Mike straightened his desk quickly and shut off his computer. He needed to find where Carrie was, and something told him that it was something urgent. He grabbed his coat and headed out of the hospital. As he started his car, the DJ stated that there was snow advisory for Salem and the surrounding areas. He quickly prayed that Carrie wasn’t out and driving around. The first place Mike was going to check was Carrie and Austin’s apartment. When he drove by, there were no lights on in the apartment, but he decided to go up, just to check.

  It was a dead end, and Mike tried to think of where to go to next. He checked out the Brady Pub and then the Java Cafe. Since it was snowing, most of the places had closed for the night because of weather conditions. Mike shook his head in frustration, and decided to brainstorm on where she was. His heart beat as he thought about all the places they had been. He thought of all the memories they had shared and laughed about. He missed her even though he had just seen her just three hours before. Mike laughed at himself. ‘Man, you are so much in love - you’re just not thinking straight right now.’ He knew that everything he felt for Carrie was true and it felt so right. It was just a feeling he had, way back from when he first realized he loved Carrie.

  Now Mike had to think of where Carrie could be. It was odd that she was not at the apartment and he almost thought that maybe he had missed her and she was on her way to Tuscany to celebrate. He thought of what a reunion Austin and Carrie would have. It pained him to think of Austin holding Carrie the way Mike had held her at Green Mountain Lodge. He cringed at the thought, and cursed Austin for treating Carrie the way he did. Austin didn’t deserve Carrie, and Mike would gladly have liked to tell him just that.

  Mike shook his head, and returned his thoughts to Carrie. He leaned back in his car seat, and listened to the radio for a little while before mapping out his next move. He looked out the window and watched the flying snow. He remembered a time when he and Carrie were children and they had run out in the snow on Christmas Eve. Carrie had pushed him down and he tripped her and began giving her a white-wash. They had laughed so much that their tummies hurt. Then they both fell back in the snow and made huge snow angels. They wrote their names next to the angels after they were done, and Mike knew that Carrie was staring at him. He smiled at the thought of her crush on him way back when.

  Mike came out of his daydream slowly when he turned his attention to the radio again. They began playing “How Do I Live” and Mike closed his eyes. It was like a sign for him to find her. He put his car in gear and drove out in pursuit of his soulmate.

  “Hi John,” she said. “It’s Carrie. Before you tell everybody that I’m on the other line, please listen to me. I want to make the apartment just right for Austin. Can you keep him there for about an hour?”

  “Well, I guess I could do that. I don’t think this party is going to end anytime soon. Sami and Austin are out on the dance floor right now with Will, so I’m sure they’ll be partying for the rest of the night.” Carrie could hear laughing and music in the background and shook her head. She always knew that Sami, Austin, and Will would be a family one day.

  “Okay, John. Thank you very much. I’ll probably talk to you in a couple of days, okay?”

  “Allright hon. Are you allright? You sound a little strange.” Carrie smiled and thought, ‘Well I am lying through my teeth right now and I’m about to divorce my husband. Other than that, everything is peachy keen.’

  “Nope. Everything’s good, John. Thanks for asking though,” Carrie said.

  “Allright hon. Have a good night.” They said their good-byes and Carrie hung up the phone. She took a deep breath, and began packing. In a half an hour, she had most of her things packed, and she called a hotel to secure a room for the night. The next day she would begin to look for an apartment for herself. She left the divorce papers on the table, along with a letter that she had written to Austin. It explained everything that she had felt in the last couple of months, and told him that she needed something different in her life.

   Carrie set down the letter, and smiled to herself. She thanked God that Mike was the something different in her life. It was finally right for Carrie to be with Mike. She was happy with her decision, and she left her and Austin’s apartment forever with no regrets.

  “No, Mike, she didn’t,” John said. “Although she did call a couple of minutes ago, asking me to stall Austin.”

  “Why is that?” Mike asked.

  “Well, she wanted to get their apartment ready for his return. I bet she’s planning a little surprise for him when he gets home.” Mike’s heart fell to the floor. He had lost. He had lost Carrie, even though he knew that she loved him with her whole heart.

  “Allright,” Mike said in a choked voice. “Thanks John.” He slammed down the phone angrily and put his head down in his hands. He had given everything to her - his heart and his soul - and she was ignoring it. It hurt too much for him to bear.

  Mike stumbled out of his office, and went back out to his car. It was still snowing, but it had let up a little bit. Mike was churning inside and his stomach was doing flip-flops. He started his car, and just began driving around. He kept shaking his head, just thinking about Carrie. There was an unbelievable pain inside that kept going through him, and he wished that he could just change everything.

