I picked up the plane tickets from the coffee table and held them between my two fingers. Tia Birchfield, first class. Ryan Birchfield, first class. Dated for just two days from now, but with no end date given.

  I wanted to be the carefree person I’d been before I had Ryan. Ryan was my greatest blessing, and I didn’t regret him for a single second, but being thrust into the world of single parenthood had made me fairly guarded. I’d been a free spirit before then, and free-spirited Tia would’ve already been at the airport, trying to exchange the ticket for an earlier flight.

  Maybe a day or two of thinking and reflecting would lead me to a clearer decision. I just wished there was a definitive right choice to make, because, if there was, I would’ve opted for the one deemed to be correct. But that wasn’t how life worked. You never knew how something risky would turn out until you took that risk, and it absolutely terrified me.

  The front door creaked open, and Ryan called down the hallway to let me know he was home. I had to make a decision. What on earth was I going to do?

  Chapter 25

  Maxim

  When people learned that I was wealthy, they assumed it was a glamorous life, filled with galas and shopping and private jets. While those things weren’t completely absent from my life, that was a naïve take on what it was like to be CEO of a large company. I worked, at a minimum, seventy or eighty hours each week, and I was virtually always on call. I had to behave a certain way and look a certain way, and even, to an extent, think a certain way, all because, as my father had put it when I was younger, I was the company. When people thought of Schelling Bank, it was my face they associated with the brand.

  Of course, it was because of my family’s company that I was able to live the life I wanted. That wasn’t lost on me. Without Schelling Bank, I’d probably be working as a mid-level executive somewhere, making just enough for one yearly vacation and Lucie’s private school tuition. I was grateful that my future had been secured for me from a young age. There were some days, however, when the work got to be particularly strenuous, that I reflected on all of that—the reputation, the publicity, the brand. Today was one of those days.

  It was Lucie’s first full day home from summer break, and I wanted nothing more than to end the night with her watching one of her favorite movies while sharing a giant bowl of popcorn. I was trying to find some semblance of work-life balance, as best I could, just as Tia had suggested to me.

  My plan had been thwarted an hour into the work day, when I’d gotten a call from the CFO of a small bank we had just purchased with some concerns regarding the contract. I thought back to my video chat with Tia just two days earlier, when I’d mentioned the deal with excitement, then unaware of the stress it would ultimately cause me.

  Per my business advisor’s suggestion, I’d traveled to Bern to meet with the higher-ups in the company, spending an hour and a half in the car each way. We’d reached a resolution that both parties had found beneficial in their own right, but it had come at the expense of getting home at a reasonable hour.

  Exhausted from a day filled with back-to-back meetings, I was glad to finally be back at my office. I half-listened as Clara read me the messages from the calls I’d missed while I’d been in Bern. As much as I tried my best to focus, I only caught a fraction of what she was saying, distracted both by the dealings from my meetings and the fact that I hadn’t heard from Tia since I’d sent her the plane tickets.

  “Mr. Schelling?”

  “Yes?”

  “Did you get that?” Clara asked.

  I stood up from my desk and looked at the mahogany wall clock behind it. “Clara, it’s after ten,” I said. “Why don’t you go home and spend some time with your family? We can go over the messages tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure, Mr. Schelling? I don’t mind staying.”

  “I’m sure.” Clara gave me a look that said she needed more direction. “I’ll see you in the morning. Get a good night’s sleep. It’s been a hectic week.”

  Clara thanked me, despite the fact that we’d been staying several hours later than usual this week, and headed on her way.

  As I put my jacket on, I thought about the hands on the clock and what they’d indicated. Yet again, I’d missed Tia’s window of free time to call her—not that I was sure she wanted to hear from me anyhow.

  I bid the doorman good night and strolled over to my reserved parking space, anxious to get home to Lucie. I didn’t want my work schedule to impede on all of the big plans I had for her summer break.

  At the first red light, I dialed Tia’s number, hopeful that she’d had enough time to make a decision about spending the summer with us. I was expecting a “no,” but I was still holding out for that slim chance she might consider spending a few months with a man she barely knew who just happened to be falling for her.

  Her phone went straight to voicemail, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was annoyed with me. I was so confident in our potential as a couple when we were together, but, when we were apart, I was often afraid that I was misreading the situation. It wasn’t exactly how most relationships started, so we were still trying to find our footing.

  I toyed with the possibility that Tia was upset with me, angry, even, though it could have just been my analytical nature. Maybe she was offended that I’d asked her to drop everything to come to Zurich. Or maybe she was upset that I’d done so through a letter. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but I wondered if perhaps I had been too pushy. After all, she did have Ryan to think about, and a life and a job and a house in West Virginia. Though I may not have had direct experience with a lot of her daily worries, I was sympathetic to her situation.

  The lights in the kitchen were still on when I pulled into the driveway. That meant one of two things—either the nanny, Maria, hadn’t yet gone to bed, or Lucie was up sneaking sweets from the kitchen. I decided the odds of either were fairly equal.

  I opened the front door as quietly as I could, not wanting to startle whoever was awake. I was far too tired to reprimand whoever needed reprimanding.

