Page 104 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
His mouth must have dropped open because she shook her finger at him.
“But you listen to me. I’m going to remind you of the same thing I just told my mom. I don’t want anyone meddling with my life because of this whole eye thing. Or talking to me about the dangers of working overseas. Or about why it’s so much smarter for me to settle down in Dare Valley forever.”
That seemed like a reasonable segue to his earlierthoughts, so he said, “About settling in Dare Valley forever…”
She set her water glass down with a clunk. “I beg your pardon?”
He settled back into the peace he’d felt earlier. “I had other reasons for going to talk to your mother today. Okay, this is going to sound a little crazy, but it’s partly because I was thinking about you and me as a unit.”
Her face was losing its red ire—not a good sign—so he rushed to continue.
“If you were at odds with your mom, I was too, and I didn’t want that. Then things would be weird with my mom because she’s your mom’s best friend. Is this making sense?”
“You sound like some mutant version of the telephone game right now.” Her eyes were narrowed in deep concentration.
“Okay, so let me try and muddle this out.” He took a moment to think through the best way to convey his feelings. “When I realized how stubborn your mom was being in refusing to see you for who you are—something I never fully got until today—I grew incensed. I went a little crazy on her.”
“She told me,” Lucy said, a smile touching the corners of her mouth.
“The reason I went a little crazy is because I’m completely crazy about you. I went from trying to reason with your mother to defending you. Something I hadn’t expected. And taking things to a whole other level of crazy…I told Matt about talking to your mom in the hot tub.”
“He must have wet himself laughing,” she said, fighting a bigger smile now.
“Pretty much,” he admitted, shuddering. “Some things can’t be unseen, Lucy.”
“You deserve it,” she said, echoing her earlier sentiment.
“Fine, it’s my penance for interfering. But then Matt told me it would be a great story to tell our kids.”
She blanched, going several shades paler.
“I know! My brain pretty much exploded, but then I got to thinking… Well, I thought about what it would be like swapping ice cream cones with you when we were both old and gray and laughing together and all that jazz.”
Her face wasn’t very encouraging, so set his glass down with a clunk too.
“Lucy, I’m not proposing right now because I’m not prepared with a ring or anything, which you deserve.”
“Holy shit! You’re?—”
“Let me get this out. I never thought I’d want to marry again. But then I thought about how wonderful things could be if we stay together in the years ahead… I realized I want to put a possible future out there for you to consider.”
Her mouth gaped, and she stared at him.
“Lucy, I’m not afraid anymore.” And after all the fear he’d lived with for the past couple of years, he knew this marked a turning point for him.
She didn’t move a muscle—not one.
“You say you can’t know what your future will look like because of your vision,” he continued, “but I don’t think that has to be true.”
He was tempted to get down on one knee, but he realized from her agitated breathing that it wouldn’t be the best move. Instead, he inched his chair closer to her so their knees touched.
“Lucy, I love you. I want you in my life forever. Not just as a friend, although that connection has always been so special between us. I want to wake up with you and laugh with you. I want to share my days with you—and tellyou everything, from the random to the profound. You appreciate both, and I love that about you. I want to share Danny with you, and I want to create more beautiful little people with our genes that we can raise together.”
She shoved him back with a hand to his chest. “And you say you’re not proposing? You need to stop this right now.”
When she pushed out of her chair, he grabbed her shaking hands. “I’m not proposing right this second. I’m sharing my vision of the future. Our future. Our paths were connected when we were young. Then you went away, and they forked, but now you’re back. We’re walking the same path again.”
She put her hand to her temple like he was giving her a headache. “Andy, you don’t get it. No one ever walks the same path. That’s what my mother finally understood today. Her, you, me—we all walk different paths. We’re all our own people. Don’t ask me to stay here and become something I’m not.”
