Page 111 of Avalanche
Hanlon smacks his forehead. “Ohmygod. How bad was it?”
“Let’s just say I’m glad I know your blood type and that you’re allergic to shellfish, I know you love the thermostat set at sixty-nine degrees, and that you forget to eat occasionally if you’re really invested in something. I’m also glad I have a decent 401K growing, and already have the paperwork to add your name to the house. He wasn’t taking any chances with your future.”
Hanlon huffs a laugh, but quickly grows serious.
“He loves you more than life itself, youknow?” he tells me.
“I know. He did sayyes,after all,” I remind him.
“What time is dinner?” he asks with a glint in his eyes I’m oh-so familiar with.
“Seven.”
“Where are we going?” he asks, already dragging me down the hall toward our bedroom.
“Summit.”
HANLON
I fingerthe patch Stone gave me the whole way back to the ski resort. “Are you sure you’re comfortable giving up your last name?” I finally ask as we pull into the familiar lot.
“I’m not giving it up. I’m dropping my middle name since it has no significance. The name on my driver’s license will be Stone Addario Winchester. And yes, I’m sure. I know you miss your father even though you don’t talk much about him.”
“Hell, I don’tremembermuch about him. But I think that’s why I didn’t want to lose that part of him, too. I felt like I was doing him a disservice by not carrying on the family name.Hisname.”
“I get it,” Stone says, brushing a kiss across my lips before getting out of the Tahoe.
We ride the gondola up to the mountaintop. The snow is still gently falling, but most of it has passed already.
Stone and I have been up here a few times since that fateful Christmas party four years ago, where Logan caught us in a compromising position, but it’s impossible not to think about it every time we’re here. I lace our fingers together now, just because I can.
It’s too dark to tell if any of the other passengers are givingus ugly looks or paying any attention to us at all, but it doesn’t bother me either way. If anyone makes a snide comment these days, I just smile to myself and think,you don’t know the half of it.
When we enter the restaurant, Mom and Dad are seated by the windows overlooking the most brilliant view—even at night. It’s clear enough to see all the twinkling lights down at base village, and with the snow coming to a stop, there are patches in the clouds where the stars twinkle above us as well.
“Lana, Dad, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé,” Stone says, with his hand on my lower back as we approach the table.
It feels surreal hearing those words come out of Stone’s mouth, knowing he’s talking aboutme.
My mom chuckles and pulls me in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you, honey.”
As soon as she releases me, the man who has raised me since I was six years old takes his turn while my mom hugs Stone. “You know I’ve always claimed you as a son, Hanlon. I’m glad it’s finally going to be official.”
His words hit me hard, and suddenly, I’m turning to Stone.
“I love you for being willing to take my last name. It means so much to me that you thought about it and were going to take the name of a man you’ve never met. But I’ve wanted to be an Addario since I was a kid. I hate that I never really got to know my father, but I do know mydad,” I say, turning to James. “And nothing would make me happier than carrying onthisfamily’s legacy.”
“Really?” Stone asks. The tone of hope tells me this is the right thing to do.
“Really.”
Our dad orders a bottle of champagne, and we all raise our glasses in a toast.
“To family,” I say. “The one you’re born into and the oneyou choose. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, they end up being one and the same.”
