Something indefinable flickered in Aaron’s eyes, and he swallowed hard before leaning his forehead against hers. “I’m really going to miss you.”
Danica felt a lump form in her throat. “Me, too.”
He bent his knees until their eyes were level. “I’m going to work on making my next job in Kansas. So don’t get too used to not seeing me.” His smile was teasing, but she saw a sadness in his eyes that touched her heart. This really was as hard for him as it was for her.
Imagine it… Someone she’d met only a week ago showed more reluctance to be apart from her than her fiancé of two years had when he ended their relationship. Then again, Danica hadn’t exactly been shattered by the breaking of their engagement either. She’d been more upset about having to start over and missing out on the logical next steps of her life which she’d had all planned out. She’d been comfortable and safe in her plans with Rob, but she hadn’t been excited by them. Apparently he hadn’t been either.
And she was okay with it. Because now she finally understood.
Life was about so much more than being comfortable, than the security of routine. She’d gotten complacent. There was no pleasure in her life, only the same thing day after day. But complacency was over. God created this great big world for His children to enjoy. There was so much joy to be had in life, so much of the world to see and experience, and she wanted to do it all.
Danica met Aaron’s gaze. “Promise this won’t be our last adventure together?”
He tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Promise.”
CHAPTER 6
It was no use. How in the world was he going to get all these photos edited and submitted to his boss when he couldn’t stop thinking of the woman who appeared in so many of them? Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose and shoved his chair away from the desk.
Th irty-seven hours had passed—not that he was counting—since he’d kissed her goodbye at the door to her room after their last date, and he missed her like crazy. He got up and grabbed a bottle of water and a banana, then went back to his desk. He’d check his email one more time to see if she’d written yet, and then he’d get back to work and actually focus this time.
Pulling up his email, his stomach actually fluttered when he saw a new email from Danica, sent just four minutes ago. He read her message, unable to squelch his smile, and typed out a quick reply.
Danica,
I was just thinking of you and then your email came in. Nice to know we were thinking of each other at the same time. :) Thank you for your email—I miss you too. I’m actually having a hard time focusing on my work because I keep thinking of your sweet smile. I hope you know what a wonderful time I had with you over the last week. You’re a very special woman, Danica. (I hope that doesn’t sound too cheesy! I can’t seem to help myself when it comes to you.) Once you’re back home, let’s make a plan to Skype? In the meantime, how about sending me a poem?
Fondly,
Aaron He hit send and then made a concentrated e ffort of going through his photos with a critical eye, deleting the ones that didn’t meet his high standards, and carefully editing the ones he thought would make the best impressions. Only when his back began to ache did he realize hours had slipped by while he was absorbed in his task. He stood and stretched, and his stomach growled, reminding him it was well past lunch time.
Satis fied he’d made enough progress to justify taking a break, he wandered into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. Now that his mind was free to wander again, he absently munched on his sandwich and checked his email again. Nothing from Danica. He suppressed his disappointment and then chastised himself. She was still on vacation. She had more exciting things to do than hang out at the public computer all day and write to him. Besides, if they were going to do this long distance thing, he was going to have to learn to be patient.
He swallowed the last of his sandwich, downed a glass of milk, and resolved he would not check his email again until this evening. Danica walked alone along the shore and watched the setting sun paint the sky with pink and purple streaks. She’d kept so busy over the last week, it had felt really good to have a day to relax and enjoy the salty ocean air from her lounge chair. But now that the day was coming to an end, she was really starting to miss Aaron’s company. She must be crazy. She’d only known the man for a week, yet his absence left her with an empty ache in her chest.
Overhead a seagull cried out, and the sound seemed to echo the lonely cry in her heart. How could she miss someone so much when she barely knew him? But no, that wasn’t really true. Aaron had revealed himself to her in ways he probably didn’t even realize. He’d told her that writing was deeply personal, that you could see a person’s soul from the words they put on a page. She’d discovered the same applied to what Aaron was able to capture in the pictures he took. When she looked at his work, she felt like she was seeing who he really was, all the way to his core.
His talent for catching couples in loving, intimate moments showed his softer, romantic side. He captured people’s expressions in a split second and exposed a glimpse of who the person really was without even knowing them. And the pictures of buildings or nature invited Danica to look at ordinary objects in a whole different way, as if they had somehow taken on a personality of their own. She’d never thought that a dying tree or an abandoned stone fort could have a history, a story to tell. Yet somehow Aaron not only recognized their story and captured it with his camera, he was so masterful the image let her see it, too.
Aaron looked at the world di fferently than most people, and he’d helped her see the world differently, too. He even saw something in her that she didn’t know existed until she came here, and now she viewed herself in a different light. The question was, who would she be once she was back home? It was easy to be New Danica in Jamaica where no one knew her, where she didn’t already have a life established. At home, back into her routine, she wasn’t sure how she’d make sure New Danica would stick around. But one way or another, she’d make sure she did. God had given her an opportunity to grow as a person, and she wouldn’t let this experience go to waste. She was still a work in progress, and she prayed God would keep working on her once she traded her beloved ocean waves for the familiar amber waves of grain.