  Carrie looked around the deserted park, and looked toward the future. She imagined her children running around in the park, screaming in delight. She thought of flying kites and taking walks hand-in-hand with her children’s father. Her soulmate. Her life partner.

  Mike.

  He was the one she had been destined to be with for all of her life. She just wished that she had realized it sooner.

  “Oh Mike, there’s so much I want to share with you,” Carrie whispered softly. “There’s so much I want to learn from you, and so much I want to teach you.” She believed that this was love. It was not like the love she shared with Austin. Her love for Mike was pure, true, and complete.

  Carrie looked up in the sky, and sighed loudly. She absolutely couldn’t wait to tell Mike that she loved him. She knew that telling him at Green Mountain Lodge was exhilarating, but this time would be even better.

  Carrie then thought about what Mike had told her to do earlier during their phone conversation.

  “Go make a snow angel!” Carrie laughed, and flopped down in the snow. She began waving her arms and legs, making her angelic imprint in the snow. She laughed, and began catching snowflakes on her tongue. She felt like a little kid, and it reminded her of Mike when they were younger. She thought of a Christmas Eve they had spent making snow angels. She had had the biggest crush on him at that time.

  Carrie stood up from her snow angel and looked down at it. She smiled and wrote her name in the snow next to it. She stared at it for a while and added another name after it. She smiled and grew warm at the sight of ‘Carrie Horton’ in the snow. She was laughing when a car pulled into the parking lot, but she didn’t even realize that a car was there.

  It was Mike. He had noticed a person on the ground in the park, and his doctor instincts had taken over. He pulled into the parking lot, and when he parked, he noticed that the person was standing up. The person was covered in snow, and he or she was bending over, writing something in the snow.

  “Hello?” he called. The person seemed to freeze for a second and slowly began to turn around. “I’m a doctor, and I just noticed that you were lying on the ground. I just wanted to see if...” Mike trailed off when he saw that it was Carrie. “Carrie?” he asked. “What are you doing here? Are you allright?”

  “Mike!” she exclaimed. “I’m fine.” Carrie walked over to him quickly, and she wanted to fall into his arms when she saw him. “I was just making a snow angel.” Mike broke out in laughter.

  “That’s awesome,” he said. Then he realized something. “Why aren’t you at your apartment? John said that you were there.”

  “Oh,” Carrie said softly, widening her eyes. “What did John tell you?”

  “He told me that you were getting the apartment ready for Austin and his return,” Mike said, looking down at the ground. Carrie’s heart fell when she saw the look on Mike’s face.

  “Yeah, I did do that,” Carrie said. Mike nodded slowly.

  “I guess you’ve made your decision then,” he said, looking at her.

  “Yes, I did,” she said, meeting his eyes.

  “Okay,” Mike said. “I just hope that Austin realizes that you are so much more deserving. I hope he treats you right from now on. Good luck.” With that, Mike turned around and began walking toward his car.

  “Mike,” Carrie called. She walked quickly around him and stopped him from going any further. “I have a confession.” Mike stared at her for a second.

  “What?” he asked, looking away.

  “I did fix up the apartment for Austin,” she began. “I began moving some things around and just decided that they looked better in bags. Then I just put all of my clothes in my suitcases.” Mike looked up at her with disbelieving eyes. Carrie then leaned over and whispered something else. “I have another confession. I even took “Barkley” and put him in my backpack.” Mike smiled at the thought of the small stuffed animal that he had won at the fair for her years ago. “I left the divorce papers for Austin. They’re waiting for him when he gets back from his celebration.”

  Mike was so taken back that he didn’t say anything for a few moments.

  “Austin and I are going to get a divorce,” Carrie said, looking deeply into Mike’s eyes. Mike’s breath seemed to catch in his throat and his eyes began to well up in tears. Finally, he spoke.

  “I have waited so long to hear you say those words,” he whispered. He touched Carrie’s cheek softly. “I love you.” In one moment, Carrie was in his arms. She buried her head in his neck.

  “I love you, Mike Horton. I want to share my life with you.” She pulled away and looked up at him. “I know that we have a lot of things to think about right now, and I know that I’m going to have to find a place to live. There are a lot of things to decide and ...” Mike cut her off by putting his finger to her lips.

  “Let’s just celebrate you and me right now. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.” Carrie smiled at the joyous face of the man she loved. “I love you, Carrie. I will always love you, and I thank God that you’ve come into my life and that we’ve found each other.”

  Mike softly touched Carrie’s face again, and her eyes closed at his touch. Their lips met gently and their souls were united in love - a love that would last forever.