AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m fine,” I tell her.
She laughs. “Liar. Her mom’s really cool. She’s going to be fine.”
I nod, trying to take my daughter’s words and make them a truth within me.
“I just wish she’d let me be there when she tells her.”
“She knows her mom better than you. She’ll take it better if she hears it from Rayla first. I’m sure you will get a chance to talk to her after.”
I’m going to make sure I get a chance… as long as it doesn’t all come crashing down before then.
The hope that my daughter is right whelms up inside of me, as my mind drifts over these past few days – perfect days I wish would never end.
After we told Millie about our relationship, I expected things to become stilted around the cabin, awkward, as she accustomed herself to this new arrangement.
But it was the exact opposite. She fell right back into her friendship with Rayla and it’s like nothing has changed between us, as we banter just like we always do, as we discuss writing and books and life.
We’ve spent the days walking Tanker, writing, and reading… and then, once the house is night-quiet and Rayla and I are alone, we devour each other.
We sink into each other when the sun sets, blazing our hands across each other as more and more heated passion moves through us each time. We can’t stop ourselves the second we’re alone.
But now she’s decided to tell her parents and I’m sitting out here like a douchebag, no idea if it’s going to go wrong.
Suddenly she appears at the door. My eyes roam over her body like they always do when she first enters a room. She’s wearing jeans and a frilly top, making her upper half look like a gift I can’t wait to unwrap.
When my gaze flows over her face, it’s like a series of fireworks go off inside of me, each one louder and brighter than the last. Her smile is wide and radiant, lighting up her whole face, making her look like she’s going to burst with all the joy flowing out of her.
“It went well, I take it?” Millie says because apparently, I’ve lost the ability to speak as I drink in the sight of my woman.
“Yes, very,” she says. “I knew Mom would be chill about it. She said that, as long as we’re happy, I should live my life any way I see fit. I mean, heck, Markus is quite a few years older than her, so she can’t exactly complain on that front. And she said the same thing you did, Millie.”
“That you’ve never looked so happy,” I whisper, rising slowly and walking across the room. “That you’ve never looked so comfortable, so ready to face the future, so perfect.”
My woman giggles, her starry voice dancing around the room. “Well, she didn’t put it quite like that. But yes, more or less, that’s what she said.”
“She’s right,” I growl, reaching over and cradling her face in my hands.
Her eyes flit over to Millie, and I remind myself to be careful, to try and tame the animal which tries to break out of me with more and more force each moment.
I know it’s an impossible battle, so I quickly move my hands away.
“Can I speak to her?” I ask.
“What for?” Rayla replies. “I promise you she’s completely fine. She didn’t need any convincing at all.”
“It’s not that,” I say. “I need to ask her something.”
She narrows her eyes and a look glimmers across her face like she’s daring herself to hope, to dream she’s right.
At least, I’m hoping, I’m dreaming…
I’m dreaming that I haven’t misread my woman, dreaming that her mother gives me the answer I crave, dreaming that I never have to be apart from my Rayla for as long as we live.
“Where are we going?” Rayla asks the next afternoon, gripping onto the edges of the canoe as I lead us across the lake.
I grin over at her, savoring the way her body moves for me in that flowing dress. It has little roses, her dress, which is fitting. She’s as fresh and radiant as the flowers which bloom alongside the lake, as though pointing us in the right direction – the only direction that matters.
Our future.
But what will she say?
“Do you want to ruin the surprise?” I tease.
She rolls her eyes and leans forward, shooting me one of her sassy looks, so new, so beautiful. Watching her let her defenses drop and become this more confident, sassier version of herself has been like heaven.
I guide the canoe across to the other side of the lake, until our cabin – and it will always be known as our cabin – recedes and becomes small. Right over to the other end, I steer it toward the shore, my heart beginning to drum in my chest.
