Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
My interest piques. “You’ve seen it before?”
He turns it over and angles the feet toward me. “Look.”
I study it quizzically, then notice two sets of initials carved into the bottom.
A.F. and B.F.
A familiar zap jolts through me, from my head to my heart, the first I’ve felt in a while.
“Alex….” I say softly. “Is this the toucan? The first one we–”
“The first sculpture we made together. You gave me the can opener.”
Warm shivers run through my body. I remember. This is why I kept collecting can openers when I was little. My mother kept buying cheap ones and my father would break them almost immediately, turning them too hard on cans of vegetables. I’d fish them out of the garbage and hide them in my room.
“I’m so glad it’s back home,” I say softly, touching its metal beak.
“Me too. I fucking hated that I sold it. I always regretted it.”
I kiss his cheek. “Maybe you can make another one to keep it company. We can put them together in my workspace.”
Alex has expanded my workspace in his studio from a tiny corner to a fifteen-by-fifteen area using freestanding metal partitions with cherry blossoms painted on them. He also put a beautiful vintage roll-top desk in the living room for me to write at, with a view of the lake for inspiration. I love how supportive he is and how he does whatever he can to make me feel like this is our home.
Still our home.
After dinner, we feed Lint and let her run around on the floor, then take Shadow outside and sit on the deck, listening to the frogs and crickets sing. Shadow brings us an old stick that we take turns throwing. We laugh at the funny little trot he does when he brings it back to us. When our arms grow tired and the lightning bugs dot the woods, we go inside, up to our bedroom. Alex crawls between my legs and works his magic with his tongue, not stopping until I’ve had three orgasms and beg him to stop, yanking him up to kiss me. Grinning, he props pillows against the headboard and leans back against it, putting his arm around me as I nestle against his side with my head on his chest. My favorite place—close to his heart. He reads the book from the nightstand to me. The one that was dusty, forever stuck on page two hundred and sixty-two. We started on page one.
He reads two chapters while I slowly move my fingertips over his chest, arms, and shoulders, tracing invisible shapes—mostly hearts—over his warm skin. At the end of the chapter, he places the bookmark between the pages and returns it to the nightstand. Sleep is trying to pull me under when I hear the nightstand drawer opening and closing.
His voice, soft and deep, rouses me. “I have something for you.”
My eyes snap open to find him sitting up next to me with a tiny wooden box in his hands.
I sit up, too, wide-eyed. “A present?”
I can’t get enough of the soft, sleepy huskiness in his voice. “Not really a present, but something I’d really love you to have.”
I smile. My chest is tingling with anticipation. “I can’t wait to see.”
“I didn’t make what’s inside, but I did make the box.”
I run my finger over the walnut grain. “It’s adorable.”
His long fingers flip the lid of the box up, and perched inside are two rings nestled in green moss.
My heart flutters like a hummingbird. “Alex…” I breathe.
He pulls the rings out and holds them between his fingers. “It’s a set I had made for you. One is an engagement ring. A new ruby with a halo of tiny diamonds and a diamond eternity wedding band. Rubies are meant to bring passion and protection, and diamonds represent strength and love.”
“They’re gorgeous,” I whisper, mesmerized by the gems sparkling in his fingers. “I love them.”
“You can’t wear the wedding band until we get married in the fall, but I wanted you to see how pretty they look together.”
Married. I get goose bumps thinking about it. Alex asked me to marry him just two weeks after we opened the old trunk of drawings and videos. We rarely talk about that, or the surrealness of what it all means. We only want to focus on now. On us.
“I’m never going to take them off,” I promise. “I’ll wear the first ring you gave me on my right hand.” I still wear that promise ring every single day.
“I had words engraved in these for you.”
“Can I read them now?” I ask with excitement.
He nods, and I take the ruby engagement ring from him first. I tilt the ring in my hand to read the inscribed words.
“My darlin, my eternal love,” I read aloud, then shift my watery eyes to his. “I’m gonna cry. I love it.”