by Amanda Tru
Thankfully, Dottie simply said, “Well, now, I’ll get you that bagel. You’ll be needing your appetite, I suppose, won’t you?”
Cosette didn’t spend much time trying to guess what Dottie meant and instead returned her focus to her steaming mug. Nothing like a hot cup of tea to end a long day like this. What she really wanted was a scalding shower, but that would have to wait. Once they reached Glennallen, Josh had arranged for Cosette to stay with his pastor and their young family. He’d told her multiple times what kind people they were and how excited they were to have Cosette come and stay with them, but really Cosette just wanted to spend as much time with Josh as she could.
It would be difficult to overestimate the significance of these next few days. Would Josh prove to be the man God had designed for her to marry? Would it be awkward seeing each other face to face after so many months of long-distance communication, or would it feel completely natural, like meeting an old friend you hadn’t seen in ten years and being able to fill hours upon hours with endless discussion? Would she feel shy around Josh? Would he feel shy around her? Or would it be the most natural feeling in the world to be together, to hold hands and sit side by side?
She was glad they’d have the long drive back to Glennallen. Time to talk. She was already trying to imagine the conversation they’d have on the road where she told him about Missy and how she was convinced he was a murderer named Adam.
“Can you believe it?” she’d say, nearly squealing from the ridiculousness of the entire thing. “Murdered your girlfriend right after graduation, and you didn’t even think to tell me about it before we met!”
He’d laugh. Even on the phone or webcam, she loved the resonant sound of his laughter. For the past several weeks, she’d been keeping track of every funny joke, every humorous meme she could tell him about when they were finally together.
To hear his laughter in real-time, not the digitized version of it.
She hoped it wasn’t blasphemous to admit the very notion sounded like paradise.
Dottie brought Cosette a bagel with two packs of cream cheese. An hour later, Cosette asked for another. She’d just finished wiping the last of the cream cheese from the sides of her cheeks when her phone beeped with an incoming text. She didn’t have to look at the name to know who it was.
It’s me. I’m right outside.
Cosette was dizzy. Dizzy and elated and indescribably nervous.
No, not nervous. That wasn’t the right word.
Incredulous, maybe? He was really here. After months of hearing his voice, seeing his face on the screen of her phone, he was here. In the flesh. In real life.
His arms were around her. They were laughing. Talking over each other. Letting the snowfall onto their hair, their shoulders. It was coming down so fast, in another minute or two, their footprints would be totally covered.
She was so happy.
“I can’t believe you made it.”
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
They laughed again as they said almost the exact same thing at the exact same time. No more of that digitized sound. His laugh was just as sonorous, as deep, as welcoming as she had expected. Even more so. It warmed her entire body. She was flushed. She was laughing so hard tears threatened to spill out of the corners of her eyes. She held onto him, imagining that through his Carhartt jacket she could hear his heart beating.
I’m here.
I’m here.
I’m here.
Every ounce of fear melted away at the touch of his hands, at the sound of his voice. All her mother’s dire predictions silenced. The bizarre conversation with a random stranger from the airport forgotten.
He was here.
He was here.
He was here.
“Come inside,” Cosette finally said. She realized her feet were soaked through. She’d known well enough to wear closed-toed shoes but hadn’t anticipated the snow would be so deep it would seep in through the tops, drenching her socks. Her feet were the only part of her that felt cold.
She grabbed him by the hand and repeated, “Come inside. You’ve been on the road all day. Let’s get you something to warm up.”
She led him into the building toward her little side table. Dottie, the waitress, glanced at them from the opposite side of the restaurant and gave Cosette a massive grin.
He’s here, that smile seemed to say.
He’s here.
She’d waited so long. Been so nervous, so afraid. Afraid that the chemistry they thought they had was a figment of her imagination. Afraid that when he saw her, he’d realize she looked better on camera, where she could control the lighting to accentuate her best features. Afraid that when they finally met face to face, they’d be overwhelmed with awkward silences and soul-crippling disappointment.
She’d been wrong.
Blissfully, pathetically wrong.
It was the happiest mistake of her life.
She sat down at the table, expecting him to take the seat across from her, wishing instead he’d slide in by her side.
Which is exactly what he did. He took off his coat, draped it casually across the back of his seat. She scooted her chair as close to him as the laws of physics would allow.
Even that wasn’t quite enough.
His arm was around her. She leaned her head against his chest. He was wearing a faded, worn flannel shirt. She recognized it from their webcam conversations. It was even softer than she would have dared imagine, and his heart continued to beat in her ear.
I’m here.
I’m here.
I’m here.
They both inhaled at the exact same time. His warmth bled into her. He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her even closer against him. He leaned his cheek against the top of her head, so close, so present suspected he could hear her thoughts.
We’re here.
We’re here.
We’re here.
It was beautiful. It was more than she could have anticipated, more than she could have written out if she’d been a playwright creating the perfect scene. She’d been in the diner for nearly two hours and hadn’t noticed the slow, soft rock music playing in the background until now.
