Page 35 of Love Story
Instead he held her loosely and together they swayed to the gentle sound of the lake water lapping against the shore. “I can dance with you anywhere.” He allowed his face to brush against hers. “Know why?”
“Why?” Her voice was like the wind around them. Soft and surreal, like maybe she wasn’t here and John wasn’t dancing in her arms on a dirt path.
“Because... you’re the music, Elizabeth.” He eased back, his eyes finding hers again. “I love you.” His words came without permission. As if his heart was speaking for him. “I’m in love with you.”
Her smile started slowly and then filled her face, her eyes. “I thought I was crazy. We only met a few weeks ago.”
John laughed. “We’re both crazy.” He put his hand against her cheek. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”
For a long while she only looked at him, as if she didn’t want to interrupt the beautiful moment with words. Finally she breathed in, her eyes holding his. “Yes, I feel it. I love you, too, John.”
He looked down to make sure his feet were still on the ground. He’d never been so happy in all his life. “We’ll figure this out.” He kissed her once and then again until his passion for her became more than he could bear. “Okay.” He steadied his breathing. A step back and then another. “Let’s keep walking.”
They were both breathless. Elizabeth laughed and played with her ponytail. She placed her hand in his as they started on the path. A few steps and she stopped, her eyes bright. “I forgot one thing.”
“One thing?”
“That I want to be someday.” She giggled. “I want to be a firefighter.”
He loved her. Everything about her. “You’d be the first one, then.”
“Wait.” She held up her finger, laughing harder now. As if she was giddy from all the feelings. “Not all the time. Just for a day. So I can see what it’s like to wear that heavy uniform and have the power to put out fires.”
“You’re wonderful.” He put his arm around her shoulders and they kept their pace slow, their steps in time with each other. Like another kind of dance. He glanced at her. “A firefighter?”
“Since I’m giving you the list,” her eyes sparkled up at him, “I don’t want to leave anything off.”
“I see that.” He wanted to kiss her again, but he didn’t dare. His resistance was only so strong.
They returned to the blanket John had spread out earlier and finished their afternoon with a picnic near the edge of the lake. All around them families sat at wooden tables and couples cozied up on blankets, lost in each other. Little kids laughed and ran across the grass, and all of it seemed like a painting. Like the lot of them were only here to provide the perfect backdrop for John and Elizabeth.
On the way home, the plan was that he’d take Elizabeth back to Betsy’s. Elizabeth’s parents had agreed to her staying the night at Betsy’s house as long as she was home early for church.
John looked at his watch. But he already knew they were running an hour early. His house was empty again; the Wesleys had once more taken the family to the lake for the weekend. The possibility took root in John’s mind and wouldn’t let go. He shifted in the driver’s seat, thinking of a way to ask her. She could come over for an hour. Nothing more.
Nothing good can come from it,he told himself.Don’t ask her. But he could already feel his strength waning. And then, as if she could read his mind, Elizabeth looked at him. “We’re early.”
He clenched the muscles in his jaw. It wouldn’t hurt. Not if they kept the visit short. A quick glance her way. “I was just thinking that.”
She nodded and turned her attention to the road ahead of them. They were almost to Ann Arbor.
John could feel the words fighting their way out. Elizabeth wasn’t going to take the lead on this. He swallowed. They’d be careful. Everything would be okay. “My family’s gone again.” He kept his gaze straight ahead. Whatever duplicity might lie in the depth of his eyes, he didn’t want her to see it.
“When do they come home?” She stared at her hands. Her tone told him she was battling her feelings, same as he was. The anxiety over needing to be back at Betsy’s versus the other need... the greater need.
The chance to be together for another hour.
He reached across the seat and took her hand. With the decision between them as heavy as their unspoken desire, he worked his fingers between hers. The feeling stripped away every last ounce of his defenses. The touch of her skin against his, a sort of tipping of the scales so that there really was no decision to make.
“Maybe... you could come over? We could watchTVor listen to music.” He cast her a weak smile. “Just be together.”
Elizabeth was a naïve nineteen. She looked young because she was young, and John already knew he was her first kiss. Now as she turned her eyes to him, he could see that she wanted to be with him. But more than that, she trusted him. Her shy look told him so. “I’d like that, John.” She hesitated. “I’d love it.”
They wouldn’t cross lines. John would make sure of that. Just to have her alone, without other people around them. The two of them laughing and talking and dreaming without distraction. He thought some more. Okay, so maybe they might kiss. Just once or twice. Nothing too intimate. Yes, this was a good choice. John was sure. Nothing inappropriate would happen. He felt himself relax.
The rest of the ride home he entertained her with stories from his classes. “So we’re dissecting a frog. Like I had to do in undergrad.” He chuckled. “And all I could think was,How is this going to help me treat patients in an emergency room?”
She laughed and he could feel her relax a little. “Not a lot of frogs rushing into the hospital.”
