Quinn
Being with Elyse has taught me that there are different levels of fear. Different levels of ecstasy. Different levels of love.
Of course, with her, my dial is always set to Crazy-High.
So, of course, I’m crazy with love and terrified out of my head five hours later when I take her down to the beach and walk her across the sand to the other property on Kiawah Island.
The sun is still high in the sky, and it frames the house perfectly.
Her breath catches, and she pulls me to a stop. “This is where you were born, isn’t it?”
I nod. We stare at the plantation house that’s been in my mother’s family for generations. The place where I experienced the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. I swallow hard and tug on her hand. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
The smile that suffuses her face tells me I’m learning. I’m getting some things right. I intend to get a whole lot more right.
“It looks more impressive from the front but we can see that later.” We head up stone steps that lead down to the beach and across the green grass to the wide terrace. “I had the whole place wired to a security system so we don’t need keys to get in.” I enter the code and pull open the French doors. The furniture is covered in white dust sheets, but the grandeur of the large living room is still visible in the lofty ceilings and aged beams and arched openings.
“Oh wow,” Elyse murmurs as she follows me from room to room. I show her my old bedroom on the first floor. She touches the post where Mama notched my height on every birthday and lovingly leafs through the scrapbook of pressed flowers I made for her birthday one year. When tears fall from her eyes for the child I once was, I brush them away, but not before I let a drop or two wash a little stain from my awakening soul.
I don’t show her the wing where my parents’ bedroom used to be. It’s the place my father whored out my mother to his friends in return for even more power and prestige, and eventually drove her to kill herself. I love Elyse for understanding why the place holds too many bad memories.
We visit the kitchen where my old housekeeper used to spoil me with special meals. Then we walk through another hallway into the inner courtyard.
Elyse gasps and lets go of my hand to twirl in wonder. “Oh my God, Quinn. It’s beautiful.”
My heart turns over in a weird mix of sadness and joy. “Ever since she…died, this is where I’ve felt closest to her. This rose garden was Mama’s favorite place on earth. She used to spend hours here.”
“Oh, Quinn.” She turns back to me and then gasps again when she sees me where I intend to be for the rest of my life. On my knees for her.
“You never got around to giving me an answer last week,” I say. “Marry me, Elyse. You are my everything. I’m nothing without you.”
More tears fill her eyes as her gaze darts from my face to the velvet box in my hand. She chokes on a sob and holds a fist against her mouth.
“Sorry, I really need you to say the words, baby. I need to be able to tell our grandkids that you said the actual words.”
“Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes!”
She launches herself at me. I catch her, and we roll in the grass until I stop her with a kiss. When we come up for air, I open the box and slide the diamond ring on her finger.
More tears.
More kissing.
We leave the garden an hour later. My heart dares to flip over with joy, and I let it.
When we return to the other villa, she stops short when she sees the activity going on. “We’re leaving already?”
“Yes. Your next surprise awaits.”
She finds out what it is four hours later when my pilot announces our destination.
That earns me another, “Oh my God, I love you!” and another long kiss. If we had time, I would’ve turned it into something else.
But there’s an SUV waiting to take us on the half-hour ride to a farmstead on the outskirts of Vancouver.
Petra and her adoptive parents, Doris and Paul, are waiting on the wide porch of the farmhouse when we arrive.
Although I’ve seen pictures of Elyse’s sister, meeting her shows me once and for all why she sacrificed everything to save Petra. Her open, honest face matches a kind heart and a passion for life. Plus she’s almost as beautiful as her older sister.
“I’ve been dying to meet you. Heck, I was beginning to think Elyse made you up,” she says as she hurries to reach us.
“And you are just as she described you,” I reply.
“Don’t tell me, she said I was awesome, right?” Her smile is as infectious as her bubbly spirit.
“Indeed.” I smile back, see the stunned expression on their faces, and burst into laughter.
Everyone joins in. And that organ in my chest dares to flip over again. And again.
Three hours later, after a very late dinner has been cleared away, I hear Elyse approach the back porch where I’m standing, staring up at the bright, starlit sky.
My heart leaps when her arms go around my waist. “I’m so thankful I met you, Quinn. You saved me, and you gave me back my family. Thank you.”
I turn and wrap my arms tighter around her. I’m never letting her go. “You saved me, too, Elyse, against all odds. And now I can dare to dream of a family with you. You made that happen, my brave little firecracker. For that, you own me forever.”