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False River, LA
10 April
1915 Local Time
It was heaven. Or at least as close to heaven as Cal Martin had ever been. They were sitting on the grassy bank of the lake that once served as the main channel of the Mississippi River. They were doing nothing except taking in the setting sun, enjoying the seventy-degree temperatures, and finally relaxing with each other.
Spectre was lying next to Decker on the blanket that he had laid out in the grass. It had been a surprise for Decker. They had been visiting Spectre’s former mentor and father figure “Bear” Jennings to pick up his dog Zeus on their way back to Washington. Spectre had wanted to have a nice evening in the peace and quiet of the country before heading back to the chaos of the city.
Zeus dropped a slobbery tennis ball next to Spectre as he lay next to Decker. Spectre picked it up and tossed it for the hundred-pound retired military working dog. It was a routine Spectre repeated a few dozen times before Zeus was satisfied and lay next to Decker to take a nap.
The two didn’t say much. Decker was wearing a white sundress and cowboy boots. She was a country girl at heart, having grown up in Georgia. Spectre could not stop smiling. The love of his life and his best friend were next to him enjoying the beautiful sunset across the lake after a nice picnic dinner. He couldn’t have been happier.
But Spectre was nervous. He had barely eaten, but he felt like he was going to throw up. He was doing everything he could to hide it to make the evening special, but the butterflies remained.
He had been to war, killed people with handcuffs to escape captivity, and saved the President of the United States, but when it came to women, he turned into a total dork. It was worse, at times, with Decker. After all he had been through and the bad luck he had in the love department, he was afraid of messing things up, especially this evening.
“You ok, Cal?” Decker asked before she leaned toward him and kissed him.
“Yeah,” Spectre replied. “Why?”
“You seem tense,” she replied. “Something on your mind?”
“No,” Spectre lied. She was the one on his mind. It was a magical evening and he had been waiting for the right moment, but every time he thought he’d found it, he got nervous and decided to wait a bit longer. It had to be perfect.
Decker smiled. “Liar,” she said as she grabbed his hand. “Tell me.”
“You know I love you, right?” Spectre asked.
Decker sat up and turned to face Spectre. “Of course, I do! You took a bullet for me!” she said with a laugh. “If that’s not love, I don’t know what is!”
Spectre took her left hand in his as he sat up on one knee. This is it. Now or never. “Michelle, I love you. You have saved my life in more ways than I could count and you gave me a reason to live. You make me want to be a better man. You are my best friend, my lover, and my soul mate,” he said. Decker’s eyes watered as she realized what was going on and held her chest with her free hand.
“Michelle—” Spectre continued as he reached toward his pocket. He froze as his hand went into his pocket. It was gone. Spectre smiled awkwardly as he searched his pockets. The backpack. I put it in the backpack before we ate, Cal thought. He quickly dropped her hand and crawled to the backpack.
“Cal, what’s going on?” Decker asked with a confused look.
“One second... I... There’s something in my bag I need,” Spectre said as he rushed to the bag. As he did, Zeus started growling and sprang to his feet. Spectre looked up to see Bear’s beat-up old pickup pull up next to Spectre’s truck twenty feet away. Shit.
Spectre grabbed the ring box out of the bag and turned back to Michelle. As he did, Bear appeared from his truck and slammed the door loudly as he waddled toward them while rubbing his salt and pepper hair.
“Well, what’d she say?” Bear asked excitedly as he approached them.
Spectre gave him a slashing motion across his throat to tell him to knock it off, but it was too late. Decker had already closed the distance between them.
“Yes,” she said as she caught up with Spectre and hugged him. “Yes, I will!”
“You didn’t ask her?” Bear asked as he stopped short of the blanket. “What’s wrong with you, boy?”
Spectre shot Bear a look as he peeled Decker off him and dropped to a knee again.
“Michelle Elizabeth Decker, will you marry me?” he asked frantically as he opened the box with shaking hands to display the engagement ring.
“Oh,” Bear said uneasily as he stepped back after realizing what he had done. Spectre had told him the plan and that it would roughly be around sunset after dinner, but he hadn’t been specific.
“Of course!” Decker said with a smile. Spectre took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger before kissing her.
“Thank you,” Spectre said as the kiss ended and he stared deeply into her blue eyes.
“You don’t have to thank me, sweetie,” Decker said with a laugh as she began to cry. “I’m the lucky one.”
“You’re lucky to have each other,” Bear interjected. “Y’all make a great couple. Congrats.”
Spectre nodded as he kissed Decker again. “Amen, Bear.”
Thanks for reading!
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