by Diana Currie
“Alright. See you in a couple of days.”
“I can’t wait! Bye.”
By the time we hung up I was at the house. Shane wasn’t home yet, not that I expected him to be since it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. I was hungry though, since I’d woken up early. I made myself a sandwich and ate it in front of the television. After washing my dish I decided it was time to go to the grocery store. I bought some chicken for dinner and hamburger meat to make tacos the next day. I got the Chips Ahoy cookies Shane liked and some fruit and orange juice for breakfast.
The afternoon passed by slowly and I had to fight off the urge to call Shane. I was curious to know if he’d screen my call the way he did his sister’s. I was getting more and more worried as the day passed and was just about to give in to temptation when I heard Shane’s car pull up in the driveway. I ran into the living room and grabbed To Kill a Mockingbird off the bookshelf so I wouldn’t look as though I’d been waiting impatiently for his return.
He looked tired as he entered the living room holding a number of bags in his hands. His face brightened when he saw me lounging on the sofa. I gave him a small smile and then focused my gaze on the items in his hand.
“How was your day?” I asked casually.
“Successful,” he answered with a crooked grin. “How was yours?”
“Not bad. I did some cleaning, got groceries, and took a walk around campus.”
Shane crossed the room to kiss me. I’m embarrassed to admit it but when he leaned over me I sniffed him to see if there were traces of perfume on his clothes. He smelled wonderful like always. I hated that he had me doubting him. I don’t even know where the jealously came from. It just wasn’t like Shane to sneak around.
“Do I get to see what you bought?” I asked.
Shane smiled and said, “It’s just some personal things. Nothing exciting.”
“How was the dentist?” I responded curtly.
“What? Oh, good. No cavities.”
That was all I could take. I needed answers. “Where’s your toothbrush?”
“Excuse me?” he asked defensively.
“Every time you go to the dentist they give you a new toothbrush. Let me see it.”
Shane’s brows furrowed and he stalked into the kitchen without acknowledging my challenge. I followed him, my pulse quickening and my patience wearing thin.
“Since when do you keep secrets from me?” I demanded; hands on my hips.
“When I do something that’s none of your business. I thought you trusted me, Hannah?” he replied.
“I never had a reason not to until today!” I spat back. “I never lie to you, Shane. Ever. I hung out with Aiden today. I had no intention of not telling you about it. Why can’t you do the same?”
I was so angry that I thought I was going to cry. Damn my dysfunctional tear ducts. Shane looked quite upset as well.
“Hold on there. So the minute I leave your side you go find Aiden DeLuca?” he accused.
“No, it was a coincidence. What exactly are you implying?”
“I don’t know, Hannah. You’re the one who’s acting crazy here. Just because I wouldn’t tell you where I was going this morning you think it’s okay to go meet up with your ex?”
“I told you, I ran into him on campus and we got coffee. Did you think I’d just never see him again after you and I got together? At least I was honest about where I’ve been today. I’m still waiting to hear where you went.”
Shane sighed and ran his hand through his hair. I stared at him for what felt like minutes until he finally broke eye contact with me and took a step closer to where I was standing.
“It’s really bothering you not to know what’s in these bags, isn’t it?” he teased, swinging the bags around by the handles.
“Are you joking around with me? We’re in the middle of a fight,” I yelled.
Shane chuckled and took another step. “We’re not fighting because there’s nothing wrong. I didn’t realize you’d get so upset if I took off for a day without explaining myself. If you must know what I bought today then have a look.”
He dumped the contents of his shopping bags onto the kitchen table. I looked at him warily and then crossed the room to inspect the items. “Sunscreen, two pairs of boots, and a portable radio? You want me to believe this took you all day? And why did you lie?”
“I’m sorry I lied about having a dentist appointment. The truth is I did do something this afternoon that I don’t want you to know about. I promise you it’s nothing bad, and I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
I scowled at his incessant smile, neither of us willing to surrender.
“I’m still upset,” I grumbled, not ready to give up on my anger just yet.
Shane closed the distance between us and kissed my forehead. “I know. Please just trust me… I know you do,” he pleaded. I rolled my eyes and nodded.
“Now, about Aiden DeLuca,” he began. I interrupted him before he could continue.
“I’m sorry I blurted it out the way I did, but I’m glad I ran into to him. It felt nice to see him in person, to get that closure. We mostly talked about you. And I told him I thought he should go out with my friend Carrie from the daycare. I think they’d hit it off.”
“I didn’t assume you’d never speak to him again. I was just surprised to hear you’ve reconnected so quickly. We’ve only been back in Delaware for 24 hours.”
“It wasn’t like that and you know it. You know me,” I replied.
“Yes, I do,” he agreed. “And you know me.” He kissed me again and the impatience and suspicion in my mind moved to the backburner with the feel of his lips pressed against mine.
I made dinner for us and we cuddled on the sofa afterwards watching a movie. When the movie was over Shane nuzzled my neck and asked me if I wanted to make love. Of course I did, but I was still miffed and refused to give him sex until he fesses up. Yeah, I was playing that card. Besides, my body was sore, sore, sore, from our sexual encounters in New York. Shane tried to stifle a laugh when I gave him my reasons for saying no, and then sweetly apologized for giving me such a workout the past few days.
