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I love this man. My love for him was burning within me.
Ace’s phone rang, startling Ryan and me from our small, intimate moment. Ace quickly answered it, pressing it to his ear as Celine watched him worriedly.
“Ace speaking.” He was silent, his eyes darting between me and Celine quickly. “I didn’t catch your name, sir?”
There was another long pause. My heart was beating so hard against my breastbone that I feared it might burst. It was all I could hear and feel as I watched Ace, knowing somehow that this was about our new company.
“You’ll have to repeat that again, Mr. Owens. I need to put this on speaker for my wife and sister-in-law to hear.”
Ace was smiling – really smiling.
Oh, God – please let my prayers be coming true.
The kids paused, and they crowded around the tailgate, their faces flushed.
Ace put the phone on speaker, and the man continued to speak. “I would like to go into business with Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Danvers effective immediately. I own one of the largest resorts in Orlando, and I would like for them to run my café on sight. They can work for me or buy 90% of the café and conduct their business as they see fit, but I want them exclusive to my resort.”
The breath escaped my lungs in one exhale.
This wasn’t happening.
“Where did you hear about us?” Celine stuttered, in shock.
“You sold my wife that batch of cookies for our daughter.” My eyes widened. “Will you please consider my offer? I know it is sudden and minutes away from New Year’s, but I just had to speak to the two ladies who brought my daughter so much happiness and offer them a chance to take that business off the ground running. I believe it has true potential, and I’d like to help you pursue it.”
Celine nudged me, waiting for an answer, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t manage to form even a word.
This was what we had been waiting for.
I turned to Ryan, barely seeing him through the tears blurring my vision. He leaned forward and kissed me, giving me all the courage I needed.
“Where do we sign?” I croaked, the emotions I had been burying the whole day finally breaking free.
“I will draw up a contract over the next few days, and we can meet in town and discuss the logistics. Congratulations on the start of your new business. I look forward to working with you both.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Owens, for giving us this chance.” The words were tumbling out of my mouth without thought.
“No, thank you! Happy New Year!” He clicked off the call. I was left stunned.
Ace glanced at the screen of his phone and then at us.
“One minute until midnight.”
The kids squealed in excitement, and they all climbed into the back of the truck. The little ones immediately climbed into my lap. All of us were pressed tightly together as fireworks lit up the night sky.
I felt more alive at this moment than I had for weeks. Things were finally going to go back to normal.
Celine and I would get our café in one of the biggest resorts in Orlando. We were going to save our families.
“Five.”
“Four.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One!” we all screamed, and the biggest display of fireworks erupted into the air, the noise bouncing off the trees, matching the loud beat of my heart.
“Happy New Year’s!” I turned to face Ryan, my lips meeting his in a second. His hands slid into my hair.
“You did it,” he whispered against my lips.
“We did it.” I reached for Celine’s hand, and we shared a smile.
“We did it!” she screamed, and the kids cheered.
Finally, everything was beginning to look up after the last few months of hell. All we needed was to be surrounded by our family to get through it. All we needed was to always believe in each other.
Family was everything.
