Page 198 of One Bossy Disaster

Here with us.

I’m floating, exiting my body and entering this alternate reality where this handsome, confusing man is breaking my heart at the same time he gives me a miracle.

Another whale bursts through the surf, splattering us with water, and I squeal incoherently. I don’t mind the rain that’s beginning to fall, slightly clouding our view.

Crying.

I’m definitely crying.

“They’re so majestic,” I say, wiping my cheeks, willing myself to stop going to pieces for one freaking minute.

But Shepherd is barely watching the whales. His eyes are on me, even as he grabs his phone with one hand and taps off a message.

“Just told Juan to hold position and keep a safe distance. They’re yours as long as they’ll stay,” he whispers reverently.

Together, we watch them in awestruck silence.

Even Molly doesn’t bark, observing as they ply the seas like bears pushing through brush.

I’m hit with a thousand memories of the last time this happened with the otters.

I didn’t know what was coming then.

Now, the future is too clear, but I try to stay in the moment, just relishing the scene.

If only I could stop time.

Capture this instant, set it in amber, press it between the pages of my memory, chop it out of reality, and paste it into the scrapbook of my life.

My eyes are wide, trying not to miss a single thing.

Every second, I’m here.

I’m present.

I’m living a godsend with Shepherd and I don’t want to forget.

As we watch the pod slowly make its way away from the yacht, back into the open sea, we remain speechless.

There’s only his hands, locked around my waist, anchoring us to this unspoken final moment that’s our parting gift.

But at least I know he’s with me, even if my heart refuses to understand why it has to be our last.

My chest is heavy, weighed down with regrets, but the spark of joy from seeing the whales helps me forget the future.

Almost.

I’ll never forget who brought me here.

I’ll never lose the heartache.

When I finally get the courage to glance up, he’s watching me with this fond, bittersweet, barely there smile.

It’s definitely for me and not the whales.

He looks at me like he’s seeing something precious for the last time, before it becomes a lost treasure.

Here we go again.

---