Destiny Bay is a small town. You might not know how small just driving through because it sprawls over the hills leading down to the harbor. But I knew it as soon as I checked into the quaint Victorian bed-and-breakfast. The motherly Mrs. Holst not only had my basic info already memorized, but was offering up her single niece to show me around town. That’s when I bit the bullet and fully committed.
“Sorry, I’m proposing to my girlfriend this week. I wouldn’t want to start the wrong kind of gossip around town. Or make your niece feel awkward.” Mrs. Holst’s friendly smile droops a little bit, but she perks up quickly. I think she realized she had the news first and could be the one controlling the flow of information. It’s a very small town.
I will also be in her bad graces if it ever appears I didn’t reveal all. And now I’m thinking I’d better find someplace more private to live before I ask Rose to come visit. First, I need to talk to her. Before I make a new messy pile of assumptions that I have to untangle.
I take my bags up to my room. It’s a bit fussy for my taste. Lace and ruffles everywhere, but it’s clean and otherwise comfortable, so I’m not going to complain. But I will be calling some real estate agents first thing in the morning.
The windows look out over the harbor and there are lots of little boats scooting along in all different directions. I pull the plushy armchair over so I can prop my feet on the sill while I call Rose. I have quite a bit of groveling to do so I might as well be comfortable.
And I’ve delayed long enough. I hit dial and listen to it ring. Finally, there’s a sleepy, “Aiden? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing on my end. Why do you sound so sleepy? Are you okay?”
She groans and there’s a long pause, “I sound sleepy because it’s ten P.M. here and I’ve never been a night owl.”
“So you’re on the east coast?”
“Hmm-hmm. Is that what you wanted to know?”
“Not exactly, no. I have several apologies to make, besides the one for waking you up. Do you want me to call back tomorrow when you’re more awake?”
I can hear rustling as she moves to sit up, “You are such a tease. No, I want to at least get the gist of what you have to say. If I have questions, I’ll ask you to repeat it all tomorrow. Now, I’m listening.”
She sounds so adorable I wish she were where I could scoop her up and kiss her in-between words. “I don’t have any right to ask at this point, but I want forever with you, Rosebud.”
“Go on.” She finally says softly after a long painful moment of silence.
“And I owe you several heart-felt apologies for assuming you don’t know what you want, assuming I already knew what you really want, and that you aren’t old enough to know what you need.”
“Anything else?”
“I love you and I also owe you shoes, chocolate, and jewelry or whatever will demonstrate my deep regret for hurting you and not taking you seriously.”
“I don’t need the stuff, Aiden, but I need you to treat me as an adult. I am not a pet or a trophy just because I’m younger than you are.”
“I know. Does that mean you’ll at least consider coming back to me?”
“Aiden. I never really left. I’m not standing outside your door or anything, but it’s only been a week. If you think I can fall out of love that quickly, you don’t know me at all.”
“So you love me?”
“Of course I do! Okay. That’s fair. I guess I never really said it out loud but good grief, I would never let a man I didn’t love fully and completely touch me the way you did.”
I breathe out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“We have a lot of talking to do, Aiden, if there’s to be something real and lasting between us.”
“I know. I was hoping you would make me a list of everything you want out of life, a future together, anything you can dream of or know for sure you want. I don’t want to limit it to just what you can think of at the moment. Will you do that for me?”
Her voice is calm and quiet when she answers, “I can make you a list, but, Aiden? You haven’t mentioned timelines here at all. I don’t really want a long-distance relationship if it’s unnecessary. I’m still getting this feeling that you’re not entirely comfortable with the reality of us together.”
I close my eyes tightly, and I see Tris’s face. I know what I need to do. “I mean now, Rosebud. Well, next week anyway. I’m in Destiny Bay at a B&B, but I have to go out of town tomorrow, probably overnight. After that I’m all yours, work schedule excepted.” And assuming I’m not in the hospital as a patient.
“I have some requirements.”
“Okay. What are they?”
“I want you to fuck me properly.”
I choke, “Um, care to explain?”
“You held back those few weeks we had together because you didn’t want to commit to the unforeseeable future. I need you to prove that you’ve moved past that.”
“You’re right. And making love to you isn’t exactly a hardship. Next?”
“There’s a codicil. You can’t put that off too long. As in not at all, but I’m willing to be practical.”
“Keep going.”
“I need to know if you have any deal-breakers. Is there anything that would make you send me away again?” Her voice is hesitant and I wince at what I put her through, thinking I was doing it for her.
“No, Rose, there isn’t. I could be sued if I walked away from this job, but there’s nothing that would keep me away except for you saying you don’t want me. Even then I would probably stalk you for a few years.”
I can practically feel her smile through the phone.
“Last one, I want to see your list too. We need to do an even exchange. I know there’s going to be compromise required, but I don’t want you giving in to everything I want just because I want it.”
“But what if that is what I want?”
“You’re too bossy to keep it up for long. I’d rather not pretend.”
“I love you, Rose.”
“I love you too. Now tell me what airport so I can book my ticket.”
Aiden loves me. Really loves me. I hug myself with relief that what I wouldn’t let myself hope for is actually happening. There’s a lethargy in my bones that I recognize as withheld tension letting go.
I should go back to bed and take care of travel arrangements tomorrow, but I’m too excited. And a little anxious that I need to make it all happen right now. So I get up as quietly as I can and pad into the kitchen where my laptop is sitting on the table. I groan with disappointment when the earliest flight I can reasonably afford is almost an entire week away, arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday at two P.M. Well, I’ve been patient this long I can wait a little longer and I don’t want to pull Aiden away from his first week on the job.
Ingrid comes into the kitchen where I’m seated at the table with my laptop still open. “You look excited.” She smiles sleepily, looking slightly puzzled.
“Aiden asked me to come back. Permanently.”
“Oh!” She sits down, putting her elbows on the table. “What are you going to do?”
“Fly out Friday morning.”
“Don’t you dare get married without me there.”
I grin with relief. I don’t want to rub my romance in her face when hers looks so hopeless. Nevermind that neither of us managed to move on like we’d promised. “Okay.”