Page 4 of Cinematic Destinies
She stepped into the sandals and slipped her short sundress over her head, her long light brown spiral curls flowing freely down her back.
“Oh, come on, baby. Don’t cover up that smoking bod. Just one more round.”
“Can’t,” she said, leaning down to give him a quick smooch. “My folks are expecting me. They all think I’m flighty as it is. My siblings are traveling from across the country, so if I’m the one who’s late, well, pretty much proves their point.”
“What if I promise to make you squeal?” he teased, extending his tattooed arms.
“Sorry, but I gotta bolt,” Georgia said with a giggle, leaning down again to give him one more peck. She ran her finger above the piercing over his eyebrow and said, “Have a great summer. Good luck with your band.”
“Wait. When will you be back in San Fran?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, like maybe never. After LA I’ll be abroad for the summer making a movie. Then, who knows. Maybe I’ll go to New York to do theater again. Or maybe I’ll take a break. I’d love to live in Tahiti or somewhere tropical for a while.”
“You know where to find me,” he said with a devilish glint in his eyes.
She smiled, revealing the dimples in her heart-shaped face, grabbed her slouchy hobo bag, and left.
“THAT WAS AMAZING,” FINN WHISPERED,rolling beside Ella, his body still trembling. He gently swept his fingers from her brow to her cheekbone. “You are so beautiful. WhenI look into those piercing green eyes, I don’t ever want to look away.”
“You’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen, my love,” she said, kissing him softly.
“I’m an old man,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m lucky you still want me.”
“You just get sexier and sexier,” she insisted, running her fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair and across the lines fanning out from his sea-colored eyes. “You are my everything, now and forever.”
“And you’re mine,” he whispered, squeezing her shoulder and planting a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose. He stared adoringly at her as if searching for the words to express how he was feeling, and eventually said, “Marry me, Ella.”
She giggled and said, “Maybe you’re getting senile after all. We’re already married.”
Finn laughed. “Our thirtieth anniversary is coming up this fall. Let’s renew our vows. There’s nothing that would make me happier than marrying you again. Say yes.”
“Yes,” she said, smiling brightly. She lifted his hand and sprinkled little kisses on his fingers.
He pulled her closer and she settled against him. “I know you always worry about when we can get the family together. We can tell the kids this weekend to mark their calendars. Just an intimate celebration of our life and love, here in our home, where we got married.”
“That sounds perfect,” Ella said. She smiled, but it quickly evaporated, and her gaze fell downward. “I just wish . . .”
He lifted her chin until her eyes met his. “What is it, love?”
“The children. I want them to have all that life has to offer. To live and love with gusto. Like we’ve tried to do, but each in their own way.”
“I want that too.”
“I know you don’t think I should worry . . .”
“You’re an extraordinary mother. I love how you know them, how you look out for them. But we have to trust the job we did. They’re okay.”
“I hope so.”
“All we can do is live and love with everything we have. Allow them to see the example we set.”
“Sometimes I think their choices reflect their desire to be different from us, no matter the cost. Especially Georgia. She worships you, but . . .”
“Hey,” Finn said, caressing her shoulder. “She loves you fiercely. It’s just that you’re so much alike, whether you two see it or not, and she craves independence. Autonomy.”
Ella sighed.
“Come here,” he said, guiding her head to his chest and wrapping her in his strong arms. “Right now, just be with me.”
