Loving the Ice Queen

Chapter 41

Barbara

Several weeks later.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, tugging on the sleeves of my coat. The street lights danced across Ryan's face as he drove to the city.

"It's been a while since we had some time to ourselves," he told me. "By the way, guess who's moving to Europe?"

I let him change the subject. "Meryl and Billy."

He glanced at me, surprised. I gave him a sly smile. "You're not the only one who's keeping tabs on them."

He chuckled. "Good to know."

Apparently, Graham Owens didn't want to chance his wife or son doing something stupid again, so he shipped them off to England shortly after our visit.

It's been weeks since Elizabeth's birthday party, where Leo Browning had offered me his position after Ryan refused it. I told him I would think about it. But a few days later, Doctor Sapphire had contacted me with a much more interesting project, and I turned down Browning's offer.

"How are the preparations going?" Ryan asked. "You've been busy these past few days."

"Everything is in order," I replied, turning in my seat to look at him while I spoke. The project with Sapphire was very close to my heart. I shared every little detail and step with Ryan. I never knew having someone to share your life with made everything twice as exciting.

Worldwide Strays. The organization's name spoke for itself. The idea was Dr. Sapphire's, and I jumped right on the opportunity to be part of it.

The bulk of the funding was provided by me and her husband, Hunter Jamison. The organization would be set up in several countries, mostly in spots where animal shelters and rescue efforts were rare or lacked government funding.

The project required time and frequent travel in the first stages of its inception, but the cause was worth the effort.

Ryan had been incredibly supportive. The case against Miranda was advancing properly, and the media attention had fortunately dwindled down to the odd article here and there.

Jeremy still refused to talk about her or with her. But he no longer shut down whenever she was mentioned. A progress made after he began seeing a therapist. He'd started last week after we finalized our move to the new house, which he and the pets adored.

The house was a ten minute drive from Elizabeth's place. It didn't have a beach view, which I would miss, but it sat on a sprawling property with more than enough acres to make the dogs happy.

Tonight was our date night, when Jeremy usually slept over at his Grandmother's. Ryan and I had date nights every other Friday, and we went to the movies every other Saturday. Jeremy would often come along if there was a new child movie in the theaters.

Ryan and I tried out a different food place on our date nights. Some of them were sorely disappointing, others were a great success, but the anticipation kept the dates intriguing.

Tonight was an early celebration for my birthday. It was next week, and we would hold a small dinner with close friends when Eleanor would fly over. But tonight was our own celebration, Ryan and I.

He told me to dress up. And as we got closer to our destination, I understood why. I breathed out a laugh. "A trip down memory lane?"

He grinned, pulling the car to a stop. "Yes. This is where it all started."

Exiting the car, he gave the keys to the valet and we rushed into the warm indoors. The place where Ryan and I had our very first date.

To think that I'd been reluctant to even go through with it... I shook my head. Life had a way of steering us into the most interesting directions. I didn't even want to entertain the possibility of never meeting him.