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We were really doing this, then. “What should I pack?” I was fired up with curiosity and delight at Heather’s utter audacity and deviousness.
“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “Dress for comfort and flexibility.”
“Flexibility?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you have in mind?”
She laughed and shook her head at me. “Also, layers. For possible weather.”
“So, it’s an outdoor destination?”
“No more questions. Let’s go!”
Away from her watchful gaze, I took a few extra preparations for whatever Heather had in mind. Giving in, I got into the Range Rover’s passenger seat with only a small fuss and held on tightly as Heather drove up a familiar—if bumpy—path.
“Stop your grinning,” Heather fussed jokingly at me. “You have no idea what we’re going to be doing.”
It was nearly sunset when we arrived at the waterfall where I’d taken Heather and Collins before Josie so rudely interrupted the life we were trying to share together. The water looked like molten gold, and I was surprised to realize there was a sumptuous camping setup already waiting for us. Battery-powered twinkle lights swept up over the large tent, and a pile of firewood was waiting by a pit for us to start our own fire.
“What did you do?” I asked, unable to stop smiling as we got out of the vehicle. “This is incredible. I’ve always come up here, but never to camp.”
“Prepare to get rustic for the next week,” Heather said. “Well, comfortable rustic. Wait until you see the inside of the tent. It’s amazing. We’re disconnected from the world up here, except for our food and beverage delivery each day. We’ll be campfire cooking ourselves, though. But don’t worry, I brought a beverage for tonight.” She slipped a bottle of whiskey from her purse, winking at me cheekily.
“Is that from your stock or mine?”
“Ours, I believe.”
We made the fire together and warmed ourselves in the lengthening shadows with enamel cups of whiskey, loose and comfortable.
“This is a really, really good surprise,” I told her. “I didn’t know just how much I needed something like this. Thank you.”
“It’s only the first night,” Heather said with a smirk that made my body react uncontrollably. “You can thank me at the end of the week.”
“You’re not going to be wearing clothes for the next seven days,” I warned her. “Accept it.”
We didn’t even make it into the tent, the soft grass pillowing our bodies as we twisted together, the waterfall serenading us while the fire crackled its approval. So often, our lovemaking had fallen more into the realm of fucking. This experience, though, was almost wholesome in its gentleness—all-encompassing—a wave of pleasure that we both rode for what felt like eons, rocking slowly together, our bodies completely in sync.
Heather had outdone herself. An experience like this was exactly what we needed to reconnect completely, heal from what had happened, and reassure each other that this was what we wanted.
Under the crescent moon and blazing stars, we swam nude at the base of the waterfall, splashing each other and playing like we were younger than who we were.
I almost felt like I could feel the hard years washing off me—the years of pain and fear. Like I was undergoing some kind of baptism to prepare me for the years of joy ahead.
Loose limbed and exhausted, we climbed out, quenched the fire, and bedded down for the night.
Well, almost.
There was something so fundamentally different about what I was about to do that it almost made me laugh. When I asked Josie to marry me back then, it had been out of some misplaced obligation—an idea I thought I should have. I’d been twisted up in knots about it and had always second-guessed myself. It had been a match my parents had approved, and perhaps one of the greatest mistakes of my life.
Now, though, my only hang-up was that I hadn’t said anything to Heather earlier. She deserved the world, and I dedicated my entire existence to giving it to her. And the fact that my parents decidedly didn’t approve meant this was the right decision—the right decision for me and about as opposite from Josie as I could possibly get. There were more details to iron out, sure, but I knew this would work. I felt it in my very bones.
Heather was bustling around the tent—ensuring all the mosquito nettings were in place so we could enjoy the night breeze while snuggling on the plush mattress—when I snagged her by the wrist.
“I’m coming,” she said, distracted. “Just give me a minute.”
“Hey, look at me,” I told her softly, and she stilled, seeing me down on one knee. “I love you.”
I would spend the rest of my life falling in love over and over again with that smile of hers. “I love you, too, Graham,” she replied just as softly, looking somewhat surprised and shocked at what was unfolding before her eyes.
“Then marry me and be mine forever,” I told her as I stared deeply into her eyes and offered her the box I’d slipped into my pocket without her noticing when we were back at the house, getting ready to leave. The only worry I had in my mind was that Heather wouldn’t feel ready yet. It hadn’t been that long since she was engaged to someone else—someone who had hurt her deeply.
But instead, she surprised me with a soft gasp, tearing up as she lifted the diamond ring out of the box. “Graham, this is beautiful.”
“Beautiful enough for a ‘yes?’”
“You’re beautiful enough without the bling,” she said. “But yes, I want to marry you. I want it more than anything in the world.”
“Any doubts?” I voiced as I slid the ring onto her ring finger and admired it—admired how she looked with my ring on her finger.
“With you? With our life together?” She kissed me so sweetly that I ached all over, filled to the brim with love for her. “Never.”
The End.
