by Anne Carol
We drove for about an hour until we were surrounded by open fields, and the narrow roads were tightly bordered by tall hedgerows. When he found a small turnoff, he drove a little ways off the road and parked the car, practically in the middle of the field.
“Wow, look at this. It’s so green,” I said as I got out of the car.
“Why don’t you go wander a bit while I set up?”
“Are you sure I can’t help?”
“I’m good. Go ahead.” He waved me on.
While he took care of setting up, I roamed among the wildflowers and grass, letting the cool breeze whip my loose hair around. I was in my own little world, blowing on a dandelion, when I heard the click of a camera. I looked up to find David snapping pictures of me.
I leaned to one side, putting my hand on my hip. “How many pictures did you steal of me, Mr. Somers?”
“Not nearly enough.”
I smiled. “Well, you can take as many as you want. I don’t mind.”
He came toward me, as if he couldn’t stand being away from me for one more second. In the next beat, my face was in his hands. “No camera will ever do you proper justice.” He kissed my lips. “You’re just so incredibly beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, let’s eat. Knowing you, you’re probably getting peckish.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the picnic blanket.
“You know me well.”
We sat down and quietly ate our lunch, which was made up of homemade sandwiches, fruit, and potato chips. While we were eating, he kept shooting me mysterious looks, like he was hiding something.
“Okay, what’s going on? Why are you looking at me like that?”
He grinned. “Finish up, and we’ll talk.”
I finished my lunch in record time, as I couldn’t stand the suspense.
“You’re rather impatient.” He shook his head, laughing. “Move closer. I want you next to me.” He pointed to a spot beside him, and I scooted over to him.
With eyes on fire, he brushed my loose strands of hair back and tenderly kissed my forehead. Taking a deep breath, he softly began, “I brought you here today because there’s something I wanted to ask you …”
My eyes grew wide, and I swallowed hard.
“I’m not proposing, angel.” He touched my hand, grinning.
I blew out a short breath. “How’d you know I was thinking that?”
“I saw the look in your eyes,” he said, rubbing his knuckles along my cheekbone. “Anyway, I wouldn’t do that without your parents’ permission, and I can’t see them allowing it this soon.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head.
“Regardless, when I look into the future, I can honestly see the two of us growing old together.” He looked into my eyes.
I smiled at that. “Me, too.”
“I realize we have huge challenges ahead of us.”
“You mean, like living on two different continents?”
“That’s the biggest. Of course, there’ll be others … but as far as the distance, I feel like if we can make it through this year—”
“—we have a real chance at a future.”
He smiled at me. “You finished my sentence.” He paused, looking out into the distance. “What I’m saying is, I’m willing to make the commitment, if you are. I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“It’s not, though. I don’t want to date anyone else.”
“Neither do I.” He seemed relieved. “So we’ll give this a go?”
“Of course, it never occurred to me not to.”
“Good, then I have something for you.”
He reached under the corner of the blanket to produce a long black jewelry box.
I gasped, throwing a hand over my broadening smile. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
I gave him a guilty look. “Please don’t tell me you spent money on me.”
“Don’t worry, I wanted to.” His searing eyes instantly melted me. “Here, I’ll do it.”
He carefully opened the box and took out a silver necklace with a little heart charm dangling at the bottom.
I clasped my hands together. “Oh, I love it!”
Again, he looked relieved. “Do you? I thought you would.”
He unhooked it and leaned toward me, circling the chain around my neck. His nearness and warm breath on my skin awakened all my senses. Once he fastened the clasp, he paused to kiss my neck before facing me. He fingered the heart charm in his hand. “Just think of this as my heart. It’ll always be with you.”
Still feeling the buzz from his sweet kiss, I picked up the charm and admired it. “It’s so pretty.”
“Not as pretty as the girl who’s wearing it.”
I threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you so much! I’ll wear it forever.”
After we sat holding each other for a few minutes, we got up and went for a walk. The sun was trying to poke through the clouds, but it was still mostly overcast and windy. It didn’t bother me, though, as I huddled under David’s arm.
“I have a surprise for you, too,” I told him.
“What is it?”
“Well it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you!” I elbowed him.
“Oh, is that how you’re going to be?” He abruptly picked me up and cradled me in his arms, making me scream.
“Hey, no screaming. Someone’s going to think I’m trying to kill you.”
“Who? There’s nobody around for miles.”
“That’s right, I have you all to myself.” He gave me a devious smile.
“That’s good, because the surprise I have is very personal—only for your eyes.”
“You’ve got my attention.” He set me on my feet and grabbed my hand. “Come on, then.”
We raced each other back to our spot, and as soon as we sat down I reached into my bag and pulled out a very worn spiral notebook. Handing it over to him, I said, “I just finished it last night. Don’t laugh.”
“You want me to read this now?” His eyes were glowing with eagerness.
“Yes. It’s not a novel or anything. Just a short story.”
