Page 35 of Love By The Falls

“I have no idea what time it is now, but I’ll make it work.”

He kisses the back of my hand. The gesture seems antiquated and yet it’s the perfect example of how this entire week has just been a dream, something that would never happen to someone like me under normal circumstances.

My legs are a little wobbly as I climb out of the boat. Whether it was the sea or the man who made them that way, it’s hard to say.

*

At precisely seven o’clock, Caleb knocks on my door. I stare at the sensible shoes I packed and wished I’d brought heels for this last night. I grab the sparklysandals instead of the flats and give my short white dress a little twirl before I open the door.

“Hi,” I exhale when I see him. He’s wearing a white, short-sleeved collared shirt and long black pants. He has a large gold watch on his wrist and his shoes are leather without even a hint of a crease on them.

“Hi,” he says and pulls a dozen pink roses from behind his back.

Each rose is enormous and without any blemish. “They smell lovely. Thank you.”

“I know you can’t bring them back with you, but I wanted you to have them for our last night together.”

“I love them.”

I put the roses on the bed and shut the door behind us. The pathway is dark, except for some torches along the way. Caleb leads us toward the beach, then turns left. There’s a table set on the sand, only steps from the shore, beneath an open gazebo with twinkling white lights. Rose petals form a walkway toward two chairs covered in white fabric.

I smile and shake my head. “This looks like something out of a movie.”

“They did a nice job.”

He pulls the chair out for me before taking his seat, and we both face the ocean.

“Ah, I feel like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and this will all have felt like a dream.”

“A lovely dream, though.”

“The best one ever.”

He raises his champagne glass, and I grab mine. “To dreams and the dreamers.”

I clink my glass to his. “I like that,” I say after taking a sip. The sparkling wine tingles across my tongue and throat.

“Are you leaving tomorrow as well?”

“Yes. I have an early flight and must leave the resort by six in the morning. I promise not to wake you.”

“Mmm,” I say and take another sip. “What do you do back home?”

“I manage a few operations,” he smiles modestly at me.

“Ah. I see.” I understand he’s keeping me at a distance. “And do you like your job?”

He inhales and looks out at the water. “I’m good at it. I’ve wanted to do it my whole life. But it’s a lot different from I imagined it would be.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters, I thought I would be doing a lot more of this,” he takes a sip of his wine, “but it’s much more work than that. The hours are long, and it can be exhausting. But it’s rewarding and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

I smirk and raise my eyebrows. “Sounds a lot like teaching.”

“Ha. True, true. Do you love what you do?”

I nod. “Absolutely. Even though some days can be bonkers, the kids have so much goodness in them. And on those days when I know I’m making a difference, there’s no other feeling like it.”

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