Page 22 of Sweet Summer

2. I can’t wait to start this new adventure with you…but I meant it when I said you’ll need to keep the toilet seat down.

3. I was thinking we should get a dog…and by thinking we should get a dog I mean I got a dog. For us. Maisey’s watching him until we come back. He’s a German Shepherd mix who needed to be rescued…Surprise?

4. Did I mention I love you so much it hurts?

5. And did I also mention I wanted to write you a letter because I was scared to tell you I got us a dog?

All of my love, now and forever…

Freya x

***

Freya,

I found your note before we left so I decided to write you a letter in return, instead of, you know…talking to you since we’re literally sitting right next to each other on the plane…but, I get it. We’re playing a game…

Now that I’m your husband––how awesome is that!––I, too, have a few things I want you to know…

1. I love you more than anything in this world. When I said you were my everything, I meant it. That kind of love isn’t going anywhere. Ever.

2. You are my wife and I get to tell everyone that I’m your husband! Do you even understand how exciting that is for me? Seriously. I will never take you or our marriage for granted.

3. So we got a dog? Awesome. I can’t be mad. So you know, Maisey did text and say you were scared to tell me. She also told me about how Smokey (is that really going to be his name?) was part of a puppy mill. Of COURSE we’re going to take him!!

4. Your heart is huge and I love you more and more each day.

5. No more dogs, okay? At least for now…we’ll want some more once we have kids, though. ;) Smokey can be our practice baby.

Love you forever and ever…W.

CHAPTER 10

Epilogue

FREYA

Spring has always been my favorite time of year. When I think of springtime, I swear I can actually smell lilacs and hyacinths, two flowers my mother always kept in abundance at this time of year in our home when I was growing up. Smelling these scents always takes me back to those easy days of being young, when everything was new and each day was an adventure.

Who am I kidding? I’m an adult, yet everything is still new––each day has been nothing but an adventure since Wyatt came back into my life. Wyatt…just thinking about him brings a grin to my face that is both sweet and silly, kinda like he is.

Sitting here now, on this perfect spring day on the patio outside of the home I share with my––ahem––husband, I’m surrounded by memories of our adventures so far. There’s a metal garden sculpture in the corner he bought as a surprise when we got the house, and of course the hammock I got him for his birthday is strung up between two trees at the back of the yard. There’s a giant wine barrel that Wyatt insisted we geton our honeymoon just because…and who am I to say no? I’m about to pinch myself when I hear a familiar voice call out.

“Freya? You here?”

“Outside, Maisey. On the patio.”

Hearing my aunt's voice, I stand up and wait for her to join me. I spy her walking quickly through the kitchen, headed to the outside doorway to meet me.

“Are you alone?” She pauses at the door, looking over her shoulder, very conspiratorial, making me laugh out loud. “Has the rooster left the hen house?”

“Yes, you weirdo, we’re alone.” I close my computer and put my hands in the air. “And I’m not working at the moment so I can focus on our project.” I looked down at Maisey’s hands, which were empty. “You didn’t forget it, did you?”

Maisey’s jaw all but unhinged––I swear the bottom half of her mouth skimmed the patio floor. “Forget it? Me? No way! It’s in the van. Let me go get it.”

I follow her back inside the house, closing up the patio behind us, and watch as she jogs outside to her van and comes back quick as can be with a large white bakery box in her hands, showing off the Red Bird logo.

As she hands the package to me, I lean in for inspection. “Are you crying again, Maisey?”

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