Like So Much Hot Air

by Kathleen Hayes

The trial took another three weeks but I got to be in the courtroom when the jury brought back a guilty verdict for all the major players in the Doherty family. Geoff had told me I would need to stay in one of the conference rooms off the courtroom until the defendants had all been escorted out of the building so I was staring out the window at the Boston cityscape when I heard the door open.

  Expecting Geoff, I didn’t turn around right away. I was startled when I heard a familiar throat clearing from about two feet behind me. I spun and launched myself at a grinning Rhys. We just stood there holding each other, smiling like idiots for a good two minutes.

  When Rhys finally broke away, he looked a little nervous. He put his hands in his pockets and fixed his eyes on a spot over my shoulder for a moment before he took a deep breath and looked back at me.

  “I know you asked me to go with you in your last letter.” I started to panic a bit that he was going to take back his answer, and it must of have shown on my face because he rushed to say, “And my answer is still yes.” He paused again, gathering his words, I assume. He muttered, “I don’t know why I am so nervous.”

  He shook his head, pulled his hands out of his pockets and dropped to one knee all in one graceful motion. As he opened the small box in his hand, he looked straight up at me and said, “Jason O’Brennan, Will you marry me?”

  A smile split across my face, even larger than before, and I gave the only answer I could, “Yes!”

  He whooped as he stood up and put the ring on my finger before kissing me. Geoff chose that moment to interrupt.

  After much handshaking and congratulations, Geoff explained that if we wanted to do this we needed to do it now, before we signed paperwork and got placed in the program. We followed him down a few floors in the courthouse to the office of the Justice of the Peace.

  I stood up in front of Rhys, joy bubbling up in my heart as we both pledged ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives for better or worse, for richer or poorer and in sickness or in health.

  *****

  One Month Later

  "Lynch! Hey, Lynch." I startled as my new boss grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "Didn't you hear me? I was calling your name."

  I groaned a little on the inside. Even after a month I still had a delayed reaction when someone said our new name. I had to stop a grin from spreading across my face. Our new name.

  "Sorry, sir, I'm still not used to all the noise in here." The marshals, in all their wisdom, had gotten me a job at a Casino about half an hour outside our new hometown of Leon, Iowa teaching noobs to play poker.

  I had been a bit skeptical at first but it was actually really fun. I was glad that Rhys, now Reese so it wasn't so distinctive looking, was enjoying his new identity as much as I was. He had been placed at a local nursery that focused on xeriscaping and helping local farmers maintain sustainability. It was a far cry from eco-tourism but at least he got to be outside and working with nature.

  I forced myself to pay attention to my boss as he double checked who was covering my shifts for me over the next week and reinforced how much trouble I would be in if one of them didn't show up. I sighed and nodded. I had triple checked with everyone because I did not want anything to ruin the next week. I wanted everything to be perfect for our belated honeymoon.

  I was finally able to escape and I reveled in the freedom of speeding down the highway, watching the farmland race by outside my windows. I pulled into the nursery where Rhys (I would never be able to think of him as Reese) worked and just stared for a minute before I honked my horn to let him know I was there.

  He was helping one of his coworkers load a flat of plants onto the back of a truck. His tanned skin gleamed with sweat in the bright sunlight and I marveled that I got to call this beautiful man my husband.

  When he had finished, he came over and got in the car. After a brief but warm hello kiss he glanced at me and smiled. "Still not going to tell me where we are going?"

  "Nope. It's a surprise."

  "Fine." He grumbled. But he couldn't keep a smile from curving at the edge of his lips so I knew he wasn't really put out.

  We went home and managed to shower and pack at a record speed. He wanted to linger but I had a plan and I didn't want to miss the sunset launch.

  A little more than an hour later we passed the Indianola city limits. I still wouldn't tell him what we were there for but as we drove through town it became readily apparent. Every flat surface of the town was plastered with signage and advertisements for the National Balloon Classic.

  We pulled into the parking area with barely any time to spare. I had arranged for us to ride in one of the balloons that was going up at sunset as a part of the lighted balloon exhibition. Because Reese Lynch was not Rhys Whelan, and thus did not have a balloon piloting license, we could not go up on our own in a balloon, but as we watched the sun dip below the horizon surrounded by a field of bright colors from the basket of a balloon floating in midair, it didn't much seem to matter.

  I leaned back against his chest and turned my head up to kiss him just under his chin. He wrapped his arms around me just a little tighter and said, "I love you, Jason," into my ear.

  I smiled back up at him and said, "I love you too, Rhys."

  THE BEGINNING.

  *****

  Thank you for taking the time to read my book. Please take a moment to leave a comment at the site from which you downloaded. This book is free; feedback is the only payment I request!

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  Author bio: Kathleen is a relative newbie to writing but has jumped in feet first (there might have been a dare involved). She is a bit of an all-around geek. Kathleen loves sci-fi television (the good, the bad, and the ugly) and could argue to pro and cons of Serenity vs. Stargate until the end of time. She has mastered the art of procrastination, is owned by two crazy cats, and loves being a Christian (but not the scary kind). Her favorite thing to read about are first kisses, and she is way more likely to write a first kiss than a sex scene. Kathleen loves to hear from readers, writers, reviewers and pretty much anyone so feel free to email her at kchayes54@gmail.com or comment on her blog. She has two self-published stories available, "Broken" and "Christmas Tradition", as well as a plethora of ficbits, available on her blog. She is also in the middle of a serial story, True Love's Kiss, which updates every two weeks or so.

  You can find her online at https://khayes54.blogspot.com (her blog) or on her Goodreads Profile.