood for the fire or the way he made sure to position Esme's tree exactly to her liking, drives home missing parts of me I never wanted to find again.
Until him.
When I answer him, I'm talking about more than just our ride back home. "Yes."
He smiles again, linking our hands together, his cold from being outside and mine warm from waiting for him.
I feel like I've been waiting for him for a lot longer than just tonight.
He pulls into my driveway, and we walk up the gravel driveway to the door of my cabin leisurely, both of us tired from the holiday activity.
"I'm going to get the fire started," he says, pointing over to the front of his cabin near the lake. "See you in a few?"
"No," I respond, shaking my head, and suddenly what I want tonight is perfectly clear. I pull him down to me, his lips landing on mine so fiercely we can start a fire right now on my porch. "I want you here."
Can't blame ya, chic. See you tomorrow!