She was in love. She’d known for months now but hadn't dared to admit it to anyone, not even herself.
She was in love. And he was right here beside her. Josh. The man she’d grown to know so deeply, whose secrets she cherished, held snugly against her chest just as tightly as he was holding her.
Josh, whose shoulders were strong as she leaned against him. Strong and inviting and oh so warm.
The snowstorm raged outside, but in here, she could turn on the air conditioner full blast and still feel overheated.
It was too much to take in at once.
He’s here.
I’m here.
We’re here.
He moved ever so slightly, and she knew what was coming next like an instinct. Like a dance. Like they’d sat here at this corner table a hundred times in the past, her head pressed against his chest, his lips giving her forehead the gentlest of kisses.
Her heart pounded.
He’s here.
He’s here.
He’s here.
Cosette was the luckiest woman in the world, and also the most blessed.
“What can I get for the lovebirds?” Dottie pulled her notepad out of her pocket, her broad smile but a minuscule reflection of the ecstasy in Cosette’s soul.
Cosette squeezed Josh’s hand. They’d been so absorbed in each other he hadn’t even glanced at the menu. “I’ll have your hash browns and reindeer sausage,” he answered without hesitation.
Dottie’s pleased expression only grew. “And how about for the lovely lady?” She grinned at Cosette. “Another bagel?”
“No, thanks.” She felt herself blushing. “I’m still full.”
Dottie gave them both a wink as she tucked her notepad back into her pocket. “How about I’ll ask the cook to give you an extra
helping of hash browns, and you two can share. Sound like a plan?”
“Sounds perfect,” Josh answered before Cosette could reply. “Just perfect.” He held her gaze, and she got the feeling he was talking about something more significant than their menu choices.
Far more significant.
Dottie made her way back toward the kitchen, and Josh reached for his cup of water. Since he pulled up in the parking lot, Cosette had lost all track of time. Had that been two or three minutes ago? Or was it more like an hour? She couldn’t have even wagered a guess.
A silence settled between them, but it wasn’t the painful, embarrassing awkwardness she’d feared. It was warm, comfortable, just like Josh’s worn flannel.
“How was the drive?” she finally asked, staring at his hand that was still gripping hers.
She felt his chest rise and fall before he answered. “Long,” he admitted. “Even longer since I knew you were waiting for me on the other side.”
“I’m glad you finally made it.”
“Yeah, that wreck was a big mess.”
“Wreck?”
“Yeah. That’s why they closed the road. Had to wait a couple hours before it got clear.”
“I thought it was from the snow.”
“Well, the snow caused the conditions that caused the crash. And it made the rescue that much harder.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah. A woman got thrown from her car. I did first aid until the paramedics came. The flight crew seemed to think she’d be fine. Got her air-lifted to Anchorage, but it still took another couple hours to get a tow truck out that way to clear the mess from the road.”
“I had no idea.” Cosette let her voice trail off. Here she’d been thinking Josh had been stuck due to the snow, but instead, he’d been saving a woman’s life in the middle of nowhere.
“You must be freezing after all that,” she exclaimed and patted down his shirt. “Did you get wet from the snow?”
“I had an emergency bag in the trunk. Always carry it with me when I’m on the Glenn. I’m fine. Got myself cleaned up and into dry clothes, and I’m just as good as new.”
“Wow.” Cosette didn’t know what else to say.
Josh looked at her in confusion. “Wow, what?”
“It’s just that I had no idea that’s what you were doing. I just heard the road was closed because of the weather. I pictured you back at home, just waiting for it to open up again, not out in the freezing cold saving someone’s life.”
Josh chuckled. “Well, fun fact for you. When it’s snowing this hard, it usually means it’s thirty or forty degrees warmer than normal.”
“Say what?”
He laughed again at her confusion. “When it gets below a certain temperature, it’s literally too cold for clouds to form. That’s one thing I love about Glennallen. We get next to no daylight this time of year, but at least when the sun’s up, it’s almost never cloudy.”
The science made no sense to Cosette, but that could have been because she was still trying to picture how anybody could talk about saving somebody’s life as if it were such an everyday occurrence. She realized then that Josh hardly ever discussed his job as a trooper, at least not in any detail. She knew when he was working nights, knew when he’d be on the road, and most likely out of cell range. Beyond that, did she really know what he did while he was on the clock?
“What’re you thinking about?”
It wasn’t until Josh nudged her in the side that she realized how far she’d allowed her mind to wander.
“Hmm?”
Josh chuckled. “I asked what you’re thinking about. You looked lost for a minute.”
She tried to offer him a reassuring smile. “I was just trying to picture you out there being all heroic, then coming here and acting like nothing happened.”
His grin was even more alluring in person than on a webcam. “All in a day’s work.” He gave another heavy sigh then straightened up as he saw Dottie approaching with their food.
“Good,” he remarked, scooting his chair over slightly. He only moved an inch or two, but it meant that Cosette couldn’t snuggle him quite as closely unless she wanted to stretch out across the small chasm he’d opened between them.
