Page 97 of Tango

“Hey, Tabs,” Ethan shouted, “how’d you do that?”

“Why should I help you? You ruined our tea party!”

“You serve air, for Pete’s sake!”

“Good luck, boys.” She stuck her tongue out, and the girls cheered as they ran off.

“Should I be concerned that you tie up children?” Ivy joked, coming up next to me.

“Yes, very.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Do you have a moment? I want to show you something.”

“Sure.”

“I’ve got this.” Moore waved us off as he rubbed his hands together. We left him to it, and I led her upstairs to the bedroom.

“If this is payback for this morning, I’m willing to take any punishment you deem fit for the crime.” She gave me a sexy wink as I motioned for her to step into my room.

“We’ll be discussing that one later,” I promised her, “but for right now, I wanted to show you this.” I brought her into the walk-in closet and rested my hip against the wall as she looked around.

“What am I looking at?” She wasn’t getting it. I waited. Then she sucked in a sharp breath, and I knew it had hit her. “Where’s your rucksack?”

“Put away.” I smiled.

“Really?”

“Really,” I repeated as I pulled her to me.

“That’s growth, Ty.”

“It is.” She was right. “It’s also my way of showing you I’m here with you. I’m not looking to leave. My place is here, my life is here. It’s not me anymore, it’s us.”

“That means a lot, Ty. Thank you.” She smiled and pushed up to give me a kiss. I pulled her in and gave my all to the kiss that sealed my promise to her.

* * *

After dinner, John built a fire in the firepit, and a few of us gathered around it. Others were off doing their own thing. It was peaceful, but I couldn’t settle. I got up and walked down toward the frozen water. As the sun set over the lake, the orange and red colors lit up the fallen snow on the mountaintops. What was it? A strange feeling had come over me, and I couldn’t shake it. I cleared my mind and took a couple of deep breaths as I tried to understand what my head was trying to tell me.

Then a warmth deep inside of me spread outward as I realized what I saw. It was different. It wasn’t summer, and the loons weren’t calling, but this was it. This was what I had imagined over the years. It was my dream, my vision, and it had come to be.

Some might have called it a premonition, but I didn’t think it was that. I thought it was just a deep longing for something in this life. Something on a subconscious level I didn’t realize I wanted. It was life saying you could have this happiness, but you need to work to make it happen. I manifested my own happiness, and along the way I found the love I sought. She was all I needed.

The scent of her fresh perfume came to me, carried by a soft breeze.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ivy whispered. “We’re so lucky.”

“We really are.” I wrapped an arm around her and took in the moment. I felt her shiver and urged her back toward the fire.

Cheers erupted from the house, and Mark raced out onto the deck. “Moore lost at tag!”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Ivy looked up at me with a guilty expression. “The girls and I messed with the scoreboard in the barn. You wanna know who actually lost?”

“Who?”

Her eyes darkened and her expression changed to a huge smile.

“Are you friggin’ kidding me?” But just as I went to bolt for the house, she hit my arm and called out the words.

“Suck it, sucker. You lost!”

The End

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