Their Freefall At Last by Julie Olivia
61
Ruby
Three Months Later
Ruby & Bennett are Thirty Years Old
We’re at Honeywood Fun Park, per Bennett’s request. But this visit is different from the others we’ve had in our life. We’ve become that gushy couple in the queue lines. We’re dragging each other through the midway, hand in hand, journeying through crowds and bubbles of families, as if in a family unit of our own.
I love our specific bubble.
“Why do you have a backpack?” I ask at one point.
Bennett shrugs. “What backpack?”
I look at the very obvious black canvas rucksack on his back.
“Suspicious,” I say. “I’m keeping my eye on you.”
He grins. “I sure hope so.”
He’s got a secret. And I think I know what it is.
Near the end of the day, we sit on the rocky edge of the Buzzy the Bear fountain. My head rests on his shoulder as water cascades down the statue’s side. Before us, the sun sets, backdropping Honeywood Fun Park in a glaze of yellows, pinks, purples, and blues.
Bennett unzips the backpack at our feet.
“Mysterious,” I whisper.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know,” he says with a laugh.
But when he pulls out a fistful of flowers, messy and wild, my breath catches in my throat.
I didn’t know.
But now, I have a good idea.
“Handpicked for you,” he says.
“For me?”
“For you,” he repeats.
I take them from him, holding the precious gift close to my chest. My heart flutters like a caged bird, but it’s getting set free real soon. I’m going to let it fly.
“I always told you I’d give you handpicked flowers at Honeywood. I promised to ask you a very important question at this exact fountain. And I am. Sort of. I promise I won’t get down on one knee. I won’t even ask for a legal piece of paper.”
“Not a W-2?”
“Not even your Social Security card.”
“Oh good. I don’t want to give that up.”
I grin at our joke. He does too, squeezing my knee.
“I love you. I want you. Forever. That’s all I’m asking. And if you don’t want to make it official, it won’t change a damn thing about how I feel. I will still spend the rest of my life being with you. You’re not getting rid of me, Rubes.”
“Stalker,” I whisper on the shaky exhale.
He laughs, chews the inside of his cheek, then nods.
“But, hey, Bennett?”
“Yeah?”
“You can get down on one knee if you want.”
I can see the relief wash over his face in an instant. It’s the lines on the sides of his face. The grin that reaches all the way up to his eyes. The squinting eyes—he’s so happy that they can’t help it. His best smile. The smile that belongs to me.
I decided years ago that I would marry Bennett if he ever asked. I’ve seen partnerships fail, but now, I’ve seen them thrive as well. Emory and Lorelei. Landon and Quinn. Orson and Theo. Heck, even Fred and Honey.
Marriage is what you make it. And if after months of officially dating—and of course, many years of friendship—my soul mate wants marriage, who am I to deny that to him? I wouldn’t want to spend my life with anyone else. I’m not sure my soul would allow it.
With a tearful smile—because Bennett is such a softy—my best friend lowers down onto one knee in front of me. My hands are full of his handpicked flowers, and we’re right next to the fountain at Honeywood. It’s exactly as we promised nearly eighteen years ago.
My pirate opens his mouth to ask a question—the question—he closes it again and sniffs.
“I love you, Rubes.”
I love you.
I want to hear it again.
Fifty times.
A million.
I drop one hand from the flowers to squeeze his. He reaches up to slide his palm over my cheek, tracing a thumb across my nose, right where my freckles lie—his favorite thing about me.
My legs bounce in anticipation. “Come on, Pirate. I’ve been waiting for far too long.”
He lifts a single eyebrow—that devastating eyebrow—and grins.
“Will you marry me, Ruby?”
And like the woman in love that I am, I answer, “Yes.”
He cups my jaw and pulls my lips to his. We kiss, soaking in each other like the sappy lovebirds that we are.
I believe this is the start of a very beautiful relationship.