Sensing his daughter’s embarrassment, Samuel strode over to her and engulfed her in a loving embrace. “You’re not gonna die, Sweetie.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sam pouted, keeping her body stiff.

“Come on, Sam…” he pulled back and looked her in the eye. “It’s not like you never saw your mother and I kiss at home.” He saw her body ease and pulled her in tightly to kiss the top of her head. “And from the look on your face, I’m sure that Brooke has to be better at it than we are.” He stuck his head out to the side and winked at Brooke, watching as the shades of red came quickly, passing from one hued tone to the next in the tall woman’s face.

Leaning back on the counter with her elbow, Brooke turned to hide her face in her hand. “Oh God,” she groaned.

Sarah stood at the doorway, taking in the whole scene, until Brooke’s exasperated comment invoked her to speak. “Oh, no. Not you, too!”

Brooke sank back into her seat as she watched her lover unbuckle the seat belt. Riding in the jet was old hat to the CEO but she was enjoying it this time even more with the blonde by her side. The smugness of a smile graced her face as she thought about what the rest of their lives were going to be like. Together… from here on in, that’s what it is going to be for us. Reaching out, she wrapped her fingers around Sam’s hand and relished in the warmth that filled her with dreams of years to come.

Stirring from the make believe world she’d conjured up in her head, Brooke tuned back to reality with the sound of Sam’s voice. “Hmm…” Brooke opened her eyes and turned to her lover.

“I said,” Sam started again. “That was so nice of you to let Daddy and Sarah have the house for a few days while we’re gone.”

“Yeah,” Brooke nodded, “it’ll give them some time together away from your mother. It will be good for them.” She looked over to Sam to see the gentle nod of affirmation as the blonde gazed out the window of the plane.

The silence lasted for a short time before Sam turned back to the woman next to her. “So, how long is it going to take us to get to this winter hideaway that you know about?”

Looking out the window to see nothing but clouds passing her by, Brooke’s face took on a very thoughtful expression. “Well, I’d say by looks of the clouds…” Brooke hesitated for a moment, and then winked at her astute companion. “Not much longer. Johnnie’s a damn good pilot. She’ll have us there in the next couple of hours, if even that long.”

Sam let a teasing little laugh come out around her smile. “Great, so what do you want to do until then?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”

“Hmm… let me see. We could… wax your skis, check your binding. Ah… maybe work on that lip balm?”

“Lip balm?” Brooke arched an eyebrow as Sam reached into her pocket and pulled out a stick of Chap Stick, causing a smile to come to the woman’s face. “Yeah, that’s it.”

“Care to share?” Sam offered the stick to her.

“Sure, after you.” Brooke watched diligently as Sam applied the moisturizer to her lips, letting a lazy smile come to her face.

When Sam was done, she closed the tube and held it out for Brooke, only to pull it back when she reached for it. “Ah, Ah, Ah… there’s a better way to do that.”

Brooke’s smile grew bigger as she leaned into her lover and kissed the freshly moisturized lips with her own. “You mean like that?”

“Exactly,” Sam murmured, then changed the angle of her head to make sure Brooke’s lips were fully covered.

Rubbing her lips together as she came off the kiss, Brooke sat back in her chair. “You know what I was thinking?” She saw the subtle shake of her lover’s head. “Why don’t we do some shopping when we get there?”

“Shopping?” Sam blinked in utter amazement. “You want to shop?”

“Yep,” Brooke nodded. “And I know what I’m shopping for.”

“Okay, I’m game, but what are we shopping for?”

Blue eyes dazzled with excitement as she waited for the suspense to build. “Wedding rings, what do you think?”

Green eyes gazed into blue for what seemed an eternity.

“What?” Brooke finally asked.

“Brooke, we just got engaged on Monday evening.”

“Yeah… and?” The dark-haired woman rested her elbow on the arm of the chair, and then let her chin lay on her hand as she leaned in to play with Sam’s cheek.

