“Hello, love of my life!”
June’s exuberance echoed through the already busy little train station, and April waved her over, practically bouncing on the spot. Her best friend was visiting Cascade Falls for the first time, for New Years Eve of all things, and she was going to stay a few days because, well, because she could. The woman wasn’t working these days, and she had plenty of time to kill between trips to the Caribbean and Hawaii, so April almost felt honored that she’d be spending one of the biggest holiday party days of the year in Cascade Falls with April—and Van.
In fact, meeting Van was one of the reasons June was so thrilled to come down. After a month of delivering evidence that would exonerate him in the eyes of the police and the local court, Van was finally released to her on Christmas Eve. Even if he was on probation for breaking out of prison, he was the best Christmas gift she’d ever received.
“Now, am I still the love of your life?” June asked after they’d hugged and greeted one another, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. April’s cheeks flushed, and the woman let out a laugh. “Ah, I’d thought not.”
“Of course you are,” she said, grabbing one of June’s bags and heading for the exit. “You just have to share the title now.”
The woman sniffed dramatically, which made April grin. “I’ll allow it, I suppose.”
They trudged through the snowy parking lot together, braving the bitter winds before throwing themselves in April’s mom’s car.
“How’s your mom taking your relationship?” June asked through chattering teeth, as April fiddled with the controls, eventually blasting them with lukewarm air as the engine heated up. “You told her, right?”
“Last week,” April replied. She shoved on a pair of gloves, the steering wheel too cold to grip without them. “We w-wanted to wait until Van was out of c-court and everything.”
Her mom wasn’t entirely surprised to learn that April and Van were in love, and while she wasn’t thrilled with it when April had first told her, she slowly seemed to be warming to the idea. It was probably hard for any parent to learn that some kid was fooling around with their daughter, and April planned to give her as much time as she needed. For now, all three lived in the Palmer estate, which had been rightfully signed over to Van. In the meantime, her mom’s divorce proceedings inched along, all the documents signed through the mail.
No one knew where James Palmer had run off to, but after an anonymous source—April suspected Mike—had delivered all the evidence against the man to the local police, she had a feeling they wouldn’t be seeing or hearing from the old bastard anytime soon.
After they’d dropped June’s bags off at home, April took her straight down to Van’s bar. It was closed for the day, as the staff prepared for the festivities that night, and when she and June strolled in, she was blown away by how different everything looked. Gone was the tacky wall art and florescent signs, and in its place, New Year’s decorations—banners and strings, black and white photographs of past celebrations, and twinkling strings of Christmas lights that looked suspiciously like the ones missing from their grand Christmas tree back at the estate. April grinned.
“Oh my god,” June gasped, grabbing at April’s arm. “Who is that?”
She turned in the direction June was gawking, only to find Van hurrying down the stairs. Dressed casually in a plain gray t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans, he looked positively divine. Life out of prison was treating him well. He’d regained much of the muscle he’d lost while locked away, and his cheeks had lost the sunken quality that made her heart hurt when she first saw him on the night of his escape. There were long red marks down his back, animalistic and probably a little raw, courtesy of April—but no one else would ever know of their existence.
“Oh, him?” She beamed when their eyes met, the intensity between them as hot as ever. “That’s my stepbrother Van… and he’s all mine.”
THE END
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