Making Her Wait
Page 30
Of me. Not Genny. No one gets to see Genny naked except me.
There’s an open spot a block down from the courthouse and I put on my turn signal to parallel park. I get out and lock up, zipping my jacket against the bitter cold.
As I’m passing by a gallery that sells local art, I stop long enough to look through the window and find one of Callie’s paintings. Despite the outcome of our bet, she entered the contest, winning by a landslide. Practically all her painting that I was familiar with sold within the first month.
She says this painting is a spin-off of one of her favorite famous pieces, Starry Night. Hers is more realistic. It’s more emotional, at least to me. She captured the darkness of night, but also the hope that the smallest source of light can bring. There’s only one star in her dark sky, but it’s enough.
It reminds me of how I hung onto the hope that Genny would give us a second chance, even after she broke down on her run away from me that day on the trail to Widow’s Peak.
I check my phone again as I start up the sidewalk to my girl.
Genny: Come to me, Friend.
Gladly.
I’ll still follow her anywhere.
Walking briskly up the street, I find her car parked on the corner, Genny standing on the sidewalk next to it. She’s in her work uniform and with her black down jacket and black slacks, she looks like a dark angel. My dark angel, who’s every bit as nice as Reese wanted for me, and every bit as not nice as I hoped I’d someday find. Flashing a happy smile in my direction, she meets me halfway with a kiss hot enough to make me not need this jacket.
“Hey, G. What’s going on?”
“Do you have your wallet with you?”
“Yeah. You wanna get takeout or something?”
“Not exactly.” She slips her hand in mine and we walk slowly up the sidewalk. “I’ve got some plans for our staycation. I want to tell you what they are and see how you feel about them.”
“Plans other than being naked with me? I can tell you right now, I don’t approve.”
“Hmph.” Her teeth graze her bottom lip as she side-eyes me. “Hear me out anyway?”
“Is this like Christmas and already a done deal? Or do I actually have some say in whatever this is?
Christmas morning, Genny told me she went off birth control. It’s hard to believe that was only a few weeks ago. It’s hard to believe she decided we were ready for kids without really consulting with me. Sure, we had talked about it. Many times. We even said we’d start trying this year. But Christmas morning, I was a little freaked out at her news. She explained that it took a few months for her body to regulate her hormones and something or other, so it still gave me a couple months to think about it before there was a possibility of us getting pregnant.
I haven’t told her yet, but I’m definitely ok with the idea now. I really like the trying part. I tell her all the time that we need to practice, so when her hormones are regulated, we’re experts, everything happens the way it should, and we get to be the winners.
I don’t know who the competition is, but after all the practicing we’ve been doing, we’re going to smoke them.
“It’s not a done deal yet, but I’m hoping you’ll keep an open mind and just go with your heart.”
“Ok…” I sigh, having no idea what to expect from her today. “Lay it on me.”
She’s holding both my hands in hers and her eyes are searching mine, but there’s no mistaking that they’re clear and happy. She’s excited about whatever she’s going to suggest and that makes me a little excited. Genny being happy makes me happy. “I thought maybe we could go in the courthouse and get a marriage license.”
Narrowing my eyes, I try to fill in the blanks. “You want us to get a marriage license… And what? Get married on our staycation?”
“I want to marry you on Friday. Our staycation can be our honeymoon. I want to be a Kelley. I want to be your wife, Walker. I want you to be my husband.”
Despite the shock her words cause, a grin plasters itself onto my face. There’s so much to figure out, so much to plan. It’s Tuesday. She wants to get married Friday? How is that enough time? I’ve listened to Zander and Heidi talk about wedding plans for almost a year. About how much everything costs and the time you need to get everything perfect. Genny is nothing like Heidi, but doesn’t she want her wedding day, the day she marries me, to be perfect?
“Maybe we should wait so we can get everything just right. I don’t want you to regret anything about our wedding day.”
