“Yeah.” I consider offering to help him pay for the stuff, since I’ve seen the price tags and they’re not cheap, but I don’t want to offend him. He made it clear when we got here this is his treat.
Once the items are all rung up, I take Kendall to the changing room to change her into her snow clothes. She looks adorable, like the cutest little pink snow bunny. After she’s fully dressed, I insist on taking her picture and send it to Naomi with the caption: Our little snow bunny.
Naomi: OMG! She’s so cute. Wait! I thought you were in LA??
Me: Easton took us to Big Bear Mountain to take Kendall snowtubing.
Naomi: Jealous! I miss you. Let’s get together soon. The wedding is next weekend and then things will calm down.
Me: Miss you more. We’ll do a girls’ night soon.
“All right, Sunshine, you ready to go tubing?” I ask as we walk out of the changing room to meet Easton.
“Yes, but what will you do?”
“Your mom is going to sit and watch us, of course,” Easton says, shooting a wink my way. “Ready?”
“Yep!” Kendall’s so excited, she cheesy-grins.
Easton shows me to the viewing deck—where I can sit and drink hot chocolate, while watching them go down the slope—and then the two of them take off. I snap a picture of them from behind, and several more as they make their way up the mountain. While I wait for it to be their turn, I drink my hot chocolate and snack on a package of s’mores cookies I bought. When it’s their turn, Easton places her on the tube and then gets in behind her. The guy manning the slopes gives them a good push and they fly down the slope. Kendall shrieks in excitement while Easton laughs the entire way down.
They do this over and over again for the next hour, while I take picture after picture and video after video. Since I’ve been keeping in touch with Easton’s mom, I send her a picture of them.
Alicia: Big Bear Mountain? Easton loved that place growing up! How fun.
Me: Kendall is on cloud 9.
Alicia: She’s so adorable. Keep sending those pictures! Next time, we should all go together.
Me: That would be fun.
Alicia: When you get back, let’s do lunch. Xo
I smile at her text, getting a bit choked up—I blame it on the pregnancy hormones. She’s so understanding and sweet. I wish my mom were more like her. But then again, Easton wasn’t an accident who destroyed her world.
“What’s wrong?” a masculine voice says from next to me, making me jump. I glance up and find Easton and Kendall standing there, both holding hot chocolates in their hands.
“Mommy, why are you crying?” Kendall asks. “Why are you sad?”
“I’m not sad, Sunshine.” I place her cup on the table and pull her into my lap. “I’m crying because I’m happy.” She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind and I laugh. “Sometimes people cry when they’re very happy.”
“I think your mom’s pregnancy is making her crazy.” Easton’s eyes go wide, and he mimes the universal gesture for crazy, making Kendall laugh.
“I do too,” she agrees, deadpan.
“I don’t think she’s ever fallen asleep that fast,” I whisper, closing the door to where Kendall is sleeping, behind us.
“I think she went up and down the slopes a couple hundred times.” Easton laughs, shaking his head. “She killed it snowboarding. When she fell the first dozen times, I thought for sure she’d give up. You have one badass little girl. Fearless as hell.”
I beam with pride, even though I can’t really take the credit. I’ve lived the last seven years in fear, so I’m not exactly the model for badass, but I’m glad she hasn’t been affected by my sheltering her. And hopefully, moving forward, I can show her by example what it means to be fearless.
“We’ll have to come back when you’re not pregnant so you can fully enjoy the place,” Easton says, lighting the fireplace. Once it’s crackling with flames and emitting heat, he joins me on the couch, grabbing a blanket and throwing it over both of us.
“I’ve never been snowboarding or tubing. They both look like a lot of fun. Kendall had a blast today.”
Easton wraps his arm around me and I cuddle into the blanket and his side, sniffing his scent. He doesn’t wear any cologne, but the mixture of his body wash and his unique smell has a way of relaxing me.
“Thank you for taking us away,” I whisper into his chest. We needed this. To spend some time together without the stress of life, and I was scared of hanging out in LA—of course Easton knew exactly how to handle the situation.
He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts my face up to look at him. “You don’t have to thank me, Dash. It’s my pleasure. Thank you for talking to me. I know it was hard for you and it means a lot to me that you trust me enough to let me in.”