“I’ll send them to you,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said with a smile.
“Anybody home?” Caitlin yelled from downstairs.
“You left your front door open?” Tara asked with a slightly panicked voice.
It shouldn’t surprise Tara that Owen had left his door open for anyone to come inside. Winter Peaks was hardly Vegas, and she had lived in this town before. Nobody locked their doors around here.
“We’re up here!” Frankie yelled.
Caitlin busted out laughing the moment she saw Frankie and Tara standing in the middle of her room with those hideous coats on.
“Wow. You two are a sight to be seen! You’re ready to hit the slopes.”
“I know, right?” Tara said as she mimicked skiing over Frankie’s carpet.
Frankie’s joyous giggles filled the room as she copied her mother and fake skied from corner to corner.
“They are something else, aren’t they,” Caitlin asked him in a soft voice so only he could hear.
“Yeah,” he said while he kept staring at the two girls who held his heart.
There was no way around it. He knew he still loved Tara. Seeing her acting all goofy with Frankie, reminded him of how she used to show that side only to him.
It was still magical to witness whenever she forgot about the things that made her sad. Now that he was older, he realized he never had gotten to the heart of Tara. There had always been a part of her that she’d kept private.
“Maybe you can show your new coat to your grandmother? I’m sure Lauren would love to see it. Wanna go show her?”
Frankie hugged her mother and said, “Bye, Mommy.”
“Bye, sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you, too!” Frankie said before she let go of her mother.
She ran up to Owen and hugged him tight. “Thank you, Owen. This was the best day of my life!”
Owen nodded with a lump in his throat. “Mine, too.”
“Bye!” Frankie said before dashing out of her room in her flashy emerald coat, blue jeans and red shoes.
“What time should I bring her back? Is around seven a good time?”
Tara unzipped her coat and smiled. “Yes. That would be awesome. Thanks, Cait.”
“No problem. I’d better get going and catch up with that green whirlwind…”
Owen chuckled and said, “Thanks, Cait.”
He heard the front door close with a bang and wondered if Caitlin purposely wanted to let them know they’d left.
“So…” Tara said, suddenly timid again.
“Oh, no. You’re not crawling back into your shell. I’m not letting you,” he said as he walked up to her.
“We need to talk…”
“Later.”