Chocolate Kisses and Love Filled Wishes: Kissing Bridge Mountain - Book 3 (13 page)

              He bent down and pried open the pilot’s door.

          Brad was in a heavy-duty snowsuit, with a hat covering his head and neck, and goggles covering his eyes. That was a good thing, as all of these would retain his body heat. On the cold of the slopes, the right clothes could save your life.

“Brad!” Brody tried to wake him, but to no avail. He was breathing shallow—but
alive
.

Brody realized he would have to drag him out, no easy feat, as Brad was a large man.             

Brody tried to get a hold on Brad, but Brad was bigger than him, and it was a struggle. But Brody knew that he was everyone’s last hope, and that gave him a strength he didn’t even know he had. Pulling with all his might, he finally managed to get a limp Brad out onto the wing of the plane.

Next was the seemingly impossible task of getting him onto the larger shelf ledge a little lower down. That would be the only way to get them away from the tunneling wings that boomed through the mountains, bringing deluges of snow in its billows.

              Brody scanned the mountain looking for a possible path.

After some quick thinking, Brody untied the extra snowboard and secured Brad to it with the ropes. It was a makeshift solution, and not perfect by any means, but it looked like it would work for the moment. He strapped his own board back on, and began to make slow progress down toward the ledge, trying everything he could to keep their speed down. He knew that slow and steady was the way to go. One error could send them both flying off the ledge and find them buried in the thick snow—never to be seen again.

After a scary traverse of the snowy, steep mountain, they made it to the larger ridge. Brody breathed a sigh of victory and sent up a little prayer of thanks to God. He whipped out his phone, praying that the mountain reception wouldn’t fail. Jason answered right away.

“I’ve got your brother.”

He smiled as he heard Jason relay the news to everyone else at the Landers’ Bakery and cheers of joy erupted. But it wasn’t over yet. They didn’t even know if Brad would regain consciousness.

Jason lowered his voice and asked, “How is he?”

Brody looked over at Brad.

“Dude, I think he’s going to make it. I’ve seen guys stuck out in the winter conditions before that looked way worse, but he’s unconscious.”

Jason sucked in his breath hoping the extraction would be easier then he thought, and they could get Brad straight to the hospital.

“Where should we pick you up on the snowmobiles?”

Brody explained to Jason where the ledge was they were safely on—luckily close to the bottom, and easy access for the snow mobiles.

*********************************

After a little while, the snowmobiles arrived.

Jason helped Brody lift Brad onto the back of one. He leaned over his brother and felt his face. Still warm; good sign. He checked his hands for snow burn but they were luckily encased in thick warm gloves, and thus unharmed. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Jason shook Brody’s hand.

“You’re a good man, Brody. We’ll never forget what you did today. risking your life for our brother. You’re a real hero.”

Brody blushed for maybe the first time in his life, as they

took off down the mountain, as fast as they could, to where ambulances waited for them.

Chapter 25

B
rad woke up to find Summer bent over the hospital bed. “I took the first flight I could get out.”

Brad shook his head, trying to clear his mind and remember what happened. He looked over the other side of his bed to see Kacey and Brody standing there, clutching each other’s hands and smiling from ear to ear.

“Hey, Bro!” Kacey said. She reached out her hand to take his. His eyes focused in on the wheelchair.

“Don’t worry. It’s temporary. Just worry about yourself!”

Brad wanted to say more but he was weak.

“How did I get here? What happened?”

“Brody saved your life.”

Summer leaned over him and pulled a lone strand of hair off his face affectionately.

              Brad rifled through his memories. The plane, the storm, the crashing descent. “Oh my gosh.”

              “I’m so glad you’re all right,” Summer cried all over him. “I love you
so
much.”

“And I love you,” Brad said, tears welling up in his eyes. It all seemed like a strange dream, but he knew life would never be the same again. It would be so much richer, so much fuller of the importance of family and love and everything that he loved about life.

