Page 91 of Faith's Redemption

I fell in love with her just a little bit more, watching her enjoy everything about the night. The atmosphere, the drinks, every bit of food, even flirting with our waiter, which didn’t bother me because he was an old man and provided exceptional service.

She sipped her coffee after polishing off her half of the salted caramel cake. “First sunflowers. Then oysters, grilled tuna, and this cake that’s worth killing somebody over... Take me, Bishop. I’m yours.”

I swallowed and set my fork down as her words pierced my already bruised heart.

She must have seen it, though I tried to hide my reaction. “Hey.” She covered my hand with her own. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I’m not trying to be pushy or anything. Just thankful for tonight.”

I offered her a smile. “I know that, baby.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I slid cash into the leather folder with the bill and handed it to the waiter. “Just full.” I forced a smile and winked. “But this night is not over yet.”

“It’s not?”

“Not even close.”

I led her out when we were done and headed back out of town, hoping the next surprise would go over as well as the first two. This one was a throwback to our younger days, so it was a gamble that things might have changed, but we were about to find out.

Faith was quiet when I exited the highway about halfway between New Orleans and home and turned down a few roads into a remote little town, headed for my destination. I got turned around once, trying to pull it from my teenage memory, and when I did, it was dark and closed. I’d heard it shut down a few years back, but the big screen was still there, and that just made it more perfect.

I pulled into the empty lot, parked in the middle row, and killed the engine as she chuckled.

“Seriously?”

I didn’t respond, just got out to round to her side. I opened her door and offered a hand. She took it without question and stepped out.

She glanced up at the gigantic black screen. “Why are we at the drive-in movies?”

I opened the back door and indicated for her to slide in. “We never got to go before, and I know you always wanted to.”

Her brow lifted. “Um... they’re closed?”

“I got that covered.”

She shook her head and crawled in the back seat with a confused smile.

I popped the trunk and collected our supplies, then followed her in with the pillows, blankets, drinks, snacks, and laptop. “Would you mind cracking that window, baby?” I said before rolling mine down a bit to let in some fresh air.

Her confusion seemed to be wearing off as I made our pallet of pillows and blankets and settled in, offering her a place between my legs, then booted up the cheesy rom-com movie on the laptop, our view of the screen and stars perfect out the windows. “Comfy?” I asked.

She cuddled in and stared up at me. “I’m perfect.”

I kissed her head. “Yes, you are.” I hit play on the movie. “Snacks and drinks are in the bag if you want any.”

“You really thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“I tried to.”

When the movie title popped up, she flipped around to face me again. “Okay. That’s it. What’s going on here?”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...” She hit pause on the movie and readjusted so we were chest to chest and face-to-face. “Tonight. All of it. It’s been...”

“What?”

“Too good to be true,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

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