“Walker, the only thing I need on my wedding day is you at the end of the aisle agreeing to love me until the day you die. I don’t need anything else. You’re the love of my life. You’re going to be the father of my children. I want you to be my husband, and I don’t want to wait to start the life we’ve been planning together… We’re only doing this if you want to, Walker. I want to marry you. But if you’re not ready to marry me, we’ll wait.”
Why would I not want to be married to the woman of my dreams?
We’ve talked about getting married. We’ve talked about kids. We’ve talked about how many kids we can have in that tiny house before we have to move to a bigger one. We’ve talked about her going to college once we’re done having kids and they’re in school. We’ve talked about our future at least once every day since we got back together.
Our whole future is planned out if things work out the way we want.
But Genny is here, in front of me, right now, asking me to actually do it. To not just talk about it, but to make it happen. And why shouldn’t she be? I made her wait for sex, and we both expected that. But she also had to wait for me to have faith in her. She waited for me to trust her and really believe in what we found together.
I was a fool before. I’m not making that mistake again.
“I’m ready, Genny. I wanna marry you.”
“Yeah?” she asks, her smile full of hope and surprise at my eager answer. “Are you absolutely certain?”
“Genny, I’ll marry you today, right now. How set on a bouquet were you?”
She chuckles softly. “There’s a three-day waiting period after we get the license.”
“Friday it is.” Pulling her closer, I whisper against her skin, “You wanna be a Kelley, huh?”
Nodding, she rubs her nose against mine before that sweet mouth melts under my lips. My heartrate picks up, racing as it hits me that by the end of the week, Genny will be my wife.
Am I ready for that?
Am I ready to commit to her for the rest of my life?
Fuck yes.
Genny is everything I’ve ever wanted. She’s perfect for me, and while I still don’t think I’m perfect for her, she’s helping me become a better man. She wants me, she chose me….
And I want and choose her. Every single day, I will choose her.
Genny is my future.
Genny is my everything.
I’m done making her wait.
The End.
Thank You for Reading!
This story is one of the first I wrote, and I feel like it’s never quite perfect. Every time I read a few sentences or paragraphs, I find something I want to change. But there comes a time when the changes I make aren’t adding anything to the story, so ready or not, it’s time to put it out there for the world to see.
I hope you enjoyed Walker and Genny’s journey, and how they learned about trust and love.
Sometimes trusting life and the plan it has for you is hard. You’re used to living your days as you’ve always lived them. When something wonderful gets handed to you, just falling into your lap, unexpectedly, it can be hard to believe it’s going to last. You didn’t struggle for this gift, and you struggle for everything! This gift must be a joke, or something that will just teach you another of life’s many lessons...
But sometimes, love just finds you, and the lesson you have to learn is not only accepting it, but trusting it, too.
Before you go…
While I cu
rrently have a select group of beta readers that give me awesome feedback, they have lives, and I can’t count on them to just read for me nonstop! (The injustice of it, I know!) If you’re interested in reading some of my books while they’re still in progress, and providing feedback to help shape the finished product, please email me at bricashauthor@gmail.com.
Happy reading!!
Thank you to my beta readers! You helped me fix a couple problems that didn’t jive with the character’s personalities, and made things more believable. This story wouldn’t be what it is without you, and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to help me with this project, as well as being honest with me about what you thought needed changed completely or just tweaked.
Also, thank you to my wonderful husband, who puts up with so much from me while I’m writing, my incredibly smart editor, who helps me out of the goodness of her heart, my supportive friends and family, and Cole Gordon from fiverr.com, who not only designed the cover, but who was also incredibly helpful while I was traversing this journey of trying to publish my first book. This never would’ve happened without any of you. Thank you!
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
Copyright
MAKING HER WAIT
GENNY
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
GENNY
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
GENNY
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
GENNY
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
WALKER
GENNY
WALKER
GENNY’S EPILOGUE
WALKER’S EPILOGUE
THE END.
THANK YOU FOR READING!