Page 126 of Another Love, Another Time
Auggie notices that I’m lost in thought and gives me a knowing smile. He knows how hard we worked to get here, but it was worth it. Did I enjoy going through everything I did? No, but I appreciate the relationship we have now.
Auggie’s been talking to Baxter’s sister. I think she has a little crush, but it’s innocent. Auggie is handling her like a champ.
Baxter and I have been talking. He wants to get out of the Army, especially since he’s seen how happy I am. He asked me if I’d like to start a PI service with him. I told him I would think about it. I still love being on the team.
Auggie and I were reassigned to different partners. Even though it’s not against the rules for us to be in a relationship, the captain wanted to make sure there were clear lines between our personal and work lives. I’m fine with the decision. I got reassigned to Mackey, and Auggie was assigned a new guy who transferred. I’m not sure about the PI route. At least it would give me more flexibility.
Baxter’s mom made my favorite meal. I’ve asked her for the recipe so I can make it for Auggie. She loves Auggie. She’s welcomed him into the fold like it has always been that way.
Baxter sees me looking at Auggie. “I’m proud of you, Rhondy. I knew you had it in you.”
I look at him. “I’m glad you pushed me.”
“I hope if I ever need the push, you’ll do the same thing,” he tells me.
“You know I would. Have you started seeing anyone?” I ask to be nosy. He’s been kind of quiet lately.
“Not really.” I don’t know if he’s telling me the truth. I’ll let him have it. He will tell me when he’s ready.
I look in Auggie’s direction and see he’s already watching me with a knowing smile. Tomorrow, we are heading to New Orleans for our first vacation as a couple. I can’t wait. It’s a whole week of just Auggie and me.
Epilogue
1 year later
River:
We have softball practice for our adult league today. I glance around at our team, split between offense and defense for today’s scrimmage. My gaze lands on the stands, which are surprisingly full for a practice. The sun shines through a nice, cool breeze, which could be part of it. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
I love our group of fun players who care about putting in the work to get better as a team while still having fun. They are mostly people from work, but we’ve picked up a few players who wanted to play and needed a team.
This year, we picked up a female pitcher who pitched in college. She’s amazing and gets along well with the team. Since we have a pitcher, Auggie doesn’t get to pitch as much. He’s taken over as coach, which he enjoys, but today, he’s pitching while I catch. We have become a well-oiled machine. I’m sure he would much rather be in the catching position, but he lets me have it. He loves me like that.
Auggie throws a warmup pitch to me. Logan steps up to the base, and I get in my catching stance and give Auggie the signal. He nods and sends the ball my way, but it’s not the pitch I signaled for. Of course, Logan bunts the incoming ball, and it flies into the air.
Auggie runs to cover home plate. I throw off all my headgear and run to catch the ball, which I just barely manage.
That’s weird. It doesn’t feel like a softball. I quickly drop whatever is in my hand. I bend down and look to see what I caught. It looks to be clothing with rubber bands around it. I pull the rubber bands off, open up the shirt, and gasp.
The shirt says, “Will you marry me?”
I spin around to see Auggie down on one knee.
I fall down on my knees. “What are you doing?” I ask, barely getting the words out.
“Isn’t it obvious?” He gestures to the crowd. Our family and friends are here. A lot are holding up signs saying things like “Say yes” or “Marry me instead.”
I look back at Auggie and see that we both have tears in our eyes. We’ve worked our asses off to build the beautiful relationship we have today.
“River, will you marry me?” he asks me.
I tackle him to the ground with all my catching gear on and smash my lips to his.
I pull back. “Yes, yes, yes,” I scream.
The crowd cheers. He pulls away and grabs something from his pocket. It’s the ring, shimmering in the sunlight. He slides it on my finger, and another piece clicks into place.
I love our life. We have both made the decision to only have people who have our best interests in our lives. Auggie is the man I always thought he was. Every day, he is intentional in how he shows me I’m the most important person in his life. I’m sure that when we have kids, that will change, but he has proven to me he will put our family first. I’m going to be Mrs. Auggie Hunt!
