Goldie resolutely put Griffen and his texts out of her mind. She was in Kent, in England, dammit, for the first time in her life, with the man she was in love with and the three babies that she loved as if they were her own. She was going to enjoy it.
The sleigh ride was indeed magical, with the runners sliding silently over the snow. The girls' faces were rosy with the cold, and their wispy hair blew out from under their little matching hats as they turned this way and that, seeing everything around them.
"Reminds me of Robert Frost, you know, 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening'?" Goldie asked Jeff as they slipped by a small pond, frozen over from the cold.
"And miles to go before I sleep?" Jeff quoted back at her. "Yes, one of my favorites, as a matter of fact."
"Bird," Pippa announced, pointing as a bird did indeed wing its way over their heads, dark against the blue sky.
"Tree," Jemma countered, pointing at the trees they were passing.
Jeff sat back and sighed, his breath coming out in a puff. "It's really happening, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically. "They're getting older, already more toddlers than babies."
Goldie leaned across the girls, who were between them, to rub his shoulder. "And you're going to leave us in the fall and go off to school somewhere—" he took her hand and kissed it.
"Couldn't you just go to school in the city?" he asked, turning to her. "Just keep living with us and go to school nearby?"
"Jeff, how in the world could I help with the babies if I were going to school all day and studying all night?" Goldie answered.
"I'll hire someone to help with them."
Goldie smiled. "You're going to hire a new nanny so your old nanny can go to law school?"
"It's my money, I can spend it how I like, can't I?"
"Of course you can." Goldie released Jeff's hand to retie Genie's hat under her chin where it had loosened from the wind. "Besides, I've applied to Columbia, NYU and Fordham, which are all in the city."
Jeff looked at her, eyes full of hope.
"But there's no guarantee I'll get into any of them, and I certainly couldn't keep living with you if I did," Goldie continued.
"Why not?"
"Look, Jeff, I need to tell you—"
"Sir?" the driver called from up front. "Time's about up. Do you want another 30 minutes?"
"Yes, please," Jeff responded. He turned back to Goldie.
"Who knows?" she tried to joke. "We might not even be together by then."
"That's not funny. We, the girls and I, love you, you know that."
"I love you, too, Jeff, but no one knows what the future will bring, what will happen. I mean, look at what happened to you."
She felt bad to bring up Maggie, but he was talking total nonsense. And she knew that there would be no forgiving her for what she'd done, what she was doing.
"I know, exactly," Jeff answered earnestly. "The mother of my children, the woman I loved, died, and I honestly didn't think I could ever be happy again. And now look, less than a year later, I've found someone new to love, someone my girls adore, who seems to adore them as well." Again, he reached over the girls' heads and grasped one of Goldie's hands in his own. "Why would we want to throw it away? I mean, does something this good come along so often that we can just cast it aside?"
Goldie sighed. "Jeff, I just can't talk about this right now, okay? You can't just spring it on me and expect me to respond immediately.
"Would it change anything if we were married?"
Goldie saw the driver, who wasn't even pretending not to listen anymore, widen his eyes.
"What?"
"Let's get married," Jeff said, smiling. "Here, in Kent, before we even go home."
"Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack," Jeff answered.
Goldie tried to pull her hand from his, but he wouldn't release it. "Come on, Goldie, you just said you loved me, we could be a real family."
"What about my parents?" Was all Goldie could think to ask. "They want to see me get married, don't you think? And Grant?"
"I'll fly them over," Jeff answered without missing a beat. "They could be here in two days, we could do it on Friday." Jeff's face was shining. "Think of it, a Christmas wedding, how romantic would that be?"
Goldie looked around at the beautiful, snow-laden trees, the little puffs of steam coming from the horses muzzles as they pulled the sleigh. The air was so clear and cold it almost hurt to breathe.
Married? In this gorgeous place?
