He was going to be such a wonderful father someday. Lucy wished she knew when that someday might be. They didn’t talk about getting married or having a family. Over the last year, they’d fallen into a routine that split their time between his home in Vermont and hers in New York, although lately they seemed to spend much more time in Vermont.

Not that she minded. She loved it here as much as he did and enjoyed being surrounded by his family. Having her best friend, Cameron, nearby made Lucy even happier. She’d met Colton through Cameron, after she got together with his brother Will. Now they were married with a baby on the way, while Lucy and Colton were… stuck.

Not that things weren’t good with them. Everything was great, and that was the problem, or so she’d decided. What reason did they have to take the next step if everything was perfect the way it was? Her dad used to tell her and Emma that no man would buy the cow if he was getting the milk for free. Such a stupid saying, but Lucy was beginning to wonder if that was why Colton wasn’t looking to buy the cow. She certainly gave away plenty of free milk to her insatiable fiancé.

“She’s a natural,” Colton said after their third trip down the hill.

“You’re doing great, Simone,” Lucy called to the red-faced girl with the great big smile. She was thrilled with herself for having learned something new and basked in the glow of Colton’s praise.

Lucy watched Simone slide smoothly into position on the towrope, which carried her up the hill.

Colton was right behind her, ready to step in if need be.

Lucy didn’t know why she felt so down today about her relationship with Colton. Well, yes, she did… She’d been hoping since their engagement months ago that he might bring up the subject of their wedding, but he never mentioned it. As far as she knew, he wasn’t even thinking about actually getting married, despite the matrimonial outbreak going on around them.

In the last year alone, Will and Cameron, Hannah and Nolan, and Hunter and Megan had gotten married, while Ella and Gavin had gotten engaged and Charley had fallen—literally—for Tyler. He’d nursed Charley back to health after she messed up her knee while running in the snow. The two of them were now moving in together. They’d probably be married before she and Colton at the rate things were going.