He handed it back to me. “You read it to me.”
“Alright. It’s just a stupid love story …”
“It’s brilliant, I’m sure. Go ahead, angel.” He winked.
So I went ahead and did something I’d never done before: read a story of my own creation to another person, a person who was very important to me. With pages fluttering in the breeze, I slipped into my reading voice, finding comfort in sharing this private part of myself with David.
And if he didn’t care for it, I sure couldn’t tell with the way he clapped wildly at the end.
“Thanks. You really liked it?”
“Yes! There was only one problem …”
“What?”
“I thought it’d be an Anglo-American romance, not one between two California kids.” He smirked.
“Oh, I see. Well I’m still working on that one.” I smirked back. That wasn’t completely in jest; I really was writing a story inspired by our own unique tale.
He studied me for a moment, and his expression grew intense. “Come here, sweet girl.”
I moved closer to him, and he threaded his long fingers through my hair. “I think you deserve a kiss,” he whispered next to my lips.
We lost ourselves for a few moments as we fused together, allowing our tongues to meet in a passionate dance.
Once we separated, and our heart rates returned to normal, David whipped out his trusty deck of cards. We played for a while, keeping watch on the sky as it threatened to spill rain on us. In the midst of playing, we talked about his A-level scores, which were revealed the week before.
“Yeah, who knew I was so brilliant in maths?”
“Well, I’ve heard that musicians have great math skills.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose. Of course, my father’s pushing for university again. Told him I’m taking a gap year.”
&
nbsp; “Are your parents okay with that?”
“My father isn’t keen on it, but Mum is on my side, thank goodness.” He looked away, as if he was tired of the subject. “So how did Jenny do?”
“She was happy with her scores. Sounds like she’s pretty strong in psychology. I’m not surprised, she’s been trying to psychoanalyze me all summer!”
He chuckled. “You are hard to figure out sometimes.”
“Very funny.” I scooted closer to him. “One thing you don’t have to guess is how much I love you,” I said, running my thumb across his lips.
“Beth,” he started, but I silenced him with a kiss, slowly pushing him down onto the blanket until I was straddling him. “Beth,” he repeated.
“Shh …” I pointed my finger to his mouth. Still feeling aroused from our kissing session, I craved an intimacy with him I never experienced before.
I stretched out over his body, held his arms over his head, and bent down to kiss him. Only I wasn’t expecting him to buck me off of him.
“Beth, don’t tease me,” he said, out of breath. “You said you wanted to wait, and I want to respect you.”
“I do want to wait.”
“Then what the hell are you doing?”
“I want to wait, but … I mean, isn’t there a way to … you know …”
He looked utterly surprised. “You mean you and Rick never—?”
“We didn’t do much more than kiss and make out. I guess I didn’t trust him to stop at just fooling around,” I admitted. “Did you and Josephine—?”
“Not even close.”
I lay back on the blanket and stared at the gray sky. As I let my mind wander to things it shouldn’t think of, I felt his fingertip on my cheek. He kissed my ear and whispered, “Do you want to try something, angel?”
I slowly leaned toward him and grinned shyly. “Sure.”
“And you trust me?”
“Completely.”
“I’ll be right back.” He got up and headed toward the car.
A minute later, he returned with another blanket, which he laid over the two of us. He wrapped his arms around me and began kissing me. My hands made their way into his hair and he moaned, carefully rolling on top of me and fitting himself between my legs.
“Mmm …” I breathed, enjoying the incredible sensation.
“I’ll stop anytime you want me to, okay?”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Neither do I.”
Wild with passion, he started kissing me again, and soon nature took its course as we began moving in sync.
It wasn’t long before breathing took precedence over kissing, and from there it was all sensation until that magical moment I hit my peak, after which he cried out in a way I’d never heard before.
Holding me close, he gradually rolled over and pulled me onto his chest.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, still breathless.
“More than okay.” I felt like I’d been rung out like a wash cloth. All that pent up desire for him, released in a nanosecond, it seemed. Experiencing that kind of pleasure with him for the first time made me appreciate why I’d held back from Rick. It was meant for David all along.
“That was truly one of the best moments in my life, second only to spotting you in that pub. I fancied you from the moment I saw you.”
“Is that why you came to our table?”
“Of course. I wanted to meet you in the worst way.” He sighed. “Fortunately I had a good excuse to come over, with your aunt being my former teacher.”
“Smooth …” I yawned, letting my eyelids fall shut.
“I love you, my sweet, sexy girl.” He kissed my nose, and then lay his head back.
“I love you, too, brown eyes.”
We snoozed for about an hour, and when we woke up, we went for round two. We couldn’t get enough of each other. And the second time was even more intense; we both fell asleep right after.
Ouch! I flinched as something cold and wet hit my eye. I wiped the dampness away as I stirred awake. Holy crap, it’s dark. Panicking, I checked my wristwatch.
I screamed, frightening David awake.