Plus, if they were married, Griffen couldn't force her to testify against him or anything like that, Goldie was pretty sure. Spouses couldn't give evidence against each other. She could just give Griffen his damned report, and be finished with the whole, sordid mess.
"Okay," she said, leaning across the three little pink hats to kiss Jeff. "Let's do it! On the condition that my family can come, though, okay?"
Goldie laughed at the driver, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Want me to head back, Sir?" he asked, turning around a little in his seat to address Jeff.
"No, let's finish out the 30 minutes," Jeff said, squeezing Goldie's hand. "Nothing we can do right now that can't wait a little, right?"
Goldie nodded, snuggling back under the blanket. "Except that I need a dress," she said. "And we need to let my parents know, and my brother. And we need to find someone to marry us. And—"
"On second thought, driver, I guess we'd better go back," Jeff laughed. "We're going to be quite busy for the next couple of days."
"Sounds like it," the driver said, completely unashamed. "And may I be the first to offer congratulations."
"Thank you."
So they headed back and got the girls buckled into their carseats for the drive home, where of course they were out cold within minutes.
"There you are, back from the wilds," Gordon said when he opened the door for them. "You must be chilled through, I'll make us a nice cuppa while you put the girls down, what do you think?"
"Sounds good, dad, and we have some news for you," Jeff said as they carried the girls upstairs to lay them down in their crib.
Gordon and Pat were sitting in the living room with tea when Jeff and Goldie returned.
"Are you pregnant?" Pat asked before they even sat down. "Please tell me you're going to have a baby?" She and Gordon turned eager faces to the younger couple.
Goldie burst out laughing. "No, I'm not, but I guess I need to lose a few pounds because people keep asking me that."
"Oh, not at all, child, not at all, it's just Jeffrey said you had news."
"And that was the first thing you thought of?" Jeff asked in disbelief. "What kind of masochists would add another baby to the madhouse we've already got?"
"Ah, babies are marvelous," Gordon said. "You'd figure it out."
"If she were, I'm sure we would, but she's not, so do you want to hear our news or not?" Jeff asked, grinning.
His parents nodded expectantly.
"We've decided to get married!"
Gordon and Pat looked from Goldie to Jeff and back again.
"Really? How wonderful!" Pat said. "A little hasty, but wonderful still."
"Next week," Jeff added. "While we're still here in Kent."
"What?" Now the look on Pat's face was one of disbelief. "How? What about her family? Where would this happen? Does she—"
"Calm down, Mum," Jeff implored. "Yes, I have to arrange for her family to get here first, then we'll get the rest sorted."
"And I don't see a ring," Pat interrupted. "A girl can't have a proper engagement without a ring, can she?"
"Oh, that's okay," Goldie assured them. "I don't need anything like that."
"Nonsense," Gordon said, affronted. "You can't have an engagement without a ring." He turned to his wife. "Go and get it, Patricia."
Jeff just looked at Goldie, biting his lips together as he smiled.
"What are they talking about?" Goldie asked, perplexed. "I meant what I said, Jeff, I don't need a ring."
Pat entered holding an old fashioned box, so old the velvet had been rubbed away in a few places. She placed the box in Jeff's hands and gestured for Gordon to rise and follow her out of the room.
Goldie was staring at the box.
"If Mags and I ever got married, I was going to give it to her," Jeff explained. "But she didn't believe in marriage or whatever, so mum's been keeping it. It's a family heirloom." He opened the box and showed the contents to Goldie.
She gasped.
"It is a bit gaudy," Jeff went on uncertainly. "I can buy you something more modern and that in London when we return if you like."
Goldie just shook her head. It looked like a flower, with blue and white stones.
"It's sapphires and diamonds, set in platinum," Jeff said, still holding the box. "One of my great-great relatives brought the stones back from Africa and had this ring made for his wife. It's been passed down through the family. Do you like it?"
In response, Goldie held her left hand out to Jeff, smiling the smile he loved.
He slipped it on her finger, saying, "We can get the size adjusted if need be."
But it fit perfectly.