Page 94 of Fan Favorite

In slow motion, Peter Kennedy fell through the air. Finally, he hit the snow and began to roll down the mountain in just his jeans and gray cashmere sweater.

Edie took off, the snow deeper now. She hiked her feathered skirt to her knees and kept wading in, the fur coat dragging behind.

“Peter? Peter! Are you okay?”

She fell to her knees at his side.

Peter laid in the snow, laughing his ass off.

“Did you see that?” he said, grabbing her hand. “I’ve never been that extreme in my life!”

For a second Edie was speechless. But then, there was the man she loved, who she’d flown across the world for, spent days searching for, who could’ve died trying to get to her, there he was with snow in his hair, his cheeks bright red, laughing, and then Edie was laughing, too, brushing the snow off him, covering his face with kisses, so relieved he was okay.

“It was super extreme,” she agreed, the thrum of the helicopter fading into the distance.

Peter sat up. “You look beautiful,” he said, taking her cheek in his cold palm. “And I know I’ve been awful, but I love you, Edie, I really do. And here’s the deal: I’m gonna quit this job. And I’m gonna go to therapy. And I know I’ve got some learning to do about what it means to be in a relationship. But I’ll learn. I’m a quick learner. And I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m here. And this is exactly where I want to be. With you.”

Edie started crying. Big, heaving sobs that she didn’t quite expect and definitely couldn’t control. She put her hands over her face. “Don’t look at me,” she squeaked.

Peter got to his knees and held her. Finally, her breathing slowed, and she could look at him again.

“I thought you were ‘falling in love with me,’” she said, squinting at him like a detective. Her face was streaked with mascara and one false eyelash was askew. “And now you say you ‘love’ me? Are you sure? How do you know?”

Peter rubbed the mascara with his thumb. “Well, if you must know, I’ve spent some significant time over the last few days thinking about what love actually means. Somehow, I found myself circling every singleKeycliché I’d ever heard—love comes when you least expect it, nothing made sense until I met you, I can’t imagine my life without you, you make me a better person—and I realized all of it is how I feel about you.” He shrugged. “I admit it’s very embarrassing to be a walking cliché, but here we are.”

“Peter.” Edie was smiling the biggest smile she’d ever smiled in her whole life. “That’s beautiful.”

“It’s cheesy.” He laughed and pulled the wonky eyelash from her eye. “But that’s what you do to me, Pepper. You crack me wide open.” And then he kissed her, a long slow kiss that left her breathless.

“Peter, I love you, too,” she said, her forehead pressed against his. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner.”

“Pretty sure I didn’t deserve it sooner.”

Peter helped her up and they stood together in the snow and took in what was left of engagement rock. Candles tipped over, blown out. Jessa yelling into a walkie-talkie. A PA leading Bennett off set. The production crew staring, dumbfounded.

“You’re gonna be in so much trouble,” Edie said, amused.

“And it’s one hundred percent your fault.” And then they were laughing again, and he was kissing her, and she was kissing him, and they were falling back down in the snow, Peter burying his arms in her fur coat, Edie pushing her face into his neck, breathing him in.

“Listen,” he said, pulling back to look at her. “I know you were planning to get engaged today, so that’s a disappointment.”

Edie rolled her eyes. “Obviously I wasn’t. I’ve been looking for you.”

He smiled, brushing the hair off her face before continuing, more serious this time. “And I want to ask you to marry me. But not here, all right? Not like this. When it’s you and me. No cameras, no bullshit.”

“Definitely,” she agreed, on the verge of tears all over again. “I mean, your mom might hate me. We don’t even know.”

Peter slapped a palm to his forehead. “That’s right! You haven’t even met my family. And she probably will hate you. She’s a real shrew.” He dodged Edie’s slap.

“My mom’s going to love every single thing about you,” she said. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to stand it.”

“Don’t worry. She’ll like me less when I’m unemployed.” He took Edie’s coat between his fingers. “By the way, is this real fur?”

“I have no idea. They just put it on me.”

“C’mon, Pepper,” Peter said, pulling her out of the snow. “We gotta get you on camera saying how beautiful you feel in this faux fur.”

“Is it faux, though?”

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