PHILIP

I couldn’t remember ever being happier.  My heart felt like it would explode.  Winnie liked me.  As much as I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and fly out to Las Vegas, I knew I had to take it slow.  I wanted Winnie for the rest of my life, so I was going to do it right.

I started by taking her to lunch at her favorite restaurant – not Alamo Beans.

As we happily ate our steaks and laughed, we talked about the future.

I told her I was taking the next 24 days off from work to spend more time with her.  “To court you.”

“That sounds serious.”

“I am serious when it comes to you.”  She had told me that she was an old-fashioned girl and I wanted to respect that.

She smiled.  “Why twenty-four and not thirty or twenty-eight?”

“Because I had you for twenty-four hours before and now I want twenty-four days.  Besides, twenty-four days ends on Thanksgiving, and that seems appropriate.”

“Depending on how it goes,” Winnie said dryly.  “If we break up, you might find yourself drowning your sorrow with cornbread dressing and pumpkin pie.”

“Oh, I think things will go very well.  Because I think we belong together.”

She blushed a little and said, “Are you sure you’re not overly confident?  I just dumped one fiancé; I may not be emotionally stable.”

“That’s another reason for the twenty-four days.  You see, if we were dating more traditionally, I might see you twice a week.  And twenty-four dates would take twelve weeks, nearly three months.  That’s long enough for me not to be a rebound relationship.”

She said, “You’re planning to see me every day?”

“Every evening.  Every lunch break.  As much time as you’ll give me.”

Winnie said, “We don’t have to be handcuffed, do we?”

“No,” I assured her.  “We can save that for later, if you want.”

She looked at me warily as if she didn’t know whether I was joking, and I laughed.  I hadn’t felt so carefree in years.  I told her, “My father said I need to take a vacation and he was right.”

She said, “What about me?  Do you want me to take a leave of absence, or keep going to work?”

“Your choice,” I said.

She nodded, “I think I’ll keep going to work.  Because Bernice needs me, and I just took time off to see Jenna.”

I said, “As the Vice President of Business Development, I applaud your loyalty.  And as Philip Nilsson, boyfriend, I’m a little disappointed.”

She wrinkled her nose at me.  “We’re still going very fast here.  I feel like I’m riding down a hill on a bicycle with no brakes.”

“Wheee!”

She laughed at my silliness and shook her head slightly.  “You might get tired of me if you see me 24/7.”

“I doubt it.  And if we had more time together, we could travel together.”

“Where to?”

“London.  Paris.  Wherever you want to go.”  I couldn’t wait to show her the world.

“I don’t have a passport.”

“Then that’s the first thing we can do tomorrow – apply for one.”

She said, “What about the paparazzi?  Do we need to worry about them?”

“I don’t think so.  I’ll wear jeans and a leather jacket.  No one will recognize me if I’m not wearing a suit.”

She giggled.  “Like Clark Kent’s glasses.”

“Exactly.”

The waitress came by our table to ask if we were ready for dessert.  “I am,” Winnie said and looked at me.  “If you’ll split it.”

That was another thing I liked about Winnie.  She enjoyed her food.  She enjoyed life.  “Sure,” I said.

Winnie asked the waitress for the dessert menu.  “Because we’re here to celebrate.”

“What’s the celebration for?” the waitress asked.  “Birthday?  Anniversary?”

Winnie smiled at me.  “It’s a new beginning.”

* * *

WINNIE

DATING A BILLIONAIRE was a new experience for me.

First of all, the food was fantastic, and the dates were more than just going to see a movie.  Philip often took me to the theatre or symphony, and once we took a helicopter ride because I’d said I’d never been on one.

We flew over San Antonio and Red Oak and I pointed out my parents’ house to him.

The only downside to dating a billionaire was that I had to be careful not to admire something, or he’d want to buy it immediately.

It was all I could do to keep him from gifting me an expensive foreign car.  “The old one works just fine,” I told him.

“Wouldn’t you like a pretty new car?” He asked.  “I think Pretty City Gal needs a pretty car to drive around the city.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I said.  “I don’t want to feel like a gold-digger.”

At that comment, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me, punctuating every word with a kiss.  “You. Are. Not. A. Gold-digger.”

I looked up at him with my hands behind his neck.  “How do you know?”

“Believe me, I know.  If you were a gold-digger, you’d already be suggesting gifts and wanting me to take you on expensive vacations.”