Again, a seagull’s cry pierced the air and seemed to intensify the longing she felt for Aaron’s hand in hers, for his smile and his voice as he told her about his adventures around the world. Like a flash, words started assembling themselves in her mind, and she quickly ran to the resort and up to her room. She was panting by the time she got to her door—running on sand was exhausting—but she let herself in and scrambled for her journal. She flipped to a blank page as she grabbed a pen off the nightstand.
Lying on her stomach across the bed, she let the words pour onto the page and then scrutinized them as she arranged them into an order that made sense. When she finished, she placed her journal on the nightstand. Tomorrow she would email Aaron and, since he’d asked for another poem, she would send him this one. She hoped he would understand why she wrote it.
Suddenly drained, Danica undressed, turned o ff the lights, and let the sound of the waves through her open balcony door soothe her to sleep with their lullaby.
Despite setting his alarm, it was mid-morning before the sun finally teased Aaron’s eyes open. Glancing at the clock, he groaned. Two hours behind schedule already. He flung the covers off his legs and rolled from the bed.
Despite the freedom to work from the comfort of his home, he still had to stick to a routine if he wanted to have his work done by the deadline his boss had imposed. He’d learned early on he needed to keep himself disciplined or he wouldn’t get everything accomplished on time. Being punctual with his assignments—along with his God-given talent with a camera—kept him in good graces with his employer.
A quick shower and a banana mu ffin later, he was engrossed in editing his photos—and deliberately avoiding the ones with Danica in th
em so he could stay focused—when his email alert dinged. He finished the photo on which he was working and then clicked over to his email. He smiled as he saw Danica’s name and eagerly opened the message.
She’d written, Thinking of you, and a poem followed.
Ask Me Why the Seagulls Cry As I walk across the sand, it turns a glittering gold. I long for him to hold my hand and tell a story he’s never told. But as my thoughts wander away, as the waves quietly sway,
His hand I no longer feel, his voice I no longer hear; The quietness, the loneliness—the sign of no one near. The sadness drifts into the sky…
Now ask me why the seagulls cry.
Aaron leaned back in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck. His chest ached, and he missed so acutely the feel of her hand in his. After a long deliberation, he hit reply and typed, I miss you, too. He hit send and then released a sigh. This long distance thing was going to be harder than he thought.
Lord, I really believe You brought Danica into my life for a reason. The distance between us will make things harder, but please…help us figure out how to make this work, to give this a real chance to see where it might lead.
He picked up the picture he’d printed of the two of them together on the beach. Danica looked blissfully happy, and he looked like a man in— “Whoa.” Aaron dropped the picture and clamped his hands over his thighs.
He wasn’t in love. That was crazy. Wasn’t it? Sure, he had strong feelings for her already, but didn’t love take time to grow?
With shaking hands, he picked up the picture and examined it. Okay, true, when he looked at Danica’s pictures or thought of her beautiful smile, he couldn’t help smiling himself. And when he remembered how naturally their fingers intertwined he couldn’t help marveling what a perfect fit they were. And yes, he missed her like crazy. He couldn’t wait to see her again, to hear her voice again, to hold her hand again, to kiss her again.
He traced his finger across the picture. “Lord, I am falling…, aren’t I?”
CHAPTER 7
Three months later… Th e air became hazy as they passed through a low hanging cloud, and Danica laughed as Aaron took the opportunity to steal a kiss. “This is much better than our last trip in the air, huh?”
Aaron wrapped his arm around her middle and looked over the edge of the hot air balloon. “I can’t believe I’ve never done this before.”
“It wasn’t easy, but I finally found something we could both experience together for the first time.” Danica grinned. “And what better way to show off my neck of the woods than from the air?”
They looked down at the patchwork of corn fields, wheat fields, and meadows interspersed with small rivers, ponds, and dirt roads. Danica leaned lightly against his frame. “It looks like the coverlet my grandma quilted for me when I was little. It really is beautiful.”
Aaron raised his camera and took several shots from around the perimeter of the large basket. “These will be great for the website. From up here, Kansas looks so peaceful and homey.”
“So this was a good surprise?” Danica asked, deliberately injecting a teasing lilt.
“The best.” Aaron kissed her again, and then cleared his throat. “Actually, I have a couple surprises for you, too.”
Danica snuggled close to his side. “Lucky me.”
He squeezed her gently and then eased away, clearing his throat again and swallowing hard. If she didn’t know any better she’d think he was nervous. But he’d been fine with the hot air balloon ride so far. Why would he be nervous now?
She put her hand on his arm. “You okay?”
He nodded and looked somewhere past her, and she wrestled down the urge to turn around and see what he was looking at.
“Aaron? What’s going on?”
He finally brought his gaze back to her face, and a soft smile appeared on his lips. “Do you know how amazing you are?”
“Aaron . . .” Her face heated with pleasure at his simple yet sweet words.
“The last few months, writing and calling each other, your trip out to Florida to visit me that one weekend… The more I’ve gotten to know about you, the more I’ve come to—”
She waited, but he didn’t finish the sentence. She searched his eyes. “Come to what, Aaron?”
