Page 23 of The Right Time

The binoculars on the top of the dresser mock me, and I stuff them deep into a drawer and wait.

And wait.

I pick up my phone, seeking a distraction, and smile when I hear my window being pushed open.

Seven minutes.

It’s only fitting that it took seven minutes for Trent to deliver the message and for Lucas to climb through my window.

Seven minutes truly can change your entire future.

I watch as one foot hits my bedroom floor, his eyes locked on me with a look of determination and need. I feel the corner of my lip tip up, and I can’t resist. “What took you so long?”

I’m rewarded with a smile that melts my heart. His stride eats up the small distance that separates us. His gaze is strong and confident as his hands come to rest gently on my hips. “This has always been our fate. We’ve been moving toward this since the day the moving van pulled into the driveway next door.”

I nod, feeling the same. The moment I caught sight of him climbing out of the backseat of his parents’ car, I knew we would be friends. “I see you got the memo.”

“I’ve waited six years for you to press send.” His finger runs up my side. The soft silk is no match for the warmth radiating from his digits.

“Patience is my fatal flaw,” I joke, enjoying the moment. We’ve always enjoyed an easy, flirtatious banter.

He leans down and places a ghost kiss on the tip of my nose. “You have no flaws.” He smells of sandalwood and coconut, a unique boy-next-door scent that’s memorialized in my heart. “Except for kissing boys in front of me.” His smile takes my heart on another trip around the world.

It’s my turn.

I tip up and place a soft kiss on his lips. “You telling me to go experience the world and kiss other boys is your fatal flaw. I knew the minute you kissed me in the closet, there would never be another. Not like that.”

“Me too,” he offers, returning another kiss, this one longer than my peck. “I’ve always wanted the best the world offered for you.”

“All I’ve ever wanted was you.”

His dark eyes swirl, and he spins, stepping to my dresser, fingers to the mirror, pulling my cherished photo of him from the corner. A gleeful scoff escapes his throat as he flips the photo and reads, “Patience and our future are wrapped in three special words.”

He recites the inscription that had baffled me for years. I love you was too transparent an answer.

“You never asked me what I meant by this,” he says, waving the photo, a smirk on his handsome face, and I realize the answer has been in front of me all this time.

“Wow,” I snicker, stepping in front of him and taking hold of the picture. “Seven-minute future.” Three words that speak to our past, the patience we would need while separated. Three words that will lead us to our future.

Lucas presses his rear to the dresser, his arms crossed in front of him, eyes glued to me. I know this look. He’s about to reveal another secret. “I told you I didn’t want a girlfriend for all those years because I knew I’d return to Mesa.”

I nod, familiar with his thinking. He never wanted a girl to go through what Jasmine did every year when her guy returned to their hometown. Long distance is the kryptonite to relationships.

“That wasn’t the real reason.” He pushes off the dresser, the tips of his sneakers stopping an inch in front of my bare feet. “It was because I always knew I was coming home to you. That… this…”—he wags a finger between our chests— “has always been written in stone.”

He confirms what I always suspected; the words whispered to me before he left town—our future is ours.

I tap his hard chest with my index finger, tilt my head, and respond, “Since we’re playing true confessions… You know how I told you I came over once a week to cook for your parents?”

He slips a hand around my finger and pulls my finger up to his lips, offering a soft kiss. “Ummm-hmmm.”

“Once a month, I had your mom teach me how to make a Jamaican dish. I told them I wanted to surprise you when you got home, but secretly, I knew I would need to know because… well.” It’s my turn to wag a finger between us.

Visions of cooking for my future husband flash in my head, the blur of children running around the dining room table, laughter and love in the air.

Five years we spent apart, yet we both knew what our future would bring. We each took steps to prepare. My heart races for the man I’ve always been destined to love.

“Next barbeque,” he begins, “I’m putting you on jerk chicken and peas and rice duties.” His golden smile lights the pathway to our future. “Can we talk about that kiss?”

---