“Beth, what’s—” he stared wide-eyed at me, then gaped at the dark, wet sky. “Bloody hell! What time is it?”
“Midnight!”
I panicked all the way home and my legs bounced with nervous energy. “My parents are going to be so mad.”
David reached across and held my hand. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll tell them we fell asleep. It’s the truth, after all.”
But I knew what I was really afraid of. “They’re going to ground me from seeing you, I just know it.”
He stiffened up. “We’ll deal with it as it comes, okay? Don’t fret until we know.” He tried to sound calm, but the way he clutched my hand, I could sense his anxiety. It was the first time David had brought me home late, and I could only imagine what my parents were thinking.
My heart was going at the rate of a machine gun as we pulled up to the house. Dread overwhelmed me, and I found myself sitting in the car for a good minute after he switched off the engine.
“Come on, Beth. Can’t avoid them forever.”
I couldn’t remember ever feeling this apprehensive about facing my parents. Even when I came home drunk from a party once, I was too out of it to know any better. This time, however, I knew full well what I was in for.
“Where the hell have you two been?” My father greeted us, replacing the standard, “How was your evening?”
David didn’t waste any time apologizing. “I’m so sorry, sir. We fell asleep.”
Dad narrowed his eyes and looked at me. “Is that true, Beth? You were sleeping?”
I nodded, twisting my hands nervously.
My father glanced David’s way. “You’d better head home, son. Your parents have been calling all night.”
David looked at me and mouthed, “Love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said, lips quivering. And just like that, he was gone.
Which left me alone to deal with Angry Parent #1 and even Angrier Parent #2, the latter being my mother.
“Mom, please don’t look at me like that, it was an honest mistake!”
Then, with hands firmly on her hips, she came close and asked that question I feared was on the tip of her tongue. “Were you having sex?”
My hands flew to my forehead. “No! You know I’m not doing that until I’m married!”
“Sharon—” Dad started.
“Mike, I had to ask.” She turned to me, wrath covering her face. “So you expect us to believe you two weren’t doing anything?”
“Mom, we didn’t have sex, I swear!”
She knew we fooled around, though, I wasn’t naïve. Perhaps she noticed how David had clutched his jacket around his middle.
“Beth, how could you be so irresponsible? Your father and I were beside ourselves with worry.” She had her arms folded across her chest like she meant business. “Normally I would ground you for a week—”
“No!” I shrieked.
“—but since that’s all we’ve got, I’ll cut it to four days.”
“Four days? But, mom!” I stamped my foot.
“You want to make it five?” she shot back, making me feel like a twelve-year-old.
I gritted my teeth, turned on my heel and pounded upstairs. “This is so ridiculous.”
When I fell into bed a few minutes later, I heard Jenny’s voice from across the way. “So what were you and David doing? Did you sleep with him?”
“If you mean sex, no. We were literally sleeping.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, no …” I went on to tell her about the big step we’d taken with each other.
“Oh, Beth, I don’t know how you were able to control yourself. I would’ve banged him.”
“Jenny! I don’t want to get pregnant, plus I want to save that for my wedding night.”
“Wow, you reall
y are good, cousin.”
“Apparently not that good. I can’t see or speak to David for four days.”
“Blast. Well, if you want to write notes back and forth, I can be your go-between.”
“Would you? Can’t bear the thought of no contact with him.”
“I suppose you should get used to it,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, I’m dreading that.”
“It’s going to be alright, Beth, I’m sure of it. I mean, the physical separation will hurt, but I think you two will make it. I can feel it. He loves you so much. And if you do wait, like you said, you’ll have one fantastic wedding night. I see the way he looks at you, it’s special.”
“Thank you. I want it to work out so bad.” I closed my eyes and yawned. “Well, good night, Jenny.”
“Good night.”
As I lay there, I replayed the image of David’s long, lean body on top of mine, giving me the most pleasure I’d ever felt in my life. Then I thought about what Jenny said, hoping and praying with everything in me that he and I would stay together. Especially now that I’d given him a part of me I could never take back.
The next four days were spent catching up on reading and journaling, plus writing a few long letters to David which Jenny kindly delivered to him. He sent me notes as well, beautiful ones that made me cry. The first one referred to our incredible afternoon in the meadow:
I was already enjoying our afternoon together, and then you surprised me. I love that you trusted me like that. It meant the world to me. The bond we share has now deepened, and I can’t imagine ever turning away from us. Because as far as I’m concerned, there will always be an “us.” In my eyes, when you accepted the necklace, you agreed to marry me someday. What we did that afternoon only further tied us together. Our future is one and the same, Beth, my angel.
I must’ve read that letter about a hundred times while I endured my sentence. But by the end of the third day, the letter wasn’t enough; I was dying to see him and touch him.
Mom and Aunt Ellie allowed me to invite David over for breakfast the first morning after my punishment was up. I sat outside in my favorite sundress, impatiently awaiting his arrival.