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“I love you, Elissa. I have loved you my whole life and I will love you for the rest of it too. That’s why I want to marry you.” I pause, opening the box to reveal my grandmother’s engagement ring. She always loved Elissa and before she died, she actually gave this to me and told me if I was smart, I would put this on Lis’ finger as soon as I could.
I wanted to do it that time I came back in my first year of college. When I’d just been selected for the US team and was going to drop out of college and focus on that. I wanted to ask Lis to not just come with me, but to marry me too. Only nothing about that trip back here had played out like we’d thought. Not this time though, this time everything is different and I am not going to ignore my grandma’s advice anymore.
“What do say? You want to marry me too?”
12
ELISSA
Nick’s question is one I didn’t even hesitate to answer. I said yes without a second passing between us, and I would do it all over again. There’s nothing I’ve wanted more than to marry Nick and for us to live happily ever after, sounding exactly like something Sammie would say. Honestly, I would have said yes if he had asked me five years ago, even if we were only just eighteen. I’ve known Nick is it for me from the day we met all those years ago, long before I even knew what it felt like to be in love, I loved Nick.
“I can’t believe I know exactly when I got pregnant,” I say, as we’re driving over to Max’s parents’ house to meet with Jeff and the lawyer.
“It’s really funny how it ended up being that first day I was back,” Nick replies, reaching over to take my hand. “Guess we were a lot more careful when we were teenagers than we are as adults.” He lets out a chuckle, thrilled with himself by how active we’ve been since his return.
“I guess having strep throat led to all of this. Without it, my pill would have worked and we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” I say, laughing. “Turns out, I didn’t even think about it when you and I hooked up that first day you were back. That’s the day we conceived our baby.”
“I’m glad you blew off that doctor,” Nick tells me, smiling. “I’m glad it happened this way.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Neither one of us would have said we were ready to be parents, and it happening this way has put so much into perspective for me,” Nick starts, giving my hand a squeeze. “It’s made me realize that I don’t ever want to lose you again. You are my life, Lis and now the baby is too.”
The tears well up in my eyes, loving that we finally found our way back to each other. I have to agree with him that I wouldn’t have said we should have a baby so soon, but it happening this way is better than I could have imagined.
“I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, and I won’t lose you again either,” I tell him, giving a little swipe at the tear that spills over. “I can’t remember a time that I was this happy.”
“Me either,” Nick responds. “Now if we can just get this contract bullshit out of the way, then we’ll be all set.”
“I’m not sure I would say we’ll be all set, but at least you won’t have to leave. There’s still that whole finding you a job thing,” I say, but I know that won’t be too hard around here. Even if he does have to teach lessons or go back to being part of the ski patrol crew at Badger Creek, we’ll get by.
“Yes, yes, I know, but the contract is our biggest obstacle right now,” Nick says, pulling up to the gate for Max’s parents’ community.
The man slides open the window, absentmindedly asking us who we are here to see and when Nick says the Holdens, the man looks up. He’s an older man and I recognize him as someone who has worked here for a while. He was here when Nick and I were kids and coming to the Holdens’ house to hang out with Max.
“Oh my god, is that Nick O’Connor?” the man questions, a huge beaming grin on his face. “I can’t believe you’re back here.”
“Yep, I’m back,” Nick says, but I can hear the awkwardness in his tone, and I shake my head. I know he’s still embarrassed that he’s back here after his injury, worried he’s let people down who were supporting him on his Olympic journey.
“How’s the jumping going? I’ve been following you since you left, telling people to watch out for your name and that I knew you when you were just a kid.”
“It’s going,” Nick says, letting out a long sigh. “I got injured so I’m working on rehab right now.” The admittance is a hard one for him, but I can tell he’s coming to terms with it all, and that’s good.
“Oh, yeah, saw that. Glad you’re back in town, good luck with that rehab. I’ll be watching out for you at the upcoming Olympics,” the guy says, and Nick smiles, thanking him as we drive through the now open gate.
A few seconds pass, Nick letting out a few more deep sighs, and I know he’s struggling with being Badger Creek’s golden boy.
“It’s okay, you know?” I tell him, not needing to elaborate on it. “You aren’t letting anyone down who matters.”
“Yeah, I know,” Nick replies, but his words are quiet and lost. He does feel like he’s letting people down, but he needs to get over that. He never went into ski jumping so he could become famous. He went into it so he could do what he loves.
“But do you?”
He turns to look at me, pulling up to the gate that closes off Max’s parents’ driveway to the road, he punches in the code. “No,” he answers, laughing a little. “I’ll get there, Lis. I need to focus on what’s important and that’s you and the baby, and this damn contract.”
“Sounds good.”
We park the car and head up to the house, Jeff opening the front door before we can even ring the bell. “So good to see both of you,” he says, shaking hands with Nick and giving me a hug. “I hear a congratulations are in order too.”
