Page 75 of Ace

“Did it make it through the storm?”

“I think so. This stuff is waterproof. And our time capsule”—he pulled it out—“is indestructible.”

She felt her face go cold. “You do not have that.”

“I do.” His smile grew. “And there’s a little something in here I want you to see.”

“Oh no.” This was not happening. Not now. Not when they were so close to working things out.

“What?” He laughed. “Is there something you don’t want me to see?” He tried to open it faster.

She dove for it, but the boat rocked, and Dex adjusted their trajectory a little bit. “Now come on. We promised we’d open it this year. I don’t see any better opportunity.”

Maybe she would die right here. Maybe she should swim. This was not happening. She tried to get a grip, because after all that had just happened, did this really matter? Yes, it did. Dex was gonna die. She was going to curl up in a ball with a blanket over her head.

“Oh fine. Get it over with.”

“Well, now, I was going to read mine first, but now I’m completely intrigued by your reaction.” He waved her closer. “Come here. Sit with me like we did. Let’s look at this together.”

As soon as she was leaning back up against him, he twisted open the capsule. Then he dumped out the contents into his lap. “Okay, so here’s yours.” He unrolled it. Out fell his class ring. “Hey, that’s where this thing went.” He held it up. “I loved this thing.”

“Oh, just get it over with.” She reached for the ring, holding it close. Maybe it would help her hide from her embarrassment.

He cleared his throat. “Oh, this is good. Okay. Here we go. ‘To the most handsome man in the whole world.’ ” He laughed. “Wow, this is great. You wrote this when you were eighteen?”

“Yes, just stop. No commentary. Please.”

“Come on. This is fun.”

She waved for him to continue.

“ ‘To the handsomest man in the world. Dex Callison. I love you so much I can’t even explain it right. You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I love your eyes so much. They are the perfect shade of blue and green, like the sea. I think one day I will be floating in the ocean and see the water and think of your eyes.’ ” He looked around them. “Prophetic. Are you thinking of my eyes?”

“Stop.”

“Really, I love this. Come on, don’t be bothered. I’ve loved you forever. You’ll see in a minute.”

Feeling a bit better, she snuggled back into him and tried to see it as something cool.

“ ‘When you wear your Guess jeans, I can’t help it, you look so hot.’ ”

She fell forward, her head in her hands. “I might die.”

“So I should maybe lose the khakis?”

She shook her head. “Wear whatever you want.”

“ ‘And when you smile, I melt every time. You don’t know it, but anything you ask me to do with that smile, I’ll say yes. I can’t ever say no to you, Dex. I think if you are reading this in ten years and we aren’t married, you should smile when you ask, because I will say yes. I hope I say yes. We need to be married, Dex. There’s no one better for you than me. Love forever, Gi.’ ”

He rolled the letter back up very carefully. She didn’t dare turn to look at him yet. But she heard him pull out his letter. “Look at this.”

She turned.

He held up a ring. It sparkled in the sun.

“Is that a diamond?”

He nodded. “it is.” He held it out to her to see.

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