I ran all the way to the dock, but I stopped once I set foot on it. Jesse was standing on the end of it with his hands in his pockets, looking at me with a gorgeous, entertained grin. My arms had been at my sides in a natural stance from when I stopped running, but I felt so overwhelmed that I balled my fist and put them right under my eyes so I could barely peer over them.
I just stood there, staring at him and feeling shaken, breathless, and shy. My fists were visibly shaking; I could see them out of my periphery even though I was focused on what was straight in front of me.
My chest rose and fell rapidly as I did my best to catch my breath behind the barriers of my own arms. My eyes blurred with tears. He was the most perfect man I could imagine—genuine and caring and funny and too physically gorgeous for me to concentrate on the other aspects any longer.
I took a slow step closer when he crossed his arms, and smirked at me, glancing at the space between us as if wondering if I was going to close the remaining distance or if he was going to have to do it himself.
I smiled and blinked, trying to clear the tears as I still hid behind my fists.
"How'd you get here?" I asked, glancing at my car out of the corner of my eyes. "How long have you been here?"
"About thirty minutes," he said. He pointed toward the neighbor's dock. "I parked right over there."
"Why didn't you tell me you were here?"
"Why are you hiding?" he asked, gesturing to my fists, which were still in front of my face.
I had almost caught my breath from running, but I still felt shaky and on edge with nervous anticipation.
I had flashbacks of the last day, remembering the ride and the kiss I shared with him. Then another thought hit me. I remembered the conversation I just had with Jane—the dream.
I thought of our family, and felt so very thankful about how they reacted to the news. My heart felt somehow more alive than it ever had. I literally had a different feeling in my chest. I stared at him, and he stared at me for several seconds before he cocked his head and crooked his finger at me. Just the sight of it had me supernaturally drawn to him. I smiled and took a slow step closer.
In my mind, this scene would play out differently. I imagined myself running down the dock feeling so full of uninhibited love that I would crash into him. We would fall off of the dock in a glorious, graceful splash, and come up in each other's arms, laughing and kissing and saying all sorts of quotable, touching things.
It didn't work out that way.
I approached Jesse cautiously because, honestly, my body would let me do nothing else. I took a step closer, and Jesse smiled at me before deciding to match my step with one of his own. We stopped when we were about a foot apart, standing in the middle of the dock.
Jesse pulled my hands down so he could see my face, and instead of letting go of them, he brought them up to his own chest. He positioned my hands where they faced his chest, and I opened my palms resting them against him. I still hadn't completely caught my breath from the run to the dock, and he was only making matters worse by touching me this way.
"You're shaking," he said.
I nodded since there was no point in denying it. The morning sun shone on the lake, and his green eyes were clear and bright. He held his hands over mine in an attempt to steady them. He only had on a thin T-shirt, and I could feel the heat emanating from the muscles of his chest. I felt his heartbeat, which seemed nice and relaxed, and did my best to get mine to match his.
My hands were on his chest, and his hands were covering mine, but that was the only place we were making contact.
"Rose, you're beautiful," he said, inspecting my face. "I was just staring at you as you ran over here, thinking, what have I done to deserve this beautiful creature."
I smiled and shook my head. "Jesse, don't say stuff like that," I said.
"Why not? It's true."
"Because I'm already all torn up over here."
I slipped my hands out from under his and turned them, positioning them on my chest so he could he could feel my heartbeat.
"I'm all shook up," I said, smiling at him.
I used my eyes to trace the lines of his gorgeous face, unable to fully fathom that I was free to love him.
"I talked to my family," he said sweetly.
I nodded. "Jane called. She said she wasn't sure about it at first."
"She was the only one," he said. "Even your parents were happy about it."
"My parents?" I asked with a shocked expression. "Did you really tell my parents?"
He smiled. "I knew mom had talked to your dad, so I went by there on my way over here this morning. I just wanted to talk to him face-to-face, and make sure—"
"What'd he say?" I asked.
Jesse's smile broadened. "He asked if I had enough gas to get up here."
I grinned and latched onto the back of his hands, which were still resting on my chest. "I thought the song Jessie's Girl was about you," I said.
He smiled and went to the more relaxed position of holding me around the waist. This repositioning gave him the chance to step closer, and he did. I easily went into his arms.
"I thought it was about me, too," he said with a shrug. "Pa had a dream about us when we were little kids," he added.
I nodded. "Jane told me."
"She also told me you had a picture of us."
He grinned. "You're gonna love it. My mom brought it over to Jane's last night."
I pulled back to stare at him, my hands resting on his chest while his were wrapped around my back.
"Did you bring it?" I asked. "The picture."
He nodded.
"Do you have it with you at the cabin?"
He nodded again.
"Where is it?" I asked.
"In my pocket."
"Can I see it?"
He gave me a wry smile and nodded.
"Am I supposed to get it?"
He gave me one little nod that made me smile.
"Which pocket?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Figure it out."
"Is it in the back?" I asked as I reached behind him. I tentatively felt around for the seam that I thought might indicate the top of his pocket and ever so slowly began to slip my fingertips inside.
Jesse looked down at me, smiling at how hesitant I was being.
"Is it this one?" I asked.
"Put your hand in there and find out."
I knew by the way he said it that I had the correct pocket, so I did it. I slipped my hand into his jeans, easily finding the thick piece of paper I knew to be a photograph. I did it quickly, but there was no way I could avoid the feel of him. As much as I tried to only concentrate on retrieving the picture, my fingertips registered the feel of his body, and my heart buzzed with excitement because of it.
I turned over the photograph and stared down at it. I set it on Jesse's chest and regarded it from six inches away. I blinked, feeling tears form instantly.
I had never seen this picture before.
I was a little younger than him, and in the picture we seemed to be roughly three and four years old. He was sitting next to me with his arm around my shoulders and we were gazing straight at each other.
I stared at it for what must've been ten whole seconds before I blinked and slid it into my own back pocket. "I've never seen that picture before," I said.
"Mom had it," he said. "I guess they've all just been waiting on the day when this happened."
"That's unbelievable," I said smiling.
"What's unbelievable is that it took us so long."
"It did take us a long time, didn't it?" I returned, glancing at the hair that grew on his jaw, and thinking about what a man he was now. "I love this moment," I added.
"It's pretty good," he said with a smile.
"It's perfect, and to think I imagined it going completely different."
Jesse looked down at our proximity as if he was slightly offended. "What could you possibly want to do differently?"
I smiled and shrugged. "I thought I would do something brave and cool like keep running down the dock and tackle you into the water. It was really epic when I imagined it. We'd get all wet, and we would laugh and kiss and—"
I was right in the middle of talking when Jesse took me by the waist and hurled the both of us off of the dock and into the lake.