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She had no idea that this photograph was here, or that it existed. It was a moment in time captured beautifully. One where they were both covered in mud and standing on the porch at Firefly’s home.
Samantha remembered that day vividly at the farmhouse. It had been his daughter Betsy’s thirteenth birthday, and they were cooking out… and all the children decided to go swimming in the pond out back.
The pond had nearly dried up during that hot summer and they didn’t have swimsuits, but that stopped no one. They’d all jumped in, fully clothed, only to land in very shallow water and ankle deep in mud. A laughable mud fight ensued for several minutes between all the children… until Melody, Firefly’s wife, chased them out of the pond to hose them off on the front porch.
Samantha was standing there beside Toby, and they were looking at each other, smiling and laughing… and she saw it. It was there, obvious and tangible, between them. What Toby had mentioned, said, and described – was that single-handed recognition.
No wonder their families had tried to keep them apart!
She had looked at him with overt joy, happiness, and adoration – even then, and hadn’t realized it. He was always just ‘Toby’ to her… yet there it was.
An inner fire that shined brightly between them.
She drew in a ragged breath as tears stung her eyes in disbelief and wonder, realizing that Toby must be the most patient man in the entire world to let her push him away for so long… yet he had remained steadfast this entire time.
“I love this picture,” Toby breathed softly, coming up and hugging her from behind. His arms wrapped around her, gently, unassuming, yet so comforting. “I remember being so disappointed that the water level was low in the pond – and kinda mad that Betsy lobbed a massive wad of mud at my face.”
“Hit ya, too…” Betsy announced, walking past and smiling at the two of them. “Nailed you right in the forehead, Toby…”
“I got you back,” he muttered easily, laughing. “I believe you screamed bloody murder that I got mud in your hair…”
“Yeah, I didn’t appreciate the two of you ganging up on me at the time…”
“You had it coming, birthday girl,” Samantha chimed in playfully, laying her hand on Toby’s where they met around her waist. “Two against one is fair in a mud fight.”
“No, it’s not, Sam… and never was!” Betsy sputtered, laughing before moving to join her husband in the distance, standing beside her father.
“Yeah, it was,” Toby muttered, laughing softly and kissing Samantha’s cheek. “No rules in a mud fight.”
“I love this photograph,” she whispered, looking at it again.
“It’s my favorite one of us… and maybe someday there will be more,” Toby began gently, turning her towards him.
She looked up at him, his beautiful smiling face, before reaching up to touch his cheek tenderly. His brilliant eyes were full of love… and the world faded away around them.
“Samantha, I have always loved you,” he began, his voice trembling with emotion, as he took her hands in his. “Whether we are stealing your aunt’s Hershey bars, playing in the mud, sitting around the bonfire, folding t-shirts at Flyboys, or standing at the lockers in high school… it’s always been there.”
She smiled tearfully and nodded.
“I know that – and I’m so sorry it took so long to see it.”
“I don’t care about that,” he smiled, his own eyes shining. “What I care about is where we go from here, how we move forward, and what that looks like between us.”
He held her hands as he knelt there in the formal dining room where all the photographs were displayed. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as she realized what he was doing…
“I’m taking the position at Flyboys,” Toby began, looking at her openly. “I want to stay here, build a life with you, and a home… if you’ll have me?”
“Toby, you don’t have to give up your career,” she whispered, touched at the gesture and moved beyond belief. “You love flying…”
“And I still will – but I love you more.”
His hands trembled as he dug in his pocket and pulled out a ring.
“What is that…” she choked, the tears falling in earnest now and she couldn’t breathe.
“It’s my grandmother’s ring…” he uttered, and the first tear streaked down his face as he stared up at her, smiling. “She always told me she wanted me to give it to the girl I love more than life itself – and that’s you, Samantha Lynn ‘Faline’ Sloan. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I want to take so many photographs with you, just like that one. I want to laugh, smile, gang up on Betsy…”
“HEY NOW!”
