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“So it’s been in your wallet this whole time?” I ask, still in disbelief.
He nods. “Yeah.”
I fold the little drawing back up carefully then wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling his big, strong body against mine.
“I love you,” I whisper. “I’ve always loved you, and you’ve been holding on to proof this whole time?” I laugh as I lean back and place my hands on either side of his face. “What am I going to do with you?”
He smirks and rests his forehead against mine. “That’s easy. You’re going to love me forever, and I’m going to do the same.”
I mope around for a few days after Bishop leaves Cedar Point, though I eventually get my ass back into my workshop and return my attention to the projects still waiting on me. They prove to be exactly the distraction I need, and I spend the next two weeks nose down, only taking breaks for food, sleep, and phone calls with Bishop.
He spent a few nights at a hotel before moving into a one-bedroom apartment, thanks to the nicer salary the Carolina Blues offered him, and then used the week remaining before spring training to get some furniture and explore the area. Bishop also met up with some of the guys from his new team and has had nothing but great things to say about them and his new coaches.
I can tell by the sound of his voice that he’s happy, and I love that for him, but I miss him, too. More than I ever thought was possible. I spend time with Nicole, and I teach my pottery class, and I work in my workshop. I hang out with Leah and listen to music.
And I daydream, about what it might be like to leave Cedar Point.
For years, I believed this would be the only place I’d ever live apart from college. I believed I was destined to be here forever, to raise a family here, grow old here, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe there’s a different life I hadn’t ever pictured for myself that brings just as much happiness. Just as much joy. Just as much love.
Or I guess…even more love, because I would be with Bishop. And maybe that’s the place I want to be. Maybe that means more than living in the place I always thought would be my home for the rest of my life.
“Why did you move to Cedar Point?” I ask Leah one day, about three weeks after Bishop moves away.
We’re sitting side by side on the couch as she works on a small project and I flip mindlessly through a trashy magazine Nicole left behind yesterday. Leah glances at me, her hands pausing their movements, and then her forehead crinkles as she returns to her work.
“I wanted to live in a small town, near water, in the mountains.” She shrugs, her eyes on where her hands make quick knots. “And…there was a guy.”
My eyebrows rise. “You followed a guy to Cedar Point?” I ask, unable to hide my shock. “Ms. I Would Never Compromise What I Want for a Man?”
Her lips purse, and she narrows her gaze at me only briefly before looking back at her own hands. “I did not follow a guy here. Vick and I picked Cedar Point together.” Then she shakes her head. “But when things didn’t work out, he left and I stayed. He wasn’t ever really happy here. Vick liked the idea of smalltown life, but not the reality.”
“And you stayed because…”
“Because I was happy. I had almost everything I wanted. A home, my work, a social life, the breathtaking nature at my doorstep.” She pauses. “And then you came along, and I truly had everything.”
My throat grows tight at her words.
I’ve always wondered if I screwed up Leah’s life, if me being dropped on her doorstep meant all her plans had been ruined, though she never said anything like that or even implied it. My aunt has been an incredible mother, an incredible sister, an incredible friend.
But hearing her say that…it makes the reality of what I’m considering that much harder.
Leah turns then, giving me a watery smile. “You’re leaving, aren’t you.”
Her words are a statement because she already knows, and when I nod, she nods too, tears spilling forth from her eyes.
I abandon the magazine and scoot over, wrapping my arms around the woman who raised me, who sacrificed everything to be everything for me. We just hold each other for a while, enjoying the closeness and the love we share, the love we’ll always share.
Leah pats me on the arm then turns her head to look at me, her eyes examining my face.
“All I know is he better treat you like a fucking queen.”
At that, I smile.
“He will.”
Leah nods. “I know.”
I spend the next few weeks making my plans in secret, deciding I want to surprise Bishop rather than tell him what I’m doing. In the past, younger Gabi would have done the same thing, but she would have done so because she didn’t want to have the conversation. Now, it’s because I don’t want Bishop to tell me no.
