January 24, 2018
We stayed naked for two days.
Ignored calls.
Made love on the balcony at night while the city slept.
Eli and me.
We didn’t have a time schedule. An agenda. We just had the Golden Globes.
“Did you bring a suit?” I ask as I lie naked against his side.
He laughs his deep laugh that exists somewhere in his chest. “I was too scared to get my hopes up.”
I turn my head to look at this handsome, beautiful man lying before me. “You were?”
He takes his thumb and gently strokes my arm.
I settle into this feeling. “Well, at some point, Warden Young, we will need to leave this hotel room to buy you a suit before tomorrow night.”
He’s quiet.
“What?”
“You want me to go with you?”
I sit up and stare at him. “Of course. Is that all right?”
“I’m glad you said that.”
He gets up and walks to the bathroom, his nakedness sending chills through my body once more. I want him more than I did the day before.
He comes back out with a head of lettuce.
I laugh out loud.
Eli stops and watches me. He and his body and a head of lettuce. “What?”
“Nothing.”
He shakes his head. “I just want you for the rest of my life. I want to watch you grow old because we both will. We’ll grow old and get hemorrhoids and bed spots. And sit in our chairs on our porch and watch the world around us. We’ll watch our grandchildren play in the yard.” Eli sits down with the head of lettuce, which he placed on the tray provided by the hotel where the complimentary coffee used to sit. Eli hands me the tray. “Pull back the leaves,” he says.
I smirk at him. “You want me to pull back the leaves?” I sit up and cover my body with a sheet.
“Yeah.”
I pull back a leaf, and when I do, a note is tucked inside.
Life doesn’t scare me.
I pull back another one.
Living without you does.
I smile. Look at him. He urges me on with a nod. I pull back another leaf.
Just so you know, I prefer butter lettuce. It’s better for you than iceberg. ;)
I laugh. I pull back another.
I want to grow old with you, Alexandra. Until we can’t see and can’t hear because just knowing you’re next to me is like the world got it right this time. The universe put us in the same place at the same time to love each other forever.
I look at Eli. “Me, too.” I pull back another leaf.
Promise me I’ll always get to drive. And not because I need to, but because I want you to enjoy the ride.
Promise me you’ll always allow me to open your door because you deserve a gentleman.
I promise to love you when love gets hard. Because it will.
I promise that, no matter what life throws at us, I’ll be there.
Eat the lettuce.
Marry me?
I cover my mouth, and the tears start to fall. I give in to everything that has kept me from this moment with Eli. I give in to all my doubts, all my fears, and fate because Eli is worth it and so much more.
“Yes. A thousand times yes, Eli.”
Eli reaches from under the bed to retrieve a little box. He opens it.
I nod, and before I allow him to put the ring on my finger, I pull him into me hard and whisper, “I will love you when it gets hard. I will talk to you when the weight of the world is on my shoulders because loving you forever isn’t just an option; it’s fate. Thank you for choosing me for the rest of our lives.” I don’t pull away because I’m shaking—from excitement and having him so close. It gives me some stability, and I like the way this feels.
He wraps both arms around my body, and I feel his warm air against my neck. “I’m so glad you said yes because I didn’t have a backup plan.” He chuckles and pulls back to look at me.
“Warden Young, you didn’t need one,” I say, looking into his deep green eyes.
I take my thumb and slide it against his lips. Then, I gently push my lips to his and let them linger for a moment. Yeah, I get to do this with this man for forever. Uniform. No uniform. Fate. Destiny.
Thinking back, there was no way I couldn’t have fallen in love with Eli. There wasn’t a way to escape the way this all has worked out. Avoid it. Because, as much as I tried to resist, fate always wins. Love always wins.
Eli grabs the box and slides the ring on my finger.
It isn’t that the ring is absolutely gorgeous—because it is. It’s because the ring fits perfectly, and because it fits perfectly, I think it’s a sign of the wonderful years to come.
“Had it engraved.” He slowly tries to slide it off my finger but I make a fist.
Eli’s head whips back to me.
“You’d better give it back.” I smirk.
“Oh, baby, without a doubt.”
When Eli slides the ring off, I see, inside, it says, Lettuce eaters forever.
I drop my head back and laugh.
Eli does, too, his low, throaty laugh. “When I was at Mrs. Kay’s shop in town, buying it, Mr. Kay looked at me through the tops of his glasses and said, ‘You want it to say what?’ Then, Mrs. Kay muttered something about crazy young kids and their lettuce.”
“It’s perfect, Eli,” I say as he slides it back onto my finger. “I have to ask you a very important question.”
“What’s that?” He wraps me up in his arms again.
There’s nothing between us, our bodies, but our skin.
“You want kids, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Even if you had said no, I would have accepted it.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have made you do that. Hey, let’s make a baby right now.”
I laugh again. “I think I want to be married to you for a bit before we have children. I want to have the freedom to make love to you whenever and wherever. I want to spend a few quiet nights on the porch at your place.”
“Wait. What? My place? You want to be in Granite Harbor?”
“Wherever you are, so am I.”
“What about your family, Alex?”
“Don’t worry; it will all work out. I can work from anywhere. You love your job. I can’t ask you to leave because of my family. Besides, it’s three thousand miles and time. It might do me some good.”
There’s a long silence between us. It’s a good long silence.
“What about your dad?”
My dad isn’t something I’ve discussed with Eli. “How do you know about my dad?”
“Alex, I can’t ask a woman to marry me without checking with her father first. Your mom took me down to Sunny Springs.” He’s pinching the skin between my pointer finger and thumb.
“You were in Belle’s Hollow?”
“Yes.”
Tears threaten to fall. “Wh-what did he say?”
“He told me three things. Love her when she’s tired. Never let her cut your hair. Don’t ever give up on love.”
A tear falls from my eye, and I laugh at the same time, thinking about all the haircuts I’ve given him and how he never once complained. I tell Eli this, admiring the beautiful ring on my finger.
“So, you want kids?”
“Absolutely. Twelve of them.”
“I don’t know about twelve, Warden Young, but I’ll go for a few—for now.”
“Well, if we’re not going to try for a baby, they say practice makes perfect.”
“This is true. We’d better be damn sure we’ve mastered the art of sex before we bring babies into this world. Come here.”