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“Good. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to screw you into submission.”
He burst out laughing. “But that would be okay, too,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
They glanced into the living room before leaving on their jaunt to the dock. The three dogs were curled on one of the dog beds, the two fluffy siblings nestled next to Brulee.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about Brulee being lonely anymore,” Maggie said.
“Does this mean we can take as long as we want?” he asked, grabbing her hand.
They walked out of the house and down to the dock hand in hand as the night visitors, curious but not getting too close, stepped off the trail into the yard.
“We should get a bimini for the skiff,” Justin said, pointing to her boat tied up at the dock.
“You mean like an awning?”
“Right. Then you can decorate it for Christmas and be in the boat parade.”
“We have a boat parade?”
“Yes, we do. People come from all over to Cypress Cove on the Saturday night before Christmas just to see the boats.”
“I don’t have electricity on my boat.”
“We can work that out,” he said. “Now I’m all excited.”
She looked up at him, at his handsome face in the moonlight, and a powerful wave of love washed over her.
“God, I love you,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I feel so lucky to have you.”
“Is that right? Well, in that case, what if I told you that we could have a Christmas tree down here on the dock, too. You know that big spruce? It would look grand covered with a thousand lights. You’d be able to see if from the porch when you sat out there at night.”
A sound like a horse blowing raspberries interrupted the conversation, and they looked around to the opening in the woods to see that they had company. The band of wild horses had crept closer for their nightly ritual. They were curious and wanted to see more.
“Ha! I guess we’re not alone.”
“They’ll settle down,” Justin said, looking down into her eyes.
Taking the blanket from her, he spread it out on the ground on the other side of the dock, away from the prying eyes of the horses. He wasn’t going to let them interfere with their night of love.
***
After Justin and Maggie had left the rescue with the dogs, Ted and Kelly went back to her place, walking across the street in silence, but holding hands.
“By the way, where’s Danny?” Ted asked, looking around the living room.
“He’s with his father until tomorrow night.”
“Can I stay here tonight, then?”
“Yes, Ted, you can stay here.”
“Do you want to get married?”
She spun around, frowning. “Ted, no, for god’s sake, I don’t want to get married. What’s wrong with you?”
“I think we should get married, that is, if you love me. I love you. You’re good for me. You stabilize me.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good enough reason to get married to someone, Ted. Let’s just take it slow, okay? We don’t have to make any decisions tonight. Tonight, we’re free to party. We can stay up all night or go to bed right now. Whatever you want.”
