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"I love you, too," he said. "I'll call you as soon as I get there."
"Travel safe."
The house felt empty and too quiet the second I closed the door behind him. It was going to be a long month.
It was still early, and part of me considered going back to bed for a while, but I knew my mind wasn't going to quiet down enough for me to really get any rest. It made more sense to just stay awake and try to do something productive to get me through this first hump of him gone. With any luck, I'd be so busy over the next month, I would barely have the chance to miss him.
I went to the bedroom to gather up all my dirty laundry and threw it in to wash. While that was going, I made breakfast. When I was finished eating, it was late enough in the morning for me to get in touch with the architect. I wanted to set up a meeting to discuss the rebuild and the suggestions Victor and I had come up with.
As it turned out, my theory about being so busy I wouldn't think about missing him didn't exactly pan out that way. The next month was crammed, and I was constantly jumping from one thing to the next handling the rebuild of the store and making plans for some changes and improvements in operation when it opened. As a fun side project, I was planning the grand reopening, hoping for a celebration to welcome the local icon back and thank the public for their love over the years.
Everything was keeping me plenty busy, but it didn't matter. I still missed Victor. Countless times every day I heard or thought of something and wanted to immediately tell him. Sometimes I picked up the phone and called him to tell him about it, but not every time. As much as I would have liked to attempt to spend the entire month on the phone with him, we both had things we needed to do.
We talked every day, sometimes a couple of times, and had regular video calls.
The heat between us hadn't died down, and by the time the month was drawing to a close, I was humming with excitement to finally have him back. He was supposed to be back in town in a few days, and I was coming up with plans for how to make the most of his return. Most of them involved locking ourselves away in either his place or mine and pretending we didn't exist to the outside world for a little while. Maybe ordering a pizza for sustenance.
I'd finished up work for the day and went to his house unloading some groceries I'd bought to restock his kitchen so he would have one less thing to think about when he got back. I planned on baking him some brownies and making some other goodies, so he had a few special things waiting for him. I was just getting ready to start a lasagna to freeze when someone knocked on the door.
Confused and wondering who could possibly be coming to his house, I took off my apron and made my way to the front door.
I peered out the peephole and saw a uniformed driver. Opening the door a little, I saw a limo sitting out front.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Good evening. Mr. McLaren sent me for you," he said.
"He did?"
The driver smiled and nodded, stepping back and gesturing toward the car. I looked down at what I was wearing. It didn't feel totally limo appropriate, but I didn't have anything else with me and wasn't going to ask for the time to make a stop at my house. Curiosity had a hold on me, and I wanted to know what was going on. I asked him to wait for just a moment while I put everything away in the kitchen, then went outside and let him open the door for me.
I slipped into the backseat and looked around, taking in the lush interior. The driver got in, and I leaned slightly forward.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"I was told to tell you it's a surprise from Mr. McLaren but to enjoy the champagne while you ride."
He pulled away from the curb, and I took the bottle of champagne from the integrated bucket beside me. Pouring myself a glass, I sat back and watched out the window as we drove through town.
25
VICTOR
The lake was quiet and serene, a perfect picture of peace and relaxation. It was everything Melanie had talked it up as being from her many vacations there with her family when she was a child. An hour outside of Murdock, it was a little bit of a day trip but nothing really for most locals who were used to having to drive an hour just to get to a decent store or restaurant.
Melanie had mentioned this was a place where she only had good memories of swimming and rope swings and days where she could lounge around and not do anything. I wanted her to have that sense of relaxation when I brought her there.
The cabin specifically was mentioned, and the second I had this idea, I went about procuring it. Specifically, the same cabin her family always stayed in. It meant reserving it for an extra week since they only did weekend or week rentals and not by day, but I figured what the hell. Even if we were only there for a couple days, it would be worth it to see the smile on her face and know how much effort I’d put into making this a magical moment for her.
Getting the right cabin took some digging. I ended up having to have a long email conversation with the ownership group that bought the cabins and digging through their old rental records that they were nice enough to let me see. I had to find her family’s name in them, which took forever, then figure out which cabins they’d rented. Thankfully, they always seemed to get the same one.
I got there early, knowing it would be a while before Melanie was able to arrive since she was working, and started decorating the cabin for her. Roses everywhere, candles burning in each room, everything was set. I bypassed the fire in the fireplace only because it was already hot enough outside and went about stringing soft white lights from the cabin down its private little walkway to the water.
Around seven, I got a text from the limo driver saying they were close, and I directed him to drive straight to this cabin. When she arrived, I saw her disappear inside. After a few minutes, she sent me a text me asking where I was. I responded telling her to look at the lake.
Her face appeared in the kitchen window, and I saw her beaming when she saw me, barefoot in the sand, surrounded by tiki torches to combat the slowly dying light. She opened the back door, and I marveled at her beauty for what must have been the thousandth time, and yet never got old. She had changed out of her work clothes and into the dress that I had laid out on the bed for her with the note to put it on. It was white and flowy and sheer, and I could see the delicate shape of her body through the fabric. Had it been bright daytime, it would be almost completely see-through, but in the darkness of the night, alone in this private part of the lake, it was just a taste, a hint of what was hidden beneath.
Enough to rile me up even more.