“Oh God, I think that I’m in love with one totally crazy woman.” Sam rolled her eyes. “We can’t get married, per se, Brooke.”

“Why not?” Brooke pulled back and stared unwaveringly. “I happen to know of a state or two where it’s legal for same sex marriages to be preformed.”

“Legal…” Sam’s voice trailed off. “Brooke Gordon, is that what this trip is all about?” The blonde’s eyes grew bigger. “We’re eloping, aren’t we?” Green eyes looked aimlessly at the tall woman when she thought about the heartbreak it would cause to her lover’s family. “Brooke… your mother’s not going to be happy about that.”

“Uh… not really.” Brooke tried to hold back the grin.

“Are you sure?” Sam eyed her lover suspiciously.

Running through the definition of the word elope in her head first, Brooke confidently nodded her head. “Yes, we’re definitely not eloping.” The tall woman waited for a moment then cleared her throat. “Just so you know Sam, same sex marriages are legal in Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts and you don’t have to be a resident of the state.”

“So we are…” Sam sat back in her seat with a huge smile on her face as she glanced over to her lover, “…aren’t we?”

“Sam, we’re not eloping.”

“Okay, then what are we doing?” Sam sat up in her seat and turned to look at Brooke.

“We’re taking a vacation in a state that just so happens to perform legal same sex marriages.” Brooke sat forward and kissed Sam on the lips briefly. “I just mentioned it to keep our options open, that’s all.”

“Open, huh?” Sam looked out the window as she settled back into her seat. “Why do I think this is an open and shut case?”

“Sam… I just want us to have a nice trip. We don’t…” Brooke gulped rather audibly as she pushed herself back into her chair, “…have to talk about the wedding anymore if you don’t want.” Brooke looked down at her lap.

“Hey, who said that I didn’t want one?” Sam seemed to be on the offensive.

“Well… I don’t know… I guess I just realized that you never really told me what you want exactly.”

The blonde looked over to her dark-haired lover and took her hand. “I want you, Brooke, for the rest of my life and I’ll take that any way that I can.”

Hearing Sam’s words brought a huge grin to Brooke’s face. “I love you, Sam.”

“I love you, Brooke.” The young woman leaned into place a kiss on her lover’s cheek, then sat back, looking out the window of the plane. After a few moments, and acting as nonchalantly as possible, Sam turned to the woman next to her. “So, is Saturday good for you?”

“Saturday? Good for what?”

Sam tried to hold back the smile that wanted to overtake her face. “Well, for our wedding, of course.” Having said it she turned to face Brooke, showing her a twinkling set of green eyes. “You don’t think that after going all this way, I’m coming back without one, do you?”

“Sam… I… how did you…” Brooke couldn’t decide what she needed to know first. “I…” leaning in, Brooke gave up and smiled, then kissed Sam delicately, “Saturday will be perfect, Darlin’.”

Brooke listened at the door for the sound of water running before taking the cell phone from the nightstand where she’d laid it when they arrived Wednesday afternoon. Okay Brooke, you know that she’ll be in there for at least ten minutes, let’s make this a quick one. Punching in the direct dial to her office, she waited for Peter to pick up the phone. She looked at her watch to confirm that he would be in the office.

“Brownstone Records, Peter Butler here. How may I help you?”

God, he’s only on the job a month and he sounds like a pro. She quickly cleared her mind and hurried on to her agenda, keeping her voice as soft as she could. “So, Petey, you all ready for the big trip?”

“Hey, Brooke.” The man’s voice sounded surprised. “What’s up? I thought you were on vacation.” He paused for a second. “Trip? She agreed to it, eh?”

“Yeah, she did.” Brooke’s voice beamed with pride. “So remember, you’ll have to pick up Crystal and Aunt Sandy before you head out to the plane. Mom, Dad and the rest of the family are picking up Sam’s father, sister and Mario at the house at noon and then they’ll meet you at the plane. Is… uh… is Ida coming? I invited her yesterday.”

