Worthington Wives

Chapter Eighteen

Since Avery Sr was in the hospital and Reyanna wasn’t needed to care for him the next day, Ben asked his mother if he could take her to a ski slope the next afternoon. “We will have to stay the night of course,” he told his mother.

“On one condition,” Agnes said. “You take Phillip and Cecelia with you, and the girls stay in their own room together and you boys stay in another room together,” she told Ben and looked over at Phillip. “Yes, of course, Dan and Zander can handle things at the office. We don’t have any meetings planned,” Ben said and Phillip agreed.

“Would you like that, Cece?” Phillip asked. Cecelia was very excited about it. “I’ve never been to a ski slope before,” she said. “Is it okay with you, Reyanna?”she asked. “Well, of course! And there are tubing slopes if you don’t want to ski,” Reyanna offered. “

“Great! Then, we will stay in the lodge. I’ll make arrangements,” Ben said. “Now, can I trust you, or do I need to send Garland and Sarah to chaperone?” Agnes asked. “Mom, we are not teenagers. Of course you can trust us,” Phillip told her. Agnes took a cleansing breath. She hoped that they would behave, but as he said, they are adults, so she had to trust them.

“I’m finding out one thing,” Agnes said. “There are no books on raising men,” she said. “All I can do is raise you right and hope that you are the gentleman you were taught to be,” she said, looking at her sons. “And my

girls, I’m trusting you to be ladies as well,” she said, looking at Reyanna and Cecelia. “We won’t let you down, Mom,” Cecelia said.

Ben and Phillip both got off half a day so they could get ready for their trip. The girls were packed and ready and excited. “Bye Mom, I love you,” Ben said, kissing Agnes on the cheek. “Be back soon Mom, and don’t worry,” Phillip said, kissing her cheek. “I love you, he told her. Agnes smiled at her sons. Then the two girls kissed her and told her they loved her as well. “Let us know if you have any news on Dad,” Ben said as he picked up their bags.

It was a five hour trip to the ski lodge, so it was already dark when they arrived. “I’m starving, how about you guys,” Ben asked. “Me too, man, we haven’t ate since breakfast,” Phillip said. So, the four went to the Lodge restaurant and had steak salads and shared chocolate lava cakes.

“Let’s go get settled in our rooms and then we can spend some time together,” Ben suggested. “Sounds good,” Reyanna agreed. “Just come get us in an hour after we freshen up,” she told them. The guys agreed.

When the four got together again, they bundled up and walked outside the grounds. Ben and Reyanna arm in arm and Phillip and Cecelia hand in hand. They talked about their love, about marriage, about their futures. Both couples were deeply in love, and enjoying their time together.

The next morning, after breakfast, the two couples went their separate ways. Ben and Reyanna went to the ski slopes, and Phillip and Cecelia decided on the tube slope. Ben was more experienced at skiing, so he helped Reyanna and gave her some tips.

When Reyanna fell down, Ben glided down to her and put his hand out to help, but Reyanna pulled him down in the snow with her. They laughed and kissed laying in the snow. He helped her back up and they rode the ski lift back up the slope. They kissed again on the lift.

Meanwhile, Phillip and Cecelia laughed and played like children in the snow and rode the inner tubes down the slope together. Phillip held Cecelia in his arms and told her how much he loved her. He kissed her fully as he held her in her down jacket against his.

They all got together again for lunch in the restaurant and talked about what a wonderful time they had spent together. The girls wanted to take a nap and showers before going home, so they separated from the guys until evening.

“I can’t wait to be married to Cecelia. We have so much fun together,” Phillip admitted, laying on his bed with his hands behind his head. Ben smiled and agreed. “I feel the same way about Reyanna,” he said. “I’m gonna talk to her and see how she feels about getting married in three weeks,” Ben said.

“Yeah, Mom will want a month to plan, though,” Phillip reminded him. “Maybe we can do a double wedding,” Phillip suggested. “We will have to see what Mom says, and see how the girls feel about it,” Ben said, pondering the idea.

After the girls took their afternoon naps and got their showers, they started packing to go home. “We had such a wonderful time together, Reyanna,” Cecelia told her. “We sure did, Reyanna agreed. “We ought to just have a double wedding,” Cecelia suggested.

“That would be fine with me. We could take a cruise for our honeymoons.,” Reyanna said, thinking how nice it would be. “We will have to see what the guys think about it, and Mom, of course,” Reyanna said.

“Ben and I are going to take Latin dance lessons from a couple of friends of his,” Reyanna said. “We wanted to do it before the wedding. Do you think you and Phillip would want to take them too and we could do a wedding dance with us?” She asked Cecelia.

“Reyanna, you know with my anxiety I could never do anything like that in front of a crowd of people,” Cecelia told her. “It will be a challenge for me just doing the traditional waltz knowing people are watching us,” she said.

“Oh honey, I feel so bad for you,” Reyanna said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Just keep your eyes on Phillip, don’t look at the crowd, just look at him and think of your new life with him,” Reyanna suggested. “If he is your focal point, you will be okay,” she said.