“Do you have a lease?”
“I’m on a month-to-month now, so I can move anytime.”
“That’s great.” Carmella felt almost giddy before thinking of a possible wrinkle. “I know your regular work schedule, but what about your SAR calls? You’ll be ninety minutes away from home base.”
“No worries. Those calls send us all over the place. Remember the Capitol Peak hikers who got lost?”
She nodded. The aftermath of that near tragedy had shown her a side to Tony she’d never expected to find and had opened her eyes to him as a romantic interest. Definitely a blessing.
“I get texted the locations and show up to help when I can. Living in Wolcott, I might be closer to some emergencies than others on the team will be.”
“Do you want to rent or buy?”
“I’ll list my condo to sell so we can purchase our own place. I’m sure property prices in Wolcott will be comparable to those in Aspen.”
“Will you have somewhere to stay if the weather’s bad on your end? I don’t want you on the interstate too late at night, either.”
“I’m afraid there will be late nights for a while, but I can either stay with Sandro or at Mama and Papa’s, or even get a room at the resort in a pinch.”
Talk returned to what they wanted in their new home. They agreed that neither would have time for mowing grass and plowing snow, not to mention that the costs of homes so close to Vail would be far beyond their reach, so they’d look at condos and townhouses instead.
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll leave it up to you about decorating and all that. Bottom line, my only request is a mountain view and a 5-burner gas range in a kitchen with lots of countertops and storage space.”
“That’s all, huh? Well, since I expect to benefit from the delightful meals you’ll prepare on that range,” she said, “I’ll make sure the realtor knows that’s a must. One thing’s for sure, it’s hard to find a place in the Colorado Rockies that isn’t beautiful.”
“You’re sure you’re ready to move away from Aspen?”
She thought a moment, then smiled. “I can adjust as long as we’re together in our own home. I hate being away from you any more than I have to be.”
Home. With Tony.
Tony opened the shower door, and they returned to her bedroom wearing towels. He hated the thought of leaving her more this morning than ever before, but she had to get to work, and he had a diving drill at the reservoir with some of the team members early this afternoon. This would be their first dive wearing dry suits, the only gear that could protect them from the frigid temperatures. Those suits were the first expenditures made with the funds raised at the gala; he couldn’t wait.
Still, it meant leaving Carmella. Snow was predicted tonight, so they’d agreed he might as well stay in Aspen Corners because he was on duty tomorrow.
“I’ll make us some breakfast.”
“Just coffee for me. I’m meeting with Sandro in forty minutes, and we always eat together at our morning meetings.”
Coffee sounded good to him too. He could get dressed later. With only a towel wrapped around his waist, he opened the door to the living room.
“Sis, don’t freak out. It’s just me. I’ve got bagels and coffee!”
Tony entered the living room before his brain registered that he should switch places with Carm. “What the—”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Sandro demanded.
“Hold on! I’ll be right out!”
While awkwardly waiting for Carmella, the two men stared each other down. Did her brother always just make himself at home in Carm’s place? Tony would have to remember not to give him a key to wherever they moved after they were married.
“Sandro, what are you doing here?” Carm had put on a thick terry robe, more than she usually wore around Tony.
“I asked him first.” He pointed toward Tony.
Tony wasn’t going to touch this with a ten-foot pole. He turned toward Carm to give him whatever explanation she wanted. Standing in the room wearing nothing but a towel in front of his future brother-in-law, Tony felt more than a little awkward.
“You brought me breakfast?” she asked, dodging the question.
“You haven’t been answering my texts since last night.”
“Oh, I turned off my phone. Sorry. I forgot about it.”
“Guess you were distracted,” Sandro said sarcastically.
Carmella merely smiled. “I still can’t figure out why you brought me breakfast. Our meeting is just half an hour from now.”
“When you didn’t text me back this morning,” he glared at Tony a moment, “and didn’t answer your door a few minutes ago, I thought I’d better check and make sure you weren’t sick or something.”
“That was really sweet of you, but as you can see, I’m fine.”
“I heard the shower running,” again he stared pointedly at Tony as if he just realized the two of them had been in the shower together. Apparently, he hadn’t arrived early enough to hear them having sex in there. Thank God for small favors. “I decided we could meet here since I already had the bagels and coffee.”
“That works for me. As you can see, I’m running a little late.” She grinned at Tony.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Tony said heading back to the bedroom, “I need to get dressed.” He’d leave it to Carmella to explain the engagement or whatever she wanted to tell Sandro about their relationship.
Unfortunately, when he returned five minutes later, the two were seated at the table, and Tony couldn’t be sure what had been said in his absence.
“Want half my bagel, Tony?” she asked, holding it out to him.
“No, thanks. I’ll grab something on the way to Aspen Corners.”
“Do you have a few minutes before you have to leave?” she asked him.
“Sure.” She was the one who’d had the earlier commitment today, with the man sitting across the table from her at this moment to be exact.
Without hesitation, as if she’d just been waiting