“I’ll be fine by tomorrow,” I assured him.
He kissed my neck and shoulder a while longer and then towed me up the stairs to bed. We undressed each other slowly, stroking and caressing as we went. We got under the covers and Shane held his arm out for me to cuddle up against his side. I went to him eagerly.
“I’m sorry I upset you today,” he whispered. “I promise you there’s no reason not to trust me, Hannah. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know that. I was just so surprised that you would lie to me like that. It was very unbecoming,” I teased.
“I swear I have a good reason. Be patient.”
“I can’t forgive you until you tell me the truth,” I muttered under my breath.
“I know,” he replied.
I sighed and hitched my leg over his, trying to get myself closer to the warmth of his body. “It better be soon,” I warned before falling asleep in his arms.
CHAPTER 36: THE SURPRISE
“You want to go home today?” I asked confused. “You were the one who wanted to stay here a while longer.”
“Yes, but that was before our little quarrel. Now I want to move our plans up a day so you’ll forgive me that much sooner,” he explained.
I smiled and then stuck my tongue out at him. It was impossible to stay mad at such a beautiful face but I was trying my hardest. Shane was wearing nothing but plaid boxers and sporting some delicious morning wood beneath them. It took all my strength to pry my eyes away.
“Why can’t you tell me here?” I asked.
“Trust me,” he replied patting the empty spot in the bed next to him. I declined his offer and went to shower and dress instead.
The car ride was tense to say the least. I still didn’t know why we had to be back in Pittsgrove before Shane would tell me his secret. I feared he thought my react
ion would be negative and didn’t want to spend a long ride in a car with me once his dirty laundry was aired. Most of the drive was spent in silence. We commented on things like the weather and our families. The only other speaking was my frequent pleas for him to slow down.
When we passed the road that led to his parent’s house I became suspicious. Shane continued driving for a few miles and pulled into a very familiar parking lot.
“What are we doing at our high school?” I asked.
Shane ignored me as he shut off the engine and popped the trunk. I reluctantly unbuckled my seatbelt and followed him around back to see what he was doing. I saw the familiar items in question again as he pulled several things from the trunk.
“Here, put these on,” he instructed. He handed me the smaller pair of hiking boots he’d purchased the day before.
Shane slung a backpack over his shoulder and began unlacing his shoes. He slipped the other pair of boots on his feet effortlessly while I was still struggling to maintain my balance doing the same. He held my arm steady as I slid my other foot in and tied the laces tight.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
He kissed my cheek and handed me a small pack to carry.
“We’re hiking,” I stated. “Where?”
“You’ll see,” he replied with a playful grin.
“Since when did you become so mysterious,” I complained.
Shane led me into the forest behind the school down a narrow trail. I was starting to get annoyed again when I noticed he’d strayed from the flattened dirt and pine needles that served as our only reliable path out of these woods.
“We aren’t following the path?” I screeched. He laughed and said, “I know where we’re going.”
“I’m glad one of us does,” I grumbled. I wondered if my cell phone would get a signal when we became hopelessly lost in the dense green forests of Pittsgrove.
After close to ten minutes of walking Shane stopped and turned to smile at me. He pointed to a fallen tree up ahead that was hidden in the middle of the woods. He pushed me in front of him and I finally realized what we’d been walking so long to see. Shane and I had been here before. The tree was over a hundred years old when it fell and our science teacher had marched the entire class out into the woods to study it. I remembered Mr. Brunich sawing into the trunk so the class could count the rings and figure out the age of the tree. He made everyone look at the different widths in between each ring that he said would correspond to the years of rain and drought in his almanac. I’d become bored after Mark lost count of the number of rings for the third time and wandered away from the class.
Shane had noticed me walk off on my own and followed me so I wouldn’t get lost. That was about a week after he moved to town and was the first conversation we ever had.
“It’s still as beautiful as the day it fell,” I said looking around at the other trees and spots of moss and wildflowers that dotted the forest ground.
“Don’t get lost again,” he teased.
“Why not? I know you’ll come save me,” I replied smiling.
I walked along the edge of the tree inspecting the cut in the trunk while Shane began unpacking his bag. He laid out a large blanket in front of the fallen tree and set out a bottle of wine and two glasses next to the radio. I finally understood the purchases he made during his secret mission but it hardly cleared the air between us. It was sweet of him to drag me out there to the spot where we officially met but I knew I was going to get eaten alive by mosquitoes. I stood at the edge of the blanket with my arms crossed.
“Okay, are you ready to hear my confession now?” he asked playfully. I couldn’t believe he was having fun with this. I’d been angry and doubting my trust in him for over twenty four hours and Shane acted like this was all a game.
“Let’s hear it,” I replied. He stepped closer until he was directly in front of me.
“I know you’re confused and upset right now,” he began. “It wasn’t my intention to make you feel that way. I didn’t think you’d see through my white lie so easily.” Shane paused and cleared his throat. For the first time since we declared our feelings for one another he looked truly nervous. “I was gone all day yesterday because I wasn’t in Newark at all. I came here to Pittsgrove.”