  “Daddy!” Lucie squealed, running to greet me at the front door.

  I swept Lucie off her feet and took her in my arms, hoping she would always be this happy to see me after a long day of work. “What are you doing up?”

  Instead of a proper answer, she said, “Come play with us!”

  Lucie tugged my arm, demonstrating far more strength than I’d expected from someone of her size and stature.

  I probably should have been upset that the nanny had kept Lucie up and was engaging with her this late at night, but Lucie was so chipper that I simply couldn’t get mad. Not to mention that, of all the nannies that we’d had for Lucie, Maria was one of her favorites. I didn’t want to nitpick over something so trivial, especially since school was out for the summer.

  I did a double-take when we reached Lucie’s playroom. That wasn’t the nanny. In the corner of the room, Ryan was building a fort out of blankets and pillows.

  That could only mean one thing: Tia was here. She’d used the plane tickets after all.

  “What’s going on?” I surprised myself with my ability to muster up the words in a time of such shock.

  Without waiting for an answer, I walked down the hall, checking each room as I walked. I had to find her.

  Finally, I ended up in the last room on the first floor, the kitchen. Tia’s back was toward me, her front side facing the far countertop. In front of her sat four bowls, each with scoops of what appeared to be vanilla ice cream. She looked so perfectly natural in my kitchen, so at home, in a house she couldn’t have spent more than a few hours in. I was absolutely blown away. She was meant to be here. Two seconds with her in this house and I knew it.

  Seeming not to have noticed me up until that point, Tia spun around to reach for the hot fudge on the center island. She was as beautiful as ever.

  “You’re just in time,” she said, her smile reaching from one side of her face to the other. “I’m making ice cream sundaes.”

  I threw my briefcase onto the ground, ran over to her, and wrapped her in a long, tight hug. I couldn’t believe she was really here. This was really happening. I kissed her like I’d never kissed her before and might never kiss her again, overcome with joy that she’d come all this way.

  Our lips danced together in perfect rhythm. It wasn’t until Ryan and Lucie came running into the kitchen that we took a minute to catch our breaths.

  “What’s taking so long with the ice cream?” Lucie asked with a grin.

  “Just putting on the finishing touches,” Tia said.

  The kids bickered back and forth in that playful manner of theirs, and I simply stood in silence and soaked it all in. This felt like a dream, one that I never wanted to wake up from. I couldn’t believe Tia was here, making ice cream sundaes in my kitchen, no less. This had to be what heaven felt like.

  In this moment, I’d never felt more certain of anything. I was in love with Tia. I was absolutely, unequivocally head over heels in love with Tia Birchfield. She belonged here, not just in Switzerland, but in this house, with Lucie and me. It was as if we’d been meant to be a family, and if she hadn’t already realized that, I was sure that this trip would do the trick.

  “What are you looking all lovey-dovey for?” Tia asked as she slid my bowl of ice cream across the counter.

  “You, of course,” I said, matter-of-factly. “I still can’t believe you’re really here.”

  I walked over to the kitchen table, bowl and spoon in hand, and Tia, Lucie and Ryan followed suit. This was the first time I’d ever had any sort of love interest over to the house, let alone one that I cared for so deeply. It was strange, but a good kind of strange, the kind of strange I could spend the rest of my life getting used to.

  “How was your flight?” I asked.

  Ryan piped up to answer. “There was a crying baby in front of us the whole time,” he said. “We couldn’t sleep at all because the baby was so loud.”

  “That’s a shame. But I have some good news for you.”

  “What?”

  I turned to Lucie. “Lucie, tell him about the beds.”

  Lucie’s face lit up, and she grabbed Ryan’s arm in excitement. “We have the most comfortable beds on the entire planet! They mold to your body shape and feel like they’re cuddling you.”

  Tia busted out laughing at Lucie’s peculiar description. “Cuddling you?”

  “Like a hug from a mattress!”

  “Awesome!” Ryan said.

  The flow of conversation felt completely natural among the four of us. It was as if we’d picked up right after our last night at the resort. The same level of comfort I’d felt at the arcade, and on the lake cruise, and while we watched a movie together came rushing right back, and it seemed as though everyone else felt the same way.

  Lucie told Ryan about the last few weeks of her school year, and he reciprocated with stories of the field day he’d participated in at his school. Schools in Switzerland, at least the schools Lucie had attended, didn’t have a field day, so Lucie lived vicariously through Ryan as he described a day filled with relay races, sports, and ice cream cones.

  “Daddy, we should have our own field day in the backyard one day,” Lucie said.

  Not wanting to burst her bubble, I nodded and told her I’d consider it. That seemed to please her, because she went right back to talking with Ryan without missing a beat.

  I wasn’t sure if Tia was planning on staying for the summer or just for a week or two, but I didn’t want to ruin this moment by asking. Instead, I decided to start off lightly.

  “What made you decide to come?” I said. “I wasn’t sure that you would.”

  “You,” Tia replied simply. “I missed you, and I wanted to be with you. Just like you told me Lucie pushed you to come to see me, Ryan gave me the push to come to see you.”