He glanced over at her, a worried expression on his face. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She forced an even bigger smile as Dottie set the food in front of them.
“You two need an extra plate?” Dottie asked, passing one fork to Josh and one to Cosette. “I can go back and get one.”
“No,” Josh answered before Cosette had the chance. He moved the plate over until it rested evenly between them. “We’re fine sharing. Thank you so much. This food looks delicious.”
Cosette had never tried reindeer sausage before. In fact, until Josh ordered it at the diner, she hadn’t even realized it was the kind of thing anybody would voluntarily eat.
“Tastes good, right?” Josh asked. He’d been studying her intently since he convinced her to take her first bite.
She nodded, even though she still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the meat. “Tastes basically like regular sausage.”
Josh smiled. “Yeah, but don’t tell that to the tourists, or they’ll stop paying extra.”
Cosette wanted to laugh, but she’d started to feel somewhat uneasy. She couldn’t say exactly why. Maybe it was watching the snow pile up even higher out the window and knowing that they still had a five-hour drive to get back to Josh’s hometown.
“You okay?” he asked. It had only been a few minutes since Dottie brought out their food, but he’d already devoured nearly everything on his plate.
Cosette tried to shake her brain back to the present. “Yeah. I’m just getting tired.”
“You’ve had a long day,” he answered. “By the way, you didn’t tell me about your flights or anything else. Did you run into any problems? How’d you end up getting here from the airport? Did you call a cab?”
“No.” Cosette hesitated. She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell Josh about her bizarre meeting with Missy. Somehow, it felt strange talking about her right now.
No, that was silly. This was Josh. Cosette had known him for months, had loved him for months even if she was only now willing to admit that to herself. There shouldn’t be any secrets between them.
She forced an airy laugh. “Well, I met this really weird girl. We started talking, and she told me about…”
Josh looked over at her in surprise, but before Cosette could finish her thought, Dottie walked over with two oversized mugs nearly spilling over with whipped cream and nutmeg shavings.
“It’s a slow night here, what with the weather and all, so I thought I’d get you two some of our famous hot chocolate. On the house.” She set the drinks on the table in front of them. “Don’t worry,” she told Cosette. “I found some fat-free whipped cream, just so you can keep that California beach body of yours year-round.” She winked at Cosette, then pulled out a chair from the opposite side of the table and sat down.
Cosette tried to surreptitiously gauge Josh’s reaction. Was this how restaurant staff in Alaska often behaved?
Dottie clasped her hands in front of her and leaned forward in her seat. “Now, I don’t mean to sound too presumptuous, but I’m a woman of prayer. I hope that doesn’t bother you.”
Cosette glanced over at Josh.
“Not at all,” he answered.
Dottie gave a satisfied nod of her head. “Good. Now, I’m not saying I’ve got a closer connection to God than any other children of his. Nothing like that. But I do get a sense for things. And I just want you to know something.”
She leveled her gaze and held Cosette’s stare.
“I’ve got to confess, it made me nervous at first when you told me how you flew all the way out here from California and were waiting to meet your boyfriend.”
Cosette held her breath, too afraid to look over at Josh to see how he reacted to Dottie’s use of the title. Suddenly, tha
t mug of hot chocolate didn’t look nearly so tantalizing. She thought she sensed Josh tense up next to her, but maybe that was just her imagination.
“You seemed nervous,” Dottie went on, and Cosette wished she possessed some kind of telekinetic abilities that could make the waitress shut her mouth. “I had my eye on you, I’ll admit it. Wanted to make sure you were in a good place. I hate to say it, but I’ve seen a lot in my years, including plenty of women who’ve fallen in love with bad men and stayed with them far too long.”
Cosette felt her palms go cold and guessed Josh could feel the change as he continued to hold her hand limply in his.
“Well now.” Dottie let out a heavy sigh. “As soon as I saw you walk in here smiling at each other like that, every single fear I had for you flew right out the window. Poof!” She gestured with her hand for emphasis. “And I don’t know your story or your backgrounds or anything else, but I’ve been around the block long enough to wager that I know true love when I see it, and you, my friends, have got it.”
Josh cleared his throat. He sounded as uncomfortable as Cosette felt. “Well, thank you so much. That’s, um, well, that’s kind of you to say.”
Dottie glanced around the empty diner. “Now, you two can tell me to mind my own business if you want, but it’s slow here on account of the weather, and I’ve got nothing better to do at the moment. I’d just love to hear how the two of you met. You can imagine I see lots of couples come through those doors every single night, and I can tell that what you two’ve got is something extra special. I’d love to hear your story. If it’s not too forward of me to ask,” she added, almost like an afterthought.
Cosette was about to reply that they had a long drive ahead of them and should be getting on the road soon, but Josh spoke up first. “It’s actually a really great story. Let me be the one to tell it.”
If Cosette thought the waitress had been doting over them previously, it was nothing compared to the attention she smothered them with when she learned that they’d been a long-distance couple for months and were only now meeting face to face.