Page 36 of Entranced in the Mountains

“Why do you say that?”

“The way you look at Mom,” she says, smiling up at me. She has the same gorgeous blue eyes as her mother. “I hope some guy looks at me that way one day.”

I smile warmly as I kiss her temple. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, kiddo. Your soulmate will come soon.”

Ellie spots me in the crowd and smiles as she starts her next song. That smile… It still steals my breath after almost three decades together. I can’t get enough of it.

She’s only grown more beautiful over the years. There’s a quiet, confident glow about her now that she didn’t have before. Maybe it’s from surviving the toils of motherhood, or from the peacefulness of the mountains, or from a long life of being well-loved, but she looks happy. She looks satisfied.

The sunlight catches in her golden hair as the ethereal music carries on the warm mountain breeze. I swear my heart still stumbles every time her fingers touch those strings. She’s a magician with that harp.

When the song ends, Ellie’s eyes find mine again, and it feels like the whole world fades, just like it did twenty-seven years ago.

I watch proudly with my children beside me and we erupt in cheers when she’s finished and takes her bow in front of the crowd.

“Go, Mom!” Ethan shouts.

I’m filled with so much pride and love that sometimes I think my heart can’t take it.

Ellie gives me that secret little smile that says she’s still mine and always will be. I’ll never take her love for granted. It will always be the most precious and cherished thing in my life.

The mountains may be timeless, but I’m not. My hair is grayer now and I can’t benchpress what I used to.

The years have rolled on and life has changed.

But my love for Ellie?

That will never change.

That’s the one thing time will never touch.

My angel is my whole world.

And she always will be.

The End