Page 60 of The Location Shoot
He set the table for their dinner, thoughtfully arranging two plates under silver cloches, an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne, two flutes, and a small vase with brightly colored wildflowers. Then he removed two candlesticks from his pockets, which he placed in holders on the table. He lit the candles and asked, “Is there anything else I can get you, Miss Sinclair?”
“No, thank you so much.”
He turned on his heel and left, closing the door silently behind him.
Ella picked up the vase to smell the flowers but paused when she heard the door open. Finn walked in with an armful of votive candles. “Hi there. I can’t believe you did all this.”
“Hi, sweetheart,” he said, kissing her softly. “It was nothing.”
“The flowers are so beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like them,” he said. “I figured if we had met somewhere else, I would have asked you out on a proper date and I would have brought you flowers.”
“That’s so sweet. What are all those for?” she asked.
“A candlelit bubble bath,” he replied, darting into the bathroom to unload the candles. When he returned, he popped the champagne and they each took a glass.
“What shall we toast to?” she asked.
“To finding the one we love.”
“To finding love.”
They sipped their champagne and Finn said, “Shall we eat? I asked a chef to prepare salmon in caviar sauce.”During their succulent meal, they talked about the film, Ella’s work, and their childhoods, and then Finn put the dinner tray in the hallway and scurried to set up the bath. Soon they were soaking in the tub, surrounded by the soft glow of candlelight. Ella leaned against Finn and sighed contentedly as he wrapped his strong arms around her.
“I thought about you all day today,” he said.
“You did?”
“I couldn’t get the image of you with those kids out of my head. You were such a natural with them.”
“I’m crazy for tiny humans, always have been. I love their curiosity, big imaginations, big emotions. When a toddler is overjoyed, it’s infectious. They can’t contain it and it just oozes out of them. They feel everything so fully, so honestly, with their whole selves.”
“Do you want to have children of your own?”
“Finn . . .”
He squeezed her waist and said, “Have you ever thought about it?”
“Have you?” she asked, turning to face him.
“Ella, I would love to have a family with you someday, when we’re ready. Do you want to have a family with me?”
“Well, yes, but . . .”
“But what, baby?”
“I would want to have childrenwithyou, but I wouldn’t want to have themwithoutyou.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way I grew up, it just made me not want to do it on my own.”
“You wouldn’t be,” he insisted. “We’d be together. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Finn, there’s more than one way to be alone. You spend your life flying around the world to shoot movies and attend film festivals. Where would that leave me? Alone.”
“Sweetheart, if we choose to have a family someday, some things would obviously change. I’ve been thinking about this since we met, but I didn’t want to bring it up and scare you away by asking too much too soon. But after I saw you today, I thought we could at least talk about it. It’s just a conversation.”
