Page 89 of Forever Endeavor

By the pink flush on Billie’s face, Sonny hoped it to be true, and if it was, he was in the running to be the luckiest guy alive. “Say, you feel like getting out of here, maybe going for a walk down to the pier for old time’s sake?”

Billie nibbled her bottom lip. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

He helped her on with her coat and they left The Pell. Walking side by side, she linked her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’ve really missed you, Sonny.”

“I missed you too. Every day you’ve been gone has felt like a week.”

“So many times, I wanted to call just to hear your voice, but then I thought maybe you’d moved on. I didn’t want to do anything that might hold you back.”

“And I didn’t want to get in the way of your work, or…anything or anyone new in your life. I meant it when I said all I ever wanted was for you to be happy.”

She stopped walking and turned to him. “I was never happier than when I was with you.”

Her words were a dream. He brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Me too.”

Cupping her face, he leaned in, hovering just above her mouth, feeling the sweet pull of anticipation and the heat of her breath before he bent down and finally touched her soft lips with a kiss. It was tender, intimate and like coming home. She wound her hand around the back of his head to hold his mouth on hers longer, likely satiating her curiosity about the lack of mustache. Every caress and capture of each other’s lips drew them back into one another, tasting and exploring and reconnecting. It may not have been the first kiss they shared, but somehow, this one meant more than any other.

With a happy sigh, Billie clasped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her heart. Sonny buried his face in her warm, fragrant neck, breathing in the essence of vanilla soft serve, honeysuckle and windows rolled down after a summer storm. Still smiling, he reached down and clasped her hand. “Come on, I have something I want to show you.”

He led her to the waterfront, waiting for her reaction as they turned at the Janus statue. She gasped when she saw the decrepit fishing cabins had been completely demolished and cleared away. In their place, a concrete slab had been poured and on the foundation, the framework of a house in its early stages of construction. “What happened to the cabins?”

“I wanted to tell you, but I thought it would be better if I showed you instead.”

“You mean…you? This is all you? You’re building a house?”

He studied the wondrously stunned expression her face. “It’s not just a house, the way I see it, it’s the future. I’m ready to move on with my life.”

“That’s great, Sonny. I’m so happy for you,” she said.

“As hard it was for us to be apart, I think I needed that time to understand that everything I’ve been through, the good and the bad, the pain and the pleasure, all had its place,” he said. “Now I can see that the entire process was my heart getting prepared for you.”

She swallowed. “For me?”

“I love you, Billie. I should’ve told you before you left, but I didn’t want you to feel obligated to stay or give up your dream to be with me. But I want you to know that I’ve never been so sure of anything. I love you.”

Her smile widened. “I love you too, Sonny. I never stopped believing we’d find our way back to each other.”

She loves me.His heart beat wildly. “Let me explain. I’m not just ready to move on, I’m ready for more. For all of it. With you.” He gestured toward the house’s skeletal frame. “This is for us. A place where we can start over. Where neither of us ever has to be afraid to love again,” he said. “Where we both get to live happily ever after.”

Her eyes glassed over. “Are you asking me to stay?”

“I’m definitely asking you to stay.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his grandmother’s antique ring, its beauty fully restored and polished to sparkle like new. “I’d like to propose a new arrangement, but what do you say we make this one forever?”

Right there on the spot, in the shadow of the two-headed Roman god of beginnings and endings, Sonny got down on one knee. “Billie, will you marry me?”

A trembling hand flew up to her mouth. “Sonny, are you sure? I mean, are you absolutely certain? Because marriage can only end in one of two ways. Death or divorce.”

“I’m willing to take my chances,” he said, laughing. “How about you?”

---