Working It Out (30 page)

“What?” He shot Grace a
confused, blank stare—one that brought Seth back to reality.

Without a second thought,
Seth pulled the bike—
his
bike—toward him. “She’s right. It isn’t for
sale anymore.”

“But I drove all the way
from North Gate,” the man protested. “And I have the check already made out.”

Seth dug in his pocket and
pulled out two twenty-dollar bills then slapped them into the guy’s hand. “That
should more than cover your gas.”

The man frowned and glared
at Grace before shoving his checkbook back inside his pocket. With a huff, he
turned and stalked to his car. Seth had never been more glad to see anyone go.

Slowly, he lowered his
bike to the ground and left it there. His heart hammered as his eyes met Grace’s.
“Did you really just buy a bike?”

“Were you really just
about to sell yours?” She walked toward him, stopping right in front of him.

“Yeah,” said Seth.

“Why?” she asked again,
her beautiful green eyes focused on him.

“Because I’d rather have
you.” Seth paused, wanting to pull her to him, but not daring to touch her just
yet. “I actually listed it Saturday night, but no one came to look at it until
today. I figured I couldn’t ask you back until I had proof that I’m willing to
change.”

Her lips drew into her
mouth as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She blinked them away and
smiled. “That’s ironic, because I bought a bike for the exact same reason.” She
took a tentative step toward him and interlocked her fingers with his. “I came
here with a compromise: I’ll learn to mountain bike the mild runs if you
promise to stay away from x-game-ish stunts. I can’t stand the thought of
anything bad happening to you.”

Seth brought his hands to
her shoulders and rubbed them up and down as he looked her in the eye. “Grace,
what I said back in the hospital to the doctor—about making no promises to tone
it down—that was only a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood. The truth is, I
underestimated the angle on that jump and never meant to attempt a back roll.
But it threw my front tire up, and I had to try to get it all the way around
or I would have landed flat on my back. In those few seconds, I’d never been
more scared in my life.” He paused. “At least not until you gave my ring back
and walked out on me. That was worse than anything.” His fingers gripped her
shoulders tighter, willing her to understand. “Please, believe me when I say
that I will never do anything like that again. I don’t want anything bad happening
to me either and would never want to hurt you in any way.”

Grace continued to fight back
her tears, then nodded. “You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that.”

A smile played on Seth’s face
as he finally brought his hand to her collarbone, just below her chin. She swallowed
as his fingers trailed to the back of her neck. Tentatively, he pulled her
closer. His mouth met hers slowly and
carefully at first, then much more eagerly. Grace had never felt or tasted so
good, and Seth couldn’t get enough. Four days had been way too long to be apart
from her. She belonged here, with him.

When her arms wrapped
around his neck, Seth lifted her off the ground, pulling her tight against him
as he deepened the kiss.

A loud whistle sounded from
a car passing by, and Grace broke away, laughing and blushing. “Maybe we should
continue this in a less public place.”

Seth reached for her hand
to pull her inside his house, but she resisted, tugging him toward the garage
instead.

“
After
we pick up
my bike,” she said. “The store closes at seven.”

Seth groaned, feeling
starved for more of her affection. “We can always get it tomorrow.”

She shook her head. “I
want to see what you think of it now. It’s green and gray and a little sparkly.
I fell in love with it the second I saw it.”

Seth stopped, pulling her
to a stop as well. “Please tell me you didn’t buy a mountain bike based on
looks.”

Grace bit her lip briefly
before glancing up at him. “What’s wrong with that? I mean, a mountain bike’s a
mountain bike, right?”

Seth groaned again, then
laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he guided her toward his car.
With a shake of his head, he said, “No, sweetie, it’s not. How much did you pay
for it anyway?”

“Way too much. The thing cost
six hundred dollars.”

Seth laughed again, harder
this time. As he opened the door for her, Grace looked at him in confusion,
probably the same way the wannabe mountain-bike buyer had looked at him earlier.
Only on Grace, the expression was adorable rather than annoying.

Seth would take her back
to the store, get a refund, and show her how to pick out a
real
mountain
bike. Then he’d bring her back here and continue the kiss where they’d left
off.

“What’s so funny?” Grace
said.

“You are.” Seth couldn’t
resist giving her a quick kiss before closing the door. Then he jogged inside
his house, grabbed a box off his dresser, and slid into the car next to her.
With shaking hands, he held the ring out to her, feeling like he was proposing
all over again. “I found this somewhere it didn’t belong. You wouldn’t happen
to want it back, would you?”

She grabbed the ring from
him and slid it onto her finger. Then she leaned over and kissed his cheek,
murmuring, “Only if I get you back with it.”

O
ver 8,000 acres
of skiable terrain stretched out beneath Grace as she and Seth rode the Harmony
Express lift to the top of the Whistler side of Whistler Blackcomb in British
Colombia. The sun shone down from a clear blue sky, making the nippy thirty-degree
temperature feel not quite as cold. Grace raised her face to the sun and
smiled.