  “Is that so?” I was amazed that it all seemed so simple in the minds of our children. I supposed we, the parents, were the ones who always overcomplicated things.

  “It is. I decided I’d leave the decision up to him. After all, it’s his summer vacation, too.”

  Summer vacation. That meant that she intended on staying for a while. I tried to hide my excitement as Tia continued.

  “Ryan told me that he would do whatever I wanted, but that he missed Lucie and had enjoyed Switzerland so much that he’d love to go back. That sealed the deal for me. If he wanted to go, and I wanted to go, then what was holding us back?”

  I didn’t want to point out the obvious, but I also wanted to ensure that I wasn’t the cause of any unnecessary stress or financial burden for Tia.

  “What about—”

  “A friend of a friend knew someone who was looking for a place for the summer,” she explained. It was like she could read my mind. “Her lease ended this month, and the building she wants to move to doesn’t have an opening until the end of August, so it actually worked out perfectly.”

  “That it did.” I could no longer hide my smile. “And there’s no turning back now.”

  Lucie and Ryan were in their own little universe, playing some sort of hand game, completely oblivious to the world around them. I hoped they’d always stay this bright-eyed.

  I took a bite of my half-melted ice cream without taking my eyes off of Tia. I didn’t want to miss a single moment with her.

  In this moment, I saw my future right in front of me. I would do whatever I had to do to keep Tia in my life, whether that meant buying a taxi company so that she had a job here or opening an American branch of Schelling Bank headquartered in West Virginia so that I could be there with her. Whatever needed to be done, I would find a way. With every fiber of my being, I felt like, for the first time in a long time, I was right where I was supposed to be.

  Money didn’t matter. Distance didn’t matter. Nothing besides my love for Tia mattered. I couldn’t live my life without her, nor did I want to.

  Chapter 26

  Tia

  As magical as the ski resort in Geneva had been, Maxim and Lucie’s house on Lake Zurich was even more incredible. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows gave us a gorgeous view of the water, and the master bedroom I’d been staying in looked like it was straight out of an interior design advertisement. Each room was more beautiful than the next, and each day I spent here brought about new nooks and crannies of the mansion to explore.

  As the days passed by, I found myself growing more and more confident in my relationship with Maxim. Not only were things great between us, but Ryan and Lucie were in absolute heaven being back together. It felt as though they were meant to be siblings or best friends.

  Maybe this relationship really could work out. Sure, there were some logistical issues to figure out—the distance, for one thing, and the difference in social status, for another—but we had all summer before we had to worry about that. All that mattered was that we were here.

  It was Friday afternoon before what was potentially going to be the biggest Friday night of my life. It was my and Maxim’s couple debut, though we weren’t officially calling it that.

  In actuality, I was accompanying Maxim to a charity ball at a fancy ballroom downtown. I didn’t know much about it, other than that it was one of the most talked-about events of the year, and that the cream of Swiss society would be there. In other words, I was completely panicked and nervous beyond belief.

  “Are you excited for tonight?” Ryan asked, joining me on the sofa in one of the three family rooms in the house. “Lucie says it’s a pretty big deal.”

  “I guess,” I said. “I’ve never actually been to a fancy event like this before.”

  Ryan rested his head on my shoulder. Even though I loved being here with Maxim and Lucie, it was nice to still have our mother-son moments that I held so dearly. “You’ll be great, Mom. You’re going to be the prettiest one there.”

  “Are you trying to suck up for something? You’re sounding awfully suspicious.”

  “Not really.” He shrugged. “Maxim just said that you’re nervous for tonight, and I don’t want you to be nervous.”

  “It’s natural to be nervous when you try something new,” I said. “You know, like when we first went skiing.”

  “I was never nervous,” Ryan assured me. “That was you. Besides, being nervous is a waste of time. It doesn’t help anything.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, nor could I argue with Ryan’s logic. There was no use being worried about something I had no control over. It was a new experience, sure, but I knew that Maxim would do everything in his power to make sure I felt comfortable.

  “Thanks, sweetheart,” I said. “You always give the best pep talks.”

  I rustled Ryan’s hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead, which he promptly wiped off.

  Aside from the anxiousness I was feeling about meeting all of these important people, I was actually looking forward to wearing a fancy dress and feeling glamorous for a change. Maxim had even hired a stylist recommended to him by one of his colleagues to come over and do my hair and makeup.

  “You always look stunning, so don’t feel obligated to use the stylist,” he’d said. “I just thought it might be a fun treat to get dolled up without having to put in all the work.”

  He spoke to me like I was the most special person on the planet. I loved that he’d assured me that I didn’t need the makeup, that it was just a fun experience to be pampered. I knew he meant what he said, but I’d still taken him up on his offer to have a hair stylist and makeup artist come to the house to make sure I looked my best.

  Tonight was especially important to Maxim. He’d been talking with an American financier, an older man nearing retirement, about a potential business collaboration. For months, he’d met with him, and spoken to him on the phone, and sent him gift baskets in an effort to woo him. Tonight would be the night that sealed the deal on their partnership. That, on top of the diplomats and businessmen and celebrities who would be there, was enough to keep the pressure on me.