“Could I stop her?” Peter proclaimed. “She’s happier than a lark knowing that you’re tying the knot.”

“Cool.” Brooke thought about her motherly employee only for a moment knowing that she had to press on. “So you’ll pick up Aunt Sandy and Crystal?”

“Brooke, I’ll have the plane ready and waiting for everyone. Yes, I’ll get Crystal and her Mom.” Peter paused for a moment, and then asked, “It’s only Sam’s father and sister, right?”

“Yeah, they’ll meet you at the airfield at 12:30 for take off by 1 p.m.”

“Whewie! Now that’s a relief. I’m not sure that Sam’s mother would be such a good thing at the wedding. I mean, she’s not exactly a fan of either of your teams in this sport, Brooke.”

“Tell me about it.” Brooke rolled her eyes as she heard the water stop running in the shower. “Hey, Petey, I’d better go. Sam’s getting out of the shower. Thanks for taking care of all the loose ends for me. I’ll see you around three this afternoon.”

“Good luck, Brooke. I won’t let you down.”

“Great… now if I could just get these damn butterflies out of my stomach, I’d be fine.” Brooke gave a little chuckle. “Hey, you remember Johnnie, the pilot, right?” Brooke asked nervously.

“You with butterflies? Yeah, right.” Peter coughed, “Remember Johnnie? Oh yeah, I remember her. Who could forget that hot pilot?”

“Hey, you’d better watch it there, Pal, you’re practically spoken for, yourself,” Brooke teased her long time friend. “I’ll see you around three then. Have a good flight.”

“Right, see ya later, Boss.”

The tall woman terminated the call, then quickly set the phone down on the nightstand again as she heard the bathroom door open.

Seeing the phone still within Brooke’s fingers, Sam finished drying her hair with the towel. “So, who was that, Hon?”

Brooke glanced down at the phone. “Oh, that… I was ah… just checking in with Peter.” She moved away from the bed and stood behind the small blonde, appreciating her reflection in the mirror. “You ready for this?”

“Ready for what?”

The tall woman wrapped her arms around Sam and pulled her back toward the bed. Turning around as they fell backward onto the mattress, Brooke tossed the wet towel aside. “Your last day as a single woman.” Brooke winked, then kissed her on the neck.

“Hmm… if I remember correctly,” Sam chuckled at the tickling sensation that Brooke’s touch invoked, “…it’s your last day too.” She reached up to rub her furrowed brow. “So what do you want to do, go dig up some snow bunnies?”

“Hmm… I dunno. We could…” the older woman paused, “…then again,” she paused a second time before continuing on. “If you go put on your ski clothes, I’ll already have the hottest snow bunny around.”

As if on cue, Sam jumped off the bed and dashed for the closet. “Look out snow. You’re gonna melt when you see this one.” Sam pulled her suit from the closet and held it up to her body. “Now, is that really fair to all these ski lodges around?”

Brooke smiled at the young woman’s enthusiasm. “Who cares? I refuse to share you, so who cares about fair?” The dark-haired woman reached over to the nightstand and pulled out the box they had purchased just the day before.

“You can’t stop looking at them, can you?” Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

“No, I can’t.” Brooke looked up at Sam like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Good, cause neither can I.” Sam quickly hung up the ski clothes and dove onto the bed. “Let me see,” the blonde wiggled closer for a better view.

The dazzle of gold caught Brooke’s eye as she tilted the box for her lover to see. “I just can’t wait to see them side by side once they’re on our fingers.” Both women stared down at the gold bands as Brooke laced her fingers with Sam’s.

“I know,” Sam said barely above a whisper. “Me, either.” She turned her head and kissed the taller woman’s cheek. “Well, come on my hot, not so little, snow bunny. There’s still time for a few runs down that slope.”