“You did? Why?” I asked.
“I had to make sure I could find my way back to this big dead tree and I also needed to ask Sheriff Sing’s permission for something.”
Now I was really confused. “Permission for what?”
“Permission is really an antiquated notion. Really it was his blessing I sought,” he replied.
Then Shane really surprised me by sinking down to one knee on the matted pine needles and pulling a tiny black box from his jeans pocket. I gasped.
“Hannah Sing, I’ve been in love with you in one form or another since the day I laid eyes on you right here in these woods. It took me a long time to realize that you are the only thing in this world that brings me true happiness. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Hannah. Will you marry me?”
My breath caught in my throat as those words danced in the air. Shane’s shaking hands opened the velvet box to reveal a stunning diamond ring. It looked like it was from the 1930’s or 40’s in its elegance and intricate design. My mind was racing as it attempted to sort out the truth of where Shane had been yesterday. I couldn’t believe he’d actually talked to my dad about proposing. I couldn’t believe Lenny would give us his blessing. We still had a year of school left. Shane stared at me as these thoughts bounced around in my head. He was waiting for my response. It occurred to me that the expression on his face was apprehension. How was it possible he didn’t already know my answer to his question?
I dropped to my knees so our faces were level and covered his hands with mine. “I’ve been waiting for this since the first time you kissed me, Shane. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
A brilliant smile lit up his face, his green eyes sparkling in the sunlight that was peeking through the leaves above. He leaned forward to kiss me and our lips pressed firmly together. We broke apart laughing from our joy. Shane took the delicate ring from its box and slipped it onto my finger.
“It’s beautiful, Shane,” I whispered marveling at how a piece of jewelry could feel like it was a part of me; as though it had always been there on my hand.
“It belonged to Elise’s mother,” he replied. My eyes widened and I held out my hand to inspect the family heirloom again.
We both moved to sit on the blanket Shane had laid out; our knees wet from the damp ground. I looked into his eyes and saw my entire life; past, present, and future. Shane had always been someone special to me, it was almost magical the way he affected my senses, my breathing, and my heart rate. He fascinated me in a way no one else in the world ever had. At sixteen I didn’t know what it meant. Hell, I still couldn’t explain it. All I knew was I never had to worry about living without him again. Thankfully, he couldn’t bear to live without me either and that made me think the strange connection I’d always felt with him was fate silently guiding us together.
“You actually went to talk to Lenny yesterday?” I asked with a wide smile permanently plastered on my face.
He chuckled. “Yes, I did. He was surprised but handled himself well. Though he did subtly remind me he carries a gun.”
“He didn’t!” I exclaimed, appalled my father would joke about such a thing. At least Shane seemed to have found it amusing.
“Lenny’s a good father. He’s happy for us. Happier when I told him I was thinking of a summer wedding… after graduation,” he mused.
“I like the sounds of that too.” Shane wrapped his arm around me and I nuzzled against his chest.
“I’m so sorry I lied yesterday, baby. I wanted so badly to surprise you,” he said.
“It’s okay. You had one hell of an explanation,” I replied.
“I suppose I could have called Lenny but it just felt like something one does in person. And I had to get the ring f
rom my mother,” he explained. “I thought for sure Ally would spoil my plans when I asked her to call you.”
“Ally was in on it?” I gasped. “She let me go on and on about how sneaky and odd you were behaving.”
“You seemed so hurt when I left you alone yesterday morning I wanted to find out just how mad you were. I needed Ally to give me a heads up so I knew what I was walking into when you confronted me last night.”
“I can’t believe she would do that to me. What an actress!” I huffed. Shane laughed and I could feel his warm breath on my neck.
I sat up and turned my body to face him. “Is there anything else I should know?” I asked in mock annoyance.
“No, Hanny, that’s all. Except that I love you,” he replied; his crooked smile tearing down my defenses.
“I love you too. More than you know.”
Shane reached for the bottle of wine and offered me a glass. I accepted and he toasted to the future Mrs. Decker. I blushed at the thought of taking Shane’s name. “Hannah Decker,” I said wanting to hear how it sounded out loud. Shane grinned and I could tell he loved it too.
We drank our wine and reminisced about the day Mr. Brunich brought us out there. He told me how he remembered our first conversation and then I shared my own memory of that day. I even admitted that I already had a crush on him before he’d introduced himself which made Shane laugh. He really had no idea how crazy I was about him in high school. We ate some of the food he had packed and then laid back on the blanket and watched the tree branches sway in the light breeze. The sun was shining brighter as the minutes passed and we lay there hand in hand as the sun’s rays warmed our skin.
“This feels like a dream,” I said softly after neither of us had spoken for a while.
Shane turned onto his side and gently rubbed his hand lovingly over my stomach and hips. “Which part?” he asked.
“All of it. The beauty of this place, you wanting to marry me, knowing I get to keep you forever,” I replied.
“I assure you this is real. I am more certain about my love for you than anything else in my life.”