It had been exactly eleven
years to the day since the last time she’d been here and ridden this same lift
to the top of the run. Only then, Alec had sat next to her with alpine skis strapped
to his feet. Today, Seth sat next to her with Alec and Lanna on the chair
behind them. After weeks of lessons so he could figure out his new sit-skis, Alec
finally felt confident enough to face the slopes on his own—well, with Lanna,
Seth, and Grace, anyway.

Grace looked over her
shoulder at her brother and Lanna. The two of them had officially gotten
engaged a month earlier and were eagerly planning an early summer wedding.
Grace couldn’t be happier. Only a year before, this day had seemed like an
impossible dream. But then Seth and Lanna came along, and that dream was now a
reality.

Just as Seth had promised,
he toned it down. There was no more sky-diving, no more extreme mountain
biking, and no more dangerous stunts. As the weeks passed, Grace found herself
worrying less and trusting more. She even started to enjoy mountain biking.

In early January, Seth had
surprised her, Lanna, and Alec with this trip to Whistler Blackcomb. He’d
called Grace’s parents to make sure the date was right, booked hotel rooms, and
purchased lift tickets for the four of them. Then he’d pointed to the bittersweet
picture of Grace and Alec standing at the top of the Harmony Express lift.

“We’re going to that exact
same spot and snapping a picture,” he’d said. “It will be like a before and
after shot, reminding you both of how far you’ve come.”

Tears had prickled Grace’s
eyes the same way they did every time she recalled Seth’s words and reflected
on how wonderful her husband was. She scooted closer and laid her head against
his shoulder, feeling the wind nip at her face and loving every second of it.

 “You ready for this?”
Seth asked with a teasing tone. The statement had become an inside joke between
them. Every time Seth took her on some new adventure—be it mountain biking,
wakeboarding, or kayaking—he asked her that same question. The day of their
wedding, she’d turned the tables and had asked him.

“Bring it on,” he’d
answered, making Grace laugh.

Ever since that memorable
moment, any time the question was asked by either one of them, the response was
the same.

“Bring it on.” Grace
smiled, snuggling closer.

Seth’s arm tightened
around her, and he rested his chin on the top of her head. “That’s my girl,” he
said.

At the top of the lift,
neither Grace nor Alec could remember the exact place they’d stood all those
years before. Seth pulled out the picture and studied it.

Grace laughed. “I can’t
believe you brought that with you. Isn’t it enough that we’re at the top of the
same lift? We can stand anywhere.”

Seth shot her a look. “Apparently
you don’t understand the concept of before and after pictures. The background
and camera angle have to be the same.”

“But we could spend all
day trying to find that exact same spot,” Grace argued, not wanting to stand in
the cold for any longer than necessary. The wind was always more bitter at the
top of the lifts.

“Then we’re going to spend
all day,” came his response. “And tomorrow, too, if we have to.”

Grace looked to Alec and
Lanna for help, but Lanna only offered a sympathetic smile while Alec shrugged,
balancing himself with poles that looked like mini skis. “Don’t look at us,”
Alec said. “You married him.”

Seth lifted his camera to
his face, glanced at the screen, then back at the picture. A few steps to the
right and he did it again. He looked ridiculous dodging other skiers as he
tromped through the snow with a camera in one hand and an old picture in the
other.

After a few minutes, Grace
had enough. She walked over to him and lifted the camera strap over his head,
taking it from him. Then she waved at a nearby skier. “Mind taking a picture
for us?”

“Sure,” the teenager said.

“But I haven’t found the
right spot yet,” Seth protested. “This is the whole reason we came here.”

Grace handed the camera off
and pulled Seth toward Lanna and Alec. “Over here,” she said to the kid.
“There’s four of us.”

“Fine,” Seth said. “We’ll
take one of all of us, then I’ll take one of you and Alec in the right spot.”

Grace stopped and placed her
gloved fingers on his chest. She looked into his eyes at a face she’d come to
trust and love more than she’d ever imagined possible. “This picture is all I
want,” Grace said. “It’s like you said before. No moment can ever be repeated,
and I’m more than okay with that. You and Lanna are now in our lives for good,
and you’re both a part of what makes today so special.” Grace pointed to the picture
from the past that Seth still gripped in one of his gloved hands. “That was my
before.” She patted his chest. “You’re my after. Got it?”

A smile spread across
Seth’s face as he shoved the picture back into his pocket. “I like being your
after,” he said. Then he dipped his head, gave her a quick kiss, and put his
arm around her as they walked to where Alec sat and Lanna stood. Facing the
camera, he pulled Grace tight against him.

“Bring it on, Whistler
Blackcomb!” he hollered, making everyone laugh as the snapshot was taken.

Later, the picture was framed
and placed on Seth and Grace’s mantle, right next to the one of her and Alec. Every
time she paused to look at them and reflect on the befores and afters of her
life, Grace came to realize that sometimes bad things happened, and there was
nothing she could do about it. But like a seedling from a large oak tree, out
of the bad could grow a good so big and beautiful that it overshadowed
everything else.

Seth had taught her that.
Just like he taught her about life, about adventure, and about love. Although
he would always tease and wreak chaos and try Grace’s patience, there was no
one else she would rather live her afters with.

Thank you so much for carving time out of your life to
read one of my books. I hope it took you out of reality for awhile and into a
world of escape and rejuvenation because everyone deserves that once in awhile.