It was comments like this that made me wonder about the women he’d dated before – those beautiful, sophisticated women.  I said, “Maybe I’m more clever than they are, waiting to spring my demands on you.”

“Well, you’re definitely more clever,” he said.  “I’ve never met anyone that I could talk about my work with.”

Although Philip was on a vacation, he still checked his email every day, and sometimes he told me about the projects he was working on.  All that internet research paid off, so I didn’t feel quite so ignorant.

He also met my parents.  My Dad fixed barbecue, naturally, and we ate in the small dining room of our brick house that had been built in 1965.  My parents were very down-to-earth people.  My mom rarely wore make-up except for mascara and lipstick, and my dad liked plaid button up shirts.  As I watched Philip talk with my parents about football, Tom Clancy movies, and my Dad’s job as a postal worker, I knew that I loved him.

Our romance wasn’t just another Cinderella story.

Philip wasn’t sweeping me off my feet. Our courtship was intentional.  I genuinely liked him as well as loved him.  And although I was a little nervous, I looked forward to having Thanksgiving dinner with his family.  Apparently, the entire Nilsson family were meeting for Thanksgiving dinner in Coppell, Texas, which was in between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Phillip had already told me about his grandmother Rika, his aunts and the five cousins.  They seemed like a close family.  I asked, “Are any of your cousins married?”

“Only Vidar.  I think you’ll like his wife Nicole.”

We were sitting on the couch in my apartment, the day before Thanksgiving, when Philip called his mother to let her know that he was bringing a guest to dinner.

He held the phone so I could hear her response as well.  “A guest?  Male or female?”

“Female.”

“What’s her name?”

Philip said, “It’s a surprise.”

“Are you dating or is she just a friend?”

He looked at me for my permission and I nodded my head.

“Dating,” he said.

His mother said, “Oh, that’s marvellous.  I look forward to meeting her.”  I could hear her excitement, even several feet away.

After Philip ended the call, he said, “I know my Mom.  She won’t sleep a wink now, but I needed to tell her so the table was set right.”

I wasn’t sure I would sleep a wink, either.  I wanted his family to like me.

He added, “When Vidar got married this summer, none of us – my brothers and myself – brought dates.  I think my mother was getting worried that we would never settle down.  Having you show up tomorrow is going to greatly relieve her.”

I had a moment’s doubt.  Was that why Philip had chosen me – because his mother wanted him to settle down?  Was I just the first available girl?

That didn’t make sense.  I knew it.  He had hundreds of women he could choose from.  But a little part of me kept thinking that our courtship was too good to be true.  I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Some of my indecision must have shown on my face, for he said, “What’s wrong?”

“Why me?” I asked.  “Why are you dating me?”

He took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eyes.  “Because I love you, Winnie.”

It was the first time he’d used the L word.

“I love you, too,” I whispered, and I knew it was true.  I had loved Shawn before, but that was nothing compared to the love I now felt for Philip.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY, PHILIP arrived at my apartment in a limousine.  “Oooh, fancy,” I said as he held open the door and I slid inside.

“You look great,” Philip said.

“Thanks.  So do you.”  He was wearing khakis and a light blue shirt – comfortable business casual clothes.  I was wearing a 1940’s style, floral shirt-waist dress and a cute wool jacket.  Fortunately, the Texas weather was cool, but not cold.  I’d filmed myself earlier that morning talking about creating a retro vibe without looking as if one was wearing a costume.

I thought we would head straight north, but the driver drove us into downtown and stopped in front of the Alamo.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Philip took my hand.  “I wanted to stop here for a moment.”

We got out of the limo and walked over to the mission doors, holding hands.  Philip said, “This is where it all started.”

I nodded.

“And this is where I wanted to ask you to marry me.”

I gasped.  I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was.

“Is it too soon?” he asked.

I shook my head.  My heart was singing.  “No.”

Philip got down on one knee and looked up at me.  He said, “Winnie Jane Abbot, I love you.  We started together with just twenty-four hours.  And since then, we’ve had twenty-four days.  But now I know that even twenty-four years will not be enough.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?”

“Yes.”

He smiled, stood, and kissed me until someone said loudly, “Would you mind?  We want to take a picture.”

We both laughed and got out of their way.  I said, “I guess that’s what happens when you try to get engaged at a public monument.”

Phillip said, “Oh.  And I almost forgot.  There are roses in the limo.  Twenty-four long stemmed red roses.”

I had a feeling that twenty-four was going to be our lucky number.