Page 116 of Between Now and Always

We hit a dense patch of revelers and find our way blocked by a cluster of women dancing in a tight circle. I tap the shoulder of the womanin front of me. She turns around, a toothy, ecstatic grin on her face. When she sees me and Beth, she grins even wider. “Great party!” she yells, exaggerating the movement of her lips as she speaks.

I don’t recognize her, but clearlyshe knows who we are, so I smile and yell back, “Thanks.” Then, I point past her, indicating that we want to pass. “Ooh,” she smiles apologetically and hustles her friends out of the way.

We’re about halfway through the crowd when our song starts to play. It’s the one I wrote from our wedding vows. Almost nine years later, Paradise is still a favorite cover for bands, including the one entertaining this crowd.

The crowd hoots and claps as the opening strains start and Iwrap my arms around her from behind and pull her warm, still damp body against mine. She relaxes against me dropping her head as we sway to the music.

“You asked me when I’d stop trying; I said never.

You asked me how long I’d love you; I told you forever.

Because from the moment I saw you, I knew I’d found my always. The paradise in your eyes is where I want to spend the rest of my days.”

The light from the stage casts us all is shades of blue and white. And even with all the noise, with her in my arms it’s like being in the labyrinth garden we built as a replica of James’. We dance there nearly every night when we’re at our house in Corsica. And, almost always to this song.

This is the beginning of a new us.

This is the start of our new world.

One where we can see forever.

One where we’ll always be together.

Our love story isn’t your everyday romance.

And I know it’ll never end.

Because this is us…

And us, is forever.

She turns around and looks up through her lashes. Those still lavishly expressive, heart-slaying eyes of her make my heart stand at attention.

I drop my head and take her mouth with mine. When my tongue sweeps along her lower lip, I taste the mango and the vanilla from cake she made for son’s birthday. I love this woman so much, she’s the flavor, feel, and sound of my happiness.

A body slams into my back, making us stumble and breaking our kiss. A beefy damp hand pats my shoulder a few times and by the time I turn around to see who it, they’ve blended into the crowd.

“Come on.” I take her hand again and start back through the crowd. This time, not stopping until we’re through the crowd and on our way to the house. Our backyard was the selling point of this house. It’s a little more than a full acre in size. Once we’re away from the concert area and the pool, the noise isn’t as oppressive because we didn’t set up speakers.

We approach the large carnival like tent we set up asa makeshift dining area.

“Hey,” Susan shouts waves us over. She’s squinting and sweating from the smoke and heat, but that grin on her face says it all. She’s in hog heaven.

Literally.

She’s got at least five different cuts of pig and six different flavors of sausage on the smoker grill she’s standing in front of. She ordered for the house when she moved in five years ago.

We stop upwind of the billowing, applewood smoke, but the smell of the smoked meat and spices fill the air witha mouthwatering aromaand I make a mental to come back and grab a few links before they’re all gone.

“Where you two sneaking off to?” she shouts, louder than necessary and I press a finger to my lips and look around for signs of our youngest children. They’ve got radar that goes off whenever we’re trying to find time alone.

“Inside for just a minute, but keep it down,” I tell her.

Beth wraps her arm around my waist, tracing the outline of the muscles at my side, but leans closer to Susan. “We don’t want the kids to follow us,” she winks.

Susan rolls her eyes heavenward and shakes her head in exasperation. “You two are like those horny little monkeys we saw in Bali last year,” she scolds.

Then, with the lightening fast reflexes she thanks twenty years in jail for honing, she slaps a marauding hand away from the meat she’s got cooling on a rack next to the grill. We make our escape while she scolds the unfortunate soul naïve enough to think they could get one past her.

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