Page 33 of A Wulver for the Week

I wouldn’t propose to her at someone else’s wedding. That would be tacky, wouldn’t it?

But tomorrow? All bets are off.

“MY CHEEKS HURT. MYfeet hurt. My hair hurts. I haven’t been sleeping in my bonnet thanks to someone ravishing me until sunrise or massaging me until I’m in a coma,” Minnie moans and peels off her sexy, strappy sandals. She winces as she looks at the gouges her straps have made in her ankles and up her calves.

I shake off my jacket and kick off my wingtips, sitting beside her on the bed. I pull her foot into my lap and reach for the bottle of lotion on the top of Minnie’s suitcase. I squirt some in my palm and go to work, smoothing it up over her slightly sandy toes and heel, working my fingers into her tired muscles.

She flops back with a different kind of moan. “You do that, you’re going to end up married, mister. A man who will give you foot rubs is a man you keep.”

“Aye, well, then. I’ll do this every day after your shift. What man wouldn’t want to spend time rubbing his wife’s gorgeous,” I plant a kiss on her ankle as I lift her leg high, “shapely,” another kiss on her calf, “legs?” I end with my hands skimming up her thighs. “You were so beautiful today,” I say for the hundredth time.

“Much better than when I’m having a breakout, my hair looks like I stuck a fork in an outlet, and I’ve got my mask up and my face shield down?” she laughs, not stopping me as my hands go a-wandering, up to the waistband of the tight beige shapewear she’s wearing under her dress.

“For me, you’ve been the most beautiful woman in the world since the second I laid eyes on you.”

“The second you laid eyes on me? Wasn’t I having a screaming match with some fat-ass greedy bastard son who didn’t want me to put his ninety-year-old mother on oxygen the first time we met? We were! Because I remember thinking, “I’m being so unprofessional, and other departments are going to think I’m insane.”

“Aye, that’s true. We did meet like that, but I didn’t think you were mad, love. I thought you were a champion, a fighter for the people in your care. I lost my heart at once, especially once you stepped out of the ring and away from all the strong hospital smells. Then...”

“Smells? What are you on about?” she laughs as I remove the shapewear, now standing over her. I bend to the bed and kneel over her, burying my nose in her neck.

“Ahhh. Gardenia. Every wulver knows his true love by her scent. I knew you were mine not from first sight—but from first sniff. I’ll spend the rest of my life chasing that perfume of yours, and one day, we’ll have a garden full of them. Gardenias and wee bairns that fight like their mother—but hopefully not with each other.”

“Mmm, we have time to practice making ‘bairns,’ but not a lot. Remember, our plane leaves at eleven, so we have to be checked out and to the dock by eight to get to the airport with time to spare.” Minnie pulls me to her, her arms wrapping around my neck. She smells like sea, champagne, and, of course, gardenias.

I look at the glossy gold carriage clock that’s on the nightstand. Two in the morning! “That was some party,” I whisper, nuzzling my love’s soft breasts.

“It would have been shorter if everyone hadn’t gone down to the dock to watch the love birds sail away. But I’m glad we did. It was an amazing wedding. An amazing send-off.”

And nothing will ever top this spectacle—not with a social worker’s salary, that’s for damn sure.

“That’s fine for her. I want something simpler. I wouldn’t mind a beach wedding, though.”

“Would you? Now, when I was a boy, my favorite place to go was Sandwood Bay in Caithness. It’s... It’s breathtaking, but not like this. There’s nothing tropical about it. Instead, you stare out and feel like you’ve reached the end of the world. Remote. Beautiful. Haunting. Eternity’s there, right at the edge of the water,” I whisper, sliding off of Minnie and settling her in the crook of my arm.

The day’s highs and constant movement have taken their toll. Minerva looks at me with heavy eyes and a sleepy, peaceful smile. “The end of the world?”

“Aye.”

“I want to be there with you. At eternity. At forever,” she mumbles, her eyes falling shut.

I wait for a bit, my heart singing. Soaring. Then, I shimmy out of bed and find my phone. After ten minutes of scrolling, I make a call. I know it’s the wee hours of the morning, but one good thing about the paranormal people of Pine Ridge is that we’ll always answer the phone for another member of our odd little community.

Jan Stilz, the jeweler in town, picks up on the fourth ring, his voice confused and sleepy. “Craig?”

“If I pay you a hundred bucks, would you meet me at Binghamton airport tomorrow?”

“What? Craig, take a taxi.”

“Nay, Jan, I need your help. You have a ring on your website called Eternal Love.”

His voice is instantly alert. “A single karat solitaire with white gold band, complete with matching eternity band with sapphires in a baguette setting.”

“I’ll pay sticker price, laddie, if you bring it to me, and pay extra as well.”

“But... What time?” he sighs.

“About an hour from when I text you tomorrow. Probably around 4 PM.”

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