For a couple of seconds he looked terrified, but then he exhaled slowly and smiled. “Come to love you,” he whispered. He reached for her hands and enfolded them in his own. “I’m in love with you, Danica.”
She gasped, and a hot rush of joy raced from her toes to her face. “You— you are?”
Aaron lifted her hands and kissed them one at a time. “With all my heart.”
Danica nearly wilted, her trembling knees suddenly feeling like wet noodles. But then she looked into his eyes and found strength there. “I love you, too.”
She could almost swear the already brilliant sky brightened with his smile. He pulled her to him and kissed her with more tenderness than she’d known a kiss could possess. When he pulled away long seconds later, he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, stroked her cheek with the gentlest touch, and then sank down onto one knee.
For a moment she thought he’d gotten dizzy and she reached for him, but then she noticed what he held in his hand. The sun threw sparks off the diamond and white gold band.
Her heart beat faster. Oh, boy, now she was dizzy. She fumbled for something to hold onto and drew in a sharp breath. “Aaron?”
“Danica, I know a lot of people would probably think this is too soon, but I know what my heart wants, and it’s you. I’d been praying for God to bring the perfect woman for me into my life, and then I got onto a plane headed for Jamaica and there you were.” The sweetest smile of remembrance lit his face. “I think I started falling in love with you that first night, under your cotton candy sky. I want to go back there, to the spot that will always hold a special place in my heart, and marry you under another cotton candy sky like that one. Meeting and falling in love with you has been the greatest adventure of my life, and I want to have a million more adventures with you by my side.”
He took her trembling fingers and slid the glittering circle of gold over the ring finger on her left hand. Danica’s breath caught in her throat. The ring fit perfectly just as Aaron fit her so perfectly. He was right—it was soon. But she didn’t need more time to know he was the one God had chosen for her. How she loved this man! And he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Hot tears filled the corners of her eyes as love for him filled her entire being.
“Danica?” Aaron’s whisper carried deep emotion. “Will you marry me?”
She sank onto her knees and threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Aaron . . . yes! Yes, yes, yes!” She laughed giddily and pulled back to look at him, and then playfully swatted him on the arm. “And here I thought I was the one surprising you today.”
“I was surprised. I had no idea I’d be proposing to you in a hot air balloon. I was just going to take you on a walk!” Aaron chuckled and kissed her, his lips forming into a smile against hers. “This was way better.”
He helped her up and they stood with their arms around each other, watching the sun set while the pilot urged the balloon to slowly descend. Danica rested her head on Aaron’s shoulder, and her mind filled with thoughts of their future together.
“Aaron?”
“Hmm?”
“Where will we live? I can’t really see you moving to Kansas.”
He kissed her temple. “I was kind of hoping you might want to move to Florida. We could look for a place closer to the ocean.”
Danica pulled back, her interest piqued. Oh, to wake up every morning to that salty sea air would be heaven on earth. “I’d love that.” Then reality nudged its way in, and she frowned. “You know, I’ve been considering a career change, maybe going back to school, or pursuing my writing, like you’ve encouraged me to do. Can I still do that once we’re married? Will we need me to bring in a steady income?”
“That’s actuall
y the other surprise I had for you.” Aaron turned his body so he faced her and took both her hands in his. “What if I told you that you could pursue your writing and get paid for it?”
“Well, as incredible as that would be, you know it takes time to establish yourself as a writer. It could be years.”
“What if I already had a job offer for you?” He tilted his head, his mouth quirked in a crooked grin.
Her head tilted, mirrored to his. “What do you mean?”
“I had this idea. I ran it past my boss and, well, he loved it. As long as you agree, it’s a done deal.” Now Aaron’s smile stretched wide across his face.
She shook her head. “I still don’t understand. What idea?”
“A travel blog. You do the writing, I take the pictures. We travel together as a team and present as a team. The company is going to do some major promotion on it since I’ve already got a bit of a following. They think it’ll be a big hit.”
Danica’s jaw dropped open, and she made a concentrated effort to pull it closed again. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. I showed my boss some samples of your writing, and he was really impressed. All you have to do is say yes.”
She stared at him mutely, too overwhelmed to form words.
Aaron’s eyebrows dipped and uncertainty clouded his eyes. “Unless . . . you don’t like the idea? We don’t have to do it. It’s just a crazy idea, a way for us to be together and go on more adventures, a way for us to both do something we love and actually make a living doing it. But if you don’t want to, I understand. I know it’s asking a lot—”
Finally Danica found her voice. “Aaron.” She put her hands on his cheeks and stared into his eyes. “I’m so surprised. I never expected an offer like this in a million years.”
She laughed, still a bit frazzled at the abrupt turn her life had just taken. It was funny in a way. For so long she’d craved routine because she thought routine equaled security. And now, here she was agreeing to travel the world with her soon-to-be husband on someone else’s schedule, yet she’d never felt more secure than she did knowing she and Aaron would be doing it all together. God must have a sense of humor.
Destination: Romance: Five Inspirational Love Stories Spanning the Globe Page 29