Chapter 1 – Yes
710 Words
Chapter 1 – Yes
Tuesday Evening, August 5th, 2014
Adornetto’s Italian Restaurant, Zanesville, Ohio
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“Yes Mel, I’ll marry you!”
I slipped the ring I’d picked out onto Dana’s finger and then stood and tugged her from her chair and into my arms as Hannah beamed at the two of us. “I love you Dana.”
Her eyes sparkled with excited tears, “I love you too!”
I kissed her softly but quickly and then pulled her in for a long hug. Time just seemed to stand still while I held her.
All too soon, I had to let her go. Once we were settled back at the table, Hannah discreetly disappeared back into the kitchen.
Dana looked down at her dessert plate, “I don’t know what to say or even where to start...”
“You said the most important thing; yes.”
“When...how long have you been planning this?”
I smiled at her and caressed her hand, “Oh, since I walked out of a motel room back in June and I had to leave you there by yourself waiting and wondering what was going on.”
“That long ago huh?” Dana laughed.
“Yeah. Pretty much.” I took a little bite of my dessert and sighed. Our young friend Hannah was going to do great in culinary school. She already exhibited some serious talent.
Dana was eating her dessert too but she had a faraway look in her eyes. After a long minute of silence, I asked her, “Penny for your thoughts?”
She tilted her head and peered at me in the dimmed light, “I’m just wondering how...where...when you would want to...” She paused, obviously not sure exactly what she wanted to ask.
“Hun, I want to do this for real. We can’t legally get married in Ohio right now but there are lots of places where we can. We’ll go somewhere to do it officially and then, when we come back here, I want to have a big party and invite everyone: your family, mine, friends, co-workers...everybody.”
Dana drew in a deep breath and smiled, “Okay then. So, uh, when?”
“Well, let’s talk about it and try and get it all hammered out early the week after next. I have got to help to get Kris’s kids through fair week first!” I hung my head down low.
“Baby, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. We’ll get through that together. I don’t know a lot about showing animals, but I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Trust me; you’re going to regret saying that.”
“Mel, I don’t regret anything about meeting you or our connection to those kids. I wouldn’t trade a minute of the last few months away...well, not a minute with them anyway,” she laughed ruefully.
I knew she was thinking about being shot, kidnapped – not once but twice – framed for murder and about being tied up and left for dead once. Since Dana had come into my life, her own life had become very dangerous. I hoped to change all of that for her but, right now, I needed to get her mind off of it. “There is something else we need to start talking about right away.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
I leaned toward her and whispered conspiratorially, “Getting a place of our own.”
“True,” she smiled back.
“I have a gut feeling Lance is going to propose to my sister real soon. He’s already hinting that he wants to move in with her or have her and the kids move in with him.”
“Well, it’s only logical that you and I move out of there and he move in. There’s no sense in uprooting the kids and your sister really does love living in your grandparent’s family home.”
“Yeah, she does.”
“Where would we go?”
“Well, I’d want to stay pretty close to both the kids and mom and dad for now. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but my dad seems to be struggling a little lately with things he’s always done and that he still should be able to do. He’s only 57. Stuff shouldn’t be this hard for him...not yet.”
“Has he seen a doctor?”
“Don’t even get me started on that!” I shook my head, “He has an all hate relationship with doctors. Anyway, there are a few houses in and right around Morelville that are up for sale which would keep us close to the kids and to the farm. Would you be willing to take a look at some of those?”
“Of course, babe.”
“I was thinking that maybe eventually, we’d put our heads together and buy a piece of property somewhere to build what we really want so this wouldn’t be forever...”
Dana reached across the table and took my hand in hers. “Mel, I just want to settle down and be with you. Wherever that is, is fine.”
- Writer
