Page 132 of Holiday on the Rocks
While he wants to deer hunt with me, that spot’s reserved for Allie.
The Sugar Creek Bridge is a few miles outside of town and remote enough so nobody ever drives by and was our fishing spot this fall. Nothing was better than football on the radio, beer in the cooler, and Allie by my side all afternoon.
Today I brought two chairs, a little table, and grilled cheese sandwiches I wrapped in foil and put in my cooler. Of course, I have a bucket of Dove chocolates and chocolate milk because she deserves all the things she loves at all times.
I brought wood for a little bon fire and pulled the Christmas tree off the back of my truck and plopped it in a tree stand and set it next to the table. When I left the hospital Allie had taken all of the decorations from my hospital tree and put them in her “special box” which I’d snuck out of the storage closet this morning.
I now stand on the bridge waiting. Unlike the other seven times I stood in this spot, I knew she was coming to me. I watched her car come around the corner as the sound of crunching gravel grew louder.
While I’d just woken up with her by my side this morning, I couldn’t wait and started walking toward her when she jumped out.
“Freeze!”
I stopped in the center of the bridge.
“Since the moment I heard that you’d waited for me here every year, I’ve imagined it.” She walked to the edge of the bridge, and her hands went to her cheeks when she saw my makeshift dining area by the fire. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Anything for you, Allie.”
Her head shook. “I can’t believe how beautiful this is.”
“I can’t believe how beautiful you are.”
Her head tilted. “Did you really just say that?”
“I know, a little pukey.”
“No, it’s perfect.”
“Can I move yet?”
She walked to me and threw her arms around my neck. “Just give me a second to soak this in.”
“Well, don’t take too long, our lunch awaits.”
“Oooh, lunch?”
I took her hand and led her to our table by the fire.
“Have I told you you’re the most thoughtful man I’ve ever known?”
“And handsome?”
She took her seat. “And handsome.”
I opened my cooler, pulled off the foil, and placed her grilled cheese in front of her.
“Well, it’s not totally cold.”
She looked up at me. “It’s totally perfect.”
“It’s a rare couple who has their anniversary on Christmas.”
She gave me a knowing nod. “The rarest. Only super cool couples are Christmas couples.”
I set bottles of chocolate milk in front of us and took my seat. “Do you want your present?”
Her hand clapped as she kicked her feet under the table. “Yes! Yes, to the present!”
