Chapter 8 - The Second Christmas FlightOutside the conference center, Wesley chased pigeons while Josephine carried Oliver beneath one arm.
"You've changed," Simone said.
"You sound surprised."
"Only slightly."
"I'm not going to ask you to come back."
Her smile disappeared. "I know."
"I used to believe love meant someone choosing you once. Now I think it means continuing to show up, especially after someone has seen you uncertain, selfish, and wrong."
"That sounds expensive."
"Much more expensive than Ridgemont."
She laughed, and I realized how deeply I had missed hearing that sound.
"I'll continue showing up for the children," I said. "And for you too, if you'll let me."
After a long silence, Simone turned her gaze away. "I kept the engagement ring."
I stared at her. "You told me you threw it into the bay."
"I wanted you to believe I hated you."
"Did you?"
"Sometimes."
"That seems reasonable."
"I kept it inside a sock. I was pregnant, furious, and almost broke. Finding a jewelry box wasn't exactly my highest priority."
We both started laughing, and somehow, a moment later, we were both wiping away tears.
Wesley came running toward us. "Daddy made Mommy sad!"
"No, sweetheart," Simone said.
Wesley pointed directly at me. "Say sorry anyway."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I'm still working through the list."
Apparently, that answer satisfied him.
Eleven months after our Christmas Eve flight, I resigned as chief executive of Ashford Dynamics. I remained chairman for a short period while separating the company from organizations controlled by my father, and then I stepped away entirely.
I began advising hospitals on neonatal data systems and created a foundation in Vivian's memory. Our first grants helped smaller rural hospitals gain access to Lighthouse Watch without placing excessive pressure on their budgets.
No building displayed my name. That choice was deliberate.
The following Christmas Eve, the four of us flew west to visit Simone's sister. This time, we traveled together in economy because Simone had rejected my suggestions of a private flight, a charter, first class, and premium economy with increasingly firm responses.
Wesley sat beside the window. Josephine sat between Simone and me, while Oliver occupied a completely unreasonable amount of space.
Halfway through the flight, something rolled beneath my shoe.
A red crayon.
I looked toward Wesley. His grin widened. "I think it got away."
Simone covered her mouth, already beginning to laugh.
I picked up the crayon. "What's your name?"
Wesley giggled. "You already know my name."
"Tell me again."
"Wesley."
"Wesley what?"
He glanced toward Simone before looking back at me. "Wesley Ashford Carrow."
For a moment, I couldn't find my voice. Simone had never included my surname in either child's name.
"When did that happen?"
"Last month," she said. "I intended to let him decide when he was older."
Wesley raised his chin proudly. "I decided now."
Josephine gently pulled at my sleeve. "Me too."
She handed me a folded sheet of construction paper. Inside was a drawing showing a tall man, a woman, two children, and one gray rabbit. Above them, written in uneven letters, was a single word.
HOME.
Simone reached into her bag and pulled out a small red box. Inside rested the engagement ring.
"Are you proposing to me?" I asked.
"Absolutely not."
Wesley announced loudly, "Mommy said Daddy has to do it!"
Several passengers turned toward us. Simone's face became bright red.
I unfastened my seat belt, but the flight attendant appeared almost immediately.
"Sir, please sit down."
She was the same attendant from the previous year. Recognition slowly appeared in her expression. "You again."
"I need thirty seconds."
She looked at the ring. "You have twenty."
I awkwardly lowered myself into the aisle.
"Simone Carrow, one year ago, I boarded a plane believing the most important thing in my life was waiting for me in Minneapolis. I was mistaken. The most important people in my life were already on that plane."
Her eyes filled with emotion.
"I'm not asking you to forget everything that happened, and I understand that love cannot undo every difficult moment. I'm asking whether you'll let me spend whatever years we're given showing you that I finally understand what truly matters."
Wesley nodded enthusiastically. Josephine whispered, "Say yes."
Simone laughed while wiping tears from her cheeks. "Yes."
The cabin filled with applause as I gently placed the ring onto her finger.
Beyond the window, clouds stretched beneath us like hills covered in snow. Wesley drew circles with his red crayon, Josephine fell asleep holding Oliver, and Simone rested her head against my shoulder.
For most of my life, I had believed power meant being able to control the outcome. I understood differently now. Love, loss, children, and second chances were never things anyone could completely control. We could only choose how to respond when life unexpectedly placed one of them before us.
A fortune could purchase almost anything except the moments we had already missed.
May you like
But when life offered one of those moments again, we didn't calculate its worth or postpone it until a more convenient time.
We simply held on.
