Page 76 of Ace

“And now, my letter. ‘Dear Gianna West, I know we’re young. I know we haven’t experienced much in the world yet. We haven’t been to college or served in the military, though I know we both will. We’re going to be flying F-16s, just wait. If we’re reading this and we didn’t, it’s only because we did something better.’ ” He laughed. “Wow, confidence.”

She laughed. “I can see your face while you say this, your eighteen-year-old face.”

He continued. “ ‘But even though we haven’t experienced much in life, I know enough about you to know that you are the woman I want by my side in everything. I know you’re the one, Gianna, and so if my older self hasn’t been smart enough to ask you yet, I’ll take care of that for him now. Will you marry me?’ ”

She turned to him fully.

He held out the ring. “Be my copilot, Blaze. Marry me. Please.” His eyes were full of sincerity, love.

She took the ring. “This is beautiful.”

“I sold my car to buy that thing.”

“What! This is what happened to the bullet?”

“Yep. And I don’t regret it for one second. I’d like to go congratulate that confident kid.” He slipped it on her finger. “It even fits. Gi, we fit. We belong together. I love you more than anything, more than my own self. I can’t do life anymore without you. Look at me. Look at us. Can we just start out right and do things together from the beginning?”

She studied the ring. It was perfect, exactly what she would have chosen. Then she searched his face. His arms encircled her. She shifted so that she could kiss him in a minute. “But how?”

“How what?”

“How can we work things out?”

“Does it matter? We just will. I will talk to you, I’ll tell you what I need to do, and you’ll tell me what you need to do. And we will figure out how to help each other.” He barely finished before she covered his lips with her own.

His arms held her closer, and he responded tenderly. Every movement of his mouth over hers said, I love you. Over and over again.

“If that’s what you mean by doing things together, then yes, I would love to marry you. You say you’re mine. I’ve always been yours. I love you, Ace. I’m yours forever.”

He lifted her hand up to his mouth, kissing the ring.

He held her close, and they were quiet for a while. The nice ocean breeze lifted the heat from the sun, and the current sent them along. She could have stayed there for days if hunger or thirst wouldn’t be an issue. But soon Dex shifted. “We should be out of the no-fly zone.”

As soon as he said the words, sounds of a helicopter approached.

“And here comes your dad.”

She squinted. “Looks like it. At least it was sent by him.”

Their hair was flattened by the wind as the helicopter hovered above them. A ladder fell down to them. Dex held it steady while she climbed up. Then he lifted his rucksack onto his shoulders and climbed up after.

He wasn’t sure what the future would hold. But he knew they’d be okay, because no matter what happened, no matter what they made of their lives, they were going to do it together.

Epilogue Next

Epilogue

Dex and Gianna left the hearing, trying to suppress their smiles.

“That went better than I thought.” Dex’s breath at her ear sent happy tingles through her.

“No kidding. I was worried about sanctions.”

“You can’t really put sanctions on a company.”

“All the same.”

“Your dad almost smiled, did you see it?”

---