“Thank you, Brody,” he said. He wanted to say so much, more but the words caught in his throat. All he could do was cry right along with Summer and pull her close until they cried all over each other, their tears of relief and love mingling together until they were one stream.

Chapter 26

             
“Y
ou know, I really love Kissing Bridge,” Brody said. “I can’t believe I never wanted to come here before.” Brody had been reluctant to do the whole meeting her family thing, but now, it was all he could talk about. They strolled through Kissing Bridge, gloved hand in gloved hand, beaming at each other. “I’d love to spend more time with you here.”

“I love it too, and I never used to appreciate it,” Kacey said. “Sometimes I think you need to be away from something for a while to appreciate how much you need it; how much you love it.”

              “Like you,” said Brody, pausing to kiss her on the nose. “I knew I cared about you, but I really had no idea how much, until you were gone.”

              But then he said something that really surprised her.

          “I’m thinking that it might be the right time to retire after the 2018 Korean Olympics.”

“What? Really?”

“Yep,” he said.

Kacey was floored. “I’d never thought I’d hear you say that. What’s brought this on?”

              He stopped, taking both her hands in his, and looking at her.

“You. Or this. This whole thing. These past few weeks. I’ve learned so much.”

              Kacey loved this change in him.

Not only was he his usual bouncy self, there seemed to be a new dimension to him. A deeper one, a smarter one.

         “What did you learn?” she asked.

              “I learned that I really want
this
kind of life,” he said. “This place has a real sense of community. It just made me realize how empty all these crazy parties are. I’m bored with the whole snowboarding crowd; not the snowboarders themselves, but the whole thing that surrounds it.”

              Kacey instantly thought of the supermodels that fawned all over him. “I can agree with that.”

“We’ve traveled the world already,” he said. “And I know we want the medals. But why don’t we just train together for the Olympics, and then call it a day with all the competitions?

I mean, it’s nice to win, sure, but at the end of the day, it’s a piece of metal hanging around your neck. That’s all.”

              Kacey was so taken aback, she didn’t know what to think, or say, but it didn’t matter much, because Brody was on a roll.

              “I mean, I was so mad at you when I found out you were training, but then I thought, how could I really blame you? When I was so focused on winning at all costs, and being so single minded—like snowboarding was all that mattered in the world. But to me, Baby, it doesn’t matter if you ever snowboard again. If you want to, that’s great, if you don’t want to or you can’t, that’s totally cool… I guess what I’m trying to say, is that our relationship is about so much more than snowboarding. It goes deeper than that.”

Wow.
The words she’d always wanted to hear from him, pouring right out of his mouth. It felt like something close to a miracle.

“I do want to board again,” she said. “I love it so much.”

“I know you do, Babe. We both do.”

“But I want to stay here, too. We can train up the mountain here until the Olympics. And after that, we can come back for good.”

              “That sounds awesome.” Brody looked all around at the quaint small town and beamed from ear to ear. Kacey had never seen him so happy.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Brody’s head and his eyes widened with excitement. “And we could open a snowboarding school!”

Kacey grinned and lifted her hand up. They slapped hands in a high-five. “That’s what
I’m
talking about, 98.”

Then he gathered her up in a kiss that made her feel like she was the only woman in the whole wide world.

“I love you, Brody Jenkins.”

“And I love you, Kacey Anderson, though you won’t be
that
for much longer.”
 

Chapter 27

             
S
o came the day that so many had been waiting for—

though none more eagerly than Brad and Summer—the day that Summer would finally put the Landers ladies’ curse to rest; shedding her Landers name to become Summer Anderson.

Both Ethel and Aunt Carol had tears in their eyes as they linked their arms in with Summer’s outside the church doors. Summer, however, was beaming from ear to ear—her heart fluttering with the promise of a bright future.

              “I can’t believe my baby’s getting married,” Ethel said.

“
Our
baby,” Aunt Carol said, dabbing at her eyes.

Summer gave them both a hug, but then said, “You’d better believe it. By the end of today, I’m gonna be a married woman.”

She turned around and flashed a smile at her bridesmaids, Dodie and Kacey. They both wore beautiful Tiffany Blue gowns.

          Summer wore a beautiful white dress that made her resemble a Greek goddess. It was modern and classic all in one— just like the one Summer had always dreamed of—with a long tail and plunging neckline. Her golden hair was pulled up into an elegant bun and adorned with white roses and sprinkles of silver ice. She looked like a fairy tale princess.

Then the music started playing; the beautiful orchestral music Brad and Summer had picked out together.

“This is it!” Summer whispered, and the doors opened in front of them.

The church was packed to the brim with everyone from Kissing Bridge, all looking back toward her and smiling. Summer couldn’t help but burst out into a happy laugh.

She began her walk down the aisle, flanked by her mom and Aunt Carol, who couldn’t have looked any prouder.

          Then she looked down the aisle and saw Brad.

Brad.

                  
The man who still made her heart flutter; the man who she could truly be herself with. She couldn’t wait for them to move in together into their beautiful new house.  She was so glad they’d saved that pleasure for marriage. It would all mean so much more.

He looked so handsome in his black tux. His grey eyes soft, and full of love. He looked at her in such a tender way that she felt it, deep down in her heart. His father, Jason, his two other brothers, and Brody all stood up beside him.

          She was moved by how much each of them meant so much to her.

Aunt Carol and Mom patted her arm and smiled down the aisle with her, and she felt she could never be happier than she was right then, surrounded by people who all loved her so much.

The town pastor stood at the front, smiling at all of them.

Soon all her beloved friends were lined up together awaiting her, the bride.

              When Summer reached Brad, everyone else fell away.

She gazed deeply into his gray eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you,” he whispered back, gazing just as intently at her.

They were always meant to be together. This day would seal their love forever.

              “The happy couple has chosen to compose their own vows,” the pastor said.

         “Summer, if you would like to go first.”

Summer had memorized them by heart. “I love you with all I am, all I have ever been, and all I ever will be. I love you, Brad, with all my heart and soul, and now this is my proof.”

Dodie handed her the ring; a heavy, thick band of gold.

“This ring is the offering of me to you, of my heart, my soul, my body, my health, my everything. All I have and all I will ever be blessed to have, is yours. I am yours and always will be yours.”

With that, she slid the ring on his finger, then wiped away the single tear that fell from his eye.

Jason handed Brad a matching gold ring, just a little bit more delicate.

“Brad, would you please make your vows,” the pastor said.

“Summer, today I make the biggest promise one heart could ever make to another. I vow to be your constant support and your home, your place of calm and comfort, your respite from the trials of life and the world. My heart, my soul and everything I am belongs to you, and you alone. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, Summer, and I pray to God that I can be the man you deserve, and make you feel like the queen that you are, every single day. I love you, Summer, with every fiber of my heart and my being. I am yours, forever.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the pastor said, as the church erupted into cheering. “You may now kiss the bride.”

There was not a single dry eye in the church as Brad and Summer leant in to kiss each other. Aunt Carol was in floods of happy tears, and Ethel looked proudly on. Her little girl had finally come home and the Lander’s curse was lifted after all.

*******************************

              The whole town was at the reception.

          Aunt Carol and Mom had prepared it in an Easter theme, every table decorated with chocolate eggs emblazoned with silver and, of course, Tiffany blue. There were white roses on every table, too, and each name was carved into the chocolate eggs instead of place cards.

“It’s lucky Kissing Bridge is so darn cold,” more than one person joked. “Otherwise no one would know where they were sitting!”

Summer and Brad made the most exquisite couple. It might have been nearly impossible to have ever seen two people so happy. Brad beamed like he had won the Superbowl and Summer had a glow that only a new bride can have. 

Mother caught site of Earl across the room, talking to Kacey and Brody. He winked at her and she blushed at having been caught eyeing him up. Aunt Carol bustled up to her with a smile so wide, you could barely see her cheeks anymore.

         “Well, well, Ethel, this is a most glorious day. Plus the curse is officially finally lifted.”

          Ethel smiled back at her. “Yes, it is a glorious day, praise be to God. It’s a great day for the Landers’ ladies, Carol!”

Aunt Carol hugged her sister closely.

“Maybe you’re the next Landers to go down the aisle?”

Ethel couldn’t help but smile. “Certainly anything is possible after this last week of excitement!” Aunt Carol nodded, her red beehive bouncing back and forth in agreement, as she looked around the room at all the lovers. It had been one heck of a week, but love had won out in the end!

              If it hadn’t been for Brody’s true love for Kacey, there would have been no saving Brad, and no wedding. If he hadn’t shown up when he did to declare his feelings, then none of them would have had anything to celebrate.

Jason walked by and stopped to talk to the ladies. He looked very handsome in his grey tux that matched those wonderful Anderson grey eyes.  He gave each of the ladies a quick hug.

        “Looks like we are officially family now.”

Ethel beamed. “Yes. Lucky us!”

Aunt Carol smiled at Jason. It was nice to see him so at ease and rested. He had looked so worn out when he first got back home after years overseas as a Marine. He had seem defeated, sad and lonely. Now he was joyous and happy, and Aunt Carol guessed exactly why.

“Seems like maybe you might be the next one to consider settling down Jason,” she tried to coerce him into telling his true feelings.

Jason leaned over and said into Aunt Carol’s ear “You’ll be the second to know.” With that he sauntered away with a sly look on his face.

Aunt Carol looked after him suspiciously. Had her eavesdropping skills let her down? She had heard no inklings about town of any marriage rumours. Hmmmm.

She decided she best go take her ears about the room and see if she had missed anything, and off she went.

It was time to dance, with the lovers’ classics playing, Brody helped Kacey to her feet. She was newly off her crutches and feeling much better. He pulled her closely on the dance floor and whispered in her ear. “If you can’t manage, you just tell me, and we’ll stop right away.”

But Kacey didn’t want to stop. She couldn’t get enough of being close to Brody, of breathing in his smell, of feeling his stubble against her cheek. She closed her eyes and drifted away to the music, feeling wrapped up in romance.

        Ethel watched all the young lovers dancing under the twinkling lights and thought how lucky she was. The beauty and the music and the love filled the room. She felt a warm arm go around her waist and turned to see Earl smiling at her tenderly.

“Would you do me the honor of a dance, beautiful lady?”

              Meanwhile, Jason and Dodie were seated at the wedding table, surveying the guests all dancing. Jason took a bite out of his chocolate egg, chomping into his name iced on, in Tiffany blue writing. He glanced over at Dodie, thinking to himself how gorgeous she looked.

“Honey, take a bite out of your name tag egg. It’s delicious.”

Dodie laughed. “No babes, I’m going to save that.” She ran her finger over the little bumps that formed her name.

“It’s so cute!”

Jason laughed right along. “You’re the cute one here. How are you going to save a chocolate egg?”

Dodie shrugged. “I don’t know – in the freezer.”

Jason hugged her.

“You are so adorable and old fashioned. I love that! Take a bite of yours, go on. Please. It’s the best chocolate ever. Summer’s mom made them up special at the bakery.”

Dodie raised an eyebrow.

Nothing usually got by her at the bakery, as she was there most days helping out and/or teaching classes.

She shrugged and took a bite, curious now. She chewed. Hmm, he was right. It
was
extra nice. She put the egg down and looked at Jason. “Delicious.”

He nodded. “I especially liked the inner center.”

Dodie picked up the egg to check out the special center, and a brilliant gleam came from inside the chocolaty depth. She picked it up and shook it out.

Much to her surprise, a beautiful diamond